AMBER VALLEY BOROUGH LOCAL PLAN 2016

ESTABLISHING A SETTLEMENT HIERARCHY

MARCH 2017

1

Contents

1 Introduction 3

2 National Policy Context 4

3 Housing Need 5

4 Identifying Settlements, Services & Facilities 6

5 Establishing A Settlement Hierarchy 11

Appendix 1 Settlement Hierarchy Data Table

2

1 Introduction

1.1 This paper sets out the process followed by the Borough Council in seeking to establish a settlement hierarchy in Amber Valley, to inform the preparation of a new Local Plan and more specifically, to:-

o determine the role that various settlements within the Borough can have in contributing to meeting objectively assessed housing need

o develop appropriate policies for inclusion in the Draft Local Plan, against which to consider proposals for new housing development within particular settlements, so that the scale and location of new housing development reflects the principles of sustainable development.

1.2 The paper highlights the national policy context in relation to sustainable development, as set out in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and the National Planning Practice Guidance (NPPG).

1.3 The paper explains how the Borough Council, together with the other local planning authorities in the Derby Housing Market Area (HMA), have established the objectively assessed housing need in Amber Valley up to 2028 and how the Borough Council has sought to meet this need, including by proposing a number of specific sites for new housing development in the Draft Local Plan.

1.4 The paper describes how the Borough Council has selected a range of settlements across Amber Valley as potential locations to accommodate new housing development, in addition to that expected to come forward on the specific sites proposed in the Draft Local Plan.

1.5 The paper also explains how the Borough Council has identified a number of services and facilities that support sustainable communities, how it has developed a range of sustainability indicators for those services and facilities and how it has then applied those indicators to the services and facilities available within settlements.

1.6 The paper then shows how the application of the sustainability indicators has formed the basis for the establishment of a settlement hierarchy.

3

2 National Policy Context

2.1 The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), published in March 2012, states at paragraph 6 that…‘the purpose of the planning system is to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development’. It then identifies at paragraph 7 three dimensions to sustainable development, namely:-

• an economic role – contributing to building a strong, responsive and competitive economy, by ensuring that sufficient land of the right type is available in the right places and at the right time to support growth and innovation; and by identifying and coordinating development requirements, including the provision of infrastructure;

• a social role – supporting strong, vibrant and healthy communities, by providing the supply of housing required to meet the needs of present and future generations; and by creating a high quality built environment, with accessible local services that reflect the community’s needs and support its health, social and cultural well-being; and

• an environmental role – contributing to protecting and enhancing our natural, built and historic environment; and, as part of this, helping to improve biodiversity, use natural resources prudently, minimise waste and pollution, and mitigate and adapt to climate change including moving to a low carbon economy.

2.2 The NPPF also states:-

o at paragraph 17 - that planning should ‘actively manage patterns of growth to make the fullest possible use of public transport, walking and cycling and focus significant development in locations which are or can be made sustainable’

o at paragraph 55 – that planning should ‘promote sustainable development in rural areas, housing should be located where it will enhance or maintain the vitality of rural communities’...and that ‘for example, where there are groups of smaller settlements, development in one village may support services in a village nearby’…and that ‘local planning authorities should avoid new isolated homes in the countryside unless there are special circumstances’

o at paragraph 70 – that in delivering social, recreational and cultural facilities and services the community needs, planning policies should ‘ensure an integrated approach to considering the location of housing, economic use and community facilities and services’.

4

2.3 The National Planning Practice Guidance (NPPG), published in March 2014 in support of the NPPF, states:-

• ‘assessing housing need and allocating sites should be considered at a strategic level and through the Local Plan and/or neighbourhood plan process. However, all settlements can play a role in delivering sustainable development in rural areas – and so blanket policies restricting housing development in some settlements and preventing other settlements from expanding should be avoided unless their use can be supported by robust evidence.’

3 Housing Need

3.1 Amber Valley Borough, together with Derby City and South Derbyshire District, forms the Derby Housing Market Area (HMA).

3.2 The Derby HMA authorities have jointly undertaken and commissioned work to establish an objectively assessed housing need for the Derby HMA as a whole and for each of the constituent areas within the HMA and how the provision of housing development should be distributed across the HMA to meet the identified need.

3.3 Within Amber Valley, the Borough Council has agreed a minimum target of 9,770 additional dwellings within the Borough between 2011 and 2028, to meet the established housing need. This minimum target reflects the established housing need within Amber Valley (7,395 dwellings) together with a contribution (2,375 dwellings) towards unmet housing need arising within Derby City, acknowledging the limited capacity within Derby to fully meet its own need up to 2028.

3.4 In preparing the Draft Local Plan, the Borough Council has sought to identify a range of specific sites for new housing development which, in addition to development already completed or committed, or otherwise planned for, will contribute towards achieving the minimum target of 9,770 dwellings, in appropriate locations that reflect the principles of sustainable development.

3.5 The Borough Council has also sought to develop policies for the determination of any proposals for housing development in addition to that expected to come forward on specific proposed sites and which will enable an appropriate scale of development in the right locations to deliver a sustainable pattern of development.

5

4 Identifying Settlements, Services & Facilities

4.1 The starting point for identifying which locations within Amber Valley would be appropriate locations to accommodate new housing development was policy H3 in the Adopted Amber Valley Borough Local Plan 2006. This policy identified the Borough’s urban areas and larger villages as the locations to which most new housing development should be directed.

4,2 Over 40% of the resident population of Amber Valley live in one of the four main urban areas within the Borough (Alfreton, Belper, Heanor and Ripley), as defined in the Draft Local Plan and the range of services and facilities which serve that population is similarly concentrated in those urban areas. On this basis, the Borough Council has concluded that any settlement hierarchy should include the four urban areas within the first or highest tier.

4.3 For the purposes of assessing the range of services and facilities available in those settlements outside the four urban areas, the Borough Council identified a number of additional villages and other settlements, in addition to those set out in policy H3 of the Adopted Local Plan 2006, which it considered could be appropriate to accommodate new housing development.

4.4 In considering which services and facilities should be assessed, the Borough Council concluded that it should include those services and facilities which could make a significant contribution to maintaining or establishing a sustainable community, having regard to the NPPF.

4.5 Table 1 below sets out a number of references in the NPPF and the services and facilities that can be identified in relation to those references:-

6

Table 1

National Planning Policy Framework (NP PF Service/Facility ‘Within the overarching roles that the planning system ought to play, a set of core land-use planning principles should underpin both plan-making and decision-taking. These 12 principles are that planning should: Public Transport …actively manage patterns of growth to make the fullest possible • Bus service use of public transport, walking and cycling and focus significant • Rail service development in locations which are or can be made sustainable…’ (extract from paragraph 17)

‘Plans and decisions should ensure developments that generate significant movements are located where the need to travel will be minimised and the use of sustainable transport modes can be maximised…’ (extract from paragraph 34) ‘The Government attaches great importance to ensuring that a • Primary school sufficient choice of school places is available to meet the needs of • Secondary existing and new communities…’ (extract from paragraph 72) school ‘To deliver social, recreation and cultural facilities and services the community needs, planning policies and decisions should: • Convenience - plan positively for the provision and use of shared space, store community facilities (such as local shops, meeting places, • Community sports venues, cultural buildings, public houses and places of centre/village worship) and other local services to enhance the sustainability hall of communities and residential environment; • Public house - guard against the unnecessary loss of valuable facilities and • Place of worship services, particularly where this would reduce the communities • Library service ability to meet its day to day needs; (including mobile - ensure that established shops, facilities and services are able library) to develop and modernise in a way that is sustainable , and • Access to retained for the benefit of the community; and employment - ensure an integrated approach to considering the location of • Indoor or housing, economic uses and community facilities and outdoor leisure services.’ (paragraph 70) • Post office • Cash point ‘There are three dimensions to sustainable development: economic, social and environmental. These dimensions give rise to the need for the planning system to perform a number of roles: • Doctor …a social role – supporting strong, vibrant and healthy • Dentist communities, but providing the supply of housing required to meet the needs of present and future generations; and by creating a high quality built environment, with accessible local services that reflect the community’s needs and support its health, social and cultural well-being…’ (extract from paragraph 7)

7

4.6 Having determined the range of services and facilities to be assessed, the Borough Council considered what performance measures, where relevant, should be established for each service or facility.

