The City of Wolverhampton Council Leader has welcomed the publication of the West Midlands Combined Authority Brownfield Land Study.

The study assesses the evidence put forward by Wolverhampton, Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall councils in relation to the amount of brownfield land available for redevelopment in the Black Country to facilitate future housing and employment needs.

Councillor Ian Brookfield is delighted the work largely endorses the approach the four councils have taken in identifying brownfield land.

The study also strongly supports the work the councils are currently undertaking to find any further potential brownfield land in their town and city centres.

This work will be published later this year and will inform the next stage of the Black Country Plan.

It is anticipated that some additional capacity will be identified but not enough to close the shortfall of around 28,000 homes and 210 hectares of employment land which cannot be accommodated within the Black Country.

Councillor Brookfield said: “The Brownfield Land Study largely endorses the findings that we put forward as part of the Black Country Plan – and reiterates our brownfield first message in Wolverhampton.

“All local authorities are required by Government to develop a new regeneration plan and our focus has very much been on selecting sites available within the urban area and minimising the impact on the green belt and the environment by not including sites like the Seven Cornfields.

“Only 11% of land in Wolverhampton is green belt and keeping as much of this green belt as possible is hugely important to our new climate strategy and supporting our carbon neutral challenge.

“While shaping the future of housing and the growth of businesses, we will do everything we can to protect our precious green spaces and I will continue to ask Government to reassess the number of new homes they expect the Black Country to deliver.

“In Wolverhampton we have an excellent track record of developing brownfield sites when funding is available to remediate the land, such as Bilston Urban Village, Springfield Campus and Canalside.”

To view the Brownfield Land Study, please visit: https://blackcountryplan.dudley.gov.uk/t2/p4/t2p4m/