What is the SDS?
A Spatial Development Strategy (SDS) is a long-term plan, required by law, that helps guide how a region will grow and change over the next 20-30 years.
It is the responsibility of Strategic Combined Authorities to draft their SDS, in the instance where there is no Strategic Combined Authority, the Government intends for groups of local authorities to form Strategic Planning Authorities to prepare a joint SDS where required. You can see the current status of these authorities here.
It identifies broad locations for fundamental things like new homes, jobs, transport links, green spaces and other important infrastructure.
These strategic priorities then help guide Local Plans, that are carried out by Local Councils and provide more detailed policies and site allocations.
In simple terms, an SDS is a shared plan for the future that helps make the best use of land across a region.
Why does it matter?
Many of the challenges and opportunities facing the West Midlands do not stop at council boundaries. Housing, transport, economic growth and the environment are just some regional issues that affect all seven constituent authorities and beyond.
An SDS helps councils work together on these shared issues by providing a common vision and direction for the region. It supports more joined-up decision-making, helping to ensure growth happens in the right places, communities are well connected, and investment is planned effectively.
By taking a regional approach, the SDS can help create a more sustainable, prosperous and well-connected West Midlands for everyone.
How the SDS fits into planning
The SDS sits within the planning system at the regional scale, and provides a strategic framework for the West Midlands.
It doesn't replace Local Plans. Instead, it helps guide them by identifying regional priorities and broad locations for growth, while Local Plans continue to set detailed planning policies and allocate specific sites.
Background
The information below explains why the Spatial Development Strategy is being introduced and how work on the strategy began.
The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) Board approved the 'Spatial Development Strategy Initiation: WMCA' report, formally starting work on a new Spatial Development Strategy (SDS) for the region. This established the governance and working arrangements for the project, set out a programme of public and stakeholder engagement, and adopted eight guiding principles that will inform the SDS throughout its development.
The Government has committed to reintroducing strategic planning, which was abolished under the Localism Act 2011. Its proposals, set out through the English Devolution White Paper and the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, recognise that some issues are best planned for at a scale larger than individual local authority areas.
As part of this approach, the Government has set a national ambition to deliver 1.5 million new homes during this Parliament and sees Spatial Development Strategies as an important tool for planning and coordinating growth across wider regions.
The West Midlands previously had a Regional Spatial Strategy, which guided development across the region until 2010. Following its abolition, a duty to cooperate was introduced in 2011. Since then, the WMCA has undertaken a housing monitoring role to help ensure local plans provide sufficient land to meet housing needs.
The new SDS provides an opportunity to move beyond monitoring and take a more strategic approach to planning. It will help the region work collaboratively on housing and economic growth while coordinating transport, energy and social infrastructure. It will also act as a Spatial Investment Framework, providing greater certainty and confidence for public and private sector investment.
By identifying broad locations for future growth, the SDS will help align local plans and Place-Based Strategies across the constituent authorities, supporting a more coordinated approach to delivering the region's long-term ambitions
Project timeline
(Subject to government regulations)
| Stage 1 |
Summer 2025 – Autumn 2026 |
SDS initiation and scoping including:
|
| Stage 2 | Autumn – Spring 2027 | Issues and Options Consultation (following publication of regulations and guidelines) |
| Stage 3 | Summer – Autumn 2027 | Publication of draft SDS and public consultation |
| Stage 4 | Autumn 2027 – Winter 2027 | Public Examination |
| Stage 5 | Spring/Summer 2028 onwards | Adoption, monitoring and review |
Guiding Principles
The WMCA Board has agreed eight guiding principles that will shape the development of the Spatial Development Strategy. Together they ensure the strategy is collaborative, evidence-led and focused on delivering sustainable growth across the West Midlands.
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:
- Protecting and enhancing natural habitats and promoting biodiversity
- Enabling access to recreational land
- 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)