01

Welcome to Blythe Valley Park

Living at Blythe Valley Park means easy and enjoyable use of a range of local transport options. Through these travel options, you can discover more about the local area and the wider West Midlands. The 2024 Blythe Valley Park Travel Plan Monitoring Report is now available, find out more!

This website is here to inform you about the travel options at Blythe Valley Park so you can decide what is the best way to travel for the trip you are making. The website supports the Travel Plan for Blythe Valley Park which seeks to promote more sustainable travel.

We hope you explore this webpage and discover the benefits of using different modes of travel.

02

What is a Travel Plan?

Blythe Valley Park Wide Travel Plan is a document that encourages sustainable travel (such as walking, cycling, car sharing and public transport) and sets out ways you can adopt these modes of travel in your everyday life.

For some journeys, driving is the best way to travel, however a lot of journeys we make can also be done just as easily by walking, cycling and taking public transport. Using these options has great benefits such as:

Environmental Benefits

Using the car less helps to reduce CO2 emissions and contributes to the UK carbon reduction targets.

Health Benefits

Walking and cycling for common trips is an easy way to exercise more regularly as part of your daily routine. Using the car less reduces air pollutions, particulate matter (which increase the risk of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases) and noise pollution.

Better Places to Live

Environments where people drive less and walk more create safer places (with fewer vehicles about) and more friendly places (more chance to meet and interact with neighbours) to live.

Cost Savings

Using the car less can have potential money saving benefits such as spending less on fuel, parking and insurance.

Better Driving Experience

If everyone decides to use their car less, this has cumulative benefits so that when you do decide to drive there are fewer vehicles on the road and less congestion.

The Travel Plan Coordinator is responsible for managing the Travel Plan and providing information to residents about travel at Blythe Valley Park. You can contact the Travel Plan Coordinator at TPCBlytheValleyPark@stantec.com.

03

Local Amenities

Blythe Valley Park has many local amenities that you can enjoy right on your doorstep, including the Virgin Active Gym, the Busy Bees Day Nursery, Co-op Food store, Acorn Dental, brew twenty three and Java Roastery Coffee shop (and more amenities coming soon to the Brambles). Further afield there are many amenities that you can reach by walking, cycling and bus:

Name Distance from Blythe Valley Approximate Walking Time Approximate Cycle Time Approximate Bus Time
Cheswick Green Primary School 2.6 km 30 mins 10 mins 10 mins
Light Hall Secondary School 5.2 km - 18 mins 25 mins
The Village Surgery Cheswick Green 2 km 25 mins 8 mins 12 mins
Cheswick Green Post Office 2 km 25 mins 8 mins 12 mins
Tesco Extra Supermarket (with Pharmacy & cafe) 1.8 km 25 mins 6 mins 12 mins
Wedges Bakery 1 km 13 mins 4 mins -
Amenities Plan
Amenities Plan (Click to Enlarge)

04

Walking

One of the easiest, simplest and cheapest methods to travel is by walking. Blythe Valley Park has a network of good quality, direct pedestrian routes, providing connections to offsite walking and cycling routes. You can also enjoy leisurely walks through the Country Park at Blythe Valley Park or explore the wider countryside and the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal.

Aside from being the most environmentally friendly mode of transport, walking has credible health benefits. Walking burns nearly as many calories as jogging over the same distance and due to its low-impact nature, walking will not place stress on your body making it suitable for all. Walking benefits the heart and lungs and strengthens your muscles, bones and joints. Moreover, walking helps enhance your mood, boosts self-esteem and regular walking can sustain the body’s flexibility and co-ordination as you grow older.

Discover what amenities you can walk to in our local amenities section.

View Solihull Metropolitan Borough Councils walking and cycling map.

05

Cycling

Cycling is an efficient, cheap mode of transport that can potentially save you time and money. By opting to cycle into work, you could save yourself a significant amount of money by eradicating the need to pay for the purchase, maintenance and parking costs associated with car ownership. Cycling has many health benefits and is an easy way to incorporate exercise into your daily routine rather than paying a monthly gym membership fee. According to the NHS, for a 60kg person, 10 minutes of moderate intensity cycling will burn around 60 calories.

Discover what amenities you can cycle to in our local amenities section. View Solihull Metropolitan Borough Councils walking and cycling map.

06

Bus

Taking the bus is an eco-friendly way to travel as buses emit less carbon dioxide per passenger than cars, and they reduce traffic congestion and road accidents. By traveling by bus, you are contributing to a cleaner and safer environment.

You can catch the bus to Solihull, Knowle, Dorridge, Cheswick Green, and Birmingham International from the bus stops within Blythe Valley Park. The timetable and route of these bus services are summarised in the table. The most up-to-date bus timetable and route maps can be found on the Transport for West Midlands website.

