Birmingham Development Plan - The Plan So Far … and Next Steps
The Birmingham Development Plan is a major policy review. It will set the vision and objectives for the future of the city and will be a city-wide spatial strategy. Once completed it will replace the majority of the Unitary Development Plan (UDP) for Birmingham 2005. The Plan will provide the statutory framework for new development in Birmingham and it has to be prepared in line with a statutory process.
This process was launched at an event in February 2007, chaired by the late Councillor Hardeman, and called "Planning for the Future of Birmingham". The event gave the audience the opportunity to give their thoughts through table discussions to help identify key priorities, issues and options for what was then known as the draft Core Strategy.
Issues and Options
The first formal stage in the preparation of the Core Strategy was the preparation of an Issues and Options Paper. Its purpose was to seek views on the key issues and choices which need to be faced in determining the direction of development in Birmingham over the next 20 years. It set out the current spatial profile of the City, a vision and key issues and objectives for the growth of Birmingham.
Three spatial options were suggested, providing alternative scenarios as a starting point. One option continued to promote growth at current levels. A second option concentrated upon significant housing redevelopment in the East and West of Birmingham in the form of Sustainable Urban Neighbourhoods and enabled more housing growth without building in the Green Belt. A third option enabled more housing growth by expanding the urban area in either the North/North East and/or South of the city. This third option did involve development in the Green Belt.
Here is the Issues and Options Paper, together with a summary.
In the autumn of 2008 we undertook a major consultation exercise on the issues and options. The outcome of this is summarised in the Core Strategy Issues and Options Consultation: Summary of Responses below.
The responses have helped to formulate the policies and proposals included in the Consultation Draft, on which we consulted in early 2011. The summary of responses is below.
The results of that consultation have lead to a further revision of the document, now called the Birmingham Development Plan and further consultation on additional options is now taking place until 14th January 2013.
Last Updated : 2nd May 2013