A plan to merge three leafy local villages into a single town has been backed by residents in a bid to save swathes of countryside.

The scheme for Knowle, Dorridge and Bentley Heath (KDBH) to be defined as a single settlement was proposed by Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council planners as a way of defending the borough’s green belt.

Councillors and planning officers stressed the move was purely for “planning purposes” and residents would still live in their self-contained villages. 

Balsall Common would also become a town for planning matters if the changes were agreed.

Results from a six-week consultation held in the summer showed 55 per cent of the 165 residents who took part supported the change.

And 40 per cent said they thought Balsall Common should become a single settlement.

A council report said: “The results of the consultation largely support the recommended position – that KDBH and Balsall Common should be redefined as towns. 

“They have considerably larger populations than other rural settlements in the borough and have the greatest range of services and facilities required to meet the day-to-day and other needs of their local population from within the settlement itself.”

The proposed changes matter in terms of how green belt and so-called grey belt – lower-quality green belt areas – planning policies are implemented.

The green belt would be seen as stopping the three villages from merging if they were treated as a town in planning terms.

And that could potentially diminish the impact of future homebuilding proposals for the areas.

Residential development is a political hot potato in the area with a string of applications submitted to build on Solihull’s green belt in the past year. 

The government has committed to building 1.5m homes nationally during this parliament with Solihull given a target of 8,500.

The town policy is set to be approved at a meeting to be held today (October 23).