Blythe Valley Park is served by the A7/8 Solihull circular with buses running up to half-hourly during peak periods of the day. Locations include to Dorridge Station (13 mins) and Solihull Town Centre / Rail Station (30 mins).

Due to the improved frequency of the A7/A8, the LandFlight shuttle service has been replaced. As part of the latest updates for the A7/A8, the route has been adjusted to serve specific areas by Knowle.

A7/A8

LandFlight

Solihull Town Centre Circular route (incl. Solihull Station, Dorridge Station & Cheswick Green)

Monday to Friday

Half hourly in both directions during peak periods (every 15-minutes to Solihull Town Centre)

X20

Stagecoach Midlands

Birmingham - Henley - Stratford upon Avon

Monday to Friday

One school service in the morning (around 7am) and one in the evening (around 5pm)

Swift

Swift offers an easy and flexible way to travel across the West Midlands, with different ticket types available to suit your needs. Season tickets and pay-as-you-go are both available for use on bus, train and tram journeys. Alternatively, you can use the TfWM - (Powered by Swift) mobile app on Apple or Android phones. Find out more here.

07

Rail

Bus services provide direct connection from Blythe Valley Park to Solihull and Birmingham International railway stations. You can travel to Birmingham and Coventry within a 30 minute journey from Blythe Valley Park taking the train from Birmingham International. There are also regular services to London Euston, Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow from this station. Solihull Rail Station provides regular service to Birmingham, Warwick, Stratford-upon-Avon, Leamington Spa and London Marylebone.

By using railcards, travelling at off-peak times, or booking in advance, you can save money on your rail journey. The National Rail website offers a rail journey planner that gives you train times, fares information and lets you track trains in real time. Please visit www.nationalrail.co.uk for further information.

TRAVEL TIMES
Via Solihull Station Via Birmingham International
Birmingham Centre 10-15 mins Birmingham Centre 10-20 mins
Leamington Spa 25-30 mins Leamington Spa 25-45 mins
Stourbridge 45-55 mins London Euston 1 hr 25 mins
Stratford-upon-Avon 40-60 mins Manchester 1 hr 50 mins
Warwick 20-25 mins Northampton 55 mins
Wolverhampton 50-55 mins Reading 1 hr 30 mins
Worcester 1 hr 20 mins Stoke-on-Trent 1 hr 10 mins

08

Car Club & Car Sharing

Why not join the Enterprise Car Club? Car Club membership provides a pay-as-you go service allowing you to pick up a car when you need to drive and drop it off when you’re finished in its dedicated parking space. You can even reserve it in advance. For the infrequent driver, Enterprise Car Club can offer a cheaper and sustainable alternative to owning a car without the hassle of sorting MOTs, vehicle tax and insurance.

Further details about the Enterprise Car Club can be found at Enterprise Car Club.

Car Parking

For some journeys you will want to use your car, so why not share some of your regular journeys with neighbours and friends by registering to car share at www.liftshare.com/uk. Even if you only car share once a week, that’s still enough to achieve some serious results!

The cost of driving your own car is often more than the cost of the fuel. By car sharing you can share these costs with your passengers. Research has shown that the average car share user saves £700 a year!

For example, if you share your regular car journey with another driver, each taking it in turns to drive one week to work, you could reduce your fuel bill by a half. The fewer miles driven may also help to reduce wear and tear on your vehicle.

09

Planning My Journey

Many tools and resources are available to you to help you plan sustainable journeys to and from work! If you would like to search for local travel information or plan your journey to work, you can check out the Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) website at www.tfwm.org.uk. This website gives you the option to choose your mode of travel to suit your travel needs, or you can use the

Further local travel information and live bus times can be found on the Traveline website at www.traveline.info.

City Mapper is another useful app to help you plan your journey by public transport, or to book taxis, hire bikes and scooters. Visit www.citymapper.com for more details.

Please visit www.zap-map.com for more information on the electric vehicle charging points in Solihull and across the UK that could be available to you.

10

Travel Survey

As part of the Travel Plan, we are monitoring how people travel at Blythe Valley Park. We undertook a Resident Travel Survey in late 2024, to understand the current travel patterns at the site, and what we may be able to do to help make journeys more sustainable in future. The survey results have been analysed and presented in a Travel Plan Monitoring Report.

The next Resident Travel Survey will be undertaken in 2026. If you would like to tell us about your travel behaviour or anything that is affecting it in the meantime, please contact us at TPCBlytheValleyPark@stantec.com.

11

Contact Us

If you have any queries regarding travel at Blythe Valley Park, please contact the Travel Plan Coordinator:

001-email

TPCBlytheValleyPark@stantec.com

0121 796 8255

(Monday to Friday 10.00am-4.30pm)