South Lakeland District Council
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APPENDIX G Committee: Cabinet Council Date of Meeting: 11 October 2006 17 October 2006 Report Title: Interim Planning Approach to Housing Development (IPATH) COMMENTS OF CONSULTEES (IN FULL) Of the 153 organisations/individuals who were consulted on the Interim Planning Approach to Housing, 14 responded (R). The full text of the 14 responses is listed below. DEVELOPERS Acorn Developments (Kendal) Ltd (R) Persimmon Homes (Lancashire) Ltd Briery Homes Ltd Poole Townsend (R) Carigiet Cowan Priory Building (R) Carter Jonas Robert Hughes Ltd (R) David Corrie Associates Russell Armer Ltd (R) Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) Taylor Woodrow Developments Ltd Hackney & Leigh (R) TRAC – South Lakes House Builders Federation Ms Margaret Dodgson L & W Wilson (Endmoor) Ltd Mr Philip Marks (R) Mealbank Properties Mr Richard Simm Neil Price Ltd Mr & Mrs A. D. Wood Peill & Co PLANNING CONSULTANTS Barden Planning Consultants (R) Hanson Walford Marston Derek Hicks & Thew Stephens Associates F.E.R. Consulting Stephenson Halliday PARISH/TOWN COUNCILS Aldingham Parish Council Levens Parish Council Arnside Parish Council Lower Allithwaite Parish Council Barbon Parish Council Lowick Parish Council Beetham Parish Council Lupton Parish Council Date: 09/10/2006 Version Number: Amended by: Blawith & Subberthwaite Parish Council Lower Holker Parish Council Burneside Parish Council Mansergh Parish Meeting Burton-in-Kendal Parish Council Middleton Parish Meeting Casterton Parish Council Milnthorpe Parish Council Docker Parish Meeting Natland Parish Council Duddon Parish Council New Hutton Parish Council Egton-with-Newland, Mansriggs & Osmotherley Old Hutton & Holmescales Parish Council Parish Council Firbank Parish Meeting Pennington Parish Council Grange Town Council Preston Patrick Parish Council Grayrigg Parish Meeting Preston Richard Parish Council Helsington Parish Council Scalthwaiterigg Parish Council Heversham Parish Council Sedgwick Parish Council Hincaster Parish Meeting Skelsmergh Parish Council Holme Parish Council Stainton Parish Council Hutton Roof Parish Council Ulverston Town Council Kendal Town Council Urswick Parish Council (R) Kirkby Irelath Parish Council Whinfell Parish Meeting Kirkby Lonsdale Town Council Whitwell & Selside Parish Meeting Lambrigg Parish Meeting NEIGHBOURING COUNCILS Askam & Irelath Parish Council Millom Parish Council Barrow District Council Millom without Parish Council Broughton East Parish Council North Yorkshire County Council Burrow-with-Burrow Parish Meeting Orton Parish Council Colton Parish Council Priest Hutton Parish Council Craven District Council Sedbergh Parish Council Crosthwaite & Lyth Parish Council Silverdale Parish Council Cumbria County Council (R) Staveley-in-Cartmel Parish Council Copeland Borough Council Staveley-with-Ings Parish Council Dalton Town with Newland Parish Council Tebay Parish Council Dent Parish Council Underbarrow & Bradleyfield Parish Council Eden District Council Upper Allithwaite Parish Council Fawcett Forest Parish Meetings Whittington Parish Council Haverthwaite Parish Council Witherslack, Meathop & Ulpha Parish Council Ireby & Leck Parish Council Yealand Conyers Parish Council Lake District National Park Authority Yealand Redmayne Parish Council Lindal & Marton Parish Meetings Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority Longsleddale Parish Meetings 2 HOUSING Cumbria Rural Housing Trust Mitre Housing Association Home Housing Association South Cumbria Housing Forum Home Start South Lakeland South Lakes Housing Impact Housing Association Ltd Two Castles Housing Association TENANTS COMMITTEES Mr Peter Bland Mr Ian Metcalfe Mrs Jackie Blower Mr & Mrs Pritchard Mr Don Brookes Mr John Short Mrs Joan Chadwick (R) Ms Clare Sinclair Miss Sherralyn Clement Miss Kathy Sykes Mr Brian Lloyd Mr David Wilkinson STATUTORY & OTHER BODIES Barclays Bank Business Services Morecambe Bay Primary Care Trust Church Commissioners National Grid Transco Churches Together in England North West Regional Assembly Cumbria Chamber of Commerce Northwest Regional Development Agency Cumberland Building Society South Lakeland Strategic Partnership Disability Action – South Lakeland South Lakeland Voluntary Society for the Blind Environment Agency (R) United Utilities Furness Building Society Voluntary Action Cumbria Furness Multi-Cultural Community Forum Yorkshire Building Society Head Office Government Office North West PORTFOLIO HOLDERS & GROUP CHAIRMAN Cllr Bob Barker Cllr Paul Braithwaite Cllr Elizabeth Braithwaite OTHER SLDC MEMBERS Cllr David Foot (R) Cllr Sonjie Marshall (R) 3 SCHEDULE OF COMMENTS 1 Brian Barden 1. THE STATUTORY BACKGROUND 1.1 PPG12 indicates that a planning authority may produce supplementary planning documents which supplement policies in a development plan document. It sets out various principles that will apply, as follows: • It must be consistent with national and regional planning policies as well as policies set out in the development plan documents contained in the local development framework. • It must be clearly cross-referenced to the relevant development plan document policy which it supplements • The process by which it has been prepared must be made clear and a statement of conformity with the statement of community involvement must be published with it. 1.2 Paragraph 2.44 goes on to state: “Supplementary planning documents may contain policies which expands or supplements the policies in development plan documents. However, policies which should be included in a development plan document and subjected to proper independent scrutiny in accordance with the statutory procedures should not be set out in supplementary planning documents.” 1.3 As you know, central government guidance in PPG3 sets out the nature of affordable housing policies, and in particular refers to Circular 6/98, Planning and Affordable Housing. 1.4 Paragraph 9 sets out the ability to include affordable housing policies in a development plan and paragraph 10 sets out guidance on site size and suitability and the economics of provision. You will see that the general threshold is set at 25 dwellings or one hectare, and the possibility in Inner London of reducing the threshold to 15 and 0.5 ha. There is a different approach to rural settlements of under 3000 and there is also an indication that the Secretary of State considers it may be appropriate, where local authorities are able to demonstrate exceptional local constraints, to seek to adopt a lower threshold between levels A and B as set out in paragraph 10, which would mean between 25 and 15 dwellings. As you know, the case was made in the Structure \Plan that the problems of affordable housing in Cumbria were significant and that a threshold lower than that nationally recommended could be adopted. This was set at 10 dwellings or 0.4 ha and the development industry, and indeed the whole of the community, were consulted on that document and the issue was fully debated at the Examination in Public. 1.5 It is astounding, therefore, to find that before the Structure Plan itself has been formally adopted, the thresholds that are set out in it in relation to affordable housing are totally ignored by the District Council and a new arbitrary figure is pulled out of the air, notwithstanding government advice and the adopted Structure Plan policy. there can be no question of the Structure Plan authorities not realising that there was a particular problem in South and East Cumbria. It is specifically referred to in paragraph 4.12. the District Council was a consultee to the Structure Plan and did appear at the Examination in Public. The idea that long after the period for consultation on the Modifications had expired the District Council can somehow or other persuade the County Council to put some different wording into the Structure Plan is totally contrary to the principles of fair consultation and public involvement. The development industry was aware of the concern about affordable housing and some elements of the industry did respond 4 to the consultation exercise and on the whole accepted the threshold being put forward even though it is lower that that recommended nationally. However, it is not acceptable for that threshold to be discontinued in the policy document on which you are now consulting and I think that as a matter of law your paragraph 2.4 is incorrect. In this paragraph you claim that Policy H19 of the Structure Plan only relates to the Furness area whilst acknowledging in a footnote that it does actually apply to the whole of the County, and there is the clear reference in the preamble to that policy to the problems in South and East Cumbria. The idea, therefore, that it does not apply and should not be the appropriate policy against which any supplementary guidance has to be assessed is simply wrong. 1.6 Assessed against that policy the threshold you are adopting in untenable. The supplementary planning guidance cannot seek to change policy in an adopted development plan and what you are attempting to do is therefore unlawful as well as unwise. 2. THE PRACTICAL EFFECT a. The presumption that somehow or other the development industry can provide housing for people who cannot afford it has gained momentum over the years but there has always been a recognition that the economics of provision are ultimately critical to the delivery of affordable housing. Government guidelines on thresholds are based on viability of sites and they are not simply figures pulled out of the air. b. All the planning guidance, including the recently adopted