An Aldridge Green Belt scheme for up to 355 homes is heading towards a public inquiry after Walsall councillors agreed that they would have refused the application, with the promoter already appealing against non-determination.
Application 25/1169 covers land north of Stonnall Road, Aldridge. Ashberry Strategic Land is seeking outline permission for up to 355 C3 homes, access from Stonnall Road, infrastructure, open space and landscaping, with all matters reserved except access.
The procedural point matters. Walsall has not issued a refusal notice. Because the applicant appealed against the council’s failure to determine the application in time, the Planning Inspectorate will decide the proposal. The committee’s 1st October vote establishes the case the council intends to defend at inquiry.
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Aldridge Green Belt scheme opposed after non-determination appeal
Walsall’s planning committee met on 1st October 2026 to decide what position the authority should take in the appeal. The council’s own application register still shows no planning decision and records the proposal as under consultation and assessment.
That apparent mismatch is explained by the appeal. The same register shows a public inquiry and an appeal lodged date of 31st July 2026. Once an appeal against non-determination is in play, the local planning authority no longer simply carries on to determine the application in the usual way.
Instead, councillors are asked what decision they would have made. That hypothetical decision becomes the authority’s position at appeal and helps define the reasons it will seek to defend before the inspector.
In this case, councillors agreed that they would have refused the scheme.
Green Belt and highways lead the council’s case
The council’s reported reasons centre on Green Belt harm, landscape effects, agricultural land and unresolved highways concerns.
Officers considered the proposal inappropriate development in the Green Belt and said it would harm openness. They also raised concerns about the proposed accesses from Stonnall Road, increased travel demand and whether walking, cycling and other sustainable transport arrangements were sufficiently robust.
Those issues matter because a housing allocation or a claimed grey belt case does not remove the ordinary development management tests. Safe access, landscape effects and the physical consequences of development still have to be assessed.
Walsall’s planning register for application 25/1169 confirms the outline proposal, the committee date and the current absence of a council decision.
Promoter says the land is grey belt
The Green Belt argument is likely to be one of the central issues at inquiry. Ashberry’s case is that the site is demonstrably grey belt under the current National Planning Policy Framework.
Walsall disputes that conclusion. The council’s position is that the land continues to make an important contribution to Green Belt purposes, including checking urban sprawl, and that the development should therefore be treated as inappropriate.
This is precisely the sort of dispute the revised grey belt policy was always likely to generate. Grey belt is not a separate designation painted onto a map. It requires an assessment of the site’s contribution to Green Belt purposes and the other criteria in national policy.
Planning Geek’s guide to Green Belt and grey belt explains why a site can remain within the Green Belt while the policy route for development is argued differently.
355 homes include a substantial affordable housing offer
The outline scheme proposes up to 355 homes. Public reporting of the appeal case says 142 would be affordable, equivalent to 40% of the total, alongside about 9.1 acres of public open space.
Those benefits will form part of the planning balance at inquiry. The inspector will need to consider the weight to give housing delivery, affordable housing and open space against any Green Belt, landscape, agricultural land and transport harm that is established.
The fact that a proposal offers substantial affordable housing does not guarantee permission. Equally, a Green Belt location does not end the analysis where national policy creates routes by which development may be acceptable.
The outcome will therefore turn on the evidence, including which side’s assessment of the site’s Green Belt function is preferred and whether the highways concerns can be resolved.
Local plan allocation adds an unusual complication
The site has previously been allocated for housing. Reporting on the committee says it was allocated for 363 homes in an earlier local plan process and remains identified in Walsall’s emerging plan.
But an emerging allocation does not carry the same weight as an adopted development plan allocation. The amount of weight depends on the stage reached, unresolved objections and consistency with national policy.
That creates an awkward position for the council. The authority may be promoting the broad site for future housing through plan-making while simultaneously arguing that the current application should fail now.
There is no legal contradiction in that. A local plan allocation can still be emerging, and a particular application can fail because of access, Green Belt, landscape or other concerns. But the relationship between the plan strategy and the appeal proposal is likely to be closely examined.
Planning Geek’s guide to emerging local plan weight explains why proposed allocations do not automatically determine current applications.
Non-determination changes who makes the decision
The application was validated on 6th October 2025. Walsall’s register records a target decision date of 4th January 2026 and an agreed extension to 28th February 2026.
With no decision issued, Ashberry pursued an appeal against non-determination. Local reporting says the promoter criticised the lack of progress and requested a public inquiry because of the number and complexity of the issues.
The practical lesson is important for applicants. A non-determination appeal is not an appeal against refusal because there is no refusal decision to challenge. It transfers the determination of the application to the appeal process.
The council can still defend the appeal by identifying the reasons it would have relied on had it made the decision itself. That is what the 1st October committee meeting was about.
A public inquiry will test the evidence in detail
The council register records the appeal type as a public inquiry. That is a more formal appeal procedure than written representations and is commonly used where there are complex or contested technical and policy issues.
The inquiry will allow evidence to be tested on matters such as Green Belt impact, grey belt status, highways, landscape and the planning balance. Interested parties can also participate in accordance with the inquiry arrangements.
The application file already contains extensive technical material, including transport, ecology, agricultural land, landscape and Green Belt documents, as well as the appellant’s statement of case.
There is no appeal decision yet. The correct current position is that the council has resolved to oppose the scheme and the application will be decided through the appeal process.
What to watch in the Aldridge Green Belt scheme
The Aldridge Green Belt scheme is worth watching because several live planning tensions meet in one case: Green Belt protection, the new grey belt framework, a sizeable affordable housing offer, an emerging housing allocation and a non-determination appeal.
For applicants, the case will provide another example of how inspectors approach disputed grey belt arguments where the local authority says the land still performs an important Green Belt function.
For councils, it is also a reminder that delay can change the forum completely. Once an applicant appeals against non-determination, the authority may find itself explaining at inquiry why it would have refused a proposal it never formally decided.
The current application documents are available through Walsall Council’s planning register. TheBusinessDesk and Place Midlands have reported the committee and appeal positions.
Planning Geek’s planning appeals guide explains the wider appeal process and the different procedures available.
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