Policy CEN2 – Tier One: Strategic Centres

Comment

Representation ID: 11628

Received: 29/09/2021

Respondent: Mrs Annie Tolley

Walsall has many derelict & disused properties including shops. I feel that your first port of call should be to reuse these before destroying the conservation and green belt areas.

I feel that more could be done to make Walsall town centre more appealing before all the green that surrounds us is taken for developments which can not be supported by the local infrastructure.
I would urge the council to reconsider these proposals & to look at brown sites as the way forward to provide new homes.

Comment

Representation ID: 11750

Received: 08/10/2021

Respondent: Mr John Hemming

Re energising of strategic centres will not work, the high street is in decline & will not improve. These areas should be used for housing & employment areas instead. Nobody is going to be going in to these strategic centres in 20 years time

Comment

Representation ID: 12195

Received: 11/10/2021

Respondent: Miss Jacqueline Wellings

This comment relates to Wolverhampton Town Centre - it is agreed that flexibility is key to ensuring vibrancy within the centre. Parking policies need significant additional thought. The view of sustainabily and public transport will not assist the reduction in retail and footfall in the short to medium term. Without parking policies (i.e cheaper and or free parking) there will be continued use of out of centre facilties where parking is more proximate, accessible and FREE. The document states that bus journeys are slow and fractured. The car is (currently) still king. Repeal high charges for City Centre parking

Comment

Representation ID: 13280

Received: 28/09/2021

Respondent: Mr Philip Meachem

Proposed draft destroy the Green Belt, cause loss of privacy (which I moved to my address to have), also put greater pressure on roads and increase pollution.
There are brownfield areas e.g James Bridge, Bentley Mill Lane; also in town places e.g. former pub 'Dirty Duck', Freer Street, Stafford Street, Former Post Office in Darwall Street, the former Imperial Picture House.

Bringing people to live in towns would help the economy, bring the town to life by using redundant buildings

Support

Representation ID: 13947

Received: 01/11/2021

Respondent: D2 Planning Limited

Policy CEN2 - Tier One Strategic Centres

Support is given to this policy which seeks to allow a range of uses to be accommodated in Tier One Strategic Centres. This includes proposals for retail, leisure and residential uses. We question the assertion that proposals for commercial and business development that involve more than 500sqm gross of floorspace within the primary shopping areas shall evidence the measures to
which they are compatible with the objectives of sustainable development. It is unclear why 500sqm
gross has been chosen and what evidence is required.
Further information should be provided to clarify these issues.

Support

Representation ID: 17548

Received: 11/10/2021

Respondent: Sport England

As above, reference to sports uses should be added to part 1b) of the policy as these uses are suitable complementary uses consistent with the NPPF definition referred to above.

For reference

Policy CEN1 - The Black Country Centres Further to Sport England's comments on policies CSP2 and CSP3, Sport England recommends reference being added to part 1) of the policy to include sport and recreation uses within the list of appropriate uses, since this is consistent with NPPF Glossary definition of Main town centre uses, and links well the the later part of this paragraph which refers to fostering healthy communities and increasing social interaction and cohesion. An associated amendment to para 8.15 of the justification to add in reference to sports uses in part a) would also be recommended.

Comment

Representation ID: 22564

Received: 06/10/2021

Respondent: DNA Investment Holdings Ltd

Agent: Lavata Group Ltd

Policy CEN2 – Tier One: Strategic Centres

Walsall Town Centre is a Tier One Centre for the purposes of the Development Strategy. We agree with the strategy of the policy to prioritise the Strategic Centres to serve the identified housing and employment needs for the Black Country, and in particular part (a) which seeks to maximise housing provision to increase and strengthen communities. Indicative housing capacity is identified in Chapter 13 Sub-Areas and Site Allocations.

Support

Representation ID: 22593

Received: 11/10/2021

Respondent: MH No. 1 Limited Partnership and Ellandi

Agent: Williams Gallagher

I write in respect of the above public consultation regarding the emerging Black Country Plan (the ‘Plan’)
published for consultation between 16 August 2021 and 11 October 2021 and covering the four Black Country
Authorities of Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton.

These representations have been prepared and submitted on behalf of MH No. 1 Limited and Ellandi in respect of Merry Hill Shopping Centre. MH No. 1
Limited are the owners of Merry Hill and Ellandi are the assets managers of the centre on behalf of the wners.

Ellandi was appointed as asset manager for Merry Hill in September 2020 and are currently leading a process of reinvigoration and re-positioning of the centre following the turbulent recent period in the retail sector. This includes a focus on Merry Hill shopping centre itself as the priority but also a wider strategic consideration of the additional land holdings around the centre.

