NORTH LANCASHIRE GREEN BELT REVIEW FULL REPORT NOVEMBER 2016 North Lancashire Green Belt Review 2016 CONTENTS 1. Introduction Overview Purpose of the Green Belt Review Report Structure 2. Green Belt History and Policy within Lancaster District Origins of Green Belt Policy in England Lancaster District Green Belt Local Plan (1991) Lancaster District Local Plan (2004) Regional Spatial Strategy Lancaster District Local Plan (2008) Review of Original Purposes 3. Review of Exceptional Circumstances Overview Need for Growth Meeting Needs – North Lancashire Green Belt Exceptional Circumstances Summary 4. Policy and Guidance National Planning Policy Framework (2012) National Planning Practice Guidance (2014) PAS Planning on the Doorstep: The Big Issues – Green Belt (2015) Government Position on Green Belts 5. Methodology Overview Defining the Green Belt Parcels Assessment of the Five Purposes Overall Assessment Consultation on the Draft Methodology 6. Strategic Assessment of the North Lancashire Green Belt 7. Green Belt Parcel Assessment Overview Green Belt Parcel Results 8. Summary and Conclusions 2 North Lancashire Green Belt Review 2016 APPENDICES A. 1991 North Lancashire Green Belt Local Plan B. Green Belt Parcel Mapping C. Historic England Response to Methodology D. ARUP Report – Verification of Methodology E. General Parcel Assessments (Part One) – Bolton-le-Sands, Carnforth & Halton F. General Parcel Assessments (Part Two) – Lancaster, Morecambe & Slyne- with-Hest G. General Parcel Assessment – Summary Document H. Strategic Parcel Assessment I. Strategic Parcel Assessment – Summary Document J. ARUP Report – Verification of Sample Assessments 3 North Lancashire Green Belt Review 2016 1. INTRODUCTION Overview 1.1 Lancaster City Council have prepared a Green Belt Review of the North Lancashire Green Belt in order to inform the preparation of the local development plan for the district. 1.2 The purpose of this Green Belt Review is to provide an objective and impartial appraisal of the North Lancashire Green Belt against national Green Belt policy, in particular the five purposes of the Green Belt as defined in the National Planning Policy Framework. 1.3 The Review assesses the performance of sets against the purposes of the Green Belt. It does not recommend which sites should be released as this is a matter for policy making via the local development plan. Such policy making decisions will consider the results of this Green Belt Review and the weight of exceptional circumstances for the release – including the need for development on Green Belt sites, individual site characteristics and the need for development in particular locations. It should be noted that the higher the performance against Green Belt purposes, the greater the exceptional circumstances that will be necessary to make the case for the release from the Green Belt. 1.4 This Review will assess all land covered by the designation of the North Lancashire Green Belt. 1.5 A non-technical summary has been prepared which accompanies this, which is the main report. The Need for a Review of the North Lancashire Green Belt 1.6 Lancaster City Council are currently preparing a new local development plan which will seek to allocate land to meet development needs between the periods 2011 and 2031. This includes meeting objectively assessed needs for housing and employment purposes. The Land Allocations DPD will not only look at how development needs will be met but also look at the allocation of land for environmental and community value. 1.7 During the production of the current plan, the Lancaster District Core Strategy1 (published in 2008), it was consider that sufficient brownfield land existed to meet the needs for housing, employment and commercial purposes. As a result the Core Strategy contained Policy SC2 which sets a presumption toward the development of brownfield sites through a policy of urban concentration. 1.8 However, since the publication of the Core Strategy in 2008 there have been many significant changes which have resulted in the approach of urban concentration as no longer being a realistic means of delivering the districts development needs. Firstly, many of the large brownfield sites within the district have now been development, are currently under development or have implementable planning permissions which would allow their regeneration. Secondly, the publication of the National Planning Policy Framework2 in 2012 places a great emphasis on local planning authorities meeting locally evidenced housing needs. 1.9 It is therefore no longer realistic to expect that the development needs of the district can be delivered through the re-use of brownfield sites alone. The national planning policy position needs 1 Lancaster District Core Strategy (2008) http://www.lancaster.gov.uk/planning/local-plan/local-planning-policy/adopted- documents/core-strategy/ 2 National Planning Policy Framework (2012) 4 North Lancashire Green Belt Review 2016 to be also considered against the publication of the Lancaster District Independent Housing Requirements Study 20153 published by Turley Consultants in October 2015 which highlights a significant requirement for new housing in the district. 