BURNLEY RURAL MASTERPLANNING STUDY Produced with the Enabling support of CABE February 2011 Introduction This piece of work was carried out by Burnley Borough Council with the Enabling support of the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) to inform the development of local planning policies in relation to the development and sustainability the Borough’s rural settlements. The work has been financed with the Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and Department of Communities and Local Government (CLG) Rural Masterplanning Fund. The purpose of the fund is to provide resources to investigate where housing and other development could be located to support planning for growth and sustainability of rural settlements. In the Burnley area, this work has focused on issues of urban design and land use for clusters of small towns and villages, and detailed character and landscape appraisals to determine the physical capacity for development. This piece of work has evolved against the background of seismic shifts to the national planning policy context and in anticipation of changes to the statutory system mooted in the Localism Bill. Although primarily this work will form part of the detailed evidence base for the Borough’s Local Development Framework, the study could also be used as a springboard for neighbourhood planning, driven by local rural communities. Eight settlements were selected for examination under the study, each distinguished by individual identity in their form and relationship with Burnley’s hinterland landscape. Whilst they could be assessed individually their local governance favours grouping them into Parish Council clusters, within which the physical features of each are evaluated but their interdependence also taken into account when considering the case for development. The map below shows the broad locations of the settlements within Parish Council boundaries Study Area Map Chapter 1: Policy Framework 1.2 National Policy Context National Planning Policy for rural areas is principally outlined in Planning Policy Statement (PPS) 7 with some detail on economic development issues within PPS 4. The key principle in PPS 7 is that “Good quality, carefully- sited accessible development within existing towns and villages should be allowed where it benefits the local economy and/or community (e.g affordable housing for identified local needs); maintains or enhances the local environment; and does not conflict with other planning policies.” (Para 1 (i)). New development in the open countryside should be strictly controlled with the aim of protecting the countryside ‘for the sake of its intrinsic character and beauty’. As with urban development, previously developed brownfield sites should be prioritised over greenfield, except in cases where there are none available or there are considerations, such as remoteness from existing services and settlements which mean that they would perform poorly in terms of sustainability. Development should be focused in or near to existing service centres where employment, housing, services and other facilities can be provided close together. Planning authorities should set out where limited development, in or next to rural settlements that are not designated as local service centres, could take place to meet local business and community needs. This pertains particularly to small-scale development in remote areas with poor public transport linkages to existing service centres. Mixed and multi-purpose developments that offer services and community uses and maintain vitality of settlements should be promoted. The Statement advocates the development of small-scale local facilities, such as the provision of childcare, outside existing service centres where this would benefit the residents of a settlement who would otherwise have to travel a significant distance to access these. In terms of new housing, PPS 7 reiterates that the focus of housing development should be within existing towns and service centres. However, housing in rural areas should be developed based on up to date assessments of local need. Sufficient land should be made available to meet local need, however new housebuilding should be strictly controlled outside existing settlements and areas allocated for new housing. PPS 4 outlines national policy in relation to economic development and tourism in rural areas. Of most relevance is the need to identify service centres and locate most new development in or on the edge of existing settlements where employment housing, services and other facilities can be provided close together. Conversion and re-use of existing buildings should be supported for economic development where they are appropriately located and constructed. The planning system should seek to remedy any deficiencies in local shopping and other facilities to serve people’s day-to-day needs and help address social exclusion. Planning authorities should support sustainable rural tourism and leisure developments that benefit rural businesses, communities and visitors and which utilise and enrich, rather than harm, the character of the countryside, its towns, villages, buildings and other features. Since the Coalition Government was elected in May 2010, several policy and statutory changