Dudley Borough Local Plan Scoping Consultation Document

1. Introduction and background to the new Local Plan

What is the purpose of this consultation?

This ‘Scoping Consultation Paper’ represents the first consultation stage for the preparation of a new Local Plan for Dudley borough. It has been published alongside the Council’s notice of intention to commence plan-making and the Local Plan timetable, available on the Council’s Local Plan website. There will be two further mandatory consultation stages following this scoping consultation, as detailed further in Section 3.

This scoping consultation seeks views on:

• The scope of the new Local Plan, including what other strategies should be taken account of and the potential impact of new national planning policies.
• The key issues, vision and measurable outcomes for the new Local Plan.
• The proposed consultation and community engagement strategy for the new Local Plan.
• How the spatial options for new development under the new Local Plan should be prepared.
• The site assessment process for the new Local Plan.
• The evidence base required to inform the new Local Plan.
• A Call for Sites exercise is also inviting submissions to inform the spatial options and site assessment process.

As this represents the first consultation and a scoping stage, it does not identify any proposed options for future development or policies. The following stages of consultation will provide further detail on these as the plan progresses (see further detail in Section 3).

How to respond to this consultation

The Scoping Consultation document includes 24 questions on which consultees are invited to provide comments. A full list of these questions is set out in Appendix 3.

We are encouraging responses via our online consultation platform. This will assist in making the consultation process more efficient in terms of stakeholders submitting responses and the Council analysing them. It reflects the Government drive towards more digital based planning, seeking to improve access to information and the more efficient processing of information.

Why is the Council preparing a new Local Plan?

Dudley Council is preparing a new Local Plan which will provide a strategy for future housing, employment and other development for the next 15 years (currently anticipated to be up to 2045) and a framework for determining planning applications within the borough. It will contain site allocations and planning polices for specific topic areas and sites. It will review and replace the Dudley Local Plan (Part One and Two) upon its adoption, which at this stage we envisage would be in April 2029.

The Council is required to undertake a review of the Dudley Local Plan under the transitional arrangements set out in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF, 2024)^[1]. These arrangements provided local authorities with a transitional period to account for the new NPPF (significantly updated in 2024 from the 2023 version) and the new-plan making system.

Under the transitional arrangements the Council is required to commence the new plan making process by 30 June 2026 (via the publication of its notice of intention to commence plan-making) and publish its Gateway 1 self-assessment by 31 October 2026^[2] (see Section 3). This is because all the following apply:

• The Dudley Local Plan was submitted for examination on or before 12 March 2025, but the document was not adopted or approved on or before this date. It was submitted on the 14 February 2025 and was adopted on 13 July 2026.
• The housing requirement in the Dudley Local Plan meets less than 80 per cent of local housing need, using the 2024 standard method for calculating local housing needs in National Planning Practice Guidance (PPG). The Dudley Local Plan was based on the previous 2023 standard method and has a housing requirement of 657 dwellings per annum. The 2024 standard method gives a need of 1,514 dwellings per annum (as of May 2026). Therefore, the Dudley Local Plan does not meet 80% of the new local housing need. It should be noted that the Council is required to use the 2024 standard method as per national policy and guidance.
• The Dudley Local Plan does not relate to an area in which there is an operative Spatial Development Strategy (SDS) (see further explanation below in Section 2 of this document).

How will the new Local Plan be prepared?

The new Local Plan is being prepared under the new plan-making system introduced via the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act 2023, the provisions for which came into force as of 25^th March 2026. The new-plan making system is intended to facilitate up-to-date universal plan coverage across England. It intends to speed up the process of adopting up-to-date local plans via a fixed 30-month timetable for their production, with their content being clearer and more accessible for users and focused on key local matters^[3]. This includes a more standardised and digital format for plans and new national policies being available for decision-making, which do not then need to be repeated via local policies. Further information on the timetable and key stages of production for the new plan-making system is provided in Section 3 of this document.

The new Local Plan is being prepared in accordance with the legislative requirements for the new plan-making system and in accordance with the NPPF (2024) and the associated PPG. This includes the most up to date national standard method for calculating local housing needs. The Government consulted on proposed revisions to the NPPF in December 2025-March 2026. The consultation document proposed a series of substantial amendments to existing national policy, including new National Development Management Policies.

This scoping paper has been prepared in accordance with the most up to date NPPF but also has regard to the potential changes that may arise with the new NPPF. The new NPPF is currently anticipated to be published in summer 2026, and therefore the new Dudley Borough Local Plan will ultimately be prepared under this.

The Dudley Local Plan was prepared in accordance with a previous version of the NPPF (2023). There are notable policy differences between the 2023 and 2024 versions of the NPPF, and further substantial policy changes could arise in the form of the forthcoming update to the NPPF.

Key national policy changes that the new Local Plan will need to account for include, but are not limited to:

• Updates to national Green Belt policy, including ‘grey belt’ land and what is considered ‘inappropriate development’ in the Green Belt (via the extant 2024 NPPF and draft 2025 NPPF).
• Updates to the national standard method for calculating local housing needs (via the extant 2024 NPPF and draft 2025 NPPF).
• Introduction of National Development Management Policies (via the draft 2025 NPPF).
• Reforms to the “presumption in favour of sustainable development” shifting toward a rules-based system (via the draft 2025 NPPF).
• Requirement to deliver housing that meets the needs of varied groups, including older people, disabled people, students, and rural communities, while strengthening expectations for affordable and social rent homes (via the extant 2024 NPPF and draft 2025 NPPF).
• Transport planning is moving further towards a Vision-led approach – focused on planning to deliver desired outcomes around low carbon and sustainable travel (via the extant 2024 NPPF and draft 2025 NPPF).

