One of Solihull’s most ambitious sustainable new communities in recent years, centred around 750 new homes at Blythe Valley Park has received a resolution to grant consent from Solihull Council’s Planning Committee.
The application was submitted by locally based IM Properties (IMP), who also owns Mell Square Shopping Centre and is one of the region’s largest investors.
Outline Planning Permission will now be issued by the Council subject to a section 106 legal agreement, which is likely to generate circa. £9.5 million of additional investment in improvements to highways, footpaths, public transport, local schools and medical services.
As part of the approved plan, IM Properties will also look to add a further 1 m sq feet of commercial space at Blythe, which will potentially create up to 7300 new jobs in the area. Provision for a 200-bedroom hotel and a housing with care facility of up to 250 units, leisure and other uses of up to 40,000 sq ft is also included.
Lewis Payne, IM Properties’ development director said: “We would like to thank all those who commented on the plans, as well as Councillors and Council officers who had the vision to approve our proposal.
“We have worked tirelessly on this application, including extensive public engagement and believe the new scheme will prove a tremendous boost to Solihull and provide much needed housing for younger families and first time buyers who want to find a home.
“The new community will have the benefit of a largely undiscovered 122 acre Country Park, which is to be enhanced and extended to surround the new scheme, creating a rich and diverse environment for all to thrive in and enjoy.”
Warwickshire based IM Properties, which bought the 260-acre park out of receivership for around £125m at the end of 2014, is one of UK’s largest privately owned property companies and has invested considerably in the region, with some £250 million injected into the Solihull Borough since 2014.
