Dudley Local Plan Part One

National Requirements for Plan-making

3.1The DLP has been prepared in accordance with the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF 2023) and its associated Planning Practice Guidance (PPGs) and best practice advice notes produced by Historic England. The NPPF sets out the national approach to planning in England and emphasises the role of sustainability in guiding plans and policies, setting out three dimensions to sustainable development, these being economic, social and environmental.

3.2National policy requires that all plans set out a vision and a framework for future development and seek to address the strategic priorities for the area. The strategic policies for an area should include policies and site allocations to address key issues such as:

• an overall strategy for growth
• housing (including affordable housing)
• commercial development
• retail and leisure
• infrastructure
• community facilities
• climate change
• conservation and enhancement of the natural and built environment.

3.3Plans should be clear in identifying strategic policies. They should form a starting point for local non-strategic policies which can include more detailed development management policies. Strategic policies should include a clear spatial strategy for bringing forward enough land to address housing needs over the plan period and be underpinned by relevant and up to date evidence. It is now a legal requirement to have completed a review of the Local Plan within 5 years of its adoption to take account of changing circumstances affecting the area.

3.4The NPPF sets out that Local Plans should be prepared in line with procedural and legal requirements and will be assessed on whether they are considered ‘sound’. Plans are considered sound if they are: positively prepared, justified, effective, and consistent with national policy.

Sub-regional and local policy context

3.5Dudley is a constituent member of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) which was established in 2016. The WMCA overarching objective is to build ‘a better connected, more prosperous, fairer, greener and healthier West Midlands’. To deliver this objective, the WMCA have developed a number of strategies and associated programmes relevant to the preparation of the DLP. These are summarised below.

3.6The WMCA Strategic Economic Plan (SEP) was adopted in 2016 and sets out the vision, objectives, strategy and actions needed to improve the quality of life for everyone who lives and works in the West Midlands. While this strategy pre-dates Britain leaving the European Union, the Covid-19 recession, and ongoing shifting economic turbulence, it outlines a number of high-level challenges facing the West Midlands which remain relevant. These include:

• Bringing forward land for housing and employment
• Accelerating the rate of house building to match aspirations for growth

3.7WMCA produced the West Midlands Local Industrial Strategy (LIS) which was published in May 2019. The LIS demonstrates how the West Midlands is forging its future and building an inclusive and balanced economy. Together with the supporting documents published locally, it shows the West Midlands is taking action to continue growth in productivity and earning power for all.

3.8In 2025, the WMCA published the West Midlands Growth Plan which sets out a collective direction, vision and priorities for the region to drive growth and better living standards for residents over a 10-year period. Working in conjunction with regional partners, the Growth Plan sets out how Government and the region will seek to tackle three shared priority challenges. These being:

• Skills and Employment. Increasing the skills base and reducing economic inactivity, to enable residents to rejoin or increase participation in the workforce and also reduce youth unemployment, by supporting young people into better employment opportunities.
• Housing and Commercial Development. Increasing business and housing density in key urban centres in the region, to enable a more complex and diverse regional economy. This includes addressing capacity constraints and local site viability issues.
• Innovation. Boosting the generation of innovation and its adoption and diffusion across businesses to support existing firms to adopt new technologies and/or transition into higher-value activities.

3.9WMCA’s strategies have formed the basis for a range of investment programmes supported by Government funding packages. One of the priorities for this funding is the delivery of projects which provide land for new homes and employment. WMCA has led the way nationally in the delivery of brownfield land, including sites in Dudley, and moving forward, over the lifetime of the DLP, this activity will continue, providing valuable support to unlock constrained sites and deliver critical infrastructure. The focus of this future work includes supporting projects in town centres to enable them to thrive again, innovative approaches to the delivery of sustainable homes, zero carbon homes and the delivery of land to support business needs.

3.10Dudley Council will continue to work closely with the WMCA to drive forward investment in housing, regeneration, transport and employment to deliver a better connected, more prosperous, fairer, greener and healthier West Midlands.

West Midlands Local Transport Plan

3.11The West Midlands Local Transport Plan (LTP) 2011-2026 Movement for Growth sets out clear objectives for dealing with transport issues, problems and challenges in the wider region and within the Black Country sub-region. It draws on a number of national, regional and local planning and transportation policy documents to ensure that the strategy guides the delivery of wider objectives. A new West Midlands LTP is being developed to replace Movement for Growth and will set out overall aims, vision and approaches to guide the development and delivery of transport policies until the end of 2041. The emerging strategy “Reimaging transport in the West Midlands”, seeks to: sustain economic success; create a fairer society; support local communities and places; become more active; and tackle the climate emergency.

