The court hearing to consider the appeal made by Solihull MBC against the decision by the High Court Judge on the Solihull Local Plan took place on the 25th and 26th November 2014.
On the 17th December 2014 Solihull MBC’s appeal was dismissed by the Court of Appeal, failing on both counts: housing numbers and Tidbury Green sites. It was argued that both Tidbury Green Farm and Lowbrook Farm sites are not suitable for ‘sustainable development’, however the judges concluded that sustainability for development was not a ‘green belt reason’ for the change back to green belt. In terms of the housing target numbers the judges concluded that Solihull had not undertaken an Objective Assessment of Needs (of the number of houses it would require. Consequently Lowbrook Farm and Tidbury Green Farm sites are not green belt designated sites and Solihull are required to review and re-assess their housing land supply numbers.
