Solihull councillors have clashed over plans for new housing near the HS2 Interchange Station, amid efforts to secure government support for the development.

The borough council hopes for help in delivering proposals for up to 5,000 homes at The Hub, after the Ministry of Housing offered "tailored assistance" to local authorities looking to create new garden communities.

Councillors were updated on the application process at a meeting this week.

Cllr Max McLoughlin (Green, Shirley South) had argued that the criteria for bids appeared to favour larger-scale developments and questioned whether the best use was being made of a site so close to a major transport hub.

But Cllr Ian Courts, the cabinet member for managed growth, had insisted the scheme could be a "showpiece" and accused the opposition spokesman of "throwing brickbats" at the plans - which would not help the bid.

Concept art for the HS2 Interchange Station, which is part of The Hub area in Solihull.
Concept art for the HS2 Interchange Station, which is part of The Hub area in Solihull.

Outlining his concerns, Cllr McLoughlin said: "What's wrong ... is if we're talking about a transport interchange which has connections to Birmingham and to London and we're not putting much housing near to that.

"By 2035 I think it's 28,000 houses we're going to have to be building. So it seems like a very small proportion of that being built next to the area that we're saying will have the best connectivity."

The Green group has previously criticised the high concentration of homes in areas such as Shirley, some distance from The Hub area which will house HS2. After the meeting Cllr McLoughlin said this approach "makes no sense."

Turning to the government guidance, he said: "[They say] 'We will prioritise proposals for new garden towns of more than 10,000 homes but will consider proposals for garden villages - 1,500 to 10,000 homes'.

"They're saying they will consider it, but we're already on the second rung."

Cllr Courts argued it was "not the time or place" to look at increasing the houses allocated at the site and that the Local Plan process, which will shape development across the whole borough, needed to be respected.

"In reality it's going to be difficult for government to get bids that tick all the boxes and they talk about flexibility anyway. We're looking at seizing the opportunity that presents itself.

"It's not for us to start putting in other land that we neither own nor have control over nor have any planning zoning for. We just can't do it.

"It's also a showpiece. Government may take the view 'well you haven't got 10,000 houses, but my goodness you're the first HS2 station outside of London'."

He also emphasised the work being done by Solihull's ruling Conservative group to improve connectivity around the borough, which aims to make it easier to access The Hub.

Council officers said it was currently unclear how many local authorities were competing for a place on the programme, but they believed Solihull's bid was "unique."

Support available may include funding, with council calculating that its "initial ask" would be in the region of £1.8 million.

The decision session was told that news about which bids would be successful was expected at some point between January and March.