Dudley Council has withdrawn from the Black Country plan to develop 76,000 homes across the region by 2039.
The plan originally involved the councils of Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton, but concerns over the building of new properties on green belt land has seen Dudley Council leader Patrick Harley pull out of the scheme, stating: “I’m not happy to move forward and sacrifice Dudley’s green belt land to meet other local authorities’ housing needs. “
The three remaining councils plan to press on with developments, but are now expecting delays and enhanced costs.
Leader of Sandwell Council, Councillor Kerrie Carmichael, said:
“We’re disappointed that the joint approach we have all been working towards for many years has fallen through. The Government has set challenging targets for new housing in Sandwell so it’s important we progress planning for Sandwell’s future housing and employment needs whilst continuing to listen to the feedback and information that we receive from residents, businesses, investors and other stakeholders. We’ve now decided that the best way to work towards achieving these aims is to develop our own Local Plan for Sandwell.”
Leader of Walsall Council, Councillor Mike Bird said:
“The four councils of the Black Country have been working hard to find a way forward for our future development needs. A great deal of time and money has been invested into developing a single Black Country Plan. It is a great shame that Dudley Council has decided to pull the plug. We will now concentrate on developing a Local Plan for Walsall.”
City of Wolverhampton Council Leader, Councillor Ian Brookfield, said:
“Dudley Council’s decision to walk away from the Black Country Plan will lead to delays and extra cost, which is disappointing after the four authorities collaborated over a number of years to progress the plan so far. We will now work with people we can trust to meet our legal requirement to prepare a Local Plan for Wolverhampton that delivers the necessary housing and employment land in a sustainable way — and provides certainty for our communities, businesses and stakeholders.”