Site Specific Policies Regulation 25 Consultation
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Local Development Framework Site Specific Policies Regulation 25 Consultation November 2008 Stevenage LDF Site Specific Policies DPD Stevenage LDF Site Specific Policies DPD Tell us what you think This document has been prepared for consultation and is available for public comment from Monday 10th November 2008 for six weeks. Any comments you wish to make can be sent to the Planning Policy team at Stevenage Borough Council by 5pm on Friday 19th December 2008. Comments can be sent, faxed, emailed or delivered to: On line www.stevenage.co.uk By mail Planning Policy Stevenage Borough Council Daneshill House Danestrete Stevenage SG1 1HN By fax 01438 242922 By textphone 01438 242444 By email [email protected] All responses received by the deadline will be considered and used to prepare a Submission document in 2010 which you will have another chance to comment on. If you have any questions about this document, please contact the Planning Policy team using the details above or by telephone on 01438 242752. 3 Stevenage LDF Site Specific Policies DPD Contents Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................ 5 1 Introduction............................................................................................................................ 6 2 Which areas of Stevenage does the Site Specific Polices DPD cover?................................ 14 3 Vision and objectives ........................................................................................................... 15 4 Housing ............................................................................................................................... 17 How many houses do we need to plan for in this document?............................................... 17 Site Identification ................................................................................................................. 19 Gypsies and Travellers ........................................................................................................ 60 5 Employment......................................................................................................................... 62 6 Local shopping facilities ....................................................................................................... 65 Other retail provision............................................................................................................77 7 Social and community facilities ............................................................................................ 78 Education............................................................................................................................. 78 Leisure................................................................................................................................. 79 Health .................................................................................................................................. 82 Other community uses ......................................................................................................... 86 8 The natural environment ...................................................................................................... 87 Open Space......................................................................................................................... 87 Wildlife Sites ........................................................................................................................ 94 Green Lungs........................................................................................................................ 98 Ancient woodland .............................................................................................................. 105 Ancient Lanes and Hedgerows .......................................................................................... 106 Areas of Archaeological Significance ................................................................................. 110 Horse and pony route ........................................................................................................ 113 Public rights of way............................................................................................................ 116 Green Belt ......................................................................................................................... 116 9 The Built Environment........................................................................................................ 120 Conservation Areas ........................................................................................................... 120 Character Areas................................................................................................................. 121 10 Implementation and monitoring.......................................................................................... 123 Housing ............................................................................................................................. 123 Employment....................................................................................................................... 124 Local shopping................................................................................................................... 124 Social and community facilities .......................................................................................... 125 The natural environment .................................................................................................... 125 The built environment ........................................................................................................ 126 Other Issues ...................................................................................................................... 126 4 Stevenage LDF Site Specific Policies DPD Executive Summary The Local Development Framework (LDF) is a set of documents which will eventually replace Stevenage’s District Plan. These documents will be used to determine applications for planning permission. The Site Specific Policies DPD is one of these documents. The Site Specific Policies DPD identifies particular sites or areas of land where we want to encourage development or preserve existing uses or features. The main document in our LDF is called the Core Strategy. The Core Strategy says we should build at least 3,000 new homes in the area covered by this document between 2001 and 2021. At 1st April 2008, 1,600 of these had been built or given planning permission. We have identified 33 housing sites in this document. We think 1,900 new homes could be built on these sites. We have identified Pin Green as an Employment Area where business uses will be permitted. We have identified eight larger ‘Local Centres’ and ten smaller ‘Neighbourhood Centres’ where we will support an appropriate mix of local shopping, social, community, employment and / or residential uses. These will provide facilities for local residents We have identified three school sites that we hope will provide new sports and leisure facilities that all residents will be able to use. The Lister Hospital and Heathcote School sites are identified as locations where development for healthcare uses will be given planning permission. 27 sites are identified as ‘Principal Open Spaces’ which will be protected against development. Policies to protect wildlife sites, areas of archaeological interest, ancient woodland and the existing horse and pony route are also included. Ten ‘Green Lungs’ are identified. These are collections of open spaces in the town that we would like to protect. We have suggested a new Green Belt boundary at Bragbury End. The land to the south of the A602 will be taken out of the Green Belt. We have suggested that this land should be used for housing development to make sure that we meet our housing targets. An earlier stage of public consultation – called Key Issues and Alternative Options – was carried out in 2006. We need to undertake a further consultation to make sure this document meets Government regulations. This consultation will run from six weeks from Monday 10th November 2008 to Friday 19th December 2008. After this consultation has finished, we will prepare the final version of the plan for the Government and hold a further period of consultation. We think this will happen in 2010. 5 Stevenage LDF Site Specific Policies DPD 1 Introduction What is spatial planning and how does the new planning system work? 1.1 In 2004 the Government passed new laws which aimed to make the production of planning documents easier, and promote greater community involvement in the process. 1.2 The new system promotes a new way of thinking about how a local area will operate and change in the future. This is called “spatial planning”. Spatial planning requires us to think about all of the following issues: Z Future housing and employment needs; Z The land use requirements of key services such as schools, hospitals and the emergency services; Z The need to protect the environment and make sure that everyone has access to open spaces; Z Reducing our impact on, and considering the effects of, climate change by trying to reduce the risk of flooding and thinking about the way in which we travel; 1.3 Spatial planning is about getting the right development in the right place at the right time. It allows us to keep things the same where they are