Part One: Spatial Strategy and Policies (Regulation 19)

Ended on the 29 November 2024

Growth Network: Regeneration Corridors and Centres

5.14. Policy 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.

Policy DLP2 Growth Network: Regeneration Corridors and Centres

  1. The Growth Network, consisting of Brierley Hill Strategic Centre, the town centres and the Regeneration Corridors, is the primary focus for new development, regeneration, and infrastructure investment to support the delivery of significant growth and promote wider benefits to communities.  
  2. The Strategic Centre (Brierley Hill) and Town Centres (Dudley, Stourbridge and Halesowen) will provide:
    1. Re-energised core commercial areas providing a rich mix of uses and facilities, set in a high quality built and natural environment.
    2. The principal locations for major commercial, cultural, leisure, entertainment, sports, recreation and community facilities, providing the widest possible range of such facilities appropriate for their catchments.
    3. 2,730 new homes of mixed type and tenure.
    4. Excellent public transport links, making the centres highly accessible to their catchment areas.
      An improved network of green and environmental infrastructure, as well as enhancement of the historic environment.
  3. The Regeneration Corridors linking the Strategic Centre and Town Centres will provide:
    1. The principal concentrations of strategic employment areas. These are high-quality employment areas that will be safeguarded and enhanced for manufacturing and logistics activity to support the long-term success of the local economy (see Policy DLP19).
    2. The main clusters of local employment land that are vital in providing for local jobs (see Policy DLP20).
    3. The principal locations for new industrial and logistics development - providing 22.6ha of developable employment land to meet growth needs. 
    4. A minimum of 2,322 new homes in sustainable locations well-supported by community services and local shops, set within and linked by comprehensive networks of attractive green infrastructure with cycling and pedestrian routes.
    5. The focus for investment in existing, new, and improved transportation infrastructure with a focus on public transport routes, sustainable travel and hubs which will maximise use of the public transport network by residents, workers and visitors.
    6. Strong links with the surrounding communities and network of centres, to spread the regeneration benefits across the borough.
    7. An improved network of green and environmental infrastructure, as well as protection and enhancement of the historic environment. 
Justification

5.15. The 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.

5.16. Alongside 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.

5.17. The Regeneration Corridor boundaries broadly reflect the distribution of large parcels of employment land across the borough, accommodating the majority of manufacturing and logistics 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.

5.18. The 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.

5.19. Achieving 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

Location

Opportunities

Vision to 2041

Brierley Hill Strategic Centre

The Strategic Centre of Dudley Borough which will encourage and accommodate new development centred around proposed new transport infrastructure.

Attractive and effective links will be formed between the Merry Hill Centre and Brierley Hill High Street, encouraging the continued use of these locations for local, national, and international businesses.

Two Priority Sites and several housing allocations have been identified and will deliver high-quality dwellings which are well linked to the community, leisure, and recreation spaces. Three Opportunity Sites have been identified for mixed-use redevelopment and regeneration purposes.

Brierley Hill in 2041, as the borough's Strategic Centre, will be a place which has the benefit of:

  • strong, resilient, and thriving communities with enhanced health and wellbeing, including access to more cultural, leisure and community facilities.
  • being more than a shopping destination, including benefiting from a revitalised night-time economy and family orientated leisure facilities.
  • having a greater resident population, proud to live in Brierley Hill, and living in sustainable, well built and enhanced accommodation incorporating energy efficiency measures and making active use of extensive areas of imaginatively landscaped and well-connected public spaces.
  • being a much greener place, with increased tree cover and more biodiversity including wildlife corridors, which is better linked to the Saltwells and Fens Pools Nature Reserves.
  • being much more accessible, especially by public transport and a network of footpaths and cycleways, with the Midland Metro Stations providing focal points within these networks and hubs for new development, with well-designed public open spaces around them; and
  • having a high quality and beautiful built, natural, and historic environment that respects and enhances local character, including important historic buildings and areas, and makes effective use of the canal network as an asset.

Dudley Town Centre

The historic capital of the Black Country with a focus for tourism based on visitor attractions and the geological and heritage assets in and around the town centre, alongside new education and leisure facilities. New housing development will also regenerate parts of the town centre. High quality public transport links via the metro to the rest of the region. Two Priority Sites and four Opportunity Sites have been identified for mixed use regeneration/redevelopment alongside several housing only allocations.

Dudley is a historic market town looking to the future. By 2041 it will be a town which serves the needs of its local population, and which remains the strong focus for civic life, for town centre living, for shopping, tourism and heritage, leisure and education. This will be achieved by reshaping and reasserting its role within the borough, drawing on its considerable assets, encouraging investment in opportunities and ensuring that Dudley becomes a place with a richer mix of town centre uses and an increased resident population. The environmental and historic quality, green infrastructure, transport connectivity, accessibility and safety and security of the town centre activities and assets will be enhanced.

