Dudley Local Plan Part One

5. Dudley Borough Spatial Strategy

5.1The Dudley Local Plan (DLP) can help achieve sustainable development by ensuring that the borough benefits from the right development in the right place at the right time. This development will meet the needs of people living and working in the borough, whilst protecting and enhancing the environment and its unique character.

5.2The Spatial Strategy as set out in policies DLP1, DLP2 and DLP3, and illustrated on the Key Diagram (Figure 5.1) provides the overarching basis for the Plan’s proposals for growth and infrastructure improvements. This diagram is supplemented by thematic key diagrams for housing, economy, transport, environment, waste and minerals. These policies address all the Strategic Priorities.

Figure 5.1 Spatial Strategy Plan: Dudley Borough

Development Strategy

5.3Policy DLP1 provides the overarching development strategy for the Dudley Borough, setting out the scale and distribution of new development for the Plan period to 2041.

Justification

5.4Dudley needs to plan for economic growth, enhanced business productivity and meet housing needs within the plan period. To accommodate this future growth, locations that are both sustainable and deliverable have been identified for development, at levels and in locations that do not breach the environmental capacity of the area.

5.5The Development Strategy is based on a number of considerations, including:

1. National Planning Policy
2. The Plan’s Vision, objectives and priorities
3. Environmental constraints
4. The availability and viability of land for development

5.6The Development Strategy has been developed through a comprehensive assessment of alternative options. Growth options were considered through this process and the proposed strategy corresponds with maximising growth in the urban area, plus Duty to Cooperate contributions, as set out in the Spatial Strategy Development Document. The Sustainability Appraisal shows that this will enable Dudley to meet most of the growth needs within the urban area in a focussed manner that takes full account of environmental, climate change, accessibility, and social requirements.

5.7By promoting the right type and amount of development in the most sustainable locations, the Strategy therefore plays a crucial role in delivering inclusive development that supports communities to achieve their goals. The distribution of growth as proposed in the Development Strategy is summarised.

Table 5.1 Dudley Borough Development Strategy

5.8The Growth Network – made up of the Regeneration Corridors and Centres (Policy DLP2) - is the primary focus for co-ordinated and sustained regeneration and infrastructure investment to support the delivery of growth and promote wider benefits to local communities. The Growth Network is the focus for the delivery of these objectives and contains most of the areas where regeneration and land-use change will be concentrated over the Plan period.

5.9Whilst most change and intervention will be focussed on the Growth Network, some development will be brought forward outside the network to enable vibrant and diverse communities to thrive and prosper. The overall land use-pattern outside the Growth Network is not expected to alter greatly over the Plan period, but there will be some incremental change through a mix of permitted and allocated sites and windfall developments. Strong links will be created between the Growth Network and areas outside of it, through high-quality design, green infrastructure and transport investment.

5.10The DLP aims to utilise land efficiently through the use of previously developed land, vacant properties and surplus industrial land, and maximising housing densities where appropriate. The spatial strategy also seeks to protect green spaces within the borough, the green belt and the ‘wedges’ of open land providing valuable open breaks between settlements and access to the wider countryside, including movement for wildlife.

5.11Whilst this approach serves to meet most of the borough’s development needs, there is a shortage of deliverable sites identified. The strategy aims to address these outstanding development needs through co-operation. The Council will continue to work with neighbouring and other relevant local authorities throughout the Plan preparation process to address these shortfalls in the most sustainable way.

5.12This Plan sets a housing requirement for the borough of 11,169 new homes over the period 2024-41. For employment land, the EDNA establishes a need for 73.44ha from 2024 (92.13ha including replacement of employment land losses) of land for employment development, an anticipated supply of 12.46ha and a shortfall of 60.98ha (79.67ha if including replacement of employment land losses.)

