South Worcestershire Development Plan (Swdp) Review- Issues and Options Consultation
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Report to: Place and Economic Development Sub-Committee, 22 nOctober 2018 Report of: Corporate Director - Place Subject: SOUTH WORCESTERSHIRE DEVELOPMENT PLAN (SWDP) REVIEW- ISSUES AND OPTIONS CONSULTATION 1. Recommendation 1.1 That Place and Economic Development Committee recommend to Council that the South Worcestershire Development Plan Issues and Options, as set out at Appendix 1 to this report, is approved for consultation between 5 th November 2018 and 17 th December 2018 and that consultation be undertaken in accordance with the Consultation Plan set out at Appendix 3 to this report. 2. Background 2.1 Members will be aware that, in response to the 2017 legal requirement for Local Planning Authorities to review their Local Plans within 5 years of adoption, each of the South Worcestershire Councils (SWCs) formally agreed to work together on a review of the South Worcestershire Development Plan. Each Council published a timetable for undertaking the review with its Local Development Scheme (LDS) 2017-2020. 2.2 The revised SWDP will address development needs and planning policies for the period 2021- 2041. The Issues and Options document is the first consultation stage for plan making. It sets out what the SWCs consider to be the main issues for the Plan to address e.g. meeting the Government’s new housing requirement and meeting the demand for new employment space as well as considering whether the current development strategy is still appropriate and which of the policies set out within the adopted SWDP need to be revised. 2.3 It should be noted that at this stage there are no proposed allocations of land for development. That is a matter for the Preferred Options (November 2019) and subsequent stages of the plan making process. The SWCs undertook a ‘call for sites’ exercise between May and July 2018 which was simply an exercise to find out the amount and location of land that could potentially be available for housing and/or employment development and which potential spatial development options are deliverable. Over 900 sites have been submitted and these will be published alongside the Issues and Options document. The consultation itself will provide a further opportunity for landowners to submit sites for consideration for development. All of the sites submitted will go through a robust assessment process which will apply a range of planning constraints, for example, flooding, environmental designations, and the historic environment. The results of this assessment will be published in the Strategic Housing and Employment Land Availability Assessment (SHELAA) in early 2019, however, the SHELAA itself does not allocate sites rather it will inform the preparation of the next stage of the Plan, known as the ‘Preferred Options’. Consultation on the ‘Preferred Options’ is scheduled to take place in November 2019. Evidence Base 2.4 A number of technical evidence base studies are being/will be prepared to support the SWDPR. Whilst most of the work will be undertaken to inform the Preferred Options, the following studies will be published alongside the Issues and Options. 2.5 The Strategic Housing Market Assessment Part 1 – this is made up of two reports, a demographic report which looks at the drivers of housing need for south Worcestershire and how it varies based on different assumptions and how this compares to the output of the Government’s standard methodology for calculating housing need; and a further report which looks at housing numbers which provides the justification for planning for the number of homes required under the standard methodology, which the NPPF clearly states should be seen as a minimum requirement. 2.6 The Economic Development Needs Assessment Part 1 – this report assesses the supply of, and demand for, employment land across south Worcestershire. Stage 1 provides details of the objectively assessed need for employment land across south Worcestershire up until 2041. 2.7 The Green Belt Study – Part 1 - this is a strategic assessment of the Green Belt purposes. The study assesses land against the five purposes of the Green Belt as set out in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). The Green Belt is divided up into 60 land parcels which lie within five broad areas which are: land to the east of Stourport-on-Severn; land between the A442 and M5; land to the east of the M5; land to the south of Redditch; and land between Droitwich Spa and Worcester. The study assesses each of the 60 parcels against the Green Belt purposes using information gathered from site visits. It then grades/ categorises each parcel depending on the degree to which it makes a contribution to the purposes of the Green Belt. Only one parcel of land makes a limited contribution to the Green Belt. The Plan Review and Timetable 2.8 The review of the SWDP needs to consider which policies need to be updated. The Issues and Options paper suggests