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Representation ID: 21241

Received: 11/10/2021

Respondent: Newlands Developments

Green Belt
The Black Country Authorities have undertaken Local Sites Assessment Reports for the proposed allocations, including Land south of Bentley Lane, Walsall (Site Reference SA-0057-WAL). A copy of the Site Assessment Form completed for the Site is included at Appendix 2.

The Site Assessment Form includes a Green Belt assessment of the Site, owing to its location within the Black Country Green Belt. The Assessment identifies that the Site comprises a narrow gap between towns and has urban edges on two sides and urbanising influences to the west. It concludes that the release of this area from the Green Belt would only weaken the contribution of land to the west of the Site, which would not increase overall harm. Furthermore, the Site Assessment Form goes on to state:
“The Site is considered more suitable for employment uses rather than residential uses and is also one of only a few sites identified by the EDNA (the Black Country Economic Development Needs Assessment) as being suitable for employment.”

Paragraph 140 of the NPPF confirms that, once established, Green Belt boundaries should only be altered where exceptional circumstances are fully evidenced and justified, through the preparation or updating of plans.

The Black Country Authorities consider that, through the preparation of the Black Country Plan, exceptional circumstances have been demonstrated to remove certain areas of land from the Black Country Green Belt to meet housing and employment land needs. An Economic Development Needs Assessment (EDNA), which provides an objective assessment of the industrial land needs for the Black Country against the area’s economic development needs, was prepared for the Black Country during 2016/17. This Assessment identified that there was a potential shortfall in employment land over the Plan period of between 283 hectares (against baseline growth scenario requirements) and 563 hectares (against most likely growth scenario requirements). A Black Country EDNA update (EDNA2, 2021) has been produced by WECD Consultants to update employment land demand estimates presented in the 2017 EDNA1, to inform the objective assessment of employment land needs for the Black Country to 2039. The EDNA2 (2021) notes that there have been some significant changes in the use of employment space since the publication of EDNA1, particularly in the last 18 months. Whilst manufacturing remains an important sector for the Black Country Economy, the COVID-19 pandemic has fuelled e-commerce, resulting in increased demand for logistics space requirements, including last mile facilities in close proximity to large urban populations. Accordingly, there is now projected to be an undersupply of employment land of between 148 hectares and 168 hectares.

The EDNA2 (2021) has estimated that the potential loss of employment land over the Plan period would be 62.7 hectares based on the detailed review of employment sites (including losses to residential uses and other alternative forms of development for employment spaces in the Black Country). Allowance for this loss will need to be considered for the future provision of employment space in the Black Country, bringing the level of employment land requirement in the Black Country to 30-31ha per annum over the next planning period (equivalent to between 212 and 232ha). This represents 37% of employment land need arising in the Black Country that cannot be met solely within the Black Country.

The Black Country Urban Capacity Review Update (May 2021) also concludes that, at this stage, a significant shortage of employment land will remain. This is after consideration of the potential for additional sources of employment land to meet the shortfall, such as current non-employment allocations which have not yet been developed for the alternative use, intensification of existing sites, any vacant land, and contributions from outside of the Black Country (for example, within South Staffordshire and Shropshire). It concluded that these potential sources will not fully accommodate the need for employment land and the gap in supply will remain significant in scale. Consequently, Paragraph 4.7 of the Urban Capacity Review concludes that “the exceptional circumstances necessary to trigger a Green Belt review in the Black Country, in order to meet housing and employment land needs, have been met”.

However, before concluding that exceptional circumstances exist to justify changes to Green Belt boundaries, the strategic policy making authority should be able to demonstrate that it has examined fully all other reasonable options for meeting its identified need for development, as noted in NPPF Paragraph 141. This will be assessed in terms of whether the strategy:

a. Makes as much use as possible of suitable brownfield sites and underutilised land;
b. Optimises the density of development, including whether policies promote a significant uplift in minimum density standards in town and city centres and other locations well served by public transport; and
c. Has been informed by discussions with neighbouring authorities about whether they could accommodate some of the identified need for development, as demonstrated through the statement of common ground.

With regard to making as much use as possible of suitable brownfield sites and underutilised land, the Urban Capacity Review Update (2021) identifies that the only additional sources of employment land supply within the Black Country urban area, which are not identified in the EDNA, are:
• • ‘Land within the urban area that is currently allocated for development for non-employment uses – in the main housing- but not yet developed for that use. This land is currently either occupied by employment uses and has scope for intensification, or vacant land that could be used for new employment uses in the future.
• • Additional employment land within existing employment areas – either through the intensification of existing under-occupied employment sites or land that is either currently vacant or may become vacant over the Plan period.’

The Urban Capacity Review identifies that 488 hectares of occupied employment land was allocated for housing within Black Country Authority Area Action Plans and Site Allocations Documents. This land was allocated on the basis of it being assessed to be of low quality in terms of its sustainability for employment uses in the long term and the future investment intentions of the businesses who occupied it.

