Out-Law News 1 min. read
09 Jan 2015, 5:05 pm
The Council submitted the draft Birmingham Development Plan (BDP) for examination in July. The draft BDP estimated that 80,000 new homes would be required in the Birmingham area by 2031 and proposed the release of land from the green belt at two sites, to the north and east of Sutton Coldfield, to accommodate 6,000 homes and 80 hectares of employment space.
Planning inspector Roger Clews held a four-week public inquiry into the proposals, starting in October 2014. Clews wrote to the Council this week to give his interim findings (19-page / 262 KB PDF) on certain aspects of the draft BDP.
Clews said in his letter that "further work needs to be done in order to arrive at an objective assessment of housing need for the housing market area and for Birmingham" and asked that a supplementary report be prepared, addressing his concerns.
The inspector noted that a strategic housing needs study (SHNS) was under preparation for the Greater Birmingham and Solihull local economic partnership and four Black Country local authorities. He said he agreed with the Council that the SHNS would provide "a sounder basis" for assessing housing need in the area than the Council's own 2012 strategic housing market assessment, which did not adequately consider the needs of the wider housing market area.
However, the inspector noted that the SHNS projected a lower rate of household growth after 2021 than alternative figures supplied by planning consultants Barton Willmore and asked the Council to provide a detailed explanation for why the methodology used in the SHNS was considered appropriate. Clews also requested additional information on household projections, market signals and affordable housing.
The inspector also found that, while the Council had provided a "reasonable explanation" for its decision to promote the strategic release of land from the green belt, its sustainability appraisal did not adequately explain why sites at Langley and Peddimore were preferred over alternatives for removal from the green belt and development.
Clews said that, under the UK government's National Planning Policy Framework and Planning Practice Guidance, "all reasonable alternatives should be assessed at the same level of detail as the option the plan-maker proposes to take forward". The inspector recommended that further work be carried out on the sustainability appraisal, including an objective review of evidence provided by promoters of alternative sites for removal from the green belt.