Draft Regulation 18 Sandwell Local Plan
3. Development Strategy
(1) Development Strategy
3.1 Policy SDS1 provides the overarching spatial strategy for Sandwell, setting out the scale and distribution of new development for the Plan period to 2041.
(27) Policy SDS1 – Development Strategy
- To support the attainment of the Sandwell SLP Vision, drive sustainable and strategic economic and housing growth and meet local aspirations, Sandwell, working with local communities, partners and key stakeholders, will make sure that decisions on planning proposals:
- deliver at least 11,167 net new homes and create sustainable mixed communities including a range and choice of new homes supported by adequate infrastructure;
- provide at least 1,206ha of employment land (of which 29ha is currently vacant);
- ensure that sufficient physical, social, and environmental infrastructure is delivered to meet identified requirements;
- support improvements to the health and wellbeing of Sandwell's communities by requiring new development to address the following:
- increased access to green spaces;
- active and passive recreation;
- active travel;
- improved and accessible education and healthcare infrastructure;
- opportunities for people to make healthier choices.
- minimise and mitigate the likely effects of climate change, recognising the multifunctional benefits that open spaces, landscaping, trees, nature conservation habitats and both green and blue infrastructure can deliver in doing so;
- create new public open spaces to serve new housing developments;
- protect and improve parks, woodland and tree planting, open spaces, landscapes and habitats across the borough;
- protect the openness, integrity and function of Sandwell's designated green belt by resisting inappropriate development in it;
- protect habitats and areas of ecological value;
- conserve the historic and archaeological environment and protect areas with geological and landscape value;
- promote the use of zero- and low-carbon designs, building techniques, materials and technologies in all new development.
- The SLP seeks to ensure this growth is sustainable by requiring the following issues are addressed in planning proposals:
- delivering as much new development as possible on previously developed land and sites in the urban area;
- allocating housing in locations with the highest levels of sustainable transport access to residential services (retail provision, schools, healthcare facilities, fresh food, employment etc.);
- regenerating existing housing and employment areas and help them deliver:
- cleaner, more energy-efficient and more intensive areas of growth; and
- improving the environmental, climate change, accessibility and socio-economic capacity of existing residential and employment areas;
- allocating new employment land where sustainable access and good public transport links are available;
- taking advantage of existing and improved infrastructure capacity to maximise development on new sites;
- supporting and enhancing the sustainability of existing communities through the focussing of growth and regeneration into West Bromwich and other town centres and regeneration areas (Policy SDS2);
- protecting and enhancing the quality of existing towns and local areas and re-balancing the housing stock by delivering homes supported by jobs and local services.
- Appendices B and C show how the housing and employment land ambitions for Sandwell will be met. Those development needs that cannot be accommodated within the borough will be exported to sustainable locations in neighbouring local authority areas, following consultation.
(2) Justification
3.2 The economy and population of Sandwell are both growing. The Council needs to plan for economic recovery and growth and enhanced business productivity. It has also identified land for at least 11,167 new homes within the plan period. To accommodate this future growth, sites and locations that are both sustainable and deliverable have been identified for development, at a level that does not breach the environmental capacity of the area.
3.3 The Development Strategy is based on various considerations, including:
- the plan's Vision, objectives and priorities;
- environmental constraints;
- the availability and viability of land for development;
- national planning policy.
3.4 The Development Strategy has been arrived at through a comprehensive assessment of a range of alternative options. The Sustainability Appraisal shows that this Option will enable Sandwell to meet most of its growth needs in a broad development and delivery focussed manner that takes full account of the environment, climate change, accessibility and social requirements. By promoting the right type and amount of development in the most sustainable locations, the Strategy therefore plays a crucial role in delivering an inclusive Sandwell that supports communities to achieve their goals.
3.5 The areas identified for major inward investment and funding are the primary foci for co-ordinated and sustained renewal and infrastructure development, to support the delivery of significant growth and promote wider benefits to local communities. This plan sets out deliverable development targets for each centre, based on up-to-date evidence.
3.6 The borough's main strategic centre, West Bromwich, is already served by an extensive transport system and therefore provides a suitable location for economic and housing growth, although improvements are required to enhance connectivity, accessibility and environmental quality.
3.7 Strong links will be created between the strategic town centre, the areas identified for regeneration and existing town and local centres and communities, through high-quality design, green infrastructure and transport investment, to help spread regeneration benefits, improve community cohesion and create an effective network.
3.8 The Council is aiming to utilise land efficiently by using previously developed and surplus land and vacant properties where possible, and maximising housing densities where appropriate, but there is still a shortage of deliverable sites to meet housing and economic growth needs.
3.9 Sandwell has identified and made effective and extensive use of brownfield and urban sites and has also undertaken density uplifts in relation to both existing and new allocations. Sites have been assessed in terms of their accessibility by all modes of transport. There is a need to provide for the continued managed growth of Sandwell, to enable it to provide capacity for economic prosperity while recognising and protecting the most sensitive environmental resources and ensuring that proposed development does not adversely affect certain areas unduly.
3.10 The overall effect of Sandwell's strategy is to direct housing growth and employment land development to the existing built-up area and onto brownfield sites wherever possible.
3.11 The spatial strategy also seeks to protect other green spaces within Sandwell, including parks, open spaces and land with value for nature conservation and ecology. All these areas provide valuable open areas for recreation and ecology and contribute to a network of spaces across the wider Black Country that allows access to the surrounding countryside, including for wildlife.
(4) Duty to Co-operate
3.12 This Plan will look for housing and employment land needs to be met within Sandwell in the first instance. However, the capacity of the borough is finite; it is not possible to provide for all the identified housing and employment land needs within its administrative boundaries, given the circumstances around land deliverability, extant land-use constraints and the need to protect its unique natural and built heritage.
3.13 This Plan aims to allocate sites for 11,167 new homes in Sandwell over the period 2022-41, compared to a local housing need of 29,773 (2022 – 2041) homes; this identifies a shortfall of 18,606 homes.
3.14 For employment land, the EDNA establishes a need for 185ha of vacant land for new employment development, an anticipated level of allocations of 1,206ha of employment land (of which 29ha is currently vacant) and a shortfall of 143ha (accounting for additional completions identified between 2020 and 2022).
3.15 Current national planning policy requires this unmet housing and employment land need to be provided for across the Housing Market Area, Functional Economic Market Area (FEMA) and other areas with which Sandwell has a physical or functional relationship.
3.16 Sandwell has worked openly and constructively with neighbouring authorities to help provide as much certainty as possible about how and where its full housing and employment land needs will be delivered. The current position is set out in the Draft Plan Statement of Consultation and will be elaborated on in more detail at Publication stage.
3.17 Sandwell recognises that this approach may only address a small proportion of the housing and employment shortfall, as it is beyond the legal powers of the Council to establish the limits of sustainable development in neighbouring authorities. If a shortfall remains over and above existing and anticipated contributions, Sandwell will undertake further work as appropriate to identify how the shortfall can be addressed.
3.18 Notwithstanding this, Sandwell is committed to ongoing engagement with its neighbours to secure the most appropriate and sustainable locations for housing and employment growth to meet local needs. In terms of housing, the engagement will extend beyond the adoption of this plan and will build on the partnership approach developed across the Greater Birmingham and Black Country Housing Market Area.
3.19 Where it is shown to be desirable, appropriate, sustainable and deliverable Sandwell will support its neighbours in bringing forward land for employment and housing that sits adjacent to existing administrative boundaries and will work in partnership to ensure infrastructure needs are met in full across administrative boundaries.
