Part One: Spatial Strategy and Policies (Regulation 19)

Ended on the 29 November 2024

4. Dudley to 2041: Spatial vision, objectives, and priorities

Introduction

4.1. Based on the issues and challenges outlined in previous sections, it is crucial that the Local Plan sets out a vision for the borough to cover the Plan period to 2041 and identifies clear objectives for aspects such as housing, infrastructure, economic growth and conservation, protection and enhancement of the natural, built and historic environment. Collectively, the policies in the plan should help to enable the strategic objectives to be achieved and to deliver the vision and strategic priorities for the borough.

The vision for Dudley Borough by 2041

By 2041 Dudley Borough, the historic capital of the Black Country, will be a place which has the benefit of:

  • being an attractive, and desirable place to live, work and visit
  • being a destination of choice and for doing business
  • having strong, inclusive, resilient, and thriving communities with enhanced health and social wellbeing
  • sustainable urban growth delivering distinctive places - meeting the needs of its communities and businesses.
  • a wide range of housing that will meet people's needs through their various life stages and is affordable to live in (all tenures)
  • a network of vibrant centres, which maintain a retail focus, but embrace the area's diversity, culture and heritage and benefit from additional local community and leisure orientated facilities, as well as increased resident populations.
  • being a place of excellence in enterprise, education, and training, having thriving employment areas, providing more jobs in new and future technologies, and with better links to further education establishments, which are more accessible to all residents
  • having a network of high-quality parks, green spaces, waterways, and nature reserves
  • a high quality and beautiful natural, built and historic environment that respects and enhances local character and distinctiveness, including valued historic buildings and areas, and continues to be regarded as a tourist destination, and UNESCO Global Geopark with enhanced tourism facilities.
  • being much more accessible and promoting more active forms of travel, especially by public transport and by a network of footpaths and cycleways providing connections to the rest of the West Midlands and the countryside around the borough.

Strategic Objectives and Priorities to deliver the Vision

Table 4.1 Dudley Local Plan – Strategic Objectives and Priorities

Objective 1: Conservation and Enhancement of our Natural, Built and Historic Environment

Policy

Strategic Priorities 1: Addressing the Climate and Ecological Emergency by:

  • mitigating the impacts of climate change and ensuring that developments adapt to and minimise the impacts that create climate and ecological change, whilst protecting and enhancing the built and historic environment
  • ensuring that new developments move towards carbon net zero emissions, through measures such as energy efficiency, sustainable construction, renewable energy and sustainable travel
  • managing flood risk and encouraging sustainable patterns of drainage in development
  • placemaking which incorporates renewable energy installations
  • promoting active travel, the least carbon-intensive way to travel.

DLP47 DLP41 DLP31

DLP32, DLP33, DLP34,

DLP45, DLP46, DLP51, DLP41, DLP43

Strategic Priority 2: Protecting and enhancing the natural and historic environment and support an increase in biodiversity and ecological networks by:

  • the effective and appropriate use of previously developed land and natural resources including sustainable building techniques and provision for sustainable waste management and disposal
  • increased tree cover and nature recovery networks, safeguarded and enhanced green wedges, green belt along with other greenspaces, canal and riverside environments
  • ensuring new development enhances the natural world its biodiversity geodiversity, as well as providing access to nature.

DLP5, DLP31, DLP32, DLP33, DLP34, DLP35, DLP40, DLP48, DLP36, DLP54, DLP55, DLP56, DLP57, DLP58, DLP75, DLP76, DLP77, DLP78, DLP79, DLP BH4, DLP BH5, DLP BH6

Strategic Priority 3: Ensuring sustainable patterns of development and protecting the green belt by:

  • planning positively and appropriately to meet identified development needs by focusing on the delivery of new development on previously developed land in the urban area, including:
    • the most sustainable locations within our hierarchy of centres, and
    • locations close to local facilities and transport networks, particularly within designated Regeneration Corridors
  • safeguarding and enhancing the green belt, particularly as a community recreational resource, as well as respecting and expanding areas of value as woodland and for nature conservation and being responsive to its landscape heritage assets.

DLP1, DLP2, DLP3, DLP49, DLP50, DLP51, DLP BH PS1, DLP BH PS2, DLP BH OS1, DLP BH OS2, DLP BH OS3, DLP D PS1, DLP D PS2, DLP D OS1, DLP D OS2, DLP D OS3, DLP D OS4, DLP S1, DLP S2, DLP S OS1,

DLP S OS2, DLP S OS3, DLP H3, DLP H9, DLP H10, DLP H11, DLP H12, DLP H13, DLP KQ H1

Objective 2: Enabling Economic Prosperity

Strategic Priority 4: Fostering economic growth and investment by:

  • ensuring Dudley's businesses thrive, continue to innovate, and grow.
  • delivering new economic growth and new jobs
  • providing investment and job creation in key sectors and equipping residents with the skills to access those jobs.
  • ensuring a supply of employment land to contribute towards meeting our strategic land needs.
  • providing the spatial framework which contributes towards delivering a circular economy, low carbon technologies and a green economy

DLP18, DLP19, DLP20,

DLP21, DLP22,

DLP23, DLPD1, DLPS2

Objective 3: Enhancing Places and Communities

Strategic Priority 5: Creating well designed and beautiful places, promoting the health and social wellbeing of communities by:

