Local Plan Review 2026-2043 Issues and Options Consultation
Vision for the Borough
- Once the challenges that a plan is expected to address have been identified, it is helpful to set an overall vision for the plan. This is also a useful opportunity to link to the Council Plan 2025-30 which was approved in July 2025. This states:
Our Council Plan sets out our vision for Solihull, the direction that we want to go in as a Council, how we aim to travel along that journey and what we want to see at the end of it.
This Plan for 2025-30 is based on a new vision ‘Solihull: a great place to live, work, invest and enjoy’, which seeks to capture what is best and most unique about Solihull. It builds on strong foundations and makes the most of what Solihull has to offer our residents, our partners, and our businesses.
- The “Plan on a Page” is a visual summary of the Council Plan, demonstrating the Council’s priorities and the end outcomes it is seeking to achieve:
- Whilst the Council plan includes ambitions and key activities that are not solely related to the function of a local plan (which is mainly a land use plan), it does have some content that is directly related and these components can be drawn out into a planning related vision for the Borough, as follows:
By 2043, Solihull will have built on its distinct reputation as an attractive and aspirational place to live, learn, invest, work and play.
It will have taken advantage of the unique opportunity to maximise the economic and social benefits of HS2 Interchange; reflecting the Borough’s location at the heart of the national rail and motorway network, and the role of UK Central as the international gateway to the West Midlands. In particular the opportunity will have been taken to ensure that HS2 Interchange is well integrated and key economic assets, including Birmingham Airport, the NEC and JLR, are supported by privately and publicly funded transport infrastructure to unlock the full potential for economic growth.
The Borough will play a part in meeting, in a sustainable manner, the needs of its housing market area so that its residents have access to a range and choice of quality accommodation.
The Borough will retain its sense of identity, both in its urban and rural area (including protection of the Green Belt which contains the strategically important Meriden Gap); and the quality of the environment that make it a special place.
This vision will be underpinned by ensuring all relevant activities are underpinned and fully integrated with measures to tackle the Climate Change emergency; recognising that this has a cross-cutting dimension that extends across economic, social and environmental objectives.
Achieving this vision will contribute towards the ability for everyone to have an equal chance to be healthier, happier, safer and prosperous, through growth that creates opportunities for all.
4. Do you believe this is the right vision for the Borough, if not why not, and what would be the alternative? Comment
