Sandwell Local Plan - Reg 19 Publication
1. Sandwell 2041: Spatial Vision, Priorities and Objectives
What is driving the Vision for Sandwell?
1.1 The Vision reflects a pragmatic idea of what Sandwell could be like in the future if the needs and aspirations of those who live, work in or visit the borough were met. It allows the Council the scope to respond to likely future challenges in a way that is right for Sandwell, its residents and its businesses.
1.2 The Vision has been written in the context of national, regional and local policy frameworks, including the Council's Corporate Plan and its own vision. The Sandwell Vision 2030[33] is as follows:
It's where we call home and where we're proud to belong - where we choose to bring up our families, where we feel safe and cared for, enjoying good health, rewarding work, feeling connected and valued in our neighbourhoods and communities, confident in the future, and benefiting fully from a revitalised West Midlands.
1.3 The Sandwell Vision 2030 also sets out ten ambitions for a successful Sandwell and what success will look like; the SLP and its policies is directly or indirectly relevant to all of them. These ambitions can be read in full in the Council's Vision 2030 document, which is available to view on the Sandwell Council website. They are set out in summary below, together with an indication of the role the SLP will play in delivering them.
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Ambition 1 |
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Sandwell is a community where our families have high aspirations and where we pride ourselves on equality of opportunity and on our adaptability and resilience. |
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Ambition 2 |
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Sandwell is a place where we live healthy lives and live them for longer, and where those of us who are vulnerable feel respected and cared for. |
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Ambition 3 |
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Our workforce and young people are skilled and talented, geared up to respond to changing business needs and to win rewarding jobs in a growing economy |
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Ambition 4 |
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Our children benefit from the best start in life and a high-quality education throughout their school careers with outstanding support from their teachers and families. |
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Ambition 5 |
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Our communities are built on mutual respect and taking care of each other, supported by all the agencies that ensure we feel safe and protected in our homes and local neighbourhoods. |
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Ambition 6 |
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We have excellent and affordable public transport that connects us to all local centres and to jobs in Birmingham, Wolverhampton, the airport and the wider West Midlands. |
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Ambition 7 |
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We now have many new homes to meet a full range of housing needs in attractive neighbourhoods and close to key transport routes. |
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Ambition 8 |
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Our distinctive towns and neighbourhoods are successful centres of community life, leisure and entertainment where people increasingly choose to bring up their families. |
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Ambition 9 |
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Sandwell has become a location of choice for industries of the future where the local economy and high performing companies continue to grow. |
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Ambition 10 |
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Sandwell now has a national reputation for getting things done, where all local partners are focused on what really matters in people's lives and communities. |
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Vision for Sandwell
1.4 The Sandwell Local Plan Vision is set out below:
Sandwell Local Plan Vision 2041
In 2041, Sandwell is a thriving, growing and active borough, leading the urban renaissance of the West Midlands conurbation. It is a place with a united and resilient community, a place of innovation and industry and a place with a vibrant and strong cultural heritage.
Sandwell is at the forefront of tackling climate change, in its role as a hub for climate adaptation and mitigation technologies and industries. Its new buildings are clean and green in their design, materials and operations, its old buildings are carefully adapted to deliver low and zero carbon outputs. It sets the standard in both public and private sectors for embedding climate change awareness and sensitivity in all its actions, outcomes and decisions.
Notwithstanding its urban character, Sandwell's residents enjoy access to country and town parks, open spaces, green networks, natural corridors and pocket parks. They benefit from additional landscaping schemes and increased tree cover during their everyday activities and leisure time. Sandwell's natural environment is valued for its own sake as well as for its role in creating a healthy, attractive and climate change-resistant background for people living, working, learning in and enjoying the borough. Sandwell's commitment to increasing its ecological resources has seen the creation of new habitats and biodiversity-related projects across the borough, delivering improvements to local environments and playing its part in supporting the nature recovery network across the West Midlands.
Sandwell's historic environment is a source of pride for its communities and continues to reflect its industrial and architectural heritage, in restoration and renovation schemes and in the sensitive design of new buildings. Historic buildings in Sandwell are reused, repurposed and retrofitted to enable their retention and occupation for years to come. The borough's historic landscapes, parks and gardens are protected and enjoyed by residents and its archaeology is valued and recorded in both urban and rural areas.
Sandwell was at the heart of the first Industrial Revolution, reflected in its historic buildings such as Soho Foundry and the canal network running across the borough. It now lies at the forefront of another one. It is where the technology is produced to make tomorrow work. Sandwell is home to highly specialised companies and industries in the vanguard of delivering advanced manufacturing, advanced materials production, next-level energy generation, e-commerce and specialist sensors. It continues to deliver sustained and sustainable economic growth and investment opportunities from its extremely accessible location at the heart of the country. It provides high-quality goods and services from its powerful industrial base; as a result, levels of employment, wages and economic activity are high and rising.
