SLP KDBH Extracts - Flipbook - Page 87
High Speed 2 Rail
280.
The HS2 Act received Royal Assent in February 2017, with the Notice to Proceed issued in
April 2020 and construction works are now underway; with the line expected to be open
between 2029-33.
281.
The Act provides the powers and land necessary to construct and operate High Speed 2.
Detailed matters relating to design and construction arrangements will be submitted to, and
considered by, the Council as the approval body (termed ‘Qualifying Authority’) under the
HS2 Planning Regime.
282.
However, the Act also ‘disapplies’ many aspects of national, regional and local legislation
and policy, replacing it with that which is more directly relevant to the design and delivery of
the railway. Specific grounds are set out upon which HS2 related applications can be
considered, conditioned or refused; meaning that the policies set out in this Plan cannot be
applied by the Council in the usual manner when considering such applications.
283.
The Council will continue to work with HS2 Ltd on measures to minimise impacts on
communities and the environment as a result of the construction of the railway and
associated infrastructure.
284.
Other policies in the plan (most notably Policy P1 “UK Central Hub Area”), provide the policy
framework for considering development proposals associated with the railway, such that no
further policies are required in this chapter.
Rapid Transit
285.
An efficient and accessible inter-connected rapid-transit network can play a vital role in
improving the current transport system both locally and regionally whilst accommodating
forecast increases in travel demand. The network can also help support wider urban
regeneration and, in a more local context, go some way to reducing the transport severance
between North and South Solihull.
Bypass Improvement Lines
286.
The 2006 UDP sought to safeguard the lines of three longstanding potential by-passes to
Balsall Common, Hockley Heath and Knowle. The 2013 SLP concluded that the need to
retain safeguarding of the lines was no longer justified. In relation to Hockley Heath and
Knowle, there is nothing to suggest that this conclusion needs to be revisited. However this
is not the case in relation to Balsall Common.
287.
The traffic associated with the HS2 Interchange site (and wider Hub area), and growth
potential south of Coventry, especially when combined with traffic generated from new
housing in the area, is likely to have an effect on the A452 as it passes through Balsall
Common. This justifies the provision of an alternative route that could accommodate
through traffic, and provide a basis for new residential developments to access the network
in an appropriate manner. The Balsall Common settlement chapter gives more detail in
relation to this.
Motorway Service Areas (MSA)
288.
In 2001 the Secretary of State (SoS) was minded to grant permission for an on-line MSA to
serve the M42 near to Catherine de Barnes. It was judged that the need for the services
outweighed the harm to the Green Belt that had been identified. However, in 2005 prior to
the formal decision being made, the SoS was of the view that due to material change in
circumstances since the original inquiry that the inquiry ought to be re-opened.
289.
The inquiry re-opened in 2008 and the MSA proposals near to Catherine de Barnes were
considered alongside alternative proposals for an off line facility at junction 4. At the reopened inquiry the Highways Agency’s (as Highways England was then known) primary
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