Sub-regional Context

3.12The Black Country – made up of the local authorities of Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton - forms a distinctive sub-region on the western side of the West Midlands conurbation. It shares an eastern boundary with the City of Birmingham and to the north, west and south it is bounded by districts in Staffordshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire, it is in relative proximity to the local authority areas of South Staffordshire, Wyre Forest, Shropshire and Bromsgrove. The Black Country sub region has a unique economic history, settlement form and topography and is very much shaped by its industrial past.

3.13The four Black Country Authorities (BCAs) have a shared set of social, economic, and environmental issues and challenges, and have a long history of successful joint working most notably through the Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP). The LEP was established in 2011 with an overarching objective of creating jobs and building a strong economy by tackling barriers to sustainable growth, securing and delivering a total of £2.4bn of funding. The LEP has now been disbanded, along with others throughout England, with key functions transferred to other organisations including WMCA.

3.14The DLP set out the Council’s regeneration aspirations for the borough and provides a basis for the public and private sector investment decisions, including the devolved housing and land funds agreed with Government, the Towns Fund, levelling up funding and other regeneration led funds.

The Local Context

“Forging a Future for All”

3.15The DLP, will help to deliver the Council’s priorities across a range of policy areas through addressing climate change, supporting sustainable development and appropriate land use.

3.16Under current legislation, local plans are required to identify a clear vision setting out what the authority wants to achieve through its approach to land use and development and setting out the strategic priorities to achieve this.

3.17The Vision set out in the DLP has been guided by the Council’s adopted corporate strategies. “Forging a Future for All” is the borough’s Vision to 2030 which was developed with extensive engagement with stakeholders. The Vision sets out seven aspirations of what it would like the borough of Dudley to be:

1. An affordable and attractive place to live with a green network of high-quality parks, waterways and nature reserves that are valued by local people and visitors
2. A place where everybody has the education and skills they need, and where outstanding local schools, colleges and universities secure excellent results for their learners
3. A place of healthy, resilient, safe communities where people have high aspirations and the ability to shape their own future
4. Better connected with high quality and affordable transport, combining road, tram, rail, and new cycling and walking infrastructure
5. Renowned as home to a host of innovative and prosperous businesses, operating in high quality locations with space to grow, sustainable energy supplies and investing in their workforce
6. A place to visit and enjoy that drives opportunity, contributing to its ambitious future while celebrating its pioneering past
7. Full of vibrant towns and local centres, offering a new mix of leisure, faith, cultural, residential and shopping uses.

3.18This Vision has been used to inform the Vision for the DLP.

Dudley Council Plan

3.19The Council’s previous Council Plan that was expected to run from 2002 to 2025 was suspended in March 2024 and was replaced with a new one-year plan for 2024-25. This was produced as part of the Council’s Fit for the Future programme and reflected the Council’s focus on becoming a financially sustainable organisation.

3.20The subsequent Council Plan published for 2025-2026 outlines the key priorities for the year, aligned with the seven best value themes of the Dudley Council Improvement Plan. The Council Plan provides a roadmap to drive sustainable change and improve services for our communities, these being as follows:

• Partnerships and Community Engagement
• Service Delivery
• Leadership
• Culture
• Governance
• Use of Resources
• Continuous Improvement

Dudley Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2023-2028

3.21The Health and Wellbeing Board’s vision for Dudley to 2028 is that the borough will be a place where everyone lives longer, safer and healthier lives. The Strategy will focus its resources and energy on 3 goals which will have the biggest impacts on people’s health and wellbeing:

1. Children are ready for school

2. Fewer people die from circulatory disease

3. More women are screened for breast cancer

3.22Across all of these 3 goals the Board will embed an approach to reduce health inequalities – to close the gap in health and wellbeing for the most disadvantaged families and communities and ensure a focus on the wider determinants of health such as income and employment, unleash the potential of our communities, and deliver services furthest and fastest to those who need them most.

Dudley Climate Change Action Plan

3.23The Dudley Climate Change Action Plan is the Council’s commitment to action to address climate change following its declaration of a Climate Emergency in July 2020. The Council pledged to make all council activities net carbon zero by 2030 and has also pledged to work with partners to make Dudley a net carbon zero borough by 2041.

3.24Achieving these targets will require the Council to embed low carbon practices within its planning policy, land allocations, development and regeneration, and to work closely with its partners to maximise the use of low carbon solutions.

Dudley Borough Economic Regeneration Strategy 2024

3.25The Council has produced an Economic Regeneration Strategy to shape a more prosperous, more equitable and more sustainable economy in which businesses and communities thrive.

3.26The strategy outlines the Council’s proposed approach to economic development and regeneration and how the Council will work alongside partners to support the local economy to grow. The strategy is based upon four key themes of: unlocking enterprise and innovation, investing in people and building skills for tomorrow, creating a vibrant creative and cultural environment, and supporting the visitor economy and reinventing town centres across the borough. These four themes are underpinned with a cross-cutting priority of maximising the impact of Midland Metro and driving investment in future connectivity.