that some policies do not need to be updated or only need some minor revisions to make them clearer or bring them up-to-date. The increased housing number could result in a need to change the development strategy and the settlement hierarchy and could also have consequential impacts on other policies. Additionally, a revised National Planning Policy Framework was published in July 2018 and there are a number of changes in this which need to be considered in the Plan review and all policies will now need to be in general conformity with this. 2.9 The timetable for the SWDP review is set out within the Local Development Scheme 2017-2020 (whilst a revised Local Development Scheme 2018-2021 is being considered at this meeting it does not amend the timetable for the SWDP review other than to set out the milestones post 2020). In line with the legal requirement to complete a review of the development plan every 5 years, the SWDP review needs to be completed by February 2021. Given the timing of the introduction of this requirement and the time it takes to review a development plan the current timetable anticipates that the Plan will be submitted for examination in February 2021. Once the SWDPR is submitted the housing number can be relied upon for two years and provided that the SWCs continue to be able to demonstrate a positive five year housing supply position and satisfy the Housing Delivery Test, it is considered that this will reduce the likelihood of speculative planning applications and ensure that development within south Worcestershire remains plan-led. Sustainability Appraisal 2.10 A Sustainability Appraisal of the Plan is required by law. Consultants, Lepus, have been engaged to undertake a Sustainability Appraisal at each stage of the plan- making process. The Issues and Options stage of the plan review is informed by the Issues and Options Sustainability Appraisal report which forms Appendix 2 to this committee report. The report tests each of the options against a Sustainability Appraisal Framework which covers environmental, social and economic objectives. An SA Scoping Report was prepared and consultation was undertaken (primarily with the statutory environmental bodies which are The Environment Agency, Natural England and Historic England) for five weeks in May/June 2018. The SA Scoping Report set out how the appraisal would be undertaken as well as the draft SA framework, the responses have informed the process. The SA Issues and Options report concluded that the vision and objectives of the SWDP review perform well against the SA framework and that none of the options presented will have significant negative effects. Further SA work will be undertaken at each stage of the plan-making process to continue to inform the policies and site allocations. Consultation 2.11 A Consultation Plan has been prepared and is set out at Appendix 3 to this report. The SWCs are required to undertake consultation in accordance with their adopted Statements of Community Involvement. The consultation plan sets out how the SWCs will engage with a wide range of stakeholders including statutory consultees, developers, landowners, local residents and businesses, during the six week consultation period. The consultation plan sets out the different methods of consultation that will be used. 3. Preferred Option 3.1 The Preferred Option is to undertake consultation on the Issues and Options paper as set out at Appendix 1 to this report in accordance with the Consultation Plan as set out at Appendix 3 to this report. This will be in accordance with the work programme set out within the adopted Local Development Scheme (2017-2020) and the SWCs’ Statements of Community Involvement and it will also ensure that the SWCs are progressing a review of the SWDP in accordance with the legal requirement to review development plans every five years. This will put the SWCs in the strongest position to ensure that development within south Worcestershire continues to be plan-led and to reduce the likelihood of losing planning appeals on speculative housing development proposals. 4. Alternative Options Considered 4.1 The alternative option would be to not progress the review of the development plan. However, the three SWCs committed to undertaking a joint review of the SWDP, and set out a timetable for doing so, in November 2017 and there is a legal requirement to undertake a review of the development plan every five years. 5. Implications 5.1 Financial and Budgetary Implications The SWDP review requires significant investment from the SWCs. An annual budget, split equally between the three authorities, has been allocated to the review. This budget is monitored regularly by the Officer Steering Group. However, there is a risk that the costs could increase beyond the current forecast. 5.2 Legal and Governance Implications The Issues and Options paper has been prepared in accordance with the necessary legal requirements and consultation will also be undertaken in accordance with the necessary legal requirements.