Draft West Midlands RSS Phase Two Revision
Examination in Public (EiP) - Welcome Page
28 November 2008
The Molineux Stadium is within comfortable walking distance of the railway station (less than 15 minutes) and there are around 8 trains per hour at peak times to and from Birmingham New Street. For those travelling by car the Stadium is signposted from the ring road and there is ample car parking at the Stan Cullis Stand which is accessed from Jack Hayward Way. Parking is free if you tell the parking attendants you are there for the West Midlands Examination in Public. Please note that there are no facilities for purchasing food at the venue but sandwiches and hot food can be purchased at the Asda Store adjacent to the car park. Tea and coffee will be available for purchase at the venue.
Directions to Molineux Stadium - directions_to_ molineux_stadium
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November 2008
The Panel will be holding a Preliminary Meeting on Tuesday 27 January 2009, starting at 11.00 a.m. at the Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton; it is anticipated that this meeting will be over by 16.00 at the latest. Further information, including location details will be made available at a later date. Should it prove necessary the Panel will hold a second Preliminary Meeting on Wednesday 18 March 2009 at the same venue.
The Examination in Public will open on Tuesday 28 April 2009, the venue being the Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton and it is expected to last a maximum of seven sitting weeks ending Friday 26 June 2009, with two recess weeks. Further information will be provided at the First Preliminary Meeting, if not before.
The Panel is also minded to hold some seminar sessions on housing numbers and household projections. The dates for these sessions are Wednesday 28 January 2009, starting around 09.30/10.00 and the afternoon of Wednesday 18 March 2009, starting around 13.30/14.00; these sessions will also be held at the Molineux Stadium. The Panel have not yet finalised the form that these sessions will take but will provide further information as soon as it can be made available. These sessions, as with the Preliminary Meetings, will be open to all but the Panel would particularly encourage anyone with a particular interest in housing to try to be present. Whatever form the final seminars take, there will be an opportunity for questions and a note will be kept of these (and the answers) and the note will be posted on these web pages, a copy placed in the Examination Library and paper copies will be made available upon request to the Panel Secretariat.”
October 2008
The independent study commissioned by Government Office for the West Midlands to assess and identify the potential capacity for additional housing numbers in the West Midlands is now available. Links to the study can be found be visiting the Government Office web page at www.go-wm.gov.uk and clicking on 'Planning' from the menu on the left. Then click onto the menu option (again on the left) for Nathaniel Lichfield and Partners RSS Phase 2 Study. Once on this page an internet link to the study itself can be found at the bottom of the page.
Comments on the West Midlands Regional Assembly Phase 2 Revision Draft need to be with me, the Panel Secretary, no later than midday on Monday 8 December 2008. Please note that the Panel will not accept submissions received after this date.
The Panel would find it helpful to distinguish between issues, therefore, if your response includes any comments on the Nathaniel Lichfield and Partners Study these should be made on a separate piece of paper.
30 June 2008
The National Housing and Planning Advice Unit has published it's final advice for all the regions. The document is called "Meeting the housing requirements of an aspiring and growing nation" and can be downloaded from the CLG website by clicking on the document title.
June 2008
Government Office for the West Midlands have appointed Nathaniel Lichfield & Partners (NLP) to provide the study detailed below. The Consultants are using the National Housing and Planning Advice Unit's interim report "Developing a target range for the supply of new homes across England" (NHPAU's response to the Government Green Paper Homes for the future:more affordable, more sustainable) as part of their base data and this interim report can be found at:
It is expected that NLP will publish their report on 7 October 2008 and the West Midlands Regional Assembly have decided to extend the consultation on the RSS Phase Two Revision until 12 noon on Monday 8 December 2008 in order that respondents can take account of this latest evidence from the Government.
It is now anticipated that the Public Examination into the Phase Two draft will take place between late April and late June 2009 although precise dates and venue have still to be decided. It is likely that the first Preliminary Meeting will be held in late January 2009 but, again, exact dates and venue are not yet decided.
The Panel Secretariat office is now manned daily between 08.30 and 13.30 (Monday to Friday) and David Teasdale the Panel Assistant can be contacted on: 0121 352 5483: e-mail address - wm.panelsecretary@gowm.gsi.gov.uk. The office address is:
c/o Government Office for the West Midlands, 4th Floor, 5 St Philip's Place, Colmore Row, Birmingham, B3 2PW
26 March 2008
The Government Office for the West Midlands are in the process of commissioning further work to look at options for delivering higher housing numbers in the Region, and possible implications for the key principles and objectives of the Regional Spatial Strategy. GOWM hope to appoint consultants in early April and anticipate that the study will take between three and six months to complete. This will have implications for the timetable for the Phase Two Revision as GOWM want to give their regional partners the opportunity to both engage with the study and to see its findings early enough to enable them to make their own contributions to the Public Examination. Until the consultants have been appointed it is not possible to give any firm details of the revision timetable changes. GOWM anticipate that the West Midlands Regional Assembly will wish to extend the consultation beyond the provisional date of 30 June 2008 to allow consultees an opportunity to comment on the study alongside the Phase Two revision. I can confirm that the Public Examination into the Phase Two Revision will now take place in 2009.
Further updates will be made available on this website as they become available.
Pam Perceval-Maxwell, Panel Secretary
21 February 2008
The Phase Two draft revision was formally submitted to the Secretary of State on 21 December 2007; on 7 January 2008 the Baroness Andrews (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State) wrote to the Regional Planning Partnership for the West Midlands Regional Assembly. In her letter she advises that she has asked the Government Office for the West Midlands (GOWM) to commission some further work looking at options which could deliver higher housing numbers. The aim will be to provide the Examination Panel with options that could deliver housing numbers which will start to impact on affordability whilst maintaining as many of the principles of the Spatial Strategy as possible. A copy of this letter can be seen on the GOWM website - www.go-wm.gov.uk/gowm/Planning/515750/?a=42496 - together with various other pieces of information.
As a result of the letter from the Baroness Andrews the consultation period has been extended to 30 June 2008 to provide an opportunity for consultees to consider this additional evidence when making responses to the draft RSS.
Documents are available for public inspection on the website - West Midlands Regional Assembly - at the Regional Assembly's offices and at principal local authorities and central libraries across the region. Further information can be obtained by telephoning the Regional Assembly on 0121 245 0200 or by e-mail to info@wmra.gov.uk.
Responses on the draft revision should be made on the official response form which can be downloaded from both the GOWM and Regional Assembly websites. Representations of support, objection or comment on the revisions should be submitted on the form by post or e-mail, to be received no later than 30 June 2008 to:
The Panel Secretary, c/o Government Office for the West Midlands, 5 St Philip's Place, Colmore Row, Birmingham B3 2PW: e-mail address - wm.panelsecretary@gowm.gsi.gov.uk.
Pam Perceval-Maxwell, Panel Secretary, WM RSS Phase Two Revision
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