As part of the evidence base work for the Black Country Plan, a Black Country Employment Area Review (BEAR) has been prepared, which has been informed by a landowner engagement exercise (as noted in the Landowner Engagement Exercise Technical Report (August 2021)). The BEAR seeks to identify the current intentions for existing employment sites and business needs to inform the Black County Plan approach on the protection and retention of employment land. The report reviews the extent to which existing housing allocations involving the redevelopment of employment land should be deleted, with those sites retained for employment activity.

The BEAR has concluded that many of the occupied employment sites currently allocated for housing contain businesses which have either invested in their premises and/or intend to remain in situ in the long term, and specifically throughout the new Plan period. In addition, the BEAR notes that the re-allocation of employment sites to housing would impact negatively on the ability of the Black Country to provide sufficient employment land to meet its identified needs, as any employment land lost to alternative uses would need to be replaced elsewhere and added to the land requirement. Therefore, the BEAR strongly suggests that these sites should be retained for employment uses and current housing allocations deleted through the Black Country Plan review. The EDNA2 (2021) also identifies a requirement for a net increase in employment land over the new Black Country Plan period, which is likely to require the retention of more existing employment land than previously anticipated.

In terms of optimising the intensification of existing sites and maximising the development of under-utilised buildings, the Urban Capacity Review recognises that there are likely to be some additional opportunities for intensification and redevelopment within existing employment areas that were not identified in the EDNA. However, it is anticipated that any new allocated sites are likely to be limited and small in scale, potentially contributing up to 50 hectares of additional employment land. Further recycled land may also come forward as ‘windfalls’ over the Plan period. It must also be acknowledged that increasing site densities, as part of intensification, can make sites less attractive to the market in certain sectors, for example, due to inadequate yard space/depths that precludes operational efficiency.
With regard to discussions with neighbouring authorities, further contributions are being explored through the Duty to Cooperate with neighbouring local authorities who share a physical and/or functional relationship with the Black Country. The EDNA2 (2021) estimates a potential contribution of 19 hectares of employment land to be made through Duty to Cooperate arrangements with South Staffordshire. The Shropshire Regulation 19 Local Plan also includes a contribution of 30 hectares of employment land towards meeting needs arising in the Black Country. In addition, there is an estimated contribution from the proposed West Midlands Interchange at Four Ashes of between 72 and 94 hectares. This would equate to a total of 121 hectares of contribution from outside the Black Country, which would mean that the undersupply of employment land requirements to meet market, growth and replacement demand in the Black Country would reduce to between 91 and 111 hectares.

Based on the above, it is considered that the Council have fully examined all other reasonable options for meeting the identified need for development outside of the Green Belt in line with Paragraph 141 of the NPPF. Despite this, there remains a significant undersupply of employment land in the area. Therefore, we consider that the Black Country Authorities have demonstrated that exceptional circumstances exist to remove certain areas of land from the Black Country Green Belt to meet employment land needs, including, land to the south of Bentley Lane in Walsall. However, it should be noted that local authorities should not shy away from higher employment land and housing numbers just because Green Belt release will be needed to achieve these numbers. Broader spatial objectives can and should be taken into account to justify higher employment land and housing figures, as demonstrated in the High Court ruling on the three statutory challenges to the adoption of the Guildford Local Plan (in Compton Parish Council & Ors v Guildford Borough Council & Anor [2019] EWHC 3242 (Admin)):

‘"Exceptional circumstances" is a less demanding test than the development control test for permitting inappropriate development in the Green Belt, which requires "very special circumstances." That difference is clear enough from the language itself and the different contexts in which they appear, but if authority were necessary, it can be found in R(Luton BC) v Central Bedfordshire Council [2015] EWCA Civ 537 at [56], Sales LJ. As Patterson J pointed out in IM Properties Development Ltd v Lichfield DC [2014] EWHC 2240 at [90-91 and 95-96], there is no requirement that Green Belt land be released as a last resort, nor was it necessary to show that assumptions upon which the Green Belt boundary had been drawn, had been falsified by subsequent events.’ [70]

This High Court judgment provides clarity on the circumstances under which the exceptional circumstances test can be met. It goes on to state:

“Likewise, at IR80, the Inspector found that land available for additional business development in the Guildford urban area was very limited, and it was unrealistic that much extra capacity could be obtained on existing sites such as the existing Surrey Research Park:

"The ability to meet the identified business needs therefore depends on making suitable new land available and there is no realistic alternative to releasing land from the Green Belt. Exceptional circumstances therefore arise at the strategic level to alter Green Belt boundaries to accommodate business and employment needs.”

We believe the same principles apply here and ‘exceptional circumstances’ are clearly demonstrated in light of the significant shortfall in employment land required.