Limit on work to save Merry Hill

A limit could be placed on any future redevelopment in Dudley and Stourbridge - to safeguard the position of the Merry Hill centre.

A controversial report by the West Midlands Regional Assembly also fails to identify the two towns as being in need of regeneration, saying priority should be given to neighbouring centres such as West Bromwich, Kidderminster and Walsall.

The report, entitled Spatial Options, follows on from the proposed Black Country regional study, in which Dudley was removed from the list of strategic town centres and replaced with Brierley Hill and the Merry Hill shopping centre.The latest report proposes that limits should be placed on the size of any developments in centres such as Dudley and Stourbridge to protect the future of 'strategic centres', which also include Walsall, Wolverhampton and West Bromwich.

"Future development in non-strategic centres will be of a modest scale," the report says.

The report also seeks to identify town centres in need of regeneration - but does not include anywhere in Dudley borough.

The centres identified are West Bromwich, Cannock, Rugby, Walsall, Lichfield, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Nuneaton, Tamworth, Kidderminster, Sutton Coldfield, Redditch, Stafford and Telford.

People are invited to have their say on the proposals by writing to the West Midlands Regional Assembly, Albert House, Quay Place, Birmingham, B1 2RA.

By Mark Andrews