Support

Representation ID: 43804

Received: 04/10/2021

Respondent: John Mason Associates Ltd

Agent: John Mason Associates Ltd

Land to Rear of 105 Skip Lane

1.1 The Black Country Plan (formerly known as the Black Country Core Strategy) is a plan prepared by the four Black Country authorities (Walsall, Dudley, Sandwell, and
Wolverhampton) to identify and allocate for development sufficient land for housing and employment needs for the next 15 years.

1.2 Government requires a review of all land use plans every five years. The current Core Strategy was adopted in 2011. It is currently projected that the Black Country Plan will be adopted during 2023 and will allocate sufficient land to meet housing needs for 15
years or until 2039.

1.3 During 2018, Government introduced a standard calculation for working out how many new homes are required. Using this method, the Black Country had a need for 3,761 new homes each year or 71,459 homes in total over the Black Country period from 2020 – 2039.

1.4 In our view even allowing for the number of houses that can be accommodated on brownfield land in Walsall and taking this number of the total number of houses
required there is still a gap which will require Walsall Council to allocate land in the Green Belt.

1.5 Subsequent to the above, this statement provides an assessment of the proposals and justifies how the proposed development accords with relevant planning considerations before concluding that it should be supported, and the site should be allocated for residential development.