T enterden andRur Document -IssuesandOptionsRepor al SitesDe v elopment Plan t Tenterden and Rural Sites Development Plan Document - Issues and Options Report Ashford Borough Council Local Development Framework Contents 1 Preface 4 2 Introduction 5 Section 1 - Rural Community Workshops Ashf or 3 Rural Community Workshops 6 d Bor 4 Charing 8 ough Council Local De Charing Map 14 5 Hothfield 15 Hothfield Map 18 6 Chilham 19 velopment Frame Chilham Map 24 7 Biddenden 25 Biddenden Map 30 8 Bethersden 31 w ork Bethersden Map 36 T enter 9 Aldington 37 den and Rural Sites De Aldington Map 42 10 Tenterden 43 Tenterden Map 51 11 High Halden 53 High Halden Map 59 velopment Plan Document - Issues and Options Repor 12 Woodchurch 60 Woodchurch Map 63 13 Rolvenden 64 Rolvenden Map 69 14 Wye 70 Wye Map 78 15 Challock 79 Challock Map 84 16 Hamstreet 85 Hamstreet Map 90 Section 2 - Rural Planning Policy Issues t 17 Rural Planning Policy Issues 91 Contents 18 Issue A - The Phasing of the Development Allocations 93 19 Issue B - The identification of the village confines of rural settlements 94 20 Issue C - 'Windfall' housing policy 96 ork w 21 Issue D - Local Needs 'Exception' Sites 98 22 Issue E - Rural Employment Policy 100 23 Issue F - Conversion of existing buildings in the rural areas 103 velopment Frame 24 Issue G - Primary shopping frontage in Tenterden Town Centre 106 25 Issue H - Local landscape designations 107 26 Issue I - Allocation of sites for Gypsies and Travellers 109 ough Council Local De 27 Next Steps 110 Appendices d Bor or Ashf 1 Existing Local Plan Policies 111 t 2 LDF Core Strategy Policy CS6 116 3 List of all other submitted sites 121 4 Glossary and Abbreviations 126 velopment Plan Document - Issues and Options Repor den and Rural Sites De enter T 4 Preface 1 Preface This document has been produced by: 1 Planning and Development Ashf or Ashford Borough Council, d Bor Civic Centre, ough Council Local De Tannery Lane, Ashford, Kent TN23 1PL velopment Frame Email: [email protected] Large print copies, translations, audio and Braille versions of this document are available by telephoning Planning and Development on 01233 330229. w ork T enter den and Rural Sites De velopment Plan Document - Issues and Options Repor t Introduction 5 2 Introduction 2.1 The Tenterden and Rural Sites Development Plan Document (DPD) will be part of the Local Development Framework (LDF). Its principal role is to identify new sites for development outside 2 the Ashford Growth Area, but it will also include several topic-based planning policies that cover specific rural planning issues. ork w 2.2 The DPD is now at an ‘Issues and Options’ stage. This initial stage is designed to highlight the main planning policy issues that are facing the rural parts of the Borough and outline what the main options are for addressing those issues. It represents an early opportunity for you to let the Council know your opinions and to help influence the content of the DPD as it takes shape. These issues are referred to in Section 2 of this Report. 2.3 The Council has already, as part of this Issues and Options stage, undertaken some velopment Frame preliminary background work and initial consultation exercises. 2.4 In July 2007, landowners/stakeholders were invited, by advertisement, to submit sites that they felt were suitable for development in the rural area. This information allowed the Council to gauge an initial understanding as to the location and current availability of any rural land being promoted. 2.5 In addition to the site submission exercise, the Council has also been involved in a series ough Council Local De of Rural Community Workshops in Tenterden and the villages that are mentioned in policy CS6 d Bor of the Councils Submitted Core Strategy, as these are the places where the Council has decided or it should look first for suitable development sites. Ashf t 2.6 The workshops gave the opportunity for an invited cross section of the local community to discuss the issues facing their settlement and the options for development in that location. All of the outcomes from the different workshops have been incorporated in this Issues and Options Report in section 1 and there is an opportunity for you to comment on these outcomes and on some specific questions that arise from them. 2.7 In publishing this Report, we must stress that the Council has made no decisions in respect of any of the potential sites or topic-related options referred to in this report. The views expressed in the village workshops are those of the local residents and stakeholders who participated in those events – you may or may not agree with their conclusions or you may have other suggestions that you would like to put forward, but