Merry Hill Shopping Centre is situated within Brierley Hill Strategic Centre and accommodates over 200 stores and 150,000 sq. m of floorspace in addition to over 9,000 car parking spaces. The centre includes a dedicated bus station with almost 100 local and regional routes serving the centre and Merry Hill will soon benefit from access via the 11km Midland Metro line 2 extension from Wednesbury to Brierley Hill which is anticipated to open in 2023.

The wider area is anchored by the regional shopping centre with the area of ownership covered by these
representations also including a retail park, Odeon cinema and additional underutilised land around the
centre. Overall Merry Hill provides the largest agglomeration of floorspace within unified management in the West Midlands and includes key retailers such as M&S, Next, Boots, TK Maxx, H&M, Sports Direct / Flannels, Primark, Superdrug, JD Sports and Asda. As a result of this, Merry Hill provides thousands of jobs and is of fundamental importance to the Black Country’s economy.

The Plan retains Merry Hill’s inclusion as part of the Brierley Hill Strategic Centre. This is strongly supported
as it recognises the crucial role Merry Hill plays in the sub-regional economy and will help to facilitate the
continued regeneration and improvement of the centre and wider Strategic Centre of which it forms a part.

The overall approach of the Plan is to direct new residential and employment development across the Black Country to support the existing centres and to contribute to their regeneration rather than in supporting
new centres. The Plan recognises that recent changes in the retail sector have led to an oversupply of retail
floorspace therefore the shopping and service needs of existing and future residents can be met by the
existing centre hierarchy. Furthermore, the Plan recognises that in certain circumstances, there may need to be a reduction in retail floorspace in some centres and a shift in concentration on retail uses to ensure they
remain viable.

This approach is strongly supported as it represents a realistic reflection of the challenges faced by the
retail sector and provides the best opportunity to deliver the regeneration and continued health of the Black
Country’s centres. Notwithstanding this, it is recommended that this approach is strengthened and that the Plan makes it clear that its focus is that appropriate investment should be directed to the Strategic Centres in the first instance in accordance with the centre hierarchy.

Aligned to this, there should also be a more explicit recognition within the Plan of the need for flexibility in
respect of the range of uses within the Strategic Centres. This would reflect the dynamic nature of the retail
market where fast paced change through disruptive processes requires responsive policies and planning
decisions that allow centres to benefit from this pace of change. The Strategic Centres are the key drivers
of the Black Country economy and it is crucial that they are able to quickly adapt and respond to ever
quicker market changes. Planning policies at the sub-regional and local level should therefore include in-built
flexibility recognising that the pace of updating Development Plan policies to respond to market changes can often be undertaken quick enough to keep up with this fast-paced change. This approach would be
consistent with Paragraph 82 of the National Planning Policy Framework which requires that planning
policies should:
“d) be flexible enough to accommodate needs not anticipated in the plan, allow for new and flexible working
practices, and to enable a rapid response to changes in economic circumstances.”

Leading on from this, the Plan suggests that the existing Area Action Plans (AAPs) for the Strategic Centres
will be subject to review following the adoption of the Black Country Plan to reflect the updated
development targets and strategic objectives of the Plan. Whilst there is obviously a need for additional policy at the local level to supplement the strategic policies of the Black Country Plan, it is not considered that an updated Area Action Plan is the best mechanism to provide this for Brierley Hill and the other Strategic Centres.

As noted above, the current nature of the market for retail and other town centre uses is changing at an
unprecedented pace. It is unlikely that Development Plan policy is able to be prepared and updated fast enough to remain relevant in this context. It is therefore considered that there are planning policy mechanisms that would be more efficient and responsive than an AAP in helping to shape the future regeneration of Brierley Hill Strategic Centre. This could more appropriately include either a Supplementary Planning Document or Development Framework that would help to guide future development but could be produced much quicker and therefore be more flexible than an updated AAP forming part of the
Development Plan.

To put this into the context of the current AAP, Policy 20 envisages a large scale extension to Merry Hill to
provide an additional 56,500 sq. m of comparison goods floorspace. The plan was adopted in August 2011
following work commencing on the plan in 2006. Over this five year period the global financial crisis occurred
and the development encouraged by Policy 20 was extremely unlikely to be delivered and therefore
arguably already out-of-date at the point of adoption.

Following the global financial crisis, the retail and leisure markets then saw an increase in the development of
large format foodstores with demand for these subsequently declining and supermarket operators
subsequently closing stores. Following this, there has been increases and subsidence in demand for chain
restaurant casual dining and more recently following the Covid-19 pandemic, uncertainty regarding the way
in which people may continue to work more flexibly and increasingly from home part of the time and the
impact this could have on the demand for and the characteristics of office floorspace. This highlights the
speed at which priorities in the retail and leisure markets can change and as a result of this, the difficulty
planning policy has in keeping up with these changes.

