Dartford Core Strategy Adopted September 2011 Part of Dartford’s Local Development Framework FOREWORD This Core Strategy is a significant document for everyone who lives and works in the Borough. Whilst no one could ever claim that it makes light reading what it contains and what it may mean for the future of our community is hugely important. It sets out the approach that a number of partners - particularly those involved in community planning and development control - will take to the challenges ahead. It looks at this community’s future needs in areas like housing, transport, leisure, growth and jobs. It seeks to provide a ‘routemap’ to ensure that the future Dartford we get is the future Dartford we want. The strategy is not a fixed blueprint. ver time it will flex, change and adapt to different circumstances but the core principles will be the ones that drive our decision-making and policies for the years ahead. Please don’t think that this strategy is all about development and building things. It’s not. Some of its most important proposals relate to things we won’t permit - like overdevelopment, excessive burdens on our transport network, poor design and badly thought-out architecture. It rightly places huge importance on public spaces, the dignity of housing that we demand and the need to provide social infrastructure - things like village halls, playgrounds, parks, open spaces and even cemeteries. It also encapsulates my own personal view that a place like Dartford - a rich mix of rural villages and urban centres - should only grow and change at a rate that’s supported by local people. Dartford is your town and its growth, future and character are in your hands. Jeremy Kite Leader of Dartford Council CONTENTS Page Number CHAPTER 1 CONTEXT Introduction 6 Portrait of the Borough 9 The Council’s Vision for Dartford 2026 19 Strategic bjectives 19 CHAPTER 2 WHERE DEVELOPMENT WILL TAKE PLACE Context CS1: Spatial Pattern of Development 24 P io ity A eas fo Development CS2: Dartford Town Centre 28 CS3: Northern Gateway Strategic Site 33 CS4: Ebbsfleet to Stone Priority Area 38 CS5: Ebbsfleet Valley Strategic Site 42 CS6 Thames Waterfront 47 CHAPTER 3 MANAGING DEVELOPMENT Economy CS7 Employment Land and Jobs 52 CS8: Economic Change 54 CS9: Skills and Training 55 Homes CS10: Housing Provision 57 CS11: Housing Delivery 59 Shopping CS12: Network of Shopping Centres 61 G een Belt and G een Space CS13: Green Belt 66 CS14: Green Space 69 T anspo t CS15: Managing Transport Demand 71 CS16: Transport Investment 74 CHAPTER 4 CREATING STRONG AND PROSPERING COMMUNITIES CS17: Design of Homes 76 CS18: Housing Mix 78 CS19: Affordable Housing 80 CS20: Gypsies and Travellers 81 CS21: Community Services 82 CS22: Sports, Recreation and Culture Facilities 84 CHAPTER 5 SUSTAINABLE GROWTH CS23: Minimising Carbon Emissions 86 CS24: Flood Risk 88 CS25: Water Management 90 CHAPTER 6 DELIVERY & IMPLEMENTATION CS26: Delivery and Implementation 91 DIAGRAMS 1 Dartford Strategic Context 5 2 Borough Key Diagram 21 3 Dartford Town Centre Priority Area 26 4 Northern Gateway Strategic Site 32 5 Ebbsfleet to Stone Priority Area 37 6 Ebbsfleet Valley Strategic Site 41 7 Thames Waterfront Priority Area 46 8 Green Spaces and Green Grid (Main Links) 68 FIGURES 1 Area of Workplace and Residence for 14 Dartford’s residents and jobs 2 Work Flows between Dartford and 15 adjoining Local Authorities TABLES 1 Summary Table of Development 49 2 Planning of Housing Delivery 58 3 Role of Shopping Centres 63 4 Shopping Floorspace Provision to 2026 64 5 Triggers and Management Action 94 APPENDICES 1 Delivery Timeline 99 2 Infrastructure Delivery Plan 104 3 Monitoring Framework 123 4 Replacement of Saved Local Plan Policies 137 5 Changes to Proposals Map 139 Diagram 1: Dartford Strategic Context ESSEX LONDON ,al •••• •••• •,. • M2 Canterbury M26 , ,.--•1laidstone KENT ----.. --~,.... M23 I I • I • I • I •I Dartford Borough I I Thames Gateway ----------- I----------------------------~~- ~= • Tunbridge Wells Ashford - Kent D 0 High Speed 1 Stations High Speed 1 Rail Links EAST SUSSEX Motorways Major Roads Based on Ordnance Survey Map © Crown Copyright Dartford Borough Council 100025870 2010 5 CHAPTER 1: CONTEXT INTRODUCTION 1.1 This document sets out Dartford Borough Council’s long-term spatial strategy for the Borough to 2026 and acts as an implementation tool for those elements of the Sustainable Community Strategy which can be delivered through spatial planning. 1.2 The Core Strategy has been prepared in consultation with key stakeholders and the wider community; has been developed on the basis of extensive evidence; and has been subject to Sustainability Appraisal. It has been prepared in accordance with national planning policy guidance. 