As part of this forward-looking economic activity, Sandwell has also continued to support investment in critical waste, energy and transport infrastructure that has resulted in a robust circular economy, where not only does less waste end up in landfill, but less waste is produced overall in Sandwell, more recycling takes place, and cutting-edge waste-to-energy operations provide the fuel for local heating networks.
Sandwell's residents enjoy longer and healthier lives than in previous decades, thanks to the increase in accessible open spaces, the provision of services and facilities designed to promote active recreation and leisure, the improvement of and increased accessibility to healthcare infrastructure and the promotion of healthy lifestyle choices. They have access to well-performing schools, higher and further education provision at all levels and to continued opportunities for skills development and training.
There is a wide range of housing available to Sandwell residents, aiming to help meet housing needs, designed to support green living and suitable for adaptation to benefit all sections of the community. Affordable, social and local authority-provided homes are available to those who need them. New developments deliver high-quality designs and are located within attractively landscaped areas, with access to district and low-cost energy and heating projects, sustainable drainage designed to improve the local environment as well as provide reliable protection against flooding and run-off and all necessary services and facilities within walking and cycling distance or a short bus ride away.
Sandwell's town centres thrive by day and by night, with an expanded range of retail, leisure and socialising opportunities as well as acting as the foci for new residential developments, community activities and social enterprises. They are safe, welcoming and accessible locations at all times, designed to encourage positive public interactions and minimise antisocial behaviour.
Priorities and Objectives
1.5 To assist in the delivery of the Vision, a set of priorities have been identified, which form the basis of individual policies contained in the SLP. These priorities directly address the key strategic challenges and opportunities that have arisen since the Core Strategy was adopted in 2011 and the SAD was produced.
1.6 The Vision will be delivered by the achievement of the strategic objectives identified in Table 3. The policy references identified here (and linked to in policies elsewhere in the SLP) are not intended as a closed list – other policies that are not mentioned specifically will carry similar weight and can be taken into consideration when planning decisions are made.
Table 5 – Priorities, Strategic Objectives and Policies
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Priority |
Strategic Objective |
Policy |
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Climate Change |
Objective 1: Ensure new development takes a proactive approach to climate change mitigation, adaptation and carbon reduction, and that development is resilient to climate change. |
Policy SDS1 – SDS2, Policy SDS4, Policy SDS5, Policy SDS8 Policy SNE1 - Policy SNE3 Policy SCC1 - Policy SCC6 Policy SHW3 – SHW6 Policy STR5, Policy STR6, Policy STR9, Policy STR10 Policy SDM1, Policy SDM2 |
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Objective 2: Deliver sustainable development in locations where people can access jobs and services, delivering wider positive social and economic outcomes and protecting and enhancing local built and natural environments. |
Policy SDS1 - Policy SDS8 Policy SCC1 - Policy SCC6 Policy SHO1, Policy SHO3 Policy SEC1 – Policy SEC6 Policy SCE1 Policy STR1 – STR10 Policy SDM1 - Policy SDM10 |
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Enhancing our natural environment |
Objective 3: To protect and enhance Sandwell's natural environment, natural resources, biodiversity, wildlife corridors, geological resources, countryside and landscapes, whilst ensuring that residents have equitable access to interlinked green infrastructure. |
Policy SDS7, Policy SDS8 Policy SNE1 - Policy SNE6 Policy SHW4 - Policy SHW6 Policy SHO1 |
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Enhancing our historic environment |
Objective 4: To protect, sustain and enhance the quality of the historic built environment, ensuring the retention of distinctive and attractive places and beautiful buildings, including listed parks, scheduled monuments and their settings. |
Policy SDS2, Policy SDS5, Policy SDS6 Policy SHE1 - Policy SHE4 Policy SHW4 |
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Objective 5: To manage and maintain the wider historic environment across Sandwell, including landscapes, parks and gardens, areas of industrial heritage value, sites of geological and archaeological interest and locally listed buildings, structures and historic assets. |
Policy SDS5, Policy SDS6 Policy SNE6 Policy SHE1 - Policy SHE4 Policy SHW4 Policy SDM1, Policy SDM2 |
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Housing that meets all our needs |
Objective 6: Address Sandwell's identified and wide-ranging housing needs by supporting the provision of high-quality new homes, to include a wide mix of housing type and tenure, that:
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Policy SDS1– SDS5 Policy SNE1 - Policy SNE3 Policy SCC1 - Policy SCC6 Policy SHO1 - Policy SHO10 Policy SDM1, Policy SDM2 |
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Objective 7: Ensure communities in Sandwell are safe and resilient and social cohesion is promoted and enhanced. |
Policy SDS5, Policy SDS6 Policy SHW2 Policy SHO4, Policy SHO5, Policy SHO7 |
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Enabling a strong, stable and inclusive economy |
Objective 8: Support regeneration, business investment and job creation to maintain and grow a prosperous and resilient local and regional economy in ways that consider environmental and climate change factors. |
