HS2 has said there are no extra road safety or congestion worries in its plans to send up to 400 lorries through Balsall Common every day.

Permission to use the village centre as a major HGV route was refused for a second time in March.

The high speed rail developers had first applied to Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council in 2021, when the plans were rejected.

And despite the second application containing 'safety mitigation', SMBC once again blocked the plans.

HS2 has now lodged an appeal with the planning inspectorate to have the second decision overturned.

The route would have seen lorries travel down the A452 and turn left onto Kelsey Lane and Waste Lane (Image via planning application)

"The route would not generate road safety or congestion concerns over and above that already identified in the environmental statement," HS2's appeal said.

Adding: "The width of the highways along the route are sufficient for two large vehicles to safely pass.

"This has been assessed by the appellant's contractor and the information was provided by way of a presentation."

HS2 also said that there was no need for lorries to mount footpaths, as residents had claimed, and said: "The route has been used for the last two years and continues to be used."

At peak times there could have been up to 400 lorries through Balsall Common every day (Image via planning application)

Alternatives

When planning permission was refused in March, councillors labelled the plans as "clearly unsafe" and said HS2 should be using the Hallmeadow Road route.

In response to this the appeal document said: "The Hallmeadow Route is not a true alternative as it cannot be delivered without delay and potential cost to the phase one programme and currently cannot be delivered at all, because the appellant does not have the rights to the third party land."

But councillors made it clear in March that this was not a planning issue, and that it was not the council's fault that HS2 had not bought all the land it needed.

Councillors also said that HS2 had ignored the option of reinforcing its Truggist Hill Farm bridge to cross the West Coast Mainline.

HS2's proposed safety measures for Kelsey Lane and Waste Lane included a 20mph speed limit and a mini roundabout (Image via planning application)

SMBC

In advance of the appeal decision, SMBC has also submitted a 'statement of case'.

The council has maintained its position that the route is not safe "despite the package of mitigation measures proposed", stating that "Kelsey Lane and Waste Lane are not suitable to support the number of large goods vehicles proposed".

The report stated that the roads are not wide enough for two HGV's to pass each other safely, and that there could be harm to other road users and pedestrians.

SMBC also reiterated the need for HS2 to solve the Hallmeadow Road issue.

"This alternative would remove the need for large goods vehicles to travel through Balsall Common village thus reducing the significant impact on highway safety but also reducing minor impacts identified on local environment and local amenity," it said.

(Header image by Bill Nicholls via geograph.org.uk)