Evidence

• SHLAA (2024)
• Urban Capacity Review Update (2024)
• Black Country Employment Areas Review (BEAR, 2021)
• Viability Assessment Report (2023 and 2024 addendum)
• Black Country Economic Development Needs Assessment (EDNA, 2017, 2021, 2023 and 2024)
• Strategic Transport Evidence
• Strategic Environmental Evidence.
• Site Assessment Report (2024) and Heritage Impact Assessment- Dudley Local Plan (2024)
• Spatial Strategy Development (2025)

Delivery

• Annual update of SHLAA
• Authority Monitoring Report
• Housing renewal will be delivered through local authority intervention
• Securing funding to facilitate delivery
• Working with key partners and delivery agencies.
• Infrastructure Delivery Plan (2025)

5.13Policy DLP2 sets out the strategic approach for the growth network, including the focus of development within the existing urban area, regeneration corridors and the borough’s strategic and town centres.

Justification

5.14The re-energising and repurposing of the Strategic Centre of Brierley Hill and the town centres of Dudley, Halesowen and Stourbridge are of fundamental importance for the regeneration of the borough. The centres form the most sustainable locations in the borough, providing the community with easy access to comparison shopping, leisure, entertainment and cultural facilities and employment. Over recent years they have benefitted from investment and regeneration. However, there remains a need for further investment and repurposing to provide a wider mix of uses and to improve their environment and sustainable transport links. As outlined in the ‘Centres’ sections in Part Two of this Plan, they also offer the opportunity for new residential development to support their longer-term vitality and viability.

5.15Alongside the centres, the borough’s housing growth will be concentrated in locations within Regeneration Corridors which are close to the strategic and town centres, providing the opportunity to enhance their sustainability and viability. Promoting the distinctive strengths and unique opportunities provided by each Centre will also help to encourage investment. The Local Plan contains a section for each of the borough’s centres to guide their regeneration. This can be found in Part Two of the DLP– Allocations and Centres.

5.16The Regeneration Corridor boundaries broadly reflect the distribution of large parcels of employment land across the borough, accommodating the majority of General Industrial (B2) and Storage and Distribution (B8) businesses and jobs. Alongside this is a network of sustainable transport routes (including rail, metro, bus and proposed high frequency rapid transit, alongside provision for walking and cycling routes) and the extensive canal network.

5.17The strategy for the Regeneration Corridors reflects two key issues arising from the evidence base - firstly, the need to provide for economic growth through the protection and enhancement of sustainable employment land and premises. Secondly, delivering housing growth through the release of brownfield and underused land.

5.18Achieving the right balance of jobs and housing is a key aim of the Plan’s Spatial Strategy. The supporting evidence base (Economic Development Needs Assessment (EDNA) and Black Country Employment Area Review (BEAR) provide information on the demand and supply of employment land for the Plan period, and this has informed the employment land and housing allocations in this Plan.

Table 5.2 Summary of Strategic and Town Centre proposals

Table 5.3 Regeneration Corridors

5.19Areas that make up the existing urban area sitting outside of the Growth Network, such as district and local centres, will play a vital role in delivering the overall strategy.

Justification

5.20. Whilst the focus of development activity is on the Growth Network, areas outside this network will play a vital role in delivering the overall strategy, as part of a balanced approach for meeting the development needs of the borough. These areas make up most of the existing urban area and are where most residents live. They are supported by a range of district and local centres, as set out in the Centres section. It is important that the local distinctiveness of these areas is protected and enhanced through new development.

5.21. Development will be focused in the most sustainable and accessible locations, and as outlined above, strong links will be created between the Growth Network and areas of development outside of it. The protection and enhancement of the borough’s green and blue infrastructure will be supported by this approach to improve access and promote physical activity, health and wellbeing.

