"We Don't Want to Live in a Museum"

5 Population and housing _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ ALL PLANNING APPLICATIONS WILL BE JUDGED AGAINST THE GENERAL PLANNING POLICIES IN SECTION 2, IN ADDITION TO THOSE IN THIS AND OTHER RELEVANT SECTIONS. POPULATION 5.1 The population of the National Park is unevenly spread. The majority live in the Usk Valley between Brecon and Abergavenny, with further clusters in the northern market towns of Hay and Talgarth and along the southern fringes of the Park. In the last decade there has been very little change in the population, but there has been growth in the number of households through a fall in household size. These trends are reflected in the provision being made for housing in this Local Plan during the Plan period. 5.2 Table 1 shows the population of the Park by former county. More detailed information is not available as the 1991 census areas do not coincide with the Park boundary. The closest estimate is of a total population of almost 32,000. Table 5.1 Population by former county Population Households % County % Park in Park in Park population population Powys 21648 8525 18.0 68 Gwent 7317 2860 1.6 23 Dyfed 1485 537 0.5 5 Mid 1428 543 0.26 4 Glamorgan Total 31878 12465 100 Source: 1991 census. HOUSING 5.3 The Local Plan public meetings showed that most communities wanted some Public development, but primarily to cater for the needs of the resident population. consultation Finding housing land for the young people of the area was seen as essential to maintain the continuity and viability of communities. Large scale, speculative estate developments, however, were generally seen as not in keeping with the National Park. 5.4 These views reflect this Local Plan’s aims of protecting the environment and fostering the social and economic well being of the local population. In addition, survey work shows that there are few settlements where major expansion is possible before environmental or public service restrictions are exceeded. 5.5 At many of the meetings there was a call for a more relaxed attitude towards allowing new housing in the countryside. However, government guidance indicates that new development should be concentrated within existing towns and villages. Further sporadic development would damage the appearance of the 22 Brecon Beacons National Park Local Plan: Policies including Mineral and Waste Adopted May 1999 Population and housing countryside, increase the cost of providing services and encourage increased use of cars. Therefore, the need to provide and maintain rural services and the principles of sustainable development both point to the advantages of focusing development in existing settlements, as the basis of policy. 5.6 Whilst the NPA strongly supports this government policy, it is also aware of the need for some flexibility. A new policy is proposed to bring back into use some of the abandoned houses in the countryside, as a way of sustaining the more rural communities in the Park. Allocation of housing land 5.7 As indicated in section 2, this Local Plan is part of a larger development plan that includes the structure plans of the four former counties covering the Park. These provide guidance on the numbers of new households likely to be formed during the period 1991-2006, and the number of new dwellings needed to cater for them. The details of this guidance varies between the counties. The different methods used and the numbers arrived at are explained below. • Powys With 18% of Powys’ population residing within the National Park, the Adopted Replacement Structure Plan March 1996 has three main policies guiding the allocation of housing land. Policy H1 requires that provision be made for 750 dwellings to cater for all the general housing needs of the population in the period mid 1991 to mid 2006. In considering the amount of land to be allocated, or identified in this Local Plan, allowances are made for the number of completed houses, for the number of houses with planning permission not started or not complete, for the possibility of planning permissions lapsing, (20%), and for exceptional requirements, (MOD housing). To fulfil the requirements of Policy H1, sufficient land for dwellings has been allocated or otherwise identified, as indicated in Table 5.2 below. Policy H2 in the Structure Plan requires the NPA to have available at all times a supply of housing land to accommodate a number of new dwellings not less than the number completed during the previous five years in that area. Policy H2, therefore, provides a practical means of enabling the policies and the proposals of the Approved Structure Plan to be implemented. It imposes on the NPA the requirement to monitor the progress made towards meeting the Structure Plan requirement for 750 dwellings and to provide housing land, free from development constraints, to meet that target. Table 5.2 Housing requirements in Powys Dwellings Structure Plan housing requirement for Powys 750 Ministry of Defence housing