Newington St. Andrew's Visionary Newington St. Andrew's Visionary
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Newington St. Andrew’s Area Action Plan October 2008 Visionary EvidenceArea Action Base Plan Report: Be part of it ThePublication Case for Draft Change October 2008 Contents 1 Introduction 1 2 Existing Policies and Proposals 3 3 Housing Market 21 4 Place and Residential Offer 31 5 People, Skills and Communities 57 6 Liveability and Services 80 7 Bringing It All Together 93 8 Local Economy and Business 107 9 Flood Risk 125 10 Green Space Audit 132 11 The Case for Change 135 ii iii 1 Introduction 1.1 Background to the Report 1.1.1 This report was prepared initially in the early stages of Newington & St. Andrew’s Area Action Plan (in the Summer 2007) and progressively updated and refined throughout the development of proposals as new information in the form of studies/research undertaken or new higher tier policy and guidance emerged. This evidence base report constitutes one of the background documents of the Newington & St. Andrew’s Area Action Plan. Other background documents include notably a Report on Community Involvement and a Sustainability Appraisal. This report is a core document of a series of research and studies specifically undertaken to inform the Area Action Plan, covering issues including: Transport (produced by Alan Baxter & Associates), Environment (Wardell Armstrong), and Sustainability (Arup). 1.2 Overview of the Study Area 1.2.1 The Study Area covers a sizeable section of inner urban Hull, broadly between Hessle Road in the south and the loop railway line in the north and west, and as far east as Rawling Way and the Hull Royal Infirmary. 1.2.2 Two main roads - Hessle Road and Anlaby Road - run east- west across the area and provide most of its local services; the main passenger railway line also cuts across the area on a southwest/northeast alignment, requiring 3 level crossings on the north-south streets it intersects, and a flyover at Anlaby Road. 1.2.3 Newington & St. Andrew’s form one of the two major components of the Gateway (Hull & East Riding) Housing Market Renewal Pathfinder, the other being the Holderness Road corridor in east Hull. Its inclusion stems from a complex mix of factors including poor housing stock conditions, cramped and outmoded house types, weak local economic performance, and low popularity and prices in the marketplace. These factors are compounded by a general pattern of low overall demand, which is a well-established feature of the city and sub-regional setting. 1.2.4 But the area has considerable positive attributes and assets, too, and it is the task of the planning and regeneration operation to capitalise on them and bring them into play. 1.3 The Area Action Plan: masterplanning for Newington & St. Andrew’s 1.3.1 The Newington and St Andrew's Area Action Plan is being prepared as a part of the Hull Development Framework. After publication of the document for formal consultation, it will be submitted to the Secretary of State who will appoint an independent Inspector to scrutinise the AAP and other documents such as this evidence base to ensure that the policies and proposals in this plan are sound and deliverable. After examination, if the document is considered to be sound, it will become adopted as a planning document. 1.3.2 The AAP’s purpose is to provide a detailed policy framework and masterplan for this area where transformational change is anticipated, to ensure that the right development occur at the right place and time. The plan is produced in partnership Evidence Base Report 1 between Hull City Council, Gateway and Keepmoat, Gateway's appointed lead-developer for this area, the local community, and a wide range of other stakeholders. This report is part of the documents being published on 27th October 2008 for a formal 6-week public consultation.' 1.4 The sub-areas and neighbourhoods 1.4.1 The AAP sets out proposals for eight neighbourhood areas within Newington and St. Andrew’s. These are the localities which have been the basis for the discussion with local people in the process of developing the AAP, and they reflect their perception of the area and the way in which the AAP team have found it useful to engage with local people. The analysis in the sections below varies that sub-division: it reflects, for example, the housing market analysts’ sub-division of the market areas, and also the urban designers’ assessment of “character areas” – neither of which match exactly with the neighbourhoods used for discussion with stakeholders or explanation of policy. Figure 1-1 Map and context of the study area Evidence Base Report 2 2 Existing Policies and Proposals 2.1 Introduction 2.1.1 This section provides an overview of the national, regional, sub-regional and local planning policies, and the specific programmes, that influence the production of an Area Action Plan (AAP) for the Newington & St Andrew’s area of West Hull. Planning Policy Context 2.1.2 This section