Draft Regulation 18 Sandwell Local Plan
Green Belt
3.77 Green Belts are identified and designated to prevent urban sprawl (including the coalescence of settlements) by keeping land permanently open. The essential characteristics of green belts are their openness and their permanence. The detailed boundaries of the West Midlands Green Belt in Sandwell are identified on the Policies Map.
3.78 Green belt policy aims to prevent inappropriate development within designated areas. The following policies respond to local circumstances and provide clarity and interpretation of several of the terms set out in the NPPF.
3.79 The protection of the green belt is a key aspect of the Vision and the overarching Strategic Priority of development in the most appropriate and sustainable locations whilst protecting the most vulnerable assets.
Policy SDS6 – Sandwell's Green Belt
- Sandwell Council will maintain a defensible boundary[31] around the Sandwell green belt, to help promote urban renaissance, to maximise its role in helping to mitigate climate change impacts and to support easy access to the countryside for residents.
- Sandwell green belt's nature conservation, landscape, heritage and agricultural value will be protected and enhanced.
- Opportunities will be taken to improve the value and recreational role of the green belt in Sandwell Valley:
- through improving safe accessibility for all users;
- by providing facilities for active and passive recreation (if this preserves the openness of the Green Belt and does not conflict with the purposes of including land within it[32]);
- by protecting tranquil areas and locations with ecological and historic value.
- Extensions to existing buildings, the re-use of buildings[33] or limited infilling / redevelopment / replacement of them within the footprint of an existing developed site within Sandwell's Green Belt will be considered for approval provided:
- extensions are not disproportionately over and above the size of the existing building(s) as originally constructed;
- for replacement buildings, the new building is in the same use and not materially larger than the one it replaces;
- the scale, materials and general design of the proposed development or redevelopment are in keeping with the character of the buildings and their surroundings and avoid greater impact and harm to the openness of the Green Belt; and
- it does not lead to an increase in the developed proportion of the overall site.
Justification
3.80 Sandwell attaches great importance to the ongoing protection of the Black Country Green Belt, whose boundary is drawn tightly around parts of its urban edges, and which encompasses some of the most sensitive and important tracts of green and open space in the borough. The largest section of Sandwell's designated green belt lies within the Sandwell Valley area, and links into Walsall's green belt to the north-east of the borough.
3.81 The Green Belt will be preserved from inappropriate development unless very special circumstances have been demonstrated in accordance with national planning policy and guidance. Inappropriate development is, by definition, harmful to the Green Belt and should not be approved except in very special circumstances.
3.82 Sandwell Council recognises that the space needs of existing uses can change and evolve over time and some activities may require additional space. To remain in their current premises and to support a thriving community and economy, facilities currently located in the green belt may need to extend or alter their current operational buildings.
3.83 To ensure the openness of the green belt is maintained, any extensions or alterations to buildings in it must not result in additions that are disproportionately over and above the size of the original building. For all non-residential buildings, the 'original building' is taken to be a building as it existed on 1 July 1948 or, if constructed after 1 July 1948, as it was built originally.
3.84 While green belt is not itself a reflection of landscape quality or value, large parts of the local green belt are also identified as being of significant historic, environmental and landscape importance; should a permission be granted, the Council will require particularly high-quality design and materials to be used in such locations, in line with Policy SDS4, Policy SDM1 and the policies in the Natural and Historic Environment section of the SLP.
3.85 It is the Council's view that there are no exceptional circumstances in Sandwell that would justify amending current boundaries and releasing any areas of green belt for new development. While there is an identified shortfall of land suitable for housing and economic development, this of itself does not outweigh the need to maintain the openness and permanence of the green belt within Sandwell, especially given the densely developed and urban character of most of the rest of the borough.
[31] The boundary of the Sandwell Green Belt is shown on the Policies Map.
[32] Paragraph 149c (or any subsequent update) of the NPPF (2023).
[33] Provided they are of permanent and substantial construction