West Midlands regional spatial strategy

Introduction

The Secretary of State published the final Regional Spatial Strategy for the West Midlands in June 2004. It is currently undergoing a revision process in three phases. Phase 1 Revision focused on the Black Country sub-region, Phase 2 Revision focused on selected issues in housing and communities, climate change, transport and economic policies, and currently the Phase 3 Revision will focus on rural critical services, culture, sport and tourism, and quality of environment policies.

The Phase Three Revision proposes to revise the Culture, Sport and Tourism policies, in particular to identify and address gaps in the provision of international, national, regional and sub-regionally significant cultural assets. It aims to strengthen the Regional Spatial Strategy policies to meet cultural, sporting and tourism needs by improving their provision and access. The Phase 3 Revision will consider options to revise or replace the existing policy (PA10) of the full RSS which is focused on securing economic benefits.

Summary of Existing policies

Prosperity for All
Policy PA10: Tourism and culture

Quality of the Environment
Policy QE3: Creating a high quality built environment for all
Policy QE4: Greenery, urban greenspace and public spaces
Policy QE5: Protection and enhancement of the Historic Environment
Policy PA11: The network of town and city centres
Policy PA12: Birmingham’s role as a world city