Evidence (Policies DLP2 & DLP3)

• SHLAA (2024)
• Urban Capacity Review Update (2024)
• Black Country Employment Areas Review (BEAR, 2021)
• Viability Assessment Report (2023 and 2024 addendum)
• Black Country Economic Development Needs Assessment (EDNA, 2017,2021, 2023 and 2024)
• Strategic Transport Evidence
• Strategic Environment Evidence
• Historic Landscape Characterisation (HLC)

Delivery (Policies DLP2 & DLP3)

• Annual update of SHLAA
• Update Brownfield Land Register (BLR)
• Housing Delivery Test Action Plan (when relevant)
• Design Codes/Masterplans
• Infrastructure Delivery Plan (2025)
• Authority Monitoring Report
• Housing renewal will be delivered through local authority intervention
• Securing funding to facilitate delivery
• Working with key partners and delivery agencies

Achieving well designed places

5.22Where people live, has a major impact on their wellbeing. The Council is committed to ensuring that the design, planning and layout of developments and places is to high standard. Policy DLP4 and DLP39 set out the requirement to ensure development proposals are well designed and will function as attractive places which have a positive impact on people’s wellbeing and the overall attractiveness of the borough.

5.23The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) sets out how ‘The creation of high quality, beautiful and sustainable buildings and places is fundamental to what the planning and development process should achieve’.

5.24The NPPF also promotes the use of design codes and design guides by local planning authorities and specifies that they should set out the principles consistent with those included in the National Design Guide and National Design Code. Dudley Council was a National Design Code Pathfinder Pilot and is in the process of developing a Design Code for Lye and the Stour Valley. It is the intention to adopt the Design Code and use the experience from the pilot to develop a borough-wide design code.

5.25The aim of the Local Plan is to create the conditions for economic and social growth, which will take place within a safe, attractive and accessible built and natural environment. The Plan also encourages and supports the growth of locations that encourage participation and community engagement. Successful placemaking in the borough will foster community stability and incorporate elements that create resilience to adverse economic and environmental impacts. The borough enjoys a unique heritage, reflected in its urban structure, which requires a sensitive approach to place-making and an insistence on a high quality of design for proposals that affect the historic built and natural environment.

5.26Vibrant streets and spaces, defined by surrounding buildings and with their own distinct character, will provide the framework for a coherent and interconnected network of places. These will support ease of movement, sense of place, social interaction and a sense of personal wellbeing, and will display a clear hierarchy of private, commercial and civic functions. The borough’s network of centres will provide a focus and concentration for essential local services and activities with easy and safe access by walking, cycling and public transport to residential areas, as detailed in policies in the Centres and Transport Sections as well as Policy DLP11 – Housing Density, Type and Accessibility. Its diverse, accessible, affordable and active villages, towns and neighbourhoods will encourage commercial activity, promote prosperity and support the wellbeing of the area’s inhabitants. The borough’s historic canal network and natural waterways will provide a unifying characteristic within the borough’s urban structure and landscape.

5.27The importance of high-quality design in creating places where people want to visit, live, work and invest with renewed confidence is a fundamental plank of both national and local policy. The Government have published national design guidance that supports the National Planning Policy Framework, which states that permission should be refused for development of poor design that fails to take the opportunities available for improving the character and quality of an area and the way it functions.

5.28The opportunity exists to transform the borough’s strategic and town centres and regeneration corridors into distinctive places that provide a good quality of life for all who live in, work in and visit them. Investment in high-quality places will result in environmental, economic and social benefits, including community safety, health and wellbeing, inclusive communities, better public services, environmental sustainability, climate resilience, greater financial value of buildings and improved worklessness. Creating a higher quality of life for the borough’s communities depends on many factors and will play an increasingly important role in attracting private sector investment and skilled workers.

5.29The Plan provides an opportunity to enhance carbon sequestration through the protection, restoration and appropriate management of green land uses. Carbon sequestration is the long-term storage of carbon in plants, soils, geological formations and the oceans, and has the potential to make a significant contribution to the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The Plan provides an opportunity to enhance carbon sequestration through the protection, restoration and appropriate management of green land uses.

Evidence

• Historic Landscape Characterisation (HLC)
• National Design Code
• Art in the Public Realm Strategy & Action Plan 2020 – 2025
• West Midlands Design Charter 2020
• Sport England Active Design Guidance
• Supplementary Planning Documents or Supplementary Plans
• Dudley Climate Change Action Plan

Delivery

• Development Management, legal and funding mechanisms
• Borough Design Codes

Cultural facilities and the visitor economy

5.30Dudley borough is a regional visitor destination attracting millions of people each year to experience a range of cultural and leisure activities. Tourism is an important contributor to the borough’s economy and Dudley’s continued success as a destination for tourists will depend on the borough having a diverse mix of facilities that are attractive to a range of audiences.