works down the policy hierarchy from national planning policy; through regional (Yorkshire & Humber) planning housing and economic strategies; via sub-regional (Hull & East Riding) level, to City-wide policies, plans and strategies; and finally local plans, assessments and programmes which affect the Newington & St. Andrew’s area. 2.2 National Policy Regeneration 2.2.1 Government policy at a national level has placed an emphasis on creating sustainable, inclusive and mixed communities in urban and rural areas. Policy in relation to housing has been developed and continues to emerge to address a wide range of issues. Since 2002, policy has placed a particular emphasis on the problems of low-demand housing and the resultant community and social stresses. The most high profile initiative to date has been the Housing Market Renewal Pathfinder initiative, introduced as part of the Deputy Prime Minister’s Sustainable Communities Plan. The initiative concentrates on nine areas in England where there are particular problems relating to low demand. Hull Gateway is one of these Pathfinder Areas designated with the key aim of transforming the housing market to make the area more attractive to a wide range of households. 2.2.2 The following context of emerging housing objectives and planning policies are considered to be key documents that the AAP for Newington & St. Andrew’s must take into account both for housing market renewal and the development of wider AAP Policies to address other issues which are relevant to this area: Planning White Paper 2.2.3 The Planning White Paper was produced by Government in May 2007. It sets out proposals for reform of the planning system. It builds on Kate Barker's recommendations for improving the speed, responsiveness and efficiency in land use planning, and taking forward her and Rod Eddington's proposals for reform of major infrastructure planning. 2.2.4 For Local Development Frameworks, proposed changes include a more streamlined and flexible process on the number and type of plans and the level of engagement with local communities. Planning Bill 2.2.5 Following consultation on the Planning White Paper, the Planning Bill was published in November 2007. Alongside this, consultation took place on draft amendment to the Local Development Framework Regulations and a draft replacement for Planning Policy Statement 12 ‘Local Development Evidence Base Report 3 Frameworks’. In the meantime the Amendments to the 2004 Local Development Framework Regulations have come into force, whilst PPS12 has been published. Housing & Regeneration Act 2.2.6 The Housing and Regeneration Bill gained royal assent and became an Act of Parliament in July 2008. Its key measures implement the proposals of the Housing Green Paper and are: • Establishing the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) to deliver new housing, community facilities and infrastructure; and • Establishing a new watchdog for social tenants (Oftenant) and to reduce the burden on Housing Associations in service delivery and of new housing; • Changing the rules on financing new council housing so that local authorities have more say in the provision and management of social housing . • Making the Code for Sustainable Homes mandatory for all new homes, with the requirement of a sustainability certificate alongside the sale of every new home. Housing Growth Areas/Points 2.2.7 Growth Areas and New Growth Points form part of the Government's strategy for increasing levels of housing supply to 240,000 homes a year by 2016. The second wave has seen twenty local authorities, mostly in the north, submit growth bids; none are in the Hull and Humber city region. National Housing Planning and Advice Unit 2.2.8 The National Planning Housing and Advice Unit (NHPAU) was set up in 2007 in response to one of the key recommendations in Kate Barker’s Review of Housing Supply. It provides advice to central Government and regional bodies on housing matters, and in particular the consequences of house building plans on affordability. In June 2008, the NHPAU published its recommended regional supply ranges for housing. For the Yorkshire & Humber Region the range of annual additional housing is between 23,800 and 26,400 dwellings annually up to 2026. This compares to the rate of 22,260 set out in the in the adopted Regional Spatial Strategy. Implications for housing provision 2.2.9 The Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 and the Growth Agenda put an emphasis on the delivery of a larger number of homes which are affordable and at standards which will reduce carbon emissions. This has translated into a possible increase in housing provision in the Yorkshire and Humber region above the rate set in the adopted RSS. Any strategy for increased delivery will need to be informed by priorities for delivering housing where it is needed most, not only to respond to growing housing demand but also to restructure areas suffering from low demand and to stimulate regeneration.