Sandwell Local Plan

Draft Sandwell Local Plan Consultation

Sandwell Council held a Regulation 18 public consultation on the new Draft Sandwell Local Plan in November - December 2023. The consultation period closed on 18 December 2023. Any comments submitted after this date will not be registered.

The Draft Plan identifies where new employment and housing development will be located and where investment for new infrastructure, such as transport, schools and green space will be made during the period to 2041.

You can view a digital version of the Draft Sandwell Local Plan and view the interactive Draft Policies Map on our external consultation websites.

We will use the responses to the public consultation to inform the preparation of the next stage of the Plan, which is called the Publication Sandwell Local Plan. There will be a further consultation on the Publication Plan in late Summer 2024 – however, at this stage responses will only be sought on whether the Plan has been prepared in accordance with legislation and national planning guidance. We are reviewing all the responses to the public consultation and will publish a summary of the feedback and the Council's response in due course.

Register for email updates on the Sandwell Local Plan 

Issues and Options Consultation

The public consultation on the Sandwell Local Plan Issues and Options Consultation took place between 6 February and 20 March 2023. The consultation is now closed.

View the Sandwell Local Plan Issues and Options consultation documents

Call for Sites

A Call for Sites exercise took place at the same time as the Issues and Options Consultation. The exercise invited landowners and developers to submit details of land within Sandwell that they would like to promote for development. The site submissions have been assessed for suitability for development within the Site Assessment Report which forms part of the evidence base for the Draft Sandwell Local Plan.

Sites submitted through the Call for Sites exercise can be found on the Sandwell Local Plan Call for Sites Map here.

Please contact us at any time if you would like to promote any land within Sandwell for development. 

Plan Making Process

There are a number of different stages involved in the preparation of a Local Plan, with the key stages outlined below.

STAGE   TIMEFRAME
Evidence Gathering The council conducts a range of detailed studies and considers everything a Local Plan needs, like how many new homes and jobs are needed and what supporting infrastructure is required. Ongoing
Issues & Options
  • Public consultation on identifying relevant issues and potential options to meet different development needs
  • Call for Sites
  • Initial SA report

February to

March

2023
Draft Plan
  • Public consultation on the Council’s proposed draft plan which includes detailed policies and allocations
  • Draft SA Report

November to

December

2023
STAGE WE ARE AT NOW
STAGE   TIMEFRAME

Publication Plan
  • Sets out the final Local Plan for submission to the Secretary of State (SoS)/Government 
  • Public consultation on legal compliance and ‘soundness’ 
  • Final draft SA Report
 Summer 2024

Submission Plan &

Examination
  • Local Plan submitted to Government (Planning Inspectorate) with all the comments received during the Publication Plan consultation
  • Independent Examination carried out in public by a Planning Inspector
  • Final SA Report

Late 2024 -

early 2025
Adoption
  • Council formally adopts Local Plan
  • SA Adoption Statement

Late 2025 -

early 2026

How do I contact Planning Policy?

To speak to a Planning Officer, please email Sandwell_LocalPlan@sandwell.gov.uk

Or call 0121 569 4054

Or write to Planning Policy, Sandwell Council House, Freeth Street, Oldbury, B69 3DE.

Can I view this page in a different language?

You can translate any webpage on the Council's website into 60 different languages including Punjabi, Bengali বাঙ্গালী, Polish (Polski) and Urdu (اردو). Please visit the translation webpage for further details.