Lee Valley Regional Park Authority
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TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING ACT 1990 (AS AMENDED) BROXBOURNE LOCAL PLAN EXAMINATION STATEMENT OF THE LEE VALLEY REGIONAL PARK AUTHORITY SUBMITTED IN RESPECT OF MATTER 7 GYPSIES AND TRAVELLER AND TRAVELLING SHOWPEOPLE ACCOMMODATION AND ISSUE 4.2 STEPHEN WILKINSON BA(Hons), BPl, DipLA, MBA, MRTPI BACKGROUND TO THE LEE VALLEY REGIONAL PARK AUTHORITY 1. The Lee Valley Regional Park Authority is a statutory authority created by the Lee Valley Regional Park Act 1966 (the Park Act). It has a statutory responsibility to either provide directly or work with partners to provide facilities for sport, recreation, leisure, entertainment and nature conservation throughout the Park. The Park lies in east London extending northwards from the River Thames to Ware in Hertfordshire and comprises 4,000ha of which 1,600ha are owned and managed by the Authority. 2. The Park includes a mosaic of award-winning facilities and open spaces, including three Olympic Legacy venues and a biodiversity resource of international, national and local importance, some of which is owned and managed by the Authority. The Park attracts approximately 7m visits each year. THE AUTHORITY’S GOVERNANCE 3. The Authority is managed by a Board, ‘the Authority’, which is made up of elected Members drawn from its funding authorities of the London Boroughs, Hertfordshire and Essex. The Authority delegates to Committees various responsibilities including its responsibilities defined by Section 14 of the Park Act. 4. Under these powers the Authority’s Upper Lee Valley Regeneration and Planning Committee (superseded by the Regeneration and Planning Committee in 2017) agreed responses as successive drafts of the Broxbourne’s local plan have emerged. These are included in the Appendix A, to this statement. THE AUTHORITY’S PLANNING ROLE 5. Section 12 of the Lee Valley Regional Park Act 1966 identifies the Regional Park as a place for recreation, leisure and nature conservation (Appendix B includes relevant extracts from ‘the Park Act’). Although the Park straddles the boundaries of several local planning authorities this statutory remit seeks to define the Regional Park as a distinct place. “It shall be the duty of the Authority to develop, improve, preserve and manage or to procure or arrange for the development, improvement, preservation and management of the park as a place for the occupation of leisure, recreation, sport, games or amusements or any similar activity, for the provision of nature reserves and for the provision and enjoyment of entertainments of any kind.” 6. The Authority is not a planning authority but it has a range of powers and duties in relation to the statutory planning process. Section 14(1) of the Park Act requires the Authority to prepare a plan setting out proposals for the future management and development of the Regional Park. Planning authorities are under a mandatory obligation to include those parts of the plan affecting their areas within their own relevant planning strategies and policies. However inclusion of these policies and proposals by riparian boroughs does not necessarily imply they are fully accepted (Section14 (2)(b)). 7. Section 14 (4-7) of the Park Act requires local planning authorities to consult with the Authority on planning matters which they consider could affect the Park. The operation of this requirement has occasioned this statement. 8. Section 14 (8-9) allows the Authority to refer decisions of the riparian authorities to the Secretary of State if it is considered by the Authority that the decision materially conflicts with the proposals of the Authority for the development of the Park. 9. Under its plan making powers the Authority has, over the past 40 years, produced a range of proposals for the future development and management of the Regional Park. Presently, the Park Plan (2000) is the adopted plan for the Regional Park for the purposes of development management. The Park Plan comprises 2 documents; Part 1 which identifies the strategic policy framework and Part 2 which contains detailed proposals for the whole Regional Park. Extracts are included in Appendix C1 and C2 to this statement. 10. Extensive work has been carried out on the replacement planning document for the Park Plan, the Park Development Framework (PDF) to comply with section 14 of the Park Act. A new vision supported by a set of strategic aims for the Park arranged around 6 themes was adopted in 2010. 