Birmingham City Council has been given the green light to implement its Birmingham Development Plan.
The go-ahead from the Planning Inspectorate will prompt the release of 740 acres of green belt land for housing and commercial development opportunities across the city to 2031.
The plan will allow for development on more than 740 acres of employment land, development of 3.8m sq ft of retail floorspace and 8m sq ft of offices, as well as the construction of 89,000 homes, of which Birmingham can accommodate 51,100.
Some 45,000 of these homes will be built on brownfield sites and 6,000 will be built at Langley to the north of the city centre on the greenbelt.
The city will still be short of 38,000 homes and Birmingham Council is now in talks with adjacent local authorities on how they can help accommodate this demand.
Waheed Nazir, acting strategic director for economy at Birmingham City Council, said: “This is the biggest opportunity Birmingham has had since the Big City Plan was announced back in 2010. It’s a sleeping giant and I really don’t think the property industry has properly woken up to it yet.”
The inspector backed the council’s approach to the controversial release of green belt land in the face of widespread opposition from local residents in the Sutton Coldfield area. However, locals could appeal the decision and have a six-week window of opportunity once the local authority takes the plan to council.
Nazir said: “We would anticipate a potential judicial review, which could happen in June or July 2016.”
The most significant modifications to the plan made by the inspectorate included an additional 4,000 new homes, bringing the total to 89,000 and reducing the developable area of Peddimore to the north of the city centre from 198 acres to 175.4 acres.
Peddimore has been zoned for commercial development including industrial and distribution. The suggestion of an early review of the Longbridge Area Action Plan and key elements of existing SPDs – the protection of industrial land, shopping and local centres and open space in new residential development – are included within the BDP.
David Binks, head of logistics and industrial agency (Midlands) at Cushman & Wakefield, said: “In terms of available development land for manufacturing and logistics, the market has been significantly constrained. This is a very important move forward.”
David Locke Associates is devising a masterplan for the new settlement at Langley, Sutton Coldfield. The council is keen to see a mix of aspirational homes with other tenures and types of housing, alongside integrated and sustainable public infrastructure links, a new junction with the A38 and new connections into the area. A supplementary planning document for Langley will be published for consultation in the summer.
The inspector confirmed that there will be no further green belt releases after 2031. Calls for further green belt releases from developers and land owners such as Richborough Estates were dismissed.
The proposal for the development of North Worcestershire Golf Club was rejected due to lack of evidence.
Key stats
- 740 acres of green belt land released
3.8m sq ft of retail development enabled
8m sq ft of office development enabled
89,000 new homes enabled, with 51,100 in Birmingham – 45,000 on brownfield land and 6,000 to be built at Langley on the greenbelt
38,0000 homes – remaining housing shortfall in the city
Source: Birmingham City Council & Estates Gazette
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