Leader orders new green belt review
Dudley Council is to carry out a fresh review of green belt land across the borough to tackle questions from planning inspectors.
Council leader, Cllr Patrick Harley, has ordered the review to prove there is none of the controversial grey belt in the borough which the Labour government says can be used for house building.
The council's local plan for issues including how the authority will approve applications for new homes was submitted to the government for approval in February.
The government set Dudley a target of approving 1,594 new homes per year; a target Cllr Harley says is unachievable 'even if we allocated all green belt land, greenfield and brownfield sites'.
One of Labour's solutions is to use so-called grey belt land, which is green belt that has previously been developed or does not contribute to stopping towns merging together or preserving the character of a town.
At April's meeting of Dudley Council, Cllr Harley said: 'Let's kill the myth on grey belt, we have no real grey belt in Dudley, however I have authorised another review of our green belt.
'That is because I believe with our plan now at the inspectors, one of the first things they will ask is 'have you done enough to satisfy you have grey belt – or don't?'.
'I believe when that work is concluded that it will simply say 'you have no grey belt and therefore our plan is sound.'
The Dudley Local Plan proposes 10,470 new homes in the borough by 2041 with 97 percent built on brownfield land.
The council is more hopeful of approval for its plan later this year after a decision by inspectors to approve the Wirral Local Plan which had a brownfield only strategy.
Cllr Harley said: 'The news of the Wirral Plan is massive for us, as we now have a precedent.
'It shows that a brownfield first approach, which protects the green belt from development, can pass the test and get over the line.
'It has been approved despite being nearly 3,000 short of the government's recommended figure for the amount of houses being built there.'
'Ours is nowhere near that – we are only around 700 short.'
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