Sustainability Appraisal of the Sandwell Local Plan 2024-2041

2 About the Plan and the sequencing of the SA process

2.1 Geography of the Plan area

2.1.1 Sandwell is a metropolitan borough covering approximately 8,556ha, with a population of 341,900 according to the Census (2021)[8]. On average, Sandwell has a younger and more ethnically diverse population than the rest of the UK. Deprivation and inequalities are key issues for the local population, Sandwell is one of the most deprived local authorities in England with approximately 25.5% of children living in low-income families and life expectancy for both men and women lower than the national average.

2.1.2 Sandwell lies within the Black Country, which is a predominantly urban sub-region of the West Midlands. The sub-region includes the boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and the City of Wolverhampton. The location of Sandwell is shown in Figure 2.1.

2.1.3 The strategic centre of Sandwell is West Bromwich, with several other main towns and centres including Bearwood, Blackheath, Cape Hill, Cradley Heath, Great Bridge, Oldbury and Wednesbury, alongside smaller towns and settlements. Sandwell's towns are well connected through a network of strategic transport routes, with links to other regional and national centres via the M5/M6 and rail corridors.

2.1.4 Industry and manufacturing form a key part of Sandwell's history, which continues in the local economy today as Sandwell is an important centre in particular for retail and wholesale, manufacturing, and health and social care sectors. Sandwell also plays a role within the wider economy in terms of electricity, gas and air conditioning as well as water supply and waste management, and transportation and storage industries. The borough also supports a range of parks and open spaces including the Rowley Hills and Sandwell Valley. The Sandwell Valley forms Sandwell's only area of Green Belt land.

Figure 2.1: Map of the Sandwell Local Plan area

2.2 The Sandwell Local Plan

2.2.1 The Sandwell Local Plan (SLP) will include the overall strategy for development in Sandwell Metropolitan Borough for the Plan period 2022 to 2041, including a vision for Sandwell in 2041 and underpinning strategic objectives, and an overall spatial strategy supported by site allocations and policies to guide land use and development within the borough.

2.2.2 The SLP vision and objectives were drafted by SMBC, employing the principles of the extant Council Vision and the direction of travel set out within the Black Country Plan (BCP). The vision and objectives were both subject to public consultation and comments made during this period have been taken into account. In addition, the SLP SA and subsequent comments have also been considered and have been used to make the reflect sustainability issues, such as the circular economy, within the vision.

2.2.3 The vision and objectives as presented in the Regulation 19 version of the SLP have been evaluated alongside the planning policies, and presented within Appendix F.

2.2.4 The SLP objectives are summarised in Figure 2.2.

Figure 2.2: The strategic objectives of the SLP

2.2.5 The SLP is being prepared by SMBC, following the political decision to cease work on the joint Black Country Plan (BCP) in autumn 2022. The SLP carries forward relevant information and evidence prepared as part of the Draft BCP, with specific changes in response to planning issues raised during the Draft BCP consultation and new evidence and information for the Sandwell authority area. This includes information gathered from the Issues and Options Consultation for the emerging SLP in early 2023[9] and the following Draft Plan consultation in late 2023[10].

2.2.6 The BCP itself began as a review of the adopted Black Country Core Strategy (BCCS), produced by the four Black Country Authorities of Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council, Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council, Walsall Council and City of Wolverhampton Council.

2.2.7 Once adopted, the SLP will form part of the statutory development plan for the borough covering a minimum of 15 years, replacing and updating the currently adopted BCCS[11], Sandwell Site Allocation and Delivery Development Plan Document (SAD)[12], and various other Area Action Plans which cover the period from 2006 to 2026.

2.3 Duty to Cooperate

2.3.1 The Duty to Cooperate (DtC) was created in the Localism Act 2011[13] and amends the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. Current national policy places a legal duty on local planning authorities, county councils in England and public bodies to engage constructively, actively and on an ongoing basis to maximise the effectiveness of local plan preparation in the context of strategic cross boundary matters.

2.3.2 For SMBC, this means that unmet housing and economic land need should be sought to be provided for across the wider Housing Market Area (HMA), Functional Economic Market Area (FEMA) and other areas with which Sandwell has a physical or functional relationship.

2.3.3 A DtC Statement will be prepared, which will demonstrate how SMBC has fulfilled this duty through the plan-making process. Statements of Common Ground will be agreed with relevant authorities and bodies on key DtC issues.

2.3.4 It should be noted that emerging reforms to planning policy set out in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023[14] include the intention to repeal the DtC and replace this with a more flexible 'alignment test'[15]. However, at the time of writing, the current DtC requirement applies, and the new government has indicated potential strengthening of this requirement[16].

2.4 Sustainability Appraisal alongside the SLP stages: Iteration

2.4.1 Figure 2.3 provides a summary of the main plan making stages and includes SA outputs that were prepared at each stage.

2.4.2 The preparation of a Scoping Report was the first phase of the SA process. The scoping process set the criteria for assessment (including the SA Objectives) and established the baseline data and other information, including a review of relevant policies, programmes and plans (PPPs). The scoping process involved an overview of key issues, highlighting areas of potential conflict. The output of the scoping phase was the SA Scoping Report prepared by Lepus Consulting in 2023[17].

2.4.3 Between February and March 2023, the content of the SA Scoping Report was consulted on with Historic England, Natural England, the Environment Agency and other relevant bodies. No specific comments were received regarding the SA Scoping Report.

2.4.4 The Regulation 18 (I) Issues and Options SA Report (January 2023)[18] identified options for the Vision and 11 draft Objectives for the SLP. The SA Report also set out a range of recommendations for SMBC to consider as the SLP is developed and refined, including recommendations to improve the SLP Vision and Objectives, as well as consideration of the identification, description and evaluation of reasonable alternatives which is an important aspect of this Regulation 18 (I) SA Report.

2.4.5 The Regulation 18 (II) Draft Plan SA report (October 2023)[19] set out the appraisal of four spatial growth options alongside six housing growth options, four employment growth options, and three options for Gypsy and Traveller growth. These spatial options constitute reasonable alternatives for the distribution of new housing growth in the Plan area. Additionally, the Regulation 18 (II) SA included an assessment of 18 draft objectives for the SLP, 87 draft policies and 120 reasonable alternative sites. The SA report also set out the Council's preliminary reasons for selecting and rejecting reasonable alternative sites.

2.4.6 Reasonable alternatives are discussed further within Chapter 5.

2.5 Meeting the requirements of the SEA Regulations

2.5.1 There are certain requirements that this report must satisfy in order for it to qualify as an 'environmental report', as set out in the SEA Regulations. These requirements, and where in the report they have been met, are presented in Figure 2.4.

Figure 2.4: SEA checklist