Proposed modifications to the Sandwell Local Plan (Regulation 19)

Overview

We want your views on the soundness and legal compliance of proposed main modifications to the Sandwell Local Plan!

The Sandwell Local Plan was submitted to the Secretary of State for independent examination on 11 December 2024. This followed three periods of public consultation in 2023 and 2024.

Sandwell Council is proposing three modifications to the Local Plan which are necessary to ensure it is found sound at examination.

1. Allocating part of Rowley Regis Golf Course for housing development. Some of the Golf Course is allocated for housing development in the current development plan. The proposed modification to the Sandwell Local Plan would see 10.3 hectares of the Golf Course allocated which could accommodate around 250 new homes.
2. Amending policy SCC4 to reference the BS EN 15978 standard for Whole Life Carbon Assessments, and to ensure the requirement for building demolitions to consider material re-use is proportionate to the scale of the building or structure being demolished.
3. Removing Hill House Farm as a potential habitat bank for Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) and substituting it with Ray Hall Pastoral Land.

You can find out more about the proposed modifications by visiting https://www.sandwell.gov.uk/localplan.

Please use the link in the green box at the bottom of this page to view the consultation document and respond to the consultation. 

We want your views only on the soundness and legal compliance of the proposed modifications to the Local Plan . You can read a summary about what 'soundness' means and what the legal requirements on the Frequently Asked Questions webpage. Comments made about other parts of the Local Plan and that do not address issues of soundness and legal compliance will not be considered. 

Why your views matter

It is really important that everyone who has views on the soundness and legal compliance of Sandwell Council's proposed modifications to the Local Plan gets involved in the consultation. Don't miss your chance to have a say!

All representations received will be considered by Inspector C Jack BSc (Hons) MA MA(TP) MRTPI from the Planning Inspectorate who has been appointed by the Secretary of State to carry out the independent examination of the Local Plan. The decision on whether to incorporate the main modifications that have been proposed by the council is taken by the Inspector. This consultation is taking place without prejudice to the Inspector’s final conclusions on the examination of the Local Plan.