Currently, the duty to cooperate – which demands local authorities cooperate with each other on planning and other strategic matters – is leading to thousands of houses being imposed on the Green Belt in South Staffordshire by Black Country and Birmingham authorities.
While the Government has committed to abolishing the duty to cooperate, they have not provided details on when it will be replaced and what it will be replaced with.
We need clarity in South Staffordshire to ensure that our Green Belt will be protected and that we will not be forced to take up any more housing overspill from the West Midlands. The Government must urgently provide this, and I remain committed to pressing this issue until they do so.