4.7 Table 2 below refers to each of the services and facilities set out in Table 1 and sets out, where appropriate, the level at which that service or facility would need to be available, in order for it to be able to make a significant contribution to achieving a sustainable community. Table 2 also sets out the data sources for the information in relation to the range of services and facilities.

Table 2

Service/ Performance Measure Facility Public A bus service provides the opportunity to travel to alternative locations transport by public transport, which is particularly important for those without access to a car. It is considered that the frequency of a bus service has Bus service to be hourly or better for the majority of the day in the working week i.e. between 8 am and 6 pm, to provide a genuine alternative to the car for most journeys.

Data Source: Derbyshire County Council Public Transport http://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/transport_roads/public_transport/timetable s/default.asp?VD=buses

Rail service Although not every settlement will have a rail service, this can have an important role to play in contributing to a sustainable community by enabling local residents to travel further afield to other locations by public transport, which is again particularly important for those without access to a car.

Data Source: Derbyshire County Council Public Transport, Network Rail, Ecclesbourne Valley http://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/transport_roads/public_transport/timetable s/train_services/default.asp http://www.e-v-r.com/timetable/

Primary A primary school plays an important role in most settlements, reducing school the need for children to travel long distances to school and where possible enabling children to walk to school. Only those primary schools that which are publically funded have been assessed, on the basis that they are potentially available to all children.

Data Source: Government Website https://www.compare-school- performance.service.gov.uk/find-a-school-in-england

8

Secondary Although secondary schools will not be provided in every settlement, school they also have an important role to play in contribution to a sustainable community. As with primary schools, only those secondary schools that which are publically funded have been assessed, on the basis that they are potentially available to all children.

Data Source: Government Website https://www.compare-school- performance.service.gov.uk/find-a-school-in-england Convenience A convenience store provides somewhere to get basic daily essential store items e.g. bread and milk, particularly for those who do not have access to private transport.

Data Source: Amber Valley Borough Council – Local Plan Team Community A community centre or village hall provides a location within a settlement centre/ for a range of community activities or events and a place for local village hall organisations to meet.

Data Sources: Amber Valley Info http://www.ambervalley.info/articlesearch.asp?group=Community+Centr es&areastatus=0 Amber Valley Borough Council - Electoral Registration Public house A public house offers a place for local residents to socialise and can often act as a focal point for a community.

Data Source: Google, Pub Inn Guide and Beer in the Evening websites http://www.pubinnguide.co.uk & http://www.beerintheevening.com/

Place of A place of worship within a settlement is often a long-standing and worship traditional feature of a community.

Data Source: http://www.ambervalley.info/articlesearch.asp?group=Places+of+Worshi p Library Access to a library service, including a mobile facility, can provide an service important service to local communities. For the purposes of this (including assessment, access to this service has been defined as that which mobile available either via a library within the settlement, or where that library) settlement is visited by Derbyshire County Council’s mobile library service.

Data Source: http://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/leisure/libraries/find_your_local_library/def ault.asp

9

Access to Local employment opportunities can reduce the need for local residents employment to travel long distances to work. For the purpose of this assessment, the Borough Council has identified local employment opportunities as being those available within existing business & industrial areas as defined by policy ER4 of the Adopted Amber Valley Borough Local Plan 2006. Any settlement which falls within a maximum distance of 2km from the edge of any business & industrial area is considered to be accessible to local employment opportunities.