The new Dudley Borough Local Plan will be assessed against the national policy tests of ‘soundness’ and legislative requirements. The current tests of soundness are contained at paragraph 36 of the NPPF (2024). Plans are ‘sound’ and can be adopted if they are:

• Positively prepared – providing a strategy which, as a minimum, seeks to meet the area’s objectively assessed needs; and is informed by agreements with other authorities, so that unmet need from neighbouring areas is accommodated where it is practical to do so and is consistent with achieving sustainable development;
• Justified – an appropriate strategy, taking into account the reasonable alternatives, and based on proportionate evidence;
• Effective – deliverable over the plan period, and based on effective joint working on cross-boundary strategic matters that have been dealt with rather than deferred, as evidenced by the statement of common ground; and
• Consistent with national policy – enabling the delivery of sustainable development in accordance with the policies in the NPPF and other statements of national planning policy, where relevant.

The consultation draft NPPF (2025) proposed amendments to these tests of soundness, but the key principles remain comparable.

The new Dudley Borough Local Plan will also have to comply with legislative requirements related to the plan content and preparation, as set out in the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2026 (hereafter referred to as ‘the Regulations’). Before proceeding to the final ‘Examination’ stage, the proposed plan will need to be subject to gateway assessments and meet certain ‘prescribed requirements’ at Gateway 3, summarised below:

• The plan should set out policies in relation to the amount, type and location of, and timetable for, development in the borough (including minerals and waste).
• The plan should contain the following:
  • a vision for the future, setting out how the area is intended to change over the plan period,
  • no more than ten measurable outcomes, to monitor progress towards meeting the vision, and
  • identify where existing development plan policies are superseded by the new local plan policies.
• The plan should secure the mitigation of, and adaptation to, climate change.
• The plan should take account of any local nature recovery strategy for the area.
• The plan should take account of an assessment of the amount, and type, of housing that is needed in the borough, including affordable housing.
• The plan should not include anything that is not permitted or required by the legislative framework.
• The Council have complied with the legislative requirements related to the gateway assessments, including timings and the publication of observations and advice.
• The Council have had regard to other matters.^[4] These are the observations received from Planning Inspectors at gateway assessments; consultation responses; national development management policies; other relevant national policies and advice; an operative spatial development strategy (SDS) for the area; any neighbourhood plans; the Council’s self-assessment summary; the local transport authority’s policies; prevention of major accidents and limiting their consequences; the long term need to maintain safety distances or other measures between areas of public use/nature sensitivity and hazardous establishments; and the national waste management plan.
• The Council have prepared the prescribed independent examination submission documents (including the proposed local plan, a proposed local plan policies map, statement of compliance to demonstrate meets the prescribed requirements, statement of soundness to demonstrate meets soundness tests, statement setting out a summary of consultations undertaken, and an environmental report).
• The map of proposed local plan policies accurately illustrates the proposed geographical application of policies in the plan.
• The Council is ready to proceed to independent examination (a statement setting out practical readiness for Examination).

What other plans and programmes will the new Local Plan need to take account of?

The new Local Plan will need to have regard to a range of other plans and programmes, which will inform the ‘Vision’ and its associated measurable outcomes, as well as the overarching spatial strategy and individual Local Plan polices. The implications of the new Spatial Development Strategies are considered in further detail at Section 2, and this will bring in key existing sub-regional plans, such as the West Midlands Local Transport Plan and Local Nature Recovery Strategy (explained further below). Other key plans and programmes include, but are not limited to:

• Forging a Future for All: is the borough’s Vision to 2030 which was developed with extensive engagement with stakeholders. It sets out seven aspirations for the borough related to social, economic and environmental matters.
• The Council Plan (currently 2025-26): 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.
• Dudley Health and Wellbeing Strategy (2023-2028): sets a vision for Dudley to 2028 where the borough will be a place where everyone lives longer, safer and healthier lives. It focuses resources and energy on 3 goals which will have the biggest impacts on people’s health and wellbeing. These are children are ready for school; fewer people die from circulatory disease; and more women are screened for breast cancer.
• 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.
• Dudley Borough Economic Regeneration Strategy (2024): 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.
• The Economic Regeneration Strategy also links to the borough’s Cultural Strategy (2024) which supports opportunities for growth in the culture, creative and tourism sectors, and the Place-Based Strategy (2024) which identifies the key locations for investment and the measures to unlock it (aligning with the WMCA Integrated Settlement funding priorities).
• West Midlands Transport Plan: The 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. A new West Midlands LTP is being developed 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.
• West Midlands Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS): Dudley borough is covered by the West Midlands LNRS which was published in 2025. LNRSs are spatial strategies for nature and environmental improvement required by law. Each strategy must agree priorities for nature’s recovery; map the most valuable existing areas for nature; and map specific proposals for creating or improving habitat for nature and wider environmental goals (adopting nature-based solutions).