Publication Plan November 2022

Object

Representation ID: 4133

Received: 19/12/2022

Respondent: Bericote Properties Limited

Agent: Sheppard Planning

Legally compliant? Not specified

Sound? No

Duty to co-operate? Not specified

The current green belt boundary at site E51a and E51b is illogical and the site does not meet any of the 5 purposes of the Green Belt - the land will be surrounded by development at WMI

The allocation would help address an undersupply of employment land towards local needs of 9ha. There is a lack of choice and flexibility in the employment land supply with a lack of small-medium logistics units. Units only likely to be delivered on ROF Featherstone, Hilton Cross and Vernon Park over the plan period and there are deliverability concerns with ROF. Bericote’s site at Gravelly Way should be allocated to provide more choice, in a location close to West Midlands Interchange where there will be increased demand for supply chain service.

Not allocating E51a/b is not supported by the evidence (EDNA) with some poorer performing sites being allocated. The development could also create in the region of 325 jobs on site and produce GVA of up to £23.8m per annum when operational. The development therefore offers considerable economic benefits.

Retaining Bericote’s sites as Green Belt is not an appropriate strategy and therefore not justified. The retention of these sites as Green Belt does not meet current national policy in relation to the necessary openness and permanence of Green Belt boundaries or the need for Green Belt to meet the Five Purposes to some degree. taking into account it’s evidence base. It is not Positively Prepared as it does not provide, as a minimum, to meet the area’s objectively assessed needs for local employment sites.