11. The adopted Vision is for the Park to be a “world class leisure destination” and the adopted aims for each of the 6 themes are as follows: Visitors: A Park that is a high quality and regionally unique visitor destination. Sport and Recreation: A Park that delivers a range of high quality opportunities for sport and recreation. Biodiversity: A Park that delivers a high quality biodiversity resource for the region. Community: A Park that helps people improve their wellbeing. Landscape and Heritage: A Park landscape that embraces the physical, cultural and social heritage of the area. Environment: A Park that contributes to the environmental sustainability of the region. The adopted vision places a stronger emphasis on the importance of the visitor and the importance of landscape throughout the Regional Park. 12. The whole of the Park Plan will shortly be replaced by the PDF and the Authority has recently completed public consultation (April –June 2018) on new strategic policies, landscape strategy and guidelines, a Habitats Regulations Assessment and draft proposals for the areas north of the M25 motorway which include all the areas of the Regional Park which fall within the Borough of Broxbourne. The detailed Area Proposals were initially consulted on between December 2014 and January 2015. 13. Accordingly both the Park Plan 2000 and the PDF are relevant in terms of Section 14 (2) of the Park Act and are formal statements of the Authority’s position in respect of proposed development within the Regional Park. Extracts from the adopted and draft documents are included in the Appendices. 14. The Park offers a biodiversity resource of international, national, regional and local importance. In total there are eight sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in the Park four of which; Amwell Quarry, Rye Meads, Turnford and Cheshunt Pits and Walthamstow Reservoirs, form the Lee Valley Special Protection Area and Ramsar Site. These protected sites and habitats offer a high level of ‘access to nature’ sites for large numbers of visitors as well as being accessible to local people. The Authority produced a Biodiversity Action Plan in 2000 to help protect and manage this resource identifying key targets for improving habitats and species. This document is currently under review and following a consultation period earlier this year, a new BAP is due to be published in the autumn. NATIONAL PLANNING POLICY FRAMEWORK (NPPF) 15. The adopted NPPF is very clear in its commitment to the protection of the Green Belt and its identification of uses which are considered as not inappropriate. Paragraph 89 identifies the ‘exceptions’ when new buildings can be considered appropriate. These include ‘limited infilling or the partial completion of previously developed sites…..whether redundant or in continuing use….. which would not have greater impact on the openness of the greenbelt and the purpose of including that within it than the existing development.’ The essential thrust of this paragraph is retained in the draft NPPF (2018) at paragraph 144. 16. References are included under paragraph 81 to the role of local planning authorities to ‘plan positively to enhance the beneficial uses of green belt such as looking for opportunities to provide access, outdoor sport and recreation to retain landscapes visual amenity or to improve derelict land’. The Authority’s PDF is the means by which Broxbourne can through partnership with the Authority ‘plan positively’ for those degraded areas of the green belt which lie within the Regional Park. 17. Linked to the NPPF the Government issued national guidance on ‘Planning Policy for traveller sites’ in August 2015. This sets out at paragraph 4 several aims for Traveller sites which include ’that plan making and decision taking should protect the green belt from inappropriate development’ and further that ‘plan making and decision making should aim to reduce the number of unauthorised developments and make enforcement more effective’. Furthermore, the guidance identifies that ‘local planning authorities should have due regard to the protection of local amenity and environment’. 18. This advice also seeks to ensure that traveller sites are sustainable, economically, socially and environmentally and that they are not located in areas at high risk of flooding. 19. Underpinning the whole Local Plan process is a requirement that plans submitted for formal examination are ‘sound’ (Paragraph 182 NPPF) and meet requirements of being, positively prepared, justified, effective and consistent with national policy. These headings are retained under paragraph 35 of the 2018 draft although their descriptors have been amended. CROSS RAIL 2 20. For the last three years officers from the both the Authority and the Council have been involved in a series of discussions with Transport for London (TfL) and Network Rail (the Cross Rail 2 team) on the emerging proposals for the Cross Rail 2 project. The draft plan makes several references to this project although formal decisions remain with Government which is developing its business case. In advance of the final delivery of the scheme, anticipated by the early 2030’s, Network Rail have embarked on a series of surface level rail crossing closures replacing these with overhead head ramped pedestrian/cycle crossings. As yet this closure programme has not affected road crossings. 21. There are a few locations along the route where replacement road bridges will be required on completion of the ‘crossing programme’. However it is understood that these will be completed as part of the Cross Rail 2 project and could include new road bridges over the lines at Windmill Lane and Wharf Road.