Stourbridge Town Centre

A town centre which has retained its market town character with well-connected public transport, including rail connections to Birmingham and Worcester. The Centre has a diverse range of uses including education, retail and day and evening leisure uses in a compact and accessible high street with connections to blue and green spaces, including parks and a canal network around which there are opportunities for investment and regeneration. Three mixed-use Opportunity Sites have been identified for regeneration purposes.

A vibrant and inclusive town with a thriving and prosperous town centre, which offers a wide range of shops and services, induing leisure facilities and an evening and entertainment economy. Stourbridge will retain its unique market town character whilst offering the arts and creative industries. It will offer excellent cultural facilities and sustainable urban living, utilising the riverside and canal-side settings, with improve connectivity to the town centre and the creation of a network of safe and attractive pedestrian and cycle routes.

Halesowen Town Centre

A compact and well-presented historic town on the border of the Black Country and Birmingham, ideal for local shopping and community activity. The town maintains its historical local character, with a key natural asset being its position alongside the River Stour Corridor and its close proximity to nearby countryside. Five mixed-use Opportunity Sites have been identified for redevelopment and regeneration.

A vibrant and accessible centre providing an attractive environment for people to live, work and invest, offering a range of uses including retail activity, employment, housing, leisure, entertainment, culture, and tourism, all of which will be served by effective and sustainable transport connections and access to natural and historical assets.

Table 5.3 Regeneration Corridors

Location

Opportunities

Vision to 2041

RC1 – Pensnett to Kingswinford

Hosts a strong strategic employment area and a network of busy local centres. This corridor has hosted residential redevelopment of former employment areas over the last few years and now has potential for further investment in Pensnett Estate. This corridor also has residential opportunity at the Ketley Quarry priority site.

Focus for high quality employment, encouraging investment in Pensnett Estate. Further redevelopment to provide high quality residential areas with access to recreational areas, transport network, key services and centres.

RC2 – Dudley to Brierley Hill to Stourbridge

Characterised by the Dudley and Stourbridge Canal within proximity to Brierley Hill Strategic Centre, Dudley Town Centre and Stourbridge Town Centre. Pockets of local employment provide access to jobs in this corridor. Excellent transport links with metro provision between Dudley and Brierley Hill and train links in Stourbridge.

This corridor is extremely well connected to rest of the region and hosts vibrant local centres providing access to services.

This corridor will be well connected through the provision of improved public transport with the metro between Dudley and Brierley Hill. The corridor will keep its employment focus with strategic employment area connecting centres, particularly Brierley Hill and Dudley. High quality housing to be focused in centres and along the corridor with access to enhanced green infrastructure.

Opportunities for canal side living in this corridor near to Stourbridge, as well as retention of local employment areas. Improved links to Fens Pools Nature Reserve, River Stour and open countryside.

RC3 – Stourbridge to Lye

Located along the railway line from Stourbridge, this corridor provides good transport links to employment areas and centres. The valley of the River Stour provides access to green spaces and a wildlife corridor.

High quality residential communities with access to parks, open spaces, employment, services and transport links. Lye Centre provides redevelopment opportunities for residential development and investment in local employment areas. A design code is currently being undertaken for Lye and the Stour Valley as part of the National Design Code Pathfinder Programme. This will be aligned with the plan process to improve the quality and design of new development in the area and to ensure that it reflects local character.

RC4 – Lye to Halesowen

Located from Lye, along the A458 Stourbridge Road to Halesowen Town Centre extending north to the boundary with Sandwell, this corridor provides a range of high and local quality employment, redevelopment sites for new housing, access to greenspace and local centres with regeneration opportunities.

This corridor is centred on Halesowen Town Centre and Coombswood Industrial Estate, one of the Borough's Strategic Employment areas. By 2041, this corridor will serve the demands of its employment base and provide new homes for those living and working in the Halesowen area. This corridor features regeneration opportunities in its local centres Shell Corner and The Stag. The corridor will be a significant part of the green network, supporting and encouraging biodiversity from the surrounding green belt areas and the Leasowes Historic Park.

RC5 – Dudley to Coseley

Public transport links and land becoming available for redevelopment provides opportunities for new residential development in the corridor alongside local employment retention.

Provision of high-quality residential communities and investment in local employment areas accessible by all modes of transport with links to Coseley railway station. Enhancement to open spaces including Wrens Nest National Nature Reserve and Priory Park.

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