HS2 New Town Plan: Is It Far Too Small?

Plans to build a 5,000 home eco-village at The Hub site, next to Solihull's HS2 rail interchange, have been slammed for being too small.

The proposal to develop a relatively small settlement next to the HS2 interchange site has been criticised by Solihull councillors who argue that a larger, 10,000-house or more scheme would win government support.

They claim a site trumpeted for its connectivity would make ideal housing land, with fewer downsides than developing elsewhere in Solihull, Birmingham Live reports.

If Solihull's Conservative leadership were to agree with the complaint and amend local plans it could mean less land for commercial and industrial development.

For now there is no sign of the council's leadership agreeing to more housing.

The debate comes soon after development proposals for the 350-acre Arden Cross commercial site at The Hub took a leap forward.

After two years of hopeful talk the scheme, intended to take advantage of the opportunities of the HS2 high speed rail link to Birmingham and Solihull, is taking formal shape with the creation of a fully functioning delivery vehicle.

Birmingham City Council's Cabinet is to to sell their 99-acre slice of the site into a new joint venture which will manage progress on the project. They own around one-third of the site, which is located in the boundaries of Solihull council.

Pooling assets is the first serious sign of movement on the long-awaited project, which could deliver up to 2.6M SF of commercial floorspace and around 2,000 homes.

The next major step will be to resolve strategic planning issues, a report to Birmingham councillors said.