Plans for greater protection for Corbett Meadow
A popular meadow with a rich and diverse habitat in Stourbridge is set to get greater protection.
Following a detailed nature conservation habitat survey, Corbett Meadow is recommended to be upgraded from a Site of Local Importance for Nature Conservation (SLINC) to a Site of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINC), in recognition of its sub regional importance.
Although it doesn’t have public access, the site next to Corbett Hospital is a significant landscape feature with long-established pasture with mature trees, which supports a range of important ecological features and a high diversity of habitats and species.
There are also two ponds, one of which has significant ecological value.
If approved by members of Dudley Council’s cabinet on October 27, the site will be afforded greater protection by local planning policies, which could give it greater protection from development and maintain and enhance the borough’s environmental infrastructure and ecological habitats.
Councillor Simon Phipps, cabinet member for regeneration, said:
This is a popular green space and we want to be able to protect it now and into the future.
An important and historic site in Stourbridge, the in-depth ecological surveys have highlighted its diverse, rich habitats, species and ecological features.
By upgrading its status, we are looking to give it protection through our planning policy.
The proposed boundary for the SINC differs from that of the existing SLINC designation.
It is proposed to include a small area of scrub and young semi-mature trees to the south of the site (outside of the current designated boundary) and remove an area next to the outpatient’s centre of amenity grassland and young planted trees.