Local Character & Distinctiveness

Dudley’s Unitary Development Plan (UDP – Policy HE1) sets out the Council’s commitment to protect the historic character and local distinctiveness of the Borough’s townscapes and landscapes.

 

A draft document is currently being compiled entitled “The Dudley Borough Landscape and Townscape Character Study”. It aims to analyse the character of the Borough as a whole and identify relatively broad geographic “Character Areas” and, at a finer level of detail, a range of associated landscape and townscape “Character Types”.

 

The study will shortly be made available for public consultation and eventually published as a Supplementary Planning Document. It will provide a context for the giving of advice on planning or other proposals and ensure that the historic character of the locality is taken into account and that physical features, man made or natural, that contribute positively to the local character and distinctiveness of the area, are retained wherever possible.

 

A series of historic maps that graphically illustrate the historic evolution of the Borough from Medieval times to the present will accompany the Study and can presently be accessed through the Dudley HBSMR.

 

If new development needs to take place and, as a result, features contributing to local distinctiveness are to be lost then archaeological recording will be required before the development takes place. It will also be a requirement that any new development is designed with the character of the locality in mind in order to consolidate or enhance existing historic character.

 

 

You can find out more about Dudley’s historic character and the characterisation process by: