text: Muslim cemetery plan back on the table in Catherine-de-Barnes for the fourth time - Birmingham Live
  Updated 20:27, 19 JUL 2019
  Contentious plans to create a Muslim cemetery in Solihull's green belt have once again been brought forward.
  Back in 2015, councillors threw out proposals for a dedicated burial ground at Woodhouse Farm, in Catherine de Barnes.
  Four years on, a fresh application for the wedge of open space - the fourth in total to have been tabled - has been submitted to Solihull Council's planning department.
  Previous plans for the pasture field faced strong opposition from residents. The most recent was rejected on the grounds of "inappropriate development" in the green belt.
  Coun Bob Sleigh (Con, Bickenhill) had questioned why the scheme kept being submitted - in spite of previous refusals - and said "the war of attrition" frustrated villagers.
  The consortium behind the proposals continues to argue there is a need for the facility, with the Muslim population expanding, and that changes in national planning policy supported the scheme.
  When the last scheme was considered by councillors, critics claimed that it would harm the rural location and cause traffic problems on surrounding roads.
  Solihull has three council-run cemeteries - Woodlands, Widney Manor and Robin Hood (pictured).
  In fact the document likens the plans to those for a "natural" burial site; such a development already exists in Solihull, near the hamlet of Temple Balsall.
  Solihull's "green gateway"
  Henwood Mill, in Catherine de Barnes - one of Solihull's smaller villages. (Image: © 2016 attilio fiumarella)