Agenda item

To consider and comment upon reports relating to the Sandwell Development Plan and responds to questions set out at Appendix D.

The Board received a presentation on the Sandwell Development Plan, which formed part of the hierarchy of plans that directed and informed what was built and where. 

                  Every local authority had a Development Plan, which usually covered a 15-year period although it was possible to address emerging issues through partial reviews of the Plan.

                  The Board noted that there were two tiers of plan; the Black Country Core Strategy which set out broad locations (not identify specific sites) and the Site Allocations and Area Action Plans that did identify sites for specific purposes.  Underneath these documents were a range of supplementary planning documents that provided guidance on issues.

                  It was reported that Sandwell had an identified need for 27,873 new homes, however the Urban Capacity Study had indicated only 9,158 could be delivered.  Originally it had been proposed to address this through the Black Country Plan under the Localism Act 2011 Duty to Co-operate.  The Black Country Plan had identified infrastructure requirements, addressed climate matters and supported a range of sub-regional and regional strategic aims.  However due to the insurmountable need to build some of the houses required for the Black Country on Green Belt land Dudley MBC had withdrawn for political reasons.

As a sub-regional plan was no longer possible, it was now urgent for Sandwell to review its own local plan.  Consultation had commenced during the week of this meeting and would run until 20 March 2023.  Following this a draft plan would be prepared which would again be subject to further consultation.  After this a final plan would be developed, with consultation anticipated to take place in the second half of 2024.  After this the plan would be submitted to the Secretary of State who would arrange for the ‘Examination in Public’.  Timescales for that element of the process would depend on availability of the Planning Inspectorate.  It was estimated that adoption of the Sandwell Local Plan would be in late 2025/early 2026.

                  At this early stage of the process the Council was seeking views of local people, businesses and stakeholders on what the key land issues were for Sandwell.  Officers highlighted the importance of this and asked members to speak to residents and encourage them to submit their views.

                  There was a Call for Sites exercise taking place, to allow anyone to identify sites that could be potentially redeveloped.  These would then be assessed.  Although there was a size threshold for inclusion in the plan (no housing sites less than 10 units, no employment land smaller than 4.5 hectares), the Council still welcomed all suggestions as they could all contribute to the authority’s targets for housing and employment land provision.

                  The Board also noted an overview of the programme of planning reform being undertaken by the Government.  It had been stressed that although there would be change, local authorities should not delay reviewing local plans and should continue to carry out reviews under existing arrangements.  Sandwell had made the decision to continue with the review, although other councils had paused activity.

From the comments and questions by members of the Board, the following responses were made, and issues highlighted:-

-        At the current stage of the consultation it was not proposed to hold any drop-in events, however at the next stage this would be arranged.

-        As part of the Call for Sites exercise all land owners that submitted to the Black County Plan would be contacted as their situations may have changed.

-        If the public knew of sites that were underused or derelict and let the Council know they could be assessed, the land owner could potentially be worked with and the site could be considered for allocation.

-        Education, Health, Public Health were statutory consultees.  Licensing was also consulted.

-        The basic definition of Affordable Housing was set nationally and could not be altered locally.  The Council could look at percentages of Affordable Housing it would seek on developments, however it was acknowledged that this could impact on the viability of sites – land remediation costs in Sandwell were often high due to the area’s industrial heritage and increased Affordable Housing requirements could place further pressure on developers which could make developments economically unviable.

-        The impact of building large facilities such as Police Stations or NHS facilities on surrounding areas needed to be considered.

-        It was intended to include draft inset areas which looked at specific centres and the issues particular to them.  This would vary from centre to centre and if land use provided a solution policy could be developed to address it.

-        Some matters, such as surface materials, would need to be addressed through Design Codes and were not the remit of the Local Plan.

-        The importance of linking with the Local Transport Plan (West Midlands Combined Authority) was vital.

The Board thanked officers for attending the meeting.

(Councillor Z Hussain left the meeting during consideration of this item and did not return)