§ Mr. MillsTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he will publish planning guidance for the metropolitan district councils in the west midlands; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. WaldegraveI have today written to councillor Peter Kellie, chairman of the west midlands planning and transportation sub-committee of the metropolitan borough councils, to convey the Secretary of State's strategic planning guidance for the west midlands, which will provide a framework for the preparation of unitary development plans. Copies have been sent to all local authorities in the region. The west midlands is the first metropolitan area for which we have issued strategic guidance and I welcome the co-operative, constructive approach of the local authorities and everyone else involved in this process. A commencement order enabling six of the seven metropolitan boroughs to begin preparation of their plans will come into force on 29 February. Dudley has been excluded from the order for the moment, at its own request, because it is completing local plans for parts of its area. The effect of a commencement order there would be to halt work on local plans not yet completed, and to require procedural stages to be repeated unnecessarily in the preparation of the unitary development plan.