Data Sources: Adopted Amber Valley Borough Local Plan 2006; Amber Valley Borough Council GIS mapping system. Indoor or Leisure facilities, including leisure centres/swimming pools; parks and outdoor recreation grounds (including football, tennis, cricket, bowls and skate leisure parks) can provide important facilities to meet local community needs.

Data Sources: Amber Valley Borough Council Park and Open Spaces Strategy, Amber Valley Borough Council Sports Playing Pitch Strategy and http://www.ambervalley.gov.uk/leisure-and-culture/sport-leisure- and-wellbeing.aspx Post office Access to a local post office provides an important local facility for a range of financial and communication services.

Data Source: http://www.postoffice.co.uk/branch-finder Cash point Access to a cash point provides a convenient local means to access money.

Data Source: http://www.link.co.uk/atm-locator/ Doctor Access to a doctors’ surgery is important to meet health needs and the ability to readily access such a facility locally is particularly important for those without private transport and/or who struggle to use public transport.

Data Source: NHS www.nhs.uk Dentist Access to a dentist is also important for health needs and as with a doctors’ surgery, the ability to readily access such a facility locally is particularly important for those without private transport and/or who struggle to use public transport.

Data Source: NHS www.nhs.uk Pharmacy Access to pharmacies is important for health needs and easy access is important for those without private transport or struggle to use public transport.

Data Source: NHS www.nhs.uk

10

5 Establishing A Settlement Hierarchy

5.1 The results of the assessment of the range of services and facilities available within each settlement is set out at Appendix 1.

5.2 The Borough Council has considered a number of options as to how to apply the results of the assessment in establishing a hierarchy of settlements. However, it was concluded that the most straight forward approach would be one that reflects the number of services and facilities available within each settlement and to apply a minimum threshold to determine how the settlements should be defined in a hierarchy. This approach means that those settlements which are most accessible in terms of sustainable modes of transport and that have the most facilities and services are considered to be capable in principle of accommodating a higher level of growth and will be included in a higher tier within a settlement hierarchy. Conversely, those settlements with only a limited number of services and facilities are seen as being suitable for only a limited amount of growth and should be in a lower tier in the hierarchy.

5.3 On this basis of the above conclusions, three categories of settlement have been identified, as follows:-

Urban Areas

These comprise the four market towns within the Borough (Alfreton, Belper, Heanor and Ripley), together with the adjoining settlements which make up the urban area in each case. The urban areas contain over 40% of the Borough’s population and provide the greatest number and range of services and facilities and services to support local communities.

Key Villages

These include those villages within the Borough which, outside of the urban areas, provide the greatest number and range of services and facilities and services to support local communities. Villages with 6 or more services or facilities have been included in this category.

Other Villages and Settlements

These include those villages and other settlements with a more limited range of services and facilities and those with less than 6 services or facilities have been included in this category. Although Weston Underwood has none of the services and facilities included in the assessment, the scale and form of development within the settlement is such that it is also included within this category.

Table 3 below lists the settlements within each category. The remainder of Amber Valley is classified as countryside.

11

Category Settlements Urban Areas Alfreton (including Alfreton, Leabrooks, Riddings, Somercotes and Swanwick Belper (including Belper and Milford) Heanor (including Heanor, Langley Mill and Loscoe) Ripley (including Ripley, Codnor and Waingroves) Key Villages Ambergate Crich Denby Village Denby Bottles/Rawson Green Duffield Fritchley Heage Holbrook/Bargate Holloway Horsley Horsley Woodhouse Ironville/Codnor Park Kirk Langley Kilburn Quarndon Sawmills Smalley South Wingfield Other Villages & Alderwasley Settlements Bullbridge Cowers Lane Crosshill Denby Common Hazelwood Idridgehay Langley Common Lea Lower Hartshay Mackworth Makeney Mapperley Mugginton Pentrich Shipley Street Lane Turnditch Weston Underwood Whatstandwell

12

Appendix 1 Settlement Hierarchy Data Table

13