Who Are We?

We are a limited company formed to oppose and stop the West Midland Interchange proposal. Our group is comprised of local residents, businesses and environmental and special interest organisations. Our aim is to demonstrate that the scheme is completely inappropriate for the proposed rural location and an attack on the Greenbelt. As a group of small communities, we already have enough negative infrastructures to dismiss any nimby accusations.
 

Why we want to stop it?

• It's prime agricultural GREENBELT.

• JOBS?
  It's PREDICTED to bring jobs into an area where statistics prove the area has low unemployment. Once ROF and i54 are completed SSDC predict close to zero unemployment. The majority of tenants at rail-connected sites will be RELOCATED from other road based sites. The jobs created are therefore limited to those associated with normal economic growth, plus those specialist roles in the intermodal terminal. 80% of the PREDICTED jobs are more than 5 years away. But the containerisation of freight lends itself to automation, therefore the number of jobs ‘created’ will not materialise over time.

• Further unwanted development could potentially follow, something not suitable for this area.

• TRAFFIC
  The road infrastructure will not cope; we are already full to capacity on the A5 with regular traffic already causing trouble for the locals. The M6 junction 12 is closed or at a standstill on a weekly basis causing mayhem in the surrounding areas but also backing traffic up as far as Featherstone, Essington and Stafford causing further problems in these areas smaller roads.

• Air pollution will rise tremendously with the increase of HGV’s and trains coming through on a daily basis.

• WMI say this monstrous development will take thousands of HGV’s off the roads but it fails to mention the thousands of HGV’s that will be put on the road going to and from this development 24 hours a day.

• Acres of farmlands will be lost if this development is to proceed. Farms that have been in families for more than 3 generations will lose their heritage, their way of life and their way of making a living. By 2030 the UK will face a shortage of farmland.

• WMI are using the rail as a way to build warehousing on GREENBELT. They say they cannot guarantee the warehousing occupiers will use the rail. If there was no rail they wouldn’t bother planning as they would not get permission to build on greenbelt.

What is Greenbelt?

Green Belt is a Planning Designation for land around cities and built up areas which aims to keep the land largely undeveloped; check unrestricted sprawl; save the countryside from encroachment; and other laudable values. It is defined by the local planning authority's development plans.
It is fiercely protected under planning law and very difficult for the average house owner to build much within - it is not sacrosanct. 
 
Similar terms such as Greenfield (which is land that has not previously been developed - usually farmland), is not necessarily Green Belt unless it has been specifically designated and incorporated into the area planning legislation.
Brownfield is a Planning Term for previously developed land which has or had, a permanent structure on it. Development is normally encouraged on such land.