Policy SDS1- Policy SDS3, Policy SDS8 Policy SCC1 - Policy SCC6 Policy SEC1 - Policy SEC6 Policy STR4, Policy STR5, Policy STR6, Policy STR10 Policy SID1 - Policy SID4 |
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Objective 9: To enable communities to share the benefits of economic growth through securing access to new job opportunities and enhanced skills and training programmes. |
Policy SDS1 Policy SHO8 Policy SEC5 Policy STR1, Policy STR5 |
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Improving the Health and Wellbeing of residents and promoting social inclusion |
Objective 10: To provide a built and natural environment that supports the making of healthier choices through provision for physical activity and recreation, active travel, encouraging social interaction and discouraging harmful behaviours. |
Policy SDS7, Policy SDS8 Policy SNE6 Policy SHW1 - Policy SHW6 Policy STR5 Policy SDM6 – Policy SDM9 |
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Objective 11: To ensure new development and open spaces support health and wellbeing for all, reduce health inequalities and encourage active and healthy lifestyles. |
Policy SDS5, Policy SDS6, Policy SDS8 Policy SNE3, Policy SNE6 Policy SCC3 Policy SHW3 - Policy SHW6 Policy STR5 |
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Objective 12: To provide a built and natural environment that protects health and wellbeing through minimising pollution (air, noise and other forms), providing healthy homes, reducing the negative health effects of climate change and providing streets safe for active, low emission travel for all. |
Policy SDS1 - Policy SDS5, Policy SDS7 - Policy SDS8 Policy SNE1 - Policy SNE6 Policy SCC1 - Policy SCC6 Policy SHW3 Policy SHO5 |
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Good Design |
Objective 13: To require new development to deliver a high standard of design reflecting local character and distinctiveness and that creates greener and safer places that people feel proud to live and work in. |
Policy SDS5 Policy SCC1, Policy SCC3, Policy SCC5 - Policy SCC6 Policy SDM1 |
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Brownfield First |
Objective 14: To encourage the effective and prudent use of previously developed land, including the efficient use of land and buildings and the use of sustainable and climate-aware construction techniques within new developments, as well as providing for waste management and disposal. |
Policy SDS1 - Policy SDS5 Policy SCC1 - Policy SCC4 Policy SWA1 - Policy SWA5 Policy SCO1 - Policy SCO3 |
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Enhancing the vitality of our centres |
Objective 15: To support Sandwell's towns and local centres as places for economic, residential and cultural activity, with good access to services, in ways that protect their heritage, character and identity. |
Policy SDS5, Policy SDS6 Policy SHE1 - Policy SHE3 Policy SCE1 - Policy SCE7 Town Centre Profiles Policy STR8 Policy SID1 - Policy SID4 Policy SDM1 - Policy SDM10 |
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Promoting sustainable transport and active travel |
Objective 16: To prioritise sustainable and active travel and seek to improve transport infrastructure, to ensure efficient and sustainable accessibility within an integrated network. |
Policy SDS4 Policy SNE6 Policy STR1 - Policy STR10 |
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Meeting our resource and infrastructure needs |
Objective 17: To manage waste as a resource and minimise the amount produced and sent to landfill, including ensuring that the reliance on primary minerals during construction and development are kept to a minimum and that greater use is made of recycled or alternative building materials. |
Policy SWA1 - Policy SWA5 |
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Objective 18: To ensure development is supported by essential infrastructure and services and promotes safe movement and more sustainable modes of travel, through promoting greener travel networks for walking, cycling and public transport. |
Policy SDS4, Policy SDS5 Policy SNE6 Policy STR5, Policy STR6 Policy SID1 - Policy SID4 Policy SDM10 |
Ensuring delivery of the Vision, priorities and strategic objectives
1.7 Primarily, the Vision, objectives and priorities set out above will be delivered via the application of the policies of this Plan. The monitoring section at the end of the SLP identifies targets for key indicators that will need to be achieved if these policies are to be considered successful.
1.8 The West Midlands Combined Authority and its constituent local authority members agreed to a single settlement funding arrangement with Government, which will consolidate many of the different funding streams through which money is devolved to the region. The mechanisms that the authorities propose to use to equitably and effectively distribute the single settlement funding are:
- Functional Strategies
- Place-Based Strategies.
1.9 The Functional Strategies will be plans aligned to the Government's spending review periods. They will be agreed via the Combined Authority Board and will seek to deliver against the Combined Authority's functional responsibilities of:
- local growth and place
- local transport
- adult skills
- housing and regeneration
- building retrofit
1.10 The Place-Based Strategies will be long-term visions for each constituent local authority member. They will define a geographical area of focus and will set out a strategic case for investment and intervention, which will be delivered using single settlement funds, other investment sources and policy levers.
1.11 Sandwell's Place-Based Strategy will complement and build on the Vision and Strategic Objectives of the Local Plan. Its geographical area of focus will be the Regeneration Areas (Policy SDS2) and the Sandwell Levelling Up Zone.
