West Midlands Mayor Andy Street has vowed to seek new powers to block controversial Green Belt developments – and reclaim even more derelict industrial sites.
These powers could include using Compulsory Purchase to seize back land where a developer has failed to deliver and working with local authorities to take Green Belt sites out of local development plans.
The Mayor also pledged to throw his weight behind local Green Belt protesters - championing their campaigns to protect green spaces from inappropriate development, such as Wilderness Lane in Great Barr and Walsall Arboretum, and lobbying councils and the Government on their behalf.
Andy made the pledge as he prepared to visit the Lockside estate in Walsall, formerly the long-derelict Caparo Steelworks, to see the results of his pioneering policy ‘Brownfield First’.
Backed by more than £650 million of Government funding, Brownfield First has ensured builders target old derelict eyesores instead of cherished open spaces, by cleaning them up ready for housing or commercial development.
Andy said: “People across the West Midlands are passionate about saving green spaces, and by making developers look at old industrial sites we are making a real difference.
“However, now we need to go further. We need to get tough on go-slow derelict eyesores and do more to protect the Green Belt.
“I’ll be looking at new powers to step up the pressure on landowners, developers and councils who have not been able to get stubborn sites sorted for years.”
In Walsall, the £44 million Lockside housing development is seeing the once contaminated 16-acre canal-side site brought back into economic use, creating a new 252-home community.
Andy said: “Lockside is a fantastic example of what can be achieved by Brownfield First – turning a contaminated eyesore that had blighted a place for years into a vibrant new community.
“It brings home what can be achieved through targeting derelict sites. Building on them protects the Green Belt and also helps the economy – as well as providing 8,000 new homes, Brownfield First has built nearly 3.5 million square feet of commercial floor space and created more than 12,000 jobs.”
The proposed new powers include:
- Using the updated National Planning Policy Framework to work with local authorities to ensure that Green Belt sites get taken out of local development plans as they are updated.
- Using tough new powers like Compulsory Purchase to step in where developers have failed and requesting more powers from Government to speed this up.
- Using WMCA funds to make the finances stack up to reclaim and develop sites.
- Seek to include a developer’s track record in building quickly in the WMCA’s rules for funding, to discourage developers from sitting on sites.
- Explore whether the WMCA can fund the demolition and clearance of sites even before the new use has been confirmed.
What Andy has achieved through Brownfield First:
Since 2017, Andy has secured more than £650 million from the Government to clean up brownfield sites for new homes and business, and funded new developments such as Abbotts Lane, in Coventry, SPARK / Phoenix 10, in Walsall, Midland Met Learning campus in Sandwell, Bilston Urban Village, in Wolverhampton, and Icknield Port Loop in Birmingham. He has also blocked the use of any West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) funding for unacceptable green belt development.
In 2021, he commissioned the Black Country Brownfield Land Report, which examined every possible alternative to Green Belt development in the Black Country, including fitting more homes on brownfield sites, and increasing the density of our town centres.
How Andy has championed the Green Belt:
Andy has backed local campaigns for the protection of green spaces in the region, such as Corbett Meadow in Stourbridge, the Straits and Majors Fold in Gornal, Barrows Lane fields in Yardley, and the Coundon Wedge in Coventry. He also won the case with the Government to review the National Planning Policy Framework and legislate in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act to provide additional protections for the green belt.
Under Andy’s leadership, the WMCA has funded projects to improve green spaces across the West Midlands and make them accessible for leisure, such as the Community Green Grants and planting around 600,000 trees as part of the West Midlands Virtual Forest.
Andy has also ensured that where Green Belt sites have been allocated for development (for example at Arden Cross), work is being done with the local council, landowners and developers to ensure that the infrastructure and public services are sufficient for both current and future residents.