'There is room for 5,000 homes on brownfield sites across Walsall' - Deputy council leader claims amid task to build more homes from government
There is room for 5,000 homes on brownfield sites across the borough of Walsall, according to the council’s deputy leader.
The figure was confirmed by Councillor Adrian Andrew at a meeting on January 12.
He made the remark after Councillor Ken Ferguson pressed him on the 1,200 homes per year the authority has been tasked to deliver by central government.
Nearly 20,000 homes will be coming to Walsall between now and 2042, as large chunks of green belt have been put forward to developers in the draft local plan.
The document, which must be submitted before December 2026, is a blueprint for prospective developers to use when submitting applications for big housing projects.
Councillor Ferguson asked what would happen if the council was to only put forward brownfield sites in the plan in order to protect the green belt.
Councillor Andrew said: “For several decades Walsall has been able to provide for its housing need, almost entirely, by using brownfield land.
“Most of this land became available with the decline in heavy industry in the 70s and 80s.
“Thanks to the success of the council in regenerating the areas, the supply of land from this source has now almost been used up.
“We estimate that our remaining capacity for brownfield land would be sufficient for approximately 5,000 homes.
“Our housing need, according to the government, is 1,172 homes per year. Which equates to nearly 20,000 homes. To put that into context, over the period to 2042, that is two electoral wards.
“Five thousand homes would only be sufficient to last approximately four years.”
Councillor Andrew added that it would be ‘considerably risky’ to put forward brownfield sites only.
He said: “Should we seek to progress our plan using only brownfield sites, there is therefore a significant risk of our plan being rejected by government inspectors, and in my opinion, the government would force a plan on this council and the residents we represent.”
Councillor Andrew added that it is ‘incredibly expensive’ to develop brownfield sites, which is why the government has relaxed the national planning policy framework around green belt sites.
He continued: “There’s not many coming forward to use brownfield sites because the government is not putting support out there.
“Just to make it clear, it was the previous government that funded the work that we’ve done in Willenhall, Spark and other brownfield sites.”
Councillor Ferguson called on the deputy leader to write to the housing minister to review the numbers required in Walsall, and to ask what is in place to make brownfield sites more appealing for developers.
