Member Article

Consolidated planning approach across Black Country

Black Country planning authorities have come together to develop a single, consistent approach to dealing with planning applications.

Following a charter, launched last year by the Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership, authorities will now unify the supporting documents they need for planning applications.

A draft list of requirements is currently available for comment through a consultation that is set to end on May 21.

It will mean the requirements for submission of a planning application, from scale and plan sizes to location plans and from transport assessments to planning sustainability requirements, will all be consistent across the Black Country.

Simon Eastwood, private sector lead on planning for the Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “We are proud of what we have achieved so far in relation to our business
friendly planning charter but we are not standing still.

“A consistent validation process across the Black Country will ensure the process is more business friendly and remove the uncertainty created by different rules and procedures in different areas.”

The charter offers a commitment to provide a flexible and, where possible, adaptable approach to planning to help achieve high quality development in the area.

The new charter follows the Core Strategy, the central development plan document, adopted by the four councils and ensures the four areas, working with the Black Country LEP, work together on attracting investment and development to the area.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .