Sedgemoor Transport Investment Strategy Policy Context
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Technical Note To Sedgemoor District Council Cc Steven Bishop, Simon Davies From Fiona Jenkins, Ed Robinson Date 5 December 2017 Project Sedgemoor 2050 Transport Investment Project No. 23165801 Strategy Overview of policy context: planning, supporting and delivering growth in Sedgemoor Introduction 1. Steer Davies Gleave has been commissioned by Sedgemoor District Council to support the Council in the development of a transport investment strategy which goes beyond the current Local Plan period (to 2032) and up to 2050. 2. The study is currently in its initial stages. The purpose of this technical note is to present a summary of the policy context in which the transport strategy is being developed, including a summary of the spatial, economic and political changes planned or currently in effect. The note is structured as follows: National policy context Sub-national policy context Local policy context Key themes: PESTLE analysis National policy context National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) (Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), 2012) 3. The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) sets out the Government’s planning policies for England and how these should be applied. It is centred around a presumption in favour of sustainable development, which is to be seen as a “golden thread” that runs through plan-making and decision- taking. 4. The NPPF emphasises that the transport system needs to be balanced in favour of sustainable transport modes (defined as “any efficient, safe and accessible means of transport with overall low impact on the environment, including walking and cycling, low and ultra low emission vehicles, car sharing and public transport1”), while at the same time recognising that opportunities to maximise sustainable transport solutions will vary from urban to rural areas. 5. The NPFF identifies the requirement to consider how the travel and transport impact of significant new development can be mitigated and minimised. 1 National Planning Policy Framework, Annex 2, page 57, Department for Communities and Local Government, March 2012 London | 28-32 Upper Ground London SE1 9PD 1 of 25 [email protected] | +44 20 7910 5000 www.steerdaviesgleave.com “Plans and decisions should ensure developments that generate significant movement are located where the need to travel will be minimised and the use of sustainable transport modes can be maximised. However this needs to take account of policies set out elsewhere [in the NPPF], particularly in rural areas.” (NPPF, Section 4, Paragraph 34) 6. The NPPF also recognises the role of planning in contributing to building a strong, responsive and competitive economy by identifying and co-ordinating development requirements, including the provision of infrastructure. ‘Fixing our Broken Housing Market’, Housing White Paper (DCLG, 2017) 7. At the core of the Housing White Paper, published by the Department for Communities and Local Government in 2017, is an understanding that the housing market is fundamentally ‘broken’, and that real progress is required on the supply and affordability of housing. 8. The White Paper outlines a series of proposals that the Government, local authorities, private developers and others will lead in order to increase the supply of homes in the short term, and to tackle some of the inherent challenges in the housing market in the longer term. The proposals are organised into four objectives or ‘steps’. Step 1: Planning for the right homes in the right places. This step includes proposals to: ensure that all local authorities have a ‘sufficiently ambitious’ plan for housing development; simplify the plan-making process; ensure that plans start from an ‘honest assessment’ of housing need (with all authorities using a standardised approach), and that local authorities co-operate and collaborate on plans and decisions; maintain existing protections for the Green Belt and allow amendment of the Green Belt boundaries only in exceptional circumstances; encourage and strengthen neighbourhood planning and design processes; encourage higher densities of development; and review space standards for new homes. Step 2: Building homes faster. This step includes proposals to: change the way in which land supply for housing is assessed; ensure infrastructure is delivered in time to support new housing developments through the Housing Infrastructure Fund; support developers in delivering new homes more quickly by addressing ‘unnecessary delays caused by planning conditions’ (for example, by ensuring that ‘pre-commencement conditions’ can only be used with the agreement of the applicant); explore a new approach to how developers contribute to infrastructure (review the CIL and Section 106 system); give local authorities more powers to ensure developments do not stall, and are started and completed on time; and drive delivery schedules with local authorities by introducing a ‘housing delivery test’, which, if implemented, would mean that local authorities would be required to produce action plans, identify further land for housing and/or automatically approve sustainable developments, depending on the extent to which the delivery target has been missed. 2 of 25 www.steerdaviesgleave.com Step 3: Diversifying the market. The proposals put forward include: helping small and medium-sized builders to grow; supporting housing associations and local authorities to build more homes; and boosting productivity and innovation by encouraging modern methods of construction in house building. Step 4: Helping people now. This step includes proposals to: continue the Help to Buy and Smarter Homes initiatives; make renting fairer to tenants; and support areas most affected by second homes, including a potential change to the NPPF to ‘give much stronger support for sites that provide affordable homes for local people’. Proposed changes to the Local Housing Need methodology (DCLG, 2017) 9. The Housing White Paper, published in February 2017, contained a proposal to review the way in which local housing need is calculated, ensuring a consistent and transparent approach across all local authorities. 10. In September 2017 the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government published proposals to amend the method of calculation for assessments of housing need, to have one standardised system applied across local authorities. The method proposed is a three-stage approach: The baseline would be the annual average from the Office for National Statistics’ projection of household growth over a 10-year period. This would be multiplied by a calculation on affordability: areas where the median house price is more than four times the median income would have a greater multiplier. There would be a cap of no more than 40% more than the housing need assessment calculated for the purpose of the area’s Local Plan, if the Local Plan was adopted within the last five years. 11. Were this revised method to be adopted, the number of dwellings per annum until 2026 required to be built in Sedgemoor would be 744, up from the 644 proposed by the latest Strategic Housing Market Assessment and almost 150% of the 505 proposed in the 2011 Local Plan. 12. DCLG hopes this new calculation method will be adopted in the National Planning Policy Framework revision scheduled for Spring 2018, subject to the conclusion of the consultation process. Industrial Strategy: Building a Britain fit for the future, White Paper (Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, 2017) 13. The Government’s Industrial Strategy White Paper was published in November 2017 and it outlines the Government’s plans for creating ‘an economy that boosts productivity and earning power throughout the UK.’ 14. The White Paper identifies five ‘foundations of productivity’ upon which the plans to transform the economy will be built. These are: Ideas: the world’s most innovative economy. People: good jobs and greater earning power for all. Infrastructure: a major upgrade to the UK’s infrastructure. Business environment: the best place to start and grow a business. Places: prosperous communities across the UK. 3 of 25 www.steerdaviesgleave.com 15. The White Paper also sets out ‘Grand Challenges’ which the UK should seek to meet and / or address in order to ‘put the United Kingdom at the forefront of the industries of the future’. AI and Data Economy: putting the UK at the forefront of the artificial intelligence and data revolution. Future of Mobility: being a world leader in shaping the power of mobility. Clean Growth: maximising the advantages for UK industry from the global shift to clean growth. Ageing Society: harnessing the power of innovation to help meet the needs of an ageing society. 16. Key policies announced in the Industrial Strategy White Paper include: Raising total research and development investment to 2.4 per cent of GDP by 2027. Investing an additional £406m in maths, digital and technical education, helping to address the shortage of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) skills. Creating a new National Retraining Scheme that supports people to re-skill, beginning with a £64m investment for digital and construction training. Increasing the National Productivity Investment Fund to £31bn, supporting investments in transport, housing and digital infrastructure. Supporting electric vehicles through £400m charging infrastructure investment and an extra £100m to extend the plug-in car grant. Boosting digital infrastructure with more than £1bn of