A call for new members had a fantastic response as over 30 people packed into Friends Of Coombeswood's first public committee meeting (pictured above), held at Leasowes Community College last night. Extra chairs had to be brought in once the meeting got underway as it became clear that the leafletting campaign of the previous week had generated even greater interest than anticipated.
The Friends Of Coombeswood group formed in response to recent St Modwen proposals to relocate Coombs Wood Cricket And Social Club within the Coombeswood Green Wedge, a 120 acre Landscape Heritage area home to a variety of wildlife including rare breeding larks and barn owls. The Monarch's Way, a popular 615 mile walking route, takes a detour across the Western edge of the wedge specifically to take advantage of a viewpoint sweeping across Frankley, Romsley, the Clent Hills, Kinver Edge and then through the Stour Valley and across the Clee Hills of Shropshire towards the Welsh border.
The viewpoint and a large proportion of the wildlife habitat would be lost under the proposals which include the construction of a massive earthwork foundation designed to flatten the historic Coombeswood hillside. The foundation would support the relocated cricket pitch, leaving the club's original site in Coombs road to be cleared for the building of an as yet unspecified type of residential development. This would mark the end of a tradition of over 100 years of cricket at the Coombs Road site.
Agenda items of the packed meeting included the planning of a petition against the development proposals to be presented to Halesowen North councillors. Committee members will be getting around the Halesowen area over the next couple of weeks to take signatures and take on board points of view with the aim of including everyone that would like to get involved.
Other agenda items included the set up of an online register of wildlife sightings in the wedge and the planning of a protest walk.
A committee member commented:-
"The key message of last week's leafletting campaign, 'Keep The Green Wedge Green', has clearly struck a chord with a broad cross section of local residents. It was a proud moment last night to see how determined local people of all ages were to roll up their sleeves and get on with the job of safeguarding the precious open green space of the Coombeswood Green Wedge. The St Modwen proposals fit the all-too familiar pattern of the exploitation of planning loopholes in order to 'plant a flag ' for a hidden agenda of further greenbelt development. This evening's brilliant turnout, though, shows that people are getting wise to such shenanigans. We are now prepared to stand up and be counted by showing how much we care for and appreciate the green corridoor to the countryside we are so lucky to have on our doorsteps. We do not intend to lose it."
