Walsall Borough Local Plan Reaches Regulation 19 Stage

Walsall Council has opened the Regulation 19 consultation on its new Borough Local Plan, which will guide future housing, employment, infrastructure and environmental policy across the borough.

The consultation runs until 2 November 2026 and is the final formal stage before the Plan is expected to be submitted for independent examination.

Why Regulation 19 matters

At this stage, representations should focus on whether the proposed Plan has been legally prepared and whether it is “sound”.

For landowners and developers, this is an important opportunity to review how individual sites have been treated and whether there are grounds to challenge proposed allocations, Green Belt boundaries or other planning policies.

Green Belt and Grey Belt

Walsall has adopted a brownfield-first approach, but the Council has acknowledged that brownfield land alone will not be sufficient to meet future housing and employment needs.

The emerging Plan therefore includes proposals affecting land currently within the Green Belt.

This is particularly important following changes to national planning policy and the introduction of Grey Belt, which may provide additional opportunities for development where land does not make a strong contribution to Green Belt purposes.

What should landowners do now?

Landowners with potential development land in Walsall should check:

• whether their site has been allocated;

• whether it remains within the Green Belt;

• whether an existing allocation could reasonably be extended; and

• whether changes to national planning policy strengthen the case for development.

Tyler Parkes can review sites against the emerging Walsall Borough Local Plan and current national planning policy and advise whether a Regulation 19 representation may be appropriate.

The consultation closes on 2 November 2026.