Steve McCabe MP has criticised the lack of enforcement action taken by the Council against developers who continue to breach planning law.
Three years after local residents on Gristhorpe Road raised concerns about a number of unauthorised extensions, still no enforcement action has been taken. Steve has been back and forth with the Council about Britannia Property Group who have bought three properties on Gristhorpe Road and extended them to cover the entire garden area. The developers have sought to cram as many students into these residential properties with a view to maximise their profits and in the process have made neighbours’ lives a total misery.
Steve has visited a number of the affected neighbours whose light and privacy have been totally lost by the enormous extensions leaving them effectively wedged between imposing hostels. Whilst enforcement notices were served back in 2014, no real action has been taken against the developers. This has encouraged other landlords to buy up properties on the road and across Selly Oak to build beyond what is legal without any fear that enforcement action will be taken.
Steve has taken this ongoing issue that is blighting people and communities across his constituency to Parliament. Last year Steve McCabe introduced his Protection of Family Homes (enforcement and permitted development) 10 Minute Rule Bill but like many 10 Minute Rule Bills it didn’t a get chance to have its Second Reading in Parliament. Steve recently stayed up all night to secure a coveted Private Members Bill slot for his Protection of Family Homes Bill.
Securing an early Private Members Bill slot will increase the chances of Steve’s Bill receiving its Second Reading in the House of Commons. It is now timetabled for October this year.
Steve McCabe MP said:
“Residents in Selly Oak will be dealing with rubbish in the streets, obstructions, rows and rows of skips and more unsightly extensions this summer because of the consistent failure to take enforcement action against rogue developers like Britannia Property Group. For the past three years I have pushed the Council’s Planning Department to take action but developers continue to get away with what they want, ruining communities and neighbourhoods. How many more years do we have to wait?
“I’m determined to get my Bill into law which is why I stayed up all-night to secure a slot for my Protection of Family Homes Bill. It isn’t easy getting a Bill off the ground as a backbench opposition MP but I will certainly do everything I can to put an end to this madness which is destroying family homes and creating misery for local residents.”
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