Future of green spaces decided

The council recently consulted with ward members about five sites of council-owned green spaces asking if they should be retained by the authority or declared surplus to requirements.

The five sites consulted on were Lapwood Avenue, Kingswinford, Seymour Road, Wollescote, Bent Street, Brierley Hill, Bryce Road, Pensnett and Corbyns Hall open space, Seven Drive, Pensnett.

Members considered the responses from ward members for each site as well as community feeling and the unanimous response was that all sites were considered essential and were retained by the council which means they cannot be included in the next stage of the Black Country Plan.

Councillor Simon Phipps, cabinet member for regeneration and enterprise, said:

While we’ve always had a brownfield first approach it was important to us that we listened to the voices of ward members and followed the correct decision-making process before we reached a conclusion about the future of these sites.

As Dudley Council own all of these sites, decision makers have to decide if they are surplus to requirements and therefore could be offered up for development. We have listened to the evidence put forward, including by ward members and residents, and decided that they are valuable in their communities and should be retained.

As the sites are no longer available, they cannot continue in the Black Country Plan and therefore will be removed when the next stage of the plan has been published.

Last year almost 20,800 people responded to the draft Black Country Plan and a further 18,000 people signed petitions with the majority calling for green belt and green spaces to be removed from the plan.

Following the response, the leader of the council vowed to be a ‘brownfield first’ authority which should continue to look at previously developed land first.

People can stay up to date with the plans at https://blackcountryplan.dudley.gov.uk/bcp/