  • ensuring development contributes towards reducing health inequalities and maximises health and wellbeing.
  • ensure that developments contribute to a Child Friendly borough.
  • improving access to health and social care facilities, high quality open spaces and sport and recreation facilities, to help support healthy lifestyles.
  • ensuring all new developments meet the highest standards of design, including regulating development through the use of masterplans and design codes.
  • ensuring the integrity of communities is maintained and social cohesion is promoted in new development.
  • ensuring development is future-proofed and sustainable.
  • protecting and enhancing the borough's rich heritage and cultural offer
  • ensuring new development protects and enhances the built and historic environment

DLP4, DLP8,

DLP9, DLP23,

DLP39, DLP40,

DLP BH2, DLP BH3,

DLP D3, DLP D4,

DLP S2, DLP S3,

DLP H5,

DLP H6

Strategic Priority 6: Create thriving neighbourhoods, by:

  • providing new and affordable homes in a range of sizes, types and tenures to meet the borough's housing needs
  • creating safe, attractive, and sustainable neighbourhoods with good access to services and facilities
  • meeting the needs of all residents with development and placemaking which contributes towards community cohesion and social inclusivity

DLP10, DLP11, DLP12,

DLP13, DLP37, DLP38,

DLP63, DLP64, DLP65, DLP66

Strategic Priority 7: Delivering the resources, infrastructure and services to support growth by:

  • ensuring development positively responds to the historic character and local distinctiveness of the area and makes a positive contribution to placemaking and environmental improvement.
  • successfully addressing borough wide infrastructure needs and maximises the efficient use of existing infrastructure capacities.
  • exploring opportunities for new sustainable infrastructure, including through delivering an enhanced footpath and cycleway network within the borough
  • ensuring appropriate and the timely delivery of infrastructure to support new developments.
  • ensuring waste is managed as a resource and the amount produced and sent to landfill is minimised, as part of a circular economy
  • safeguarding mineral resources and promoting the production and use of recycled mineral products

DLP6, DLP7, DLP16, DLP25, DLP26, DLP42,

DLP67, DLP68 DLP69

DLP71, DLP72,

DLP74, DLP75, DLP76,

DLP BH7, DLP D8,

DLP S6

Strategic Priority 8: Promoting Smart, active travel and sustainable transport by:

  • facilitating a step change to how people travel towards sustainable modes of travel.
  • prioritising and making provision for the infrastructure to support active travel and more sustainable transport.
  • reducing the reliance on fossil fuels by supporting the infrastructure to enable alternatives to fossil fuelled vehicles.
  • promoting innovations in transport including Smart technology and accessible neighbourhoods

DLP67, DLP68, DLP69,

DLP71, DLP72,

DLP BH7, DLP D8,

DLP S6, DLP H8

Strategic Priority 9: Support our network of centres as they adapt to changing demands and trends by:

  • placemaking for our network of centres in such a way which safeguards and enhances their vitality and viability as places for economic, residential, tourism, leisure, and cultural activity with good access to services and nature.

DLP1, DLP2, DLP4, DLP,5 DLP24, DLP25, DLP27, DLP28, DLP BH1 DLP BH2, DLP BH3, DLP BH9, BH OS1, BH OS2, BH OS3, DLP D1, DLP D3, DLP D4, DLP D5, DLP D PS1, DLP D OS1, DLP D OS2, DLP D OS3, DLP D OS4, DLP S1, DLP S4, DLP S OS1, DLP S OS2, DLP S OS2, DLP H1, DLP H5, DLP H7, DLP H9, DLP H10, DLP H11, DLP H12, DLP H13

4.2. The objectives set out above take forward the planning vision for the borough and set out in more detail what the Local Plan is seeking to do. Whilst the principal aim of the Plan is to seek to achieve sustainable development, the Plan's objectives establish the framework for developing the policies in more detail and are the means of achieving the vision and objectives through the development management process. In relation to certain cross cutting issues, such as climate change, there may be policies which work towards several of the Plan's objectives.

Delivery, Monitoring and Implementation

4.3. The policies and allocations in the DLP will replace existing policies and allocations in the current adopted Local Plan documents (Black Country Core Strategy, Dudley Borough Development Strategy and Area Action Plans). The previous Local Plan document/reference and proposed replacement policy are included in Appendix 2.

4.4. The Council is committed to ensuring robust monitoring of the implementation of the DLP. The aim is to ensure that the Plan is delivered successfully, efficiently and working in partnership with stakeholders.

4.5. Monitoring indicators have been included within each section of the DLP to measure the implementation of policies. The indicators identify trigger points at which it may be appropriate to address any emerging issues.

4.6. The purpose of the monitoring indicators are to:

  • Assess the performance of the Plan in delivering the spatial vision and objectives.
  • Identify the need to amend policies or supporting planning documents.
  • Demonstrate the Plan is deliverable in the plan period.

4.7. The DLP has been prepared to be flexible over the plan period and adjust to changes where they arise. These changes may include changes to national policy and guidance, demographic changes and variable economic conditions. There may also be circumstances or unexpected external factors that mean certain policies become less effective or out of date. Monitoring the Plan is essential in identifying any issues and devising appropriate actions. Such actions might include adjusting the implementation of the policies or undertaking a partial or early review of the DLP.

4.8. In line with national policy, the Council will review the policies in the Plan to assess whether they need updating at least once every five years and the policies will be updated as necessary.

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