Dudley Council has changed its mind. Reflecting local fears, Coun.Patrick Harley says he will recommend his cabinet withdraw from the regional plan, calling it a very emotive subject. Other local leaders have expressed surprise and disappointment, or even more at the outcome.
Deciding the location for 76,000 new homes in the Black Country needed by 2039, so someone says, calls for serious spatial debate. If the debate took place in Dudley it failed. Coun. Harley says the necessary local support is missing.
One option is for all the councils to tinker some more with their draft plans. Expect more random, disconnected homes here and there. Some new, unexpected land millionaires too. And no local community wins. Forget local incentives; this is about pass the parcel. Which bunch of residents will pick the booby prize? Their children are the sure fire losers.
The other option is hand the hot potato over to a New Town Development Corporation with the powers to deliver. Clearly the existing system locally is broken. Is it too difficult for the Truss to legislate the necessary rule changes this year? There will be some cross-party support, and some cross-party opposition. PM Truss says she does not mind being unpopular. Here is a worthy cause with the nation’s growth in the Midlands the issue.
Ian Campbell
8 October 2022