whichever way you feel, we would like to hear from you. velopment Plan Document - Issues and Options Repor den and Rural Sites De enter T 6 Rural Community Workshops 3 Rural Community Workshops 3.1 The workshops were undertaken in all thirteen settlements mentioned in policy CS6 of the 3 Core Strategy. Each workshop was attended by members of Ashford Borough Council’s planning policy team and by an Independent facilitator. This facilitator’s role was to ensure that everyone Ashf had the opportunity to air their views and the event was properly managed. Also in attendance or were members of the community, invited by the Parish / Town Council, as well as representatives d Bor of the Parish / Town Council itself. The numbers of participants attending each workshop varied but in general, ranged from 15 – 25. The feedback from the participants of the workshops was ough Council Local De on the whole, very positive. 3.2 However, the outcomes of the workshop can only reflect the feelings of those people who attended the workshop and you may not agree with some or all of their views. This section of the report will give you an opportunity to comment on any issue or view raised through the workshop process. 3.3 Given this, it is important to set the same context for discussion that was set at the start of velopment Frame each workshop. The role of the workshops 3.4 The main role of the workshop was to get an initial understanding from a cross-section of the local community as to, broadly, which areas of the settlement could potentially be acceptable w for future development. ork T 3.5 Some participants at some of the workshops were of the opinion that there should not be enter any new residential sites allocated in their settlement. When this occurred, this view was noted den and Rural Sites De and has been reflected in the workshop summaries. However, it was agreed by all participants that, for the purposes of the workshop, there was an assumption that some new development may have to located at their settlement, and therefore discussions would focus on where this development could be located, should it be required. 3.6 The discussion covered the whole area of the settlement and was not limited to just those sites put forward by landowners or developers promoting land for development in the rural area (as a result, a number of additional areas of land were put forward for consideration during the course of some of the workshops). In addition, you may be of the opinion that just part, and not velopment Plan Document - Issues and Options Repor all, of any promoted ‘site’ would be potentially suitable for development. 3.7 In most cases, sites that are large enough to potentially accommodate at least 5 dwellings were considered at the workshops as this is likely to be the threshold, above which the Council would potentially ‘allocate’ a site in the DPD. Sites below that threshold have traditionally been regarded as ‘minor’ development or ‘infilling’ and have not been specifically ’allocated’ for development in a Local Plan. Policy CS6 - Core Strategy DPD 3.8 Policy CS6 in the LDF Core Strategy identifies a number of different settlements that are considered suitable to have allocated development attributed to them in the Tenterden and Rural Sites DPD. These settlements are structured in a three-tier hierarchy. Policy CS6 of the Submitted Core Strategy can be seen at Appendix 2. t Rural Community Workshops 7 3.9 Tenterden is at the top of the hierarchy, as it clearly represents the largest and most established settlement in the Borough outside of Ashford. The second-tier contains Charing, Hamstreet, and Wye. Again these settlements are well established, identified in the existing Local Plan as the most sustainable rural settlements and play an important role as a local service centre 3 in their part of the Borough. All the settlements in the top 2 tiers of the hierarchy are expected to accommodate some allocated residential development through the Tenterden and Rural Sites ork DPD. w 3.10 The third tier is made up of 9 settlements and it is expected that the quantum of residential development identified in policy CS6 will be provided on sites within those 9 settlements.Therefore, this means that each settlement will not necessarily have an equal amount of development on allocated sites and it may potentially be the case that some of these settlements may not actually end up have allocated development attributed to them, if for example, if no suitable site is identified or more suitable sites can be found in another third-tier settlement. velopment Frame 3.11 The LDF Core Strategy has been examined over recent months by an independent planning inspector to determine its ‘soundness’.