Severn Trent is pressing ahead with plans to build up to 200 homes on Green Belt land off Lindridge Road in Sutton Coldfield, a move that has drawn immediate opposition from local politicians and residents. The water company's property arm, Midlands Land Portfolio Limited, is writing to almost 1,000 householders about the proposed residential development on land next to New Hall Cemetery.
The site sits to the right of the cemetery as viewed from the road, in front of Langley Mill Pool. The plans include up to 200 homes 'including a range of sizes and tenure', with 50 per cent designated as affordable housing. Two vehicle access points off Lindridge Road are proposed, along with an equipped play area and two additional local areas of play. The existing footpath through the site would be retained, with public open space and natural trails.
Traffic concerns already acute at cemetery
The location already suffers from significant traffic problems, as the cemetery struggles to cope with large numbers of visitors, leading to conflict among mourners and nearby residents. BirminghamLive has previously reported on gridlock incidents, including ambulances becoming stuck in the road for 'seven to eight minutes' during school pick-up time in 2023. Police have also been called as funeralgoers caused gridlock outside the cemetery.
Midlands Land Portfolio Ltd said it is asking for residents' feedback to 'shape the final proposals' before submitting an outline planning application to Birmingham City Council to 'establish the principle of residential development'. The leaflet asks questions on the type of housing wanted, important site features, support for affordable housing, and whether residents support the proposals.
Housing Delivery Test cited as justification
The move emerged just two days after the Government's Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government published its Housing Delivery Test (HDT), covering homes built between 2022 and 2025. For Birmingham, the test showed some 21,400 homes were needed, but only 12,101 had been delivered. The Ministry said: 'The 2025 Housing Delivery Test results represent the most up-to-date assessment of housing delivery and should be used for decision-making purposes.'
Severn Trent said: 'The recently-published 2025 Housing Delivery Test results confirm the city is not delivering sufficient housing to meet its identified needs. As a consequence, the development of Grey Belt land can be considered acceptable in principle, provided the proposals satisfy the relevant policy requirements, including the provision of affordable housing, public open space, necessary supporting infrastructure, and are located in a sustainable and accessible location.'
Politicians call plan 'cynical' and 'underhand'
Local politicians dispute the justification, arguing the HDT is already out-of-date. Birmingham's latest local plan, currently under consultation, shows no Green Belt land is needed for housing, with the city's needs for the next two decades expected to be met and a presumption of brownfield-first development.
Coun Richard Parkin (Sutton Reddicap, Con) described the proposals as 'ridiculous', 'hugely disappointing' and a 'complete shock', coming weeks after plans to allocate 17 Green Belt sites in Sutton Coldfield for more than 8,000 homes were dropped by the city council. He called them a 'disgraceful, cynical, underhand and sneaky move'.
Posting on Facebook, he said: 'Developers have seized on a narrow window of opportunity to exploit a loophole in the planning system and submit this 195-home application on Lindridge Road. [On Monday] the Government published its Housing Delivery Test results for 2024/25 which shows Birmingham has not built enough houses in recent years. Next year's figures will LOWER the city's housing need requirement which the Local Plan is based on, so the developers have jumped on this 'window of opportunity' to submit this speculative application by arguing there is a need for more new homes, knowing full well they cannot make this same argument in 12 months' time.'
Coun Parkin told BirminghamLive he had two main concerns: building on Sutton's Green Belt, and the traffic issues the road already faces on big occasions and with large funerals. He noted the cemetery is expanding, with 9,000 burial plots now and space for 12,000, but looking to have 24,000 plots on its land. 'Already we have problems on Mother's Day, at Eid or with big funerals,' he said.
He urged residents to email Severn Trent to voice concerns and to sign his petition objecting to the plan. The petition attracted hundreds of signatures within hours.
MP and town council pledge to fight
Sutton's MP Andrew Mitchell said: 'This is a totally insufferable proposal and we will fight it all the way until it is refused.' Royal Sutton Coldfield Town Council leader Coun Simon Ward (Four Oaks, Con) said: 'For residents of Sutton Coldfield this is deeply concerning. The Green Belt is one of the things that makes our Royal Town so unique. We all believed developments like this wouldn't be going forward. Therefore, we will be doing everything we can to fight this going forward because it fundamentally damages the unique character of the Royal Town.'
Responses to the proposed Lindridge Road development can be emailed to lindridge-road@consultationplace.com by Thursday, September 20. A Midlands Land Portfolio Ltd spokesman said: 'We absolutely want to include and work with the local community as early as possible in this process, which is why we're encouraging people to provide us with their thoughts and feedback for any potential changes before we submit this planning application to the local council. While this is very much in the early stages, the proposals are in response to the need for more affordable family houses in Birmingham and more public open spaces and recreation areas. We look forward to hearing from the local community and working together to shape these plans.'
