BLACK Country leaders want to slap a hefty bill on Dudley Council after it pulled out of an agreed plan for building thousands of new homes.

The four councils in the Black Country had agreed to a plan for 76,000 new homes across the region by 2039, almost 8,000 of which was earmarked on Green Belt sites.

But the collaboration was left in tatters when Dudley announced it was going it alone earlier this month, due to the strong public reaction against the loss of green space in the borough.

This has resulted in Wolverhampton, Walsall and Sandwell now also drawing up their own development plans to satisfy Government requirements.

Wolverhampton Council boss Councillor Ian Brookfield said he, along with his counterparts from Walsall and Sandwell, are seeking to recoup costs each incurred as a result of years of work for the now collapsed Black Country Plan.

At a cabinet meeting on Wednesday (October 26), Councillor Brookfield said the three authorities would look to claim costs back from Dudley for the time and effort wasted.

He added Dudley’s decision to pull two Green Belt sites  – The Triangle on Swindon Road and land south of Holbeach Lane in Kingswinford – was not valid.

But Dudley leader Councillor Patrick Harley said he was not prepared to sacrifice Dudley’s Green Belt for the benefit of the neighbouring authorities when more than 20,000 residents had spoken out.

Cllr Brookfield said: “It became evident certainly in the last few months that Dudley Council were starting to buckle and getting pressure from local MPs, councillors and residents.

“We are deeply disappointed and it has cost the three authorities money. The three councils will be looking at various ways of recouping that money.

“In my opinion, the rational for Dudley abandoning the rest of the Black Country isn’t valid, perhaps not even legal.

“People will say ‘that’s great – you’re doing it on behalf of communities’ but no plan developed in that way will actually pass muster with any Government inspectors."

Cllr Harley hit back, saying: “Our partners left us no alternative but to remove ourselves from the plan."

He said it was a joint plan with costs jointly shared by all four authorities and if Dudley had not stepped away "then Wolverhampton in particular would have refused to continue to work with us had we removed those two Green Belt sites".

He added: “We asked people to take part in a consultation exercise and they shouted back loud and clear – don’t build on Green Belt.

“If you ask people a question but then don’t like the answer, why ask them in the first place? If Cllr Brookfield is saying 20,000 responses don’t matter then what is the point of democracy?

“Dudley has sufficient brownfield land to meet its housing need. So, in effect, Dudley would be giving up its green belt to satisfy the housing needs of Wolverhampton. I don’t think that’s right.

“I’m not suggesting there won’t be issues and we do face a difficult time in producing a robust plan that will stand scrutiny from the inspectorate.

“But that is the same challenge every authority is facing. We could have continued to work with the three authorities but they stubbornly refused to work with us if our plan to remove the two sites continued.”