As a result of the above and the even more recent acceleration in the rate at which the retail market is
changing it is not considered that an updated AAP is necessarily the best option for provision of more
locational specific guidance below the strategic level of the Black Country Plan. This is due to the length of
time it will take to produce an update to the Strategic Centre AAPs and the likelihood that following this, it
will not be possible for the plans to remain sufficiently up to date.

To resolve this issue, the Black Country Plan should include the suggested option that each Local Authority
could either update the AAP for each Strategic Centre or produce Supplementary Planning Documents
(SPDs) or Development Frameworks to provide local guidance for the Strategic Centres. This will allow for
the more efficient production of relevant policy and in turn allow it to more quickly adapt to any future
trends in the retail and leisure sectors.

The Plan should also make clear that either of these options should be sufficiently flexible and proactive (as
it is considered the policies within the Black Country Plan are) to support the evolution and regeneration of the Strategic Centres without the need for more prescriptive policies that could become out-of-date quickly.

Policy TRAN1 of the Plan covers priorities for the development of the transport network and sets out a
range of specific improvements that are intended to be delivered over the plan period including the
extension of the Midland Metro network from Wednesbury to Brierley Hill. These improvements are
supported to increase accessibility across the Black Country to boost economic activity and increase the
proportion of journeys made by sustainable transport modes.

Policy CSP5 relates to Cultural Facilities and the Visitor Economy and seeks to protect, enhance and expand
such facilities in the Black Country. This aspiration is strongly supported to increase the attractiveness of the
Black Country as a visitor destination building on its distinct character, history and many other strengths. It is
recommended that this policy is adjusted however to specifically note that where such cultural and visitor
facilities are town centre uses, they will be subject to the sequential test.

Paragraph 4.11 includes a list of infrastructure investment required to support development including public
open space, transport provision, school places, health facilities, affordable housing, sustainable drainage
systems, wastewater treatment, and waste management facilities. It is considered that town centre and
public realm improvements be added to this list to help facilitate the regeneration of centres and where
required provide mitigation for out-of-centre proposals.

Policy ENV4 relates to the provision, retention and protection of trees, woodlands and hedgerows. Whilst
the policy is positive in that it intends to increase the provision of trees across the Black Country, clause 13
requires that new developments should make a minimum contribution of 20% canopy cover across the
development site. It should be noted that this will be sought ‘where practical’ reflecting the reality that some
development sites will not practically be able to achieve this aspiration on site.

I trust the above will be taken into account in the progression of the Plan to the next stage. As noted, overall it is considered that the Plan is positive and realistic in its future aspirations for supporting development in the Black Country and subject to the changes identified above will be a sound basis for the future growth of the sub-region. Please contact me on the details provided if there are any questions or if any further information is required.

Object

Representation ID: 44799

Received: 11/10/2021

Respondent: Consortium of Developers

Number of people: 4

Agent: Turley Associates

Existing Allocations in Dudley
5.16 The Strategic Centre for Dudley is Brierley Hill. In 2011 the Brierley Hill Area Action Plan was examined and adopted (the AAP sets out the details of the sites to deliver the level of housing growth set by the BCCS 2011). The vision for the area in that Plan was that development would have delivered more than 3,200 new homes by 2026.

5.17 Over 26 sites are listed in the AAP as delivering residential uses in the period, the AAP was adopted in 2011 and so the evidence base for these sites is considered dated.

5.18 There is an Appendix 3 of the Dudley AAP (Implementation Framework) which shows the investment needed to regenerate the area, including identifying funding gaps and possible issues relocating existing uses. Even at the time of allocating these sites it was acknowledged that significant investment would be needed to bring them forward.

5.19 Within the AAP, at Appendix 4, set out the anticipated trajectory for delivery at the time of adoption.

See attachment for Table 5.3: Projected Net Dwelling Completions in Dudley AAP

5.20 This delivery has not materialised. The Dudley AMR (2020-2021) explains that the results from this year’s monitoring is ‘consistent with previous years’; i.e ‘limited development has yet taken place within the Brierley Hill APP Plan Area’.
5.21 The only development recorded as progressing in the last monitoring year was the redevelopment of the Canal Street Site (DOB H11) for 65 new affordable dwellings which has now completed, with 33 dwellings completed in this monitoring year and 11 residential units as part of an office conversion (see page 37 of AMR).

5.22 The evidence base suggests that 291 homes (net) have been delivered in the area since 2011. This is less than was anticipated to be delivered in the first five years following the adoption of the AAP (369 were anticipated 2011-2016).

