The recent decision by Dudley council to withdraw from the Black Country Plan means the other three councils will seek to recoup their costs from Dudley. Dudley council leader disagrees. Coun. Patrick Harley says 20,000 responses to a public consultation, objecting to plans to build on green belt in Dudley is the point of democracy. He adds they have enough brown field land for Dudley’s needs, but Wolverhampton need Dudley’s green belt to meet Wolverhampton’s housing needs.
The Black Country plan is ambitious. The four councils had agreed to 76,000 new homes across the region. This is what strategic planning is about. Wolverhampton council leader, Ian Brookfield says Dudley’s decision is not valid, and will not be supported Government inspectors. He is deeply disappointed. He has a point. So does Coun.Harley.
There are three issues here. The duty to cooperate has failed. Leadership in Dudley has failed. And communications policy has failed. Local leaders have not convinced their electors a strategic, long term approach is the way too resolve differences; to strike a balance between conflicting objectives. Instead Coun. Harley’s alibi is democracy. A good answer but one which avoids accepting responsibility for the threats Dudley will face, and the opportunities they shun.
This defeat matters. It is measure of the problem that Michael Gove faces. Conflict between short term knee-jerk responses, and long term reality. What happened to incentives? What happened to growth? What happened to productivity?
Ian Campbell
28 October 2022
