Draft Regulation 18 Sandwell Local Plan
Towns and Local Areas
3.45 Policy SDS3 sets out the strategic approach for Sandwell's other towns and local areas.
Policy SDS3 – Towns and Local Areas
- Towns and local communities outside West Bromwich and the regeneration areas identified in Figure 3 will provide:
- 503 new homes delivered through:
- the allocation of previously identified housing sites or ones submitted as part of a Call for Sites exercise;
- the repurposing of a small number of brownfield employment sites and other previously developed and surplus land for new housing;
- small-scale residential development opportunities in highly sustainable locations;
- housing renewal areas;
- estimating the capacity of vacant retail floorspace;
- Clusters of local employment land that provide land and premises to meet localised business needs.
- Approximately 606ha of additional employment land to meet employment needs;
- An integrated and (where possible) continuous network of green infrastructure and walking and cycling routes, as well as a network of centres, health, leisure, sports, recreation and community facilities; and
- Improved access and infrastructure links between regeneration projects, local areas and West Bromwich, to allow related positive outcomes to be integrated into existing and newer communities.
Justification
3.46 Sandwell is made up of several towns and smaller local communities and is a highly urbanised area. It also contains various existing Local Employment Areas.
3.47 A key spatial priority of the SLP is to support the delivery of new housing development. A significant amount of new housing will be accommodated in existing town centres and their surrounding areas.
3.48 These locations are intended to be places of choice for living, supported by sustainable access to job opportunities and a range of other services and facilities to meet the day to day needs of residents. They will provide housing choice for people, regardless of age and income, to help underpin the areas' economic competitiveness and support the working population.
3.49 Given that new development will generate the need for new infrastructure it is important that these uses are planned together, regardless of ownership. Sandwell Council has produced an Infrastructure Delivery Plan that sets out requirements for specific sites and wider areas.
3.50 In some cases, especially on larger sites or where several smaller sites are in proximity to each other, phasing plans will be required that set out the triggers for the provision of required infrastructure (including green and blue infrastructure) and legal agreements will need to be put in place to deliver that infrastructure.
3.51 Where appropriate, masterplans may be prepared through a collaborative process involving the landowner / developer(s) and the Council, together with other interested parties such as statutory bodies and relevant stakeholders.
Housing renewal
3.52 An essential requirement of any strong and stable community is for residents to have access to decent and secure homes. In the past, significant housing market renewal and regeneration programmes have taken place across Sandwell, to address poor quality housing and living environments.
3.53 These interventions have been successful, and there are now a limited number of areas where housing market intervention activity is likely to be targeted over the plan period.
3.54 Housing renewal also provides opportunities to upgrade housing stock to meet carbon reduction and climate change mitigation and adaptation requirements. This is also addressed in the climate change section of the SLP.