requirement 60 Total requirement mid 1991 - mid 2006 810 Less those completed including those acquired by MoD 488 Requirement 1998 - mid 2006 322 Plus contingency allowance 20% 65 Total requirement 1998 - mid 2006 387 Less those committed: extant planning permissions and H1 sites without consent 408 Land and locations required none * * for details of allocations see community chapters Brecon Beacons National Park Local Plan: Policies including Mineral and Waste Adopted May 1999 23 Population and housing Policy H3 in the Structure Plan requires the allocation of land for residential development and the granting of planning permission for housing to be regulated so that housing development at area centres and larger settlements does not have the effect of depriving the surrounding smaller settlements of appropriate housing development. In meeting the requirements of Policy H3, the NPA will be mindful of the aims of the Local Plan and, in particular, will ensure that the principles of sustainable development are central to all planning decisions in determining the appropriate location of housing development. • Gwent The Gwent Structure Plan 1991-2006 Proposed Amendments to Deposit Plan April 1993 indicates that as only small parts of Blaenau Gwent, Torfaen and Monmouth Boroughs extend into the Park, it would be difficult to forecast housing need on a strategic level for the Gwent section of the Park. It considers it more appropriate that forecasting is carried out in this National Park Local Plan, where detailed consideration can be given to the environmental capacity of the area, and an assessment made of local and other need. However, it also considers that it is unlikely to be appropriate for the average construction rate (based on the previous 10 years) of 12 houses per year to be exceeded over the Plan period. This gives a guidance figure of no more than 180 dwellings during the Plan period 1991-2006, or less if environmental capacity is restricted. Table 5.3 Housing requirements in Gwent Dwellings Structure Plan housing requirement, Gwent mid 1991 - mid 2006 180 Less those completed (private sector) 34 Requirement 1998 - mid 2006 146 Plus contingency allowance 20% 29 Total requirement 1998 - mid 2006 175 Less those committed: extant planning permission and H1 sites without consent 136 Land and locations required (say) 39* * for details of allocations see community chapters • Mid Glamorgan The Mid Glamorgan Replacement Structure Plan 1991-2006 Proposed Changes to Deposited Plan December 1994 gives the guidance that sufficient land should be made available between 1991 and 2006 to accommodate the dwelling needs of the population, estimated to be 50 in the National Park. Table 5.4 Housing requirements in Mid Glamorgan Dwellings Structure Plan housing requirement Mid Glamorgan mid 50 1991 - mid 2006 Less those completed (private sector) 5 Requirement 1998 - mid 2006 45 Plus contingency allowance 20% 9 Total requirement 1998 - mid 2006 54 Less those committed: extant planning permission, and H1 sites without consent 50 Land and locations required : (say) 4* * for details of allocations see community chapters 24 Brecon Beacons National Park Local Plan: Policies including Mineral and Waste Adopted May 1999 Population and housing • Dyfed The Dyfed Structure Plan Supplementary Planning Guidance on Housing Allocations July 1994 advises: “That part of the National Park within Dyfed is very sparsely populated. Most of the settlements serving the area are on the boundary and outside the Park. It is not considered appropriate to identify a separate housing allocation figure [from those of the districts] based upon population share.” The NPA therefore proposes to make an allocation based on past rates of house building in the Dyfed part of the Park, dividing that between the communities in proportion to their populations. This gives a total of 41 new dwellings during the period 1991- 2006. Table 5.5 Housing requirements in Dyfed Dwellings Structure Plan housing requirement for Dyfed mid 1991 - 41 mid 2006 Less those completed (private sector) 7 Requirement 1998 - Mid 2006 34 Plus contingency allowance 20% 7 Total requirement 1998 - Mid 2006 41 Less those committed: extant planning permission, and H1 sites without consent 13 Land and locations required (say) 28* * for details of allocations see community chapters 5.8 In allocating land for dwellings, this Local Plan attempts to absorb the demand for housing while protecting the countryside from inappropriate development. The structure plan guidance totals are shared out in proportion to the population of each Community Council area within the Park. A community with 10% of the population of the Powys section of the Park in 1991 would thus be allocated 10% of the Powys guidance total. This method ensures that larger settlements that have a greater demand for housing have a larger allocation, and that smaller ones are not swamped by rapid new development.

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