Here are the biggest local planning stories from the past week.

Shirley site gets go-ahead despite objections

The first stage for development for a derelict site in Shirley has been given the go-ahead despite Solihull's council leader making an objection.

The site of the former Morrisons supermarket and HSBC has been vacant since 2019 and has attracted anti-social behaviour and vandalism ever since.

A previous plan to regenerate the site was refused permission in 2022 and, as the Local Democracy Reporting Service reported a year ago, the developer behind those failed plans, the MACC Group, planned to try again with a new proposal.

On a website titled 'Stratford Road Regeneration' it unveiled a plan to convert the site into a care home of 80 bedrooms, 63 retirement apartments and six houses.

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Neighbours invited for comment

A plan to turn a property into a care home for children has been submitted to Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council (SMBC).

Applicant Hoxha lodged the plans for the conversion of a family home in Grenville Road, Shirley, with SMBC in August.

The application is to change the use to become a care home for up to three children, aged seven to 17 years old.

A planning statement included in the application from planning agents Simpatico Town Planning says: "The children would live in a domestic, family environment, being supported and cared for by professional care staff, who would be present 24 hours a day, on a rota basis.

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Enforcement after barn expanded

An applicant who has been converting a barn into a residential home is now facing further enforcement action after planners refused permission.

Applicant Jaskaran Singh went ahead with the conversion at The Barn in Knowle Road after being granted permission by Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council (SMBC) planners for an application in 2021.

That application was a prior notification, under class Q permitted development rights, and the conversion got under construction in 2023.

But work was halted by council enforcement officers.

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