Dudley Conservatives criticised for withdrawing from Black Country Plan negotiations

Councillor Parjit Sahota said: "Originally we were told by the Conservatives that the only way to save the green belt was to negotiate with other authorities under a duty to cooperate, which would mean that any housing deficit could be shared amongst neighbouring authorities.

"Now that the Conservatives have announced that they plan to go it alone, it is inevitable that neighbouring authorities will not cooperate in taking on Dudley’s share of the Black Country’s housing allocation– This places all the green belt and green spaces in Dudley at risk. The residents of this Borough need to know the implications of what the Tories have done."

Councillor Judie Foster who prepared a dossier of evidence to save green belt in Dudley has said “Dudley Conservatives have well and truly placed our green belt and green spaces at the hands of Conservative government who will insist that they build on these spaces.

"The Tories have basically put at risk every patch of green land, and if there was any hope of neighbouring Authorities taking on their housing and employment share for the Borough, that’s now gone. Our policy has always been that we do not support the development of green spaces and green belt and our dossier paved the way to protect them”