An outline application is being prepared to assist Dudley in rectifying the delivery of much needed market and affordable homes on a sustainable, grey belt site on the edge of the conurbation.
Paragraph 155 of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) is supportive of housing development on Green Belt sites when they comply with the provisions within it. The introduction of Paragraph 155 to national policy was a positive intervention to allow greater flexibility in planning system. It does not undermine the wider role or function of the Green Belt but instead allows for the release of sustainable sites for development where the planning system is otherwise failing to meet the development needs in that area.
Among other things, the criteria in Paragraph 155 includes sites that meet the definition of Grey Belt (which is the case here) and where there is a demonstrable need for homes in that local authority. A demonstrable need for homes can arise when a Council has less than a five-year housing land supply or when it has failed to score 75% in the Housing Delivery Test. Both apply in Dudley, with the Council unable to demonstrate a five year housing land supply and scoring just 62% on the Housing Delivery Test.
The Council are in the process of producing a new local plan, but this does little to assist with increasing the supply of housing sites. Housing sites within the plan are all in the existing urban area and most would be supported under the existing local planning policies. It also only planning to delivery 657 dwellings per annum, when the latest housing need figure using the Standard Method of 1,462 dwellings per annum. This is a significant difference and will require sites like this to come forward in an attempt to limit the gap between delivery and the local need.
Our view is that a housing development on this site would comply with Paragraph 155 of the NPPF and an outline application is being prepared in this context. It will make a significant contribution to the delivering of new homes in the Borough, on a site that is well related to the conurbation and would not undermine the strategic role or function of the Green Belt.
An Outline Planning Application is a type of planning application that enables applicants to seek approval for the general principles of a development project. Details of the site access, layout, appearance, scale and landscaping can all be reserved for future consideration, although the details of the site access are often included at the outline stage to provide certainty over the access solution.
Once outline planning permission is granted, a subsequent application(s) will need to be submitted known as a Reserved Matters Planning Application. This would include the detailed consideration of the proposed layout of the housing development, along with its appearance, the scale of the homes and the associated landscaping. This application would be subject to further consultation with the local community before being determined.
The adopted Development Plan for Dudley Black Country Core Strategy that was adopted in 2011. The Site is currently identified in the Green Belt, but due to the age of the plan it does not differentiate between Green Belt and Grey Belt, and it does not plan to meet the current housing need.
The Council is preparing a new Local Plan for Dudley which sets out the strategy for development to 2041.
The Plan was submitted to the Secretary of State in February 2025 and is currently going through examination. It is being examined under the previous version of the National Planning Policy Framework, which means it does not consider Grey Belt sites and does not plan to meet the latest housing need figure. Regardless of what happens with the examination, it will remain the case that the Council does not achieve 75% in the Housing Delivery Test and the provisions of Paragraph 155 of the National Planning Policy Framework will still apply to support the Council in delivering much needed homes.
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