5.23 It is understood that other sites have been granted planning permission, such as Oak Court with 78 approved residential units (ref. P18/1105/PN30 and P19/0830), however completions have not been forthcoming.

5.24 The following table sets out completions against the BCCS requirement in Brierley Hill Strategic Centre and shows that just 10.4% of the requirement has been delivered, with a 2,632 home shortfall.

See attachment for Table 5.4: Brierley Hill Net Completions

5.25 The lack of the delivery in the Strategic Location of Brierley Hill is a factor in the under delivery of Dudley as a whole against the adopted CS requirement, as is shown in Table
5.5 below.

See attachment for Table 5.5: Brierley Hill Completions against target

5.26 The Draft BCP does not provide an up to date assessment of the deliverability of Existing Allocations in Strategic Centres. They appear to have simply been re-included in the Councils’ supply without due scrutiny. The Councils also continue to include AAP sites in their assessment of five year housing land supply.

5.27 When reviewing the Council’s housing land supply and the sites from the AAP area (page 31 of the 2020 SHLAA) it is clear that there is no up to date evidence to demonstrate that these sites can be relied upon. The evidence for inclusion in the land supply table is described as ‘Yield determined through AAP evidence’. This is relying on evidence that was prepared to support a plan that was adopted over a decade ago, where there has been clear and present deliverability issues.

Object

Representation ID: 44802

Received: 11/10/2021

Respondent: Consortium of Developers

Number of people: 4

Agent: Turley Associates

Existing Allocations in Wolverhampton
5.28 As with Dudley, the 2,248 homes due to deliver in the Strategic Centre in Wolverhampton (which is the City Centre) are identified in an Area Action Plan, the latest version of which was adopted in 2016. The aim was for 2,043 homes to be delivered by 2026, with 475 of these by 2021.

5.29 In this case, the AAP does not even explicitly identify all the sites it relies on to deliver these homes. The Core Strategy targets for the AAP area include 2,130 commitments and 1,100 unidentified sites in the City Centre, and 560 homes on employment land to the south of the City Centre.

5.30 At the time of AAP adoption (2016) there had been 470 homes completed in the City Centre and there were 163 homes on committed sites, according the latest SHLAA (2020) there are still 163 commitments to be delivered by 2021. The latest Wolverhampton SHLAA (2020) states that there had been 948 completions in the City Centre between 2006 and 2019. Although the documentation is not explicit, it appears that delivery has fallen behind what was expected and relied on.

Object

Representation ID: 44805

Received: 11/10/2021

Respondent: Consortium of Developers

Number of people: 4

Agent: Turley Associates

Existing Allocations in Sandwell
5.31 The supply figures relied on from existing allocations in Sandwell are lower. The Strategic Centre in question is West Bromwich for which an AAP was adoptedin 2012. The evidence base was older than that, with Issues and Options in June 2006, Preferred Options in June 2008 and Changes to Preferred Options in January 2011.

5.32 The AAP should have delivered 201 homes before 2026, however it is difficult to identify specific numbers allocated as the adopted AAP is vague.

5.33 It is acknowledged that delivery may be slow in the AAP itself with paragraph 4.3 stating that some of the opportunity areas are considered to be more long term and in some instances will require other proposals to have come forward first before they can be delivered.

5.34 It is apparent that there are a number of allocations where delivery issues have come to light in the period since adoption of the AAP. The Lyng Industrial Estate, for example, was relied on for 300-430 homes, but Table 9 of SHLAA now assigns this site under the category “Sites allocated for housing but now considered not suitable / developable up to 2039”. The change arises from the viability and feasibility study commissioned which highlighted significant viability issues. In addition, the Eastern Gateway North site was identified for around 100 dwellings in the AAP and is now acknowledged in the SHLAA to have delivery issues relating to its occupation, the generally poor condition of the buildings and external environment and the fact that businesses would need relocating if the site was to come forward for residential development.

Comment

Representation ID: 44808

Received: 11/10/2021

Respondent: Consortium of Developers

Number of people: 4

Agent: Turley Associates

Existing Allocations in Walsall
5.35 The Walsall Town Centre AAP (adopted in 2019) allocated the following sites for residential uses as shown on the Policies Map:

• TC11 Kirkpatricks, Charles Street; and

• TC15 FE Towe Ltd, Charles Street.
5.36 Both sites are industrial employment sites proposed to be redeveloped. The sites are now expected in the period ‘post 2025’ according to the 2020 SHLAA. This AAP was more recently adopted than some of the other AAPs, in 2019, and the Councils only appear to rely on 18 homes from this source in the Draft BCP