1.10 In order to prepare a robust local development plan it is the responsibility of the local authority to consider and examine all options to meet its objectively assessed needs. This includes reviewing the North Lancashire Green Belt to assess whether it continues to fulfil the roles of the Green Belt as defined in national policy. The findings of such a review will be used in preparing the local development plan to understand how and where such development needs can be met. 1.11 Further to development pressures, the North Lancashire Green Belt Review has been in place for 25 years (since 1991) and has never been reviewed in that time. The National Planning Policy Framework states in paragraph 83 that ‘Once established, Green Belt boundaries should only be altered in exceptional circumstances through the preparation or review of the local plan.’ 1.12 Given the City Council are currently preparing a new local plan this represents an appropriate and reasonable opportunity to review our understanding of the North Lancashire Green Belt. Should a review not take place at this time it may be a further 20 years before the next logical opportunity arises – almost 40 years since the original designation. Report Structure 1.13 Following this introduction, the Green Belt Review provides a background to Green Belts and historic policy on Green Belts at a national, regional and local level (Chapter 2). 1.14 Chapter 3 sets out the current national planning policy position on Green Belts and the latest guidance on the topic. 1.15 Chapter 4 sets out the methodology and approach used to undertake the Green Belt Review, including the outcomes of the consultation which took place on the Draft Methodology which was published in late 2015, results of the independent verification process which was undertaken by external consultant, ARUP and other stakeholder consultation, for example the dialogue which took place between the City Council and Historic England relating to the assessment of purpose 4. 1.16 Chapter 5 sets out a strategic review of the whole Green Belt designation, setting out whether a Green Belt designation is still required in the context of national and local planning policy. Chapter 6 presents a summary of results from the Green Belt Review in terms of general and specific parcel assessment. 1.17 Finally Chapter 7 sets out the conclusions from the Green Belt Review and provides advice on further considerations relating to site selections and safeguarding land. 3 Lancaster District Housing Requirements Study 2015 http://www.lancaster.gov.uk/planning/local-plan/evidence--monitoring-and- information/housing/ 5 North Lancashire Green Belt Review 2016 2. GREEN BELT HISTORY AND LOCAL POLICY IN LANCASTER DISTRICT 2.1 Lancaster District has 1,740 hectares of land which is designated as Green Belt, located on land between North Lancaster and South Carnforth. The North Lancashire Green Belt forms the smallest element of Green Belt in England. 2.2 When undertaking the Review of the North Lancashire Green Belt it is important to consider the origins and rationale behind the Green Belt designation and to appreciate the timescales involved and the extent of previous changes to policy both nationally and locally. Origins of Green Belt Policy in England 2.3 The Greater London Planning Committee proposed the first Green Belt in England in 1935. Subsequently, the Green Belt London and Home Counties Act was published in 1938 and provided the origins of the definitions of what land uses are appropriate in the Green Belt. A ‘Green Belt Ring’ was implemented around London through the 1944 Greater London Plan. 2.4 The 1947 Town and Country Planning Act allowed local planning authorities to control the use of land. Circular 42/554 was published in 1955 and extended the principle of Green Belts beyond London. 2.5 The circular reference the importance of checking unrestricted sprawl of urban areas and safeguarding the surrounding countryside from further encroachment. It invited local authorities to establish Green Belt where desirable to: a. Check the further growth of a large built-up area; b. Prevent neighbouring towns from merging into one another; and c. Preserve the special character of a town. 2.6 The circular notes that ‘wherever practical a Green Belt should be several miles wide and that inside a Green Belt approval should not be given except in very special circumstances for the construction of new buildings’. 2.7 The fundamental aims of Green Belt policy as currently set out in the National Planning Policy Framework have changed very little since the original Circular 42/55. 2.8 In 1984, a further circular set out advice on Green Belts (Circular 14/84). It emphasised the importance and permanence of Green Belts and gave advice on defining detailed Green Belt boundaries through Local Plans.