Inspectors set to examine Telford & Wrekin Council’s local plan in the new year
A council has told planning inspectors that it believes it has done enough to co-operate with the Black Country over making a contribution to that region’s housing needs.
Telford & Wrekin Council’s local plan will be subject to an in-depth examination by Whitehall appointees over three weeks in the new year where every line will be put under the microscope.
In its Duty to Cooperate Statement to the inspectors, council planners say that they have made a “positive offer” to contribute 153 homes each year to the housing needs of councils in the Black Country.
“This is a positive offer which reflects the migration patterns between the Black Country area and Telford and the scale of the unmet needs faced by the area,” planners write.
“It also reflects the capacity of the borough and the local housing market area.”
The council’s local plan sets a target to provide a total of 1,034 homes each year over the 2020-2040 period.
Council officials are using a ‘buffer’ in the area’s supply of housing sites to help it reach that target, the documents reveal.
Officials add that they welcome on-going engagement with the Black Country to “understand what additional measures they will be taking through their plan reviews to ensure they are maximising available sources of supply such as densification of brownfield sites and green belt reviews, given the exceptional circumstances of not being able to meet their housing needs now and (most likely) in the future.
The documents say that councils in the Black Country have an unmet housing need of some 16,500 homes and the current legal duty to co-operate means that neighbouring areas have to help them out.
The Government announced on November 27, 2025, that the current duty to cooperate will be abolished next year but a minister has pointed out that local councils will still have a prove they are working together.
The inspectors for the Telford & Wrekin local plan have told the council that they “shall examine this issue having regard” to a letter sent by planning minister Matthew Pennycook MP to the Planning Inspectorate last week.
Councils including Telford & Wrekin also co-operate with others on issues including cross boundary transport, minerals, waste, gipsy and traveller needs, utilities, education, and healthcare.
The Government appointed planning inspectors have confirmed the dates for Telford and Wrekin’s publicly held Local Plan Examination hearings.
They are the next step in the development of the new Local Plan which will shape the borough’s future.
Neighbouring Shropshire Council withdrew its local plan earlier this year after inspectors ruled that it was “unsound” in a bombshell verdict. Without an adopted local plan, or a five year land supply, councils lose the ability to control development – potentially handing the advantage to developers.
Hearings are subject to change but are currently due to start at Meeting Point House in Southwater, Telford. on Tuesday, February 24, 2026 and run across three weeks in that period, ending on Friday March 20.
Councillor Carolyn Healy, (Labour, Ironbridge), Telford & Wrekin Council’s cabinet member for neighbourhoods, planning and sustainability, said: “We welcome the Planning Inspector’s announcement of the dates for the Local Plan examination hearings.
“This is another important milestone for the new Local Plan, which will not only guide how our borough develops, but also sets out how we will protect green spaces and care for our existing communities.”
Anyone who submitted representation on the Local Plan during the consultation stage has a right to be heard at hearings if they wish, so long as they have stated in advance that they wish to attend.
For more details visit https://www.telfordandwrekinlocalplan.co.uk/info/1/home/20/latest-news/