3.27The strategy will inform the main focus of the Council’s regeneration and enterprise work and will seek to achieve the following outcomes for the Borough:

• new businesses are formed, and existing businesses grow – including in new sectors
• inward investors choose to locate in the borough
• local people develop new skills and can ‘pivot’ as new opportunities come to the area
• town centres are vibrant and sustainable, and attractive both to local people and visitors
• the quality of the natural and built environment (including heritage assets) are recognised at the heart of the visitor economy and more generally
• communities and businesses are connected by a high-quality transport infrastructure across the borough
• significant progress is being made towards net zero carbon
• everyone can reach their potential

3.28Delivering these aims will require a positive spatial planning framework

Cross boundary issues and Duty to Cooperate

3.29Local Planning Authorities must co-operate with neighbouring authorities and other identified public bodies on strategic matters that cross administrative boundaries. Strategic matters can include housing, employment, infrastructure, and the green belt. The Council has been working collaboratively with neighbouring authorities and other identified public bodies on cross boundary issues and infrastructure requirements for a number of years.

3.30The NPPF presumption in favour of sustainable development makes it explicit that authorities should plan for their own objectively assessed needs for housing and other development, as well as any needs that cannot be met in neighbouring areas. Agreement through Statements of Common Ground (SoCG) are now a necessity and will document the cross-boundary matters that need to be addressed and what progress has been made in dealing with them.

3.31The Council’s Duty to Co-operate Statement demonstrates how the authority has engaged with the relevant bodies and how this helped to shape the Plan.

3.32The following contributions have been offered towards the unmet housing and employment land needs of the Black Country Authorities and Birmingham City Council. These contributions are subject to each local authority testing this through their local plan review and/or local plan examinations. These contributions will go some way in reducing the shortfalls identified for Dudley. However, it should be noted that contributions made to the Black Country FEMA will need to be apportioned to each authority via agreement and Statements of Common Ground.

Employment

3.33The preparation of a Local Plan must be based on a wide variety of up to date and robust evidence, providing technical information specific to Dudley or the sub-region.

3.34A considerable body of evidence, background documents and data covering a range of planning issues supported the preparation of the DLP. These are available on the Council’s website: https://www.dudley.gov.uk/localplan. After each policy in this document there is a bullet point list of the key evidence that has helped shape that policy.

3.35The evidence base to support the preparation of the DLP has been updated where necessary alongside each stage of the plan making process.

Sustainability Appraisal

3.36All local plans must contribute to achieving sustainable development, aiming to achieve a better quality of life for all, both now and for future generations. A Sustainability Appraisal (SA) is a statutory requirement, which ensures that the environmental, social and economic effects of a plan and reasonable alternatives to the plan are being considered. The SA assesses the sustainability of the strategic approach, proposed allocations and reasonable alternatives, and the content of the policies contained in a plan.

3.37The Local Plan must contribute to achieving sustainable development, aiming to achieve a better quality of life for all, both now and for future generations. A Sustainability Appraisal (SA) is a statutory requirement which ensures that the environmental, social and economic effects of a plan and reasonable alternatives to a plan are being considered A separate SA was prepared to appraise proposals at each stage of Local Plan preparation and was subject to consultation. The SA assessed the sustainability of the strategic approach, allocations and reasonable alternatives, and the content of the policies contained in the plan. The SA findings informed the final proposals set out in the Local Plan. Copies of the SA can be viewed on the Council’s website: https://www.dudley.gov.uk/localplan.

Habitats Regulation Assessment (HRA)

3.38The Habitats Directive establishes an ecological network of protected European Sites (Natura 2000 Network) and requires consideration of whether or not an Appropriate Assessment needs to be undertaken during the preparation of a Local Plan. The purpose is to assess what effects, if any, the plan might have on protected European sites.

3.39A Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA) was undertaken in accordance with Regulation 61 of the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2010 (as amended).

3.40Further information on the HRA process can be found in the HRA documentation and on our website: https://www.dudley.gov.uk/localplan.

Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA)

3.41The Council has a duty under the Equality Act 2010 to carry out an Equality Impact Assessment (EqIA) for all plans, strategies and proposals in order to eliminate unlawful discrimination, promote equality of opportunity and promote good relations between people of different equality groups. The protected characteristic groups include age, disability, gender reassignment, religion/belief, pregnancy and maternity, sexual orientation and sex; all of which are considered to be at particular risk of discrimination.

3.42The Council has published an EqIA to accompany this Local Plan. The EqIA was updated at each stage of the Plan process.