1.3 The contents of this document are as follows: • Chapte 1 - provides a portrait of the Borough as it is today and identifies the issues and challenges which the Borough will face. A Vision and bjectives for the Borough are identified. • Chapte 2 - sets out where development will take place and what form it will take. • Chapte 3 - identifies how the individual components of development in the Borough will be brought together through overarching policies to ensure that development can be effectively managed. • Chapte 4 - sets out policies to ensure a good quality of life for Borough residents. • Chapte 5 - provides policies to ensure that development in the Borough is environmentally sustainable. • Chapte 6 - sets out how the plan will be delivered and implemented. 1.4 The Core Strategy, along with other Local Development Framework documents, will eventually replace our current Local Plan (1995). These will form the statutory ‘development plan’ for Dartford, the basis for planning decisions in the Borough. Ou othe Local Development F amewo k documents 1.5 Dartford’s Local Development Framework will contain a number of documents which will help to achieve the vision and objectives set out in this Core Strategy. These are: • Development Management Policies – which will support the Core Strategy by setting out additional planning policies that the Council will use when making decisions on applications for planning permission. It goes into more detail on a number of the issues covered in the Core Strategy. • Supplementa y Planning Documents (SPD) – these will give detailed guidance on how the Council’s planning strategy and policies will be implemented for specific topics, areas or sites. Although they will not form part of the statutory development plan for Dartford, and will therefore not have the same weight in decision making, they will be important considerations in the Council’s planning decisions. 6 How we have p epa ed the Co e St ategy 1.6 The main stages in the preparation of the Core Strategy have been as follows: • gathering background information and consulting on key issues and options for the future of Dartford; • developing the Council’s Core Strategy p efe ed app oach and consulting on it through two consultations; • Separate consultations on Dartford Town Centre and Northern Gateway • preparing and publishing the final Core Strategy (‘P e Submission’) • submitting the Core Strategy to the government (‘Submission’) for a public examination where the document is assessed by a Planning Inspector; • publication of the Inspecto ’s epo t; • adoption of the Core Strategy by the Council. 1.7 The Core Strategy has been developed taking into account many sources of information and the results of consultation exercises, in particular: • responses to consultation as referred to above; • the supporting evidence and information we have collected and commissioned; • Dartford’s Community Strategy and other relevant plans and strategies; • the policies and plans of the government; • a sustainability appraisal of the Core Strategy. Da tfo d’s Community St ategy and othe st ategies 1.8 As noted above, the Core Strategy needs to take into account other plans and strategies that influence the borough. It contributes to achieving the vision in Dartford’s Community Strategy and other relevant strategies of the Council and its main partners such as Kent County Council. The Core Strategy aims to translate the vision into a set of priorities and policies to shape the sort of place we want Dartford to be in the future and create a framework for delivery. National Planning Policy, Thames Gateway and Regional Context 1.9 ur planning documents must be consistent with national policy prepared by government in Planning Policy Statements and Guidance (PPS /PPG), unless we have strong evidence that an alternative approach is more appropriate to Dartford. ur assessment1 shows that there is compliance with national requirements. Where this is not the case, it has been justified by local circumstances. 1.10 Many of the policies and proposals in the Core Strategy are not new. The Plan builds on and updates earlier national guidance relating to the Thames Gateway2 to 1 Conformity with National and ther Higher Level Requirements, Dartford Borough Council, February 2011 2 RPG9a: the Thames Gateway Planning Framework, DoE, 1995 and Thames Gateway Delivery Plan, DCLG, 2007 7 develop a local vision for the future of Dartford which will deliver benefits for existing communities in the area. The Core Strategy is consistent with the principles first set out in RPG9a in terms of: • Making the most of the Thames Gateway opportunity • Creating a vibrant and sustainable pattern of communities • Closely relating transport opportunity with land use opportunity • Bringing life to the river and river-front; and • A new environmental standard 1.11 Many of the opportunities for development identified in RPG9a have been either completed, commenced or have planning permission. The long-term nature of the strategy has, therefore, had a strong influence on the nature of this Plan. 1.12 Legislation3 current at the time of preparation and Submission of the Core Strategy requires that the document must be prepared in the context of the Regional Strategy for the area.