5.31Alongside this, cultural assets such as theatres, cinemas, borough halls, libraries, galleries, museums, historic sites, leisure centres and places of worship can enrich people’s quality of life, whilst also providing a major source of employment. Arts, leisure, and culture can bring significant benefits to the borough and the wider sub-region, both in terms of economic impact as well as improving accessibility to culture and leisure pursuits for residents, delivering social value and supporting our health and wellbeing. The economic benefits of having a borough where residents are fit, healthy and where cultural activities are accessible and enjoyed is well documented.

5.32It is therefore appropriate to consider how planning can assist in supporting the cultural, tourism, heritage, and the visitor economy as set out in Policy DLP5.

Justification

5.33Dudley borough has a wide range of tourism and cultural assets including a strong industrial/historic heritage which includes Dudley Zoo and Castle, the Black Country Living Museum, Dudley Canal and Caverns, Stourbridge Glass Quarter, and an extensive canal network. Such varied attractions contribute to the borough’s historic landscape and heritage value (see DLP55). In addition, Dudley, and the wider Black Country, contains one of the world’s few urban geoparks, identified by UNESCO as a single, unified geographical area where sites and landscapes of international geological significance are located (Policy DLP35). Other attractions include Wren’s Nest National Nature Reserve and Dudley Museum at the Archives / Black Country UNESCO Global geopark headquarters.

5.34Visitor attractions generated approximately 9.4 m trips a year to the borough in 2022. The estimated spend from the visitor economy generated £402m in 2022 an increase of 27% (£86m) compared with 2019. The total core economic footprint of the cultural and creative sector in the Borough is equivalent to 12,794 jobs. The wide variety of attractions means that Dudley has a diverse offer which will continue to play an important role in the borough’s overall regional and national position.

5.35The Council’s cultural strategy sees the tourism and cultural sectors as being a key part of the local economy and this Plan should promote and support these sectors in a proactive and positive way. The cultural strategy identifies area-based culture programmes via ‘Cultural Action Zones’ (CAZ) opening up access to cultural activity at a local level. Potential zones have been identified in Brierley Hill and the three town centres, as well as Lye. The CAZ will contribute to regeneration agendas locally.

5.36The borough’s cultural assets and visitor facilities should be supported to grow and improve in ways that maintain their attractiveness and integrity; this will be the case particularly for those assets associated with the area’s industrial heritage and historic environment. It is an objective of this Plan to enable the maintenance and improvement of facilities, including supporting appropriate opportunities for culture and tourism.

5.37The protection, promotion and expansion of existing cultural facilities, visitor attractions and associated activities and infrastructure will deliver the cultural strategy and ensure their role as key economic drivers stimulating and regenerating the local economy, in line with Strategic Priority 9 by supporting our network of centres as they adapt to changing demands and trends.

5.38Physical and promotional links to visitor attractions close to the borough will be enhanced and encouraged, particularly in relation to the wider Black Country, Birmingham as a global city and a business economy destination and the Black Country UNESCO Global Geopark.

Figure 5.2 Dudley Borough Tourism and Visitor Attractions

Evidence

• West Midlands Regional Tourism Strategy 2019 - 2029, West Midlands Growth Company
• West Midlands Cultural Sector Analysis, Hatch, We Made That, Tom Fleming Creative Consultancy, June 2021
• STEAM Economic Impact Assessment Report 2019-2022: Dudley, May 2023
• Glass Quarter Supplementary Planning Document (2009)

Delivery

• Planning Management
• Other Local Plan/Regeneration Frameworks
• Promotion of tourism and cultural attractions in association with West Midlands Combined Authority and Growth Company
• Dudley Cultural Strategy (2024)
• Supplementary Planning Documents