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West Midlands Spatial Development Strategy

A Shared Vision for Homes, Jobs, and Green Spaces

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West Midlands Spatial Development Strategy

Welcome

Introducing the Spatial Development Strategy, Richard Parker, Mayor of the West Midlands and Chair of West Midlands shows how it will help build a better future for everyone in the region.

“This planning blueprint will directly support my forthcoming Growth Plan, with these future developments firing up our economy and unlocking tens of thousands of local jobs.

“But this isn’t just about accelerating economic growth. It’s also about improving people’s quality of life by promoting health, protecting natural habitats and making sure future developments have the transport, energy and social infrastructure needed to create vibrant places to live and work.

“This blueprint will be crafted responsibly and democratically, shaped by close collaboration and public engagement. By working together in this way, we can produce a plan that meets our region’s future housing needs in a manner that is fair and balanced for everyone."

Overview

We are developing a new Spatial Development Strategy (SDS) which is a blueprint for how our region will grow and change over the next 20-30 years. The creation of a SDS is a legal requirement set out in The Planning and Infrastructure Bill and is classified as a statutory land-use planning document.

A Spatial Development Strategy (SDS) is a long-term plan that set outs where new homes, jobs, transport and green spaces should go across the whole region. Instead of each council planning in isolation, it joins things up so growth is balanced and makes sense across towns and cities.

It helps protect important natural habitats and green spaces while guiding investment into highly sustainable locations.

The general public have shared their thoughts and helped shape neighbourhoods across the West Midlands through drop-in sessions and commenting on our interactive online map.

Click here to learn more

WMCA Spatial Data

We have produced an interactive map incorporating data from partner agencies and local authorities, covering current and future transport provision, environmental layers, housing and employment site allocations, and current social and energy infrastructure.

The map provides an opportunity for stakeholders to view the key attributes of the West Midlands, SDS evidence base outputs and as the strategy progresses — draft policy proposals.

Click to explore the map

 

Background

The WMCA Board approved the 'Spatial Development Strategy Initiation: WMCA' to initiate work towards developing a new Spatial Development Strategy for the WMCA area. This includes establishing governance and working arrangements, a public and stakeholder engagement plan and the adoption of eight guiding principles to inform the development of the SDS at each stage.

The Government has pledged to reintroduce strategic planning, which was abolished by the 2011 Localism Act, and has set out initial thoughts in the English Devolution White Paper and the Planning and Infrastructure Bill.

They aim to deliver 1.5 million new homes, across the country, during this parliament, acknowledging to do these needs planning on a larger scale and introducing Spatial Development Strategies to achieve this.

Our region had a Regional Spatial Strategy until 2010. A duty to cooperate was introduced in 2011 to replace strategic planning with a housing monitoring function which sits with the WMCA to ensure local plans were progressing with sufficient land capacity to meet housing needs.

The Spatial Development Strategy presents an opportunity for the region to work collaboratively on housing and commercial growth, integrating transport, energy, and social infrastructure. It will act as Spatial Investment Framework — giving greater certainty and confidence to public and private sector investors in key housing and commercial schemes.

By highlighting broad locations for growth in the region, the SDS can also align the Place Based Strategies developed by constituent authorities as part of the Integrated Settlement.

Provisional Timetable

(Subject to government regulations)

Stage 1

Summer 2025 – Spring 2026

SDS initiation and scoping including:

  • Commissioning evidence base
  • Establishing working groups and wider governance
Initial public and stakeholder engagement
Stage 2 Spring – Autumn 2026 Issues and Options Consultation (following publication of regulations and guidelines)
Stage 3 Winter 2026 – Spring 2027 Publication of draft SDS and public consultation
Stage 4 Spring 2027 – Winter 2027 Public Examination
Stage 5 Spring 2028 onwards Adoption, monitoring and review

Guiding Principles

The WMCA Board have developed a set of guiding principles to help shape the development of the SDS, both in terms of process and content.

These principles are as follows:

All Local Authorities participate as equal partners with respect for different priorities and relationships.

To set firm timelines against each milestone in line with the Regulations, whilst allowing sufficient space and time for internal discussions on all aspects of the SDS.

Growth must be supported by the guarantee of provision of transport, energy, green and blue infrastructure and social infrastructure. The SDS can make this explicit in terms of timing and costs associated with different growth options.

The SDS must maximise the use of previously developed land consistent with national and local priorities. However, alternative sources of land supply will be required to be identified given anticipated levels of need and finite availability of sites within the existing urban area.

There will need to be a consistent approach to any greenfield or Green Belt release activity, and an opportunity to give priority to sites in highly sustainable locations.

The SDS must recognise the strategic importance of green open spaces in the West Midlands. It should also seek to enhance the wider functions of green open spaces, including giving priority to:

  1. Protecting and enhancing natural habitats and promoting biodiversity
  2. Enabling access to recreational land
  3. Protecting and establishing carbon-sequestering land uses.

The SDS must provide additionality to and not replicate the content of Local Plans produced by the local authorities.

It must also be sufficiently detailed to enable Local Plans to understand the implications of the SDS policies and proposals for application at the local level, for example: in relation to the identification of growth areas and infrastructure.  

The SDS must be based on a comprehensive and robust evidence base, with all policies and proposals fully justified and capable of withstanding challenge at examination.

The SDS must be fully integrated with and support the delivery of key national, regional and local priorities and programmes, most significantly in relation to the:

  • Local Transport Plan
  • Regional Energy Strategy
  • Local Nature Recovery Strategy
  • Local Growth Plan (regional industrial strategy)

Themes

The Strategic Development Strategy (SDS) will be shaped around seven key themes: Design and Placemaking, Economy, Environment, Health, Housing Needs and Distribution, Transport, and Essential Utilities. Current work focuses on mapping policies across the seven constituent authorities, identifying gaps and inconsistencies in the evidence base, and defining the key issues and challenges that the SDS must address.

Resources

The SDS will be informed by evidence and a review of existing policy which will help us to understand the opportunities and challenges in each of the seven constituent authorities. Working together we will identify and address gaps and inconsistencies, to ensure we have a robust evidence base to inform decision making.

Links to relevant strategies and evidence base studies informing the West Midlands Spatial Development Strategy are found below.

Please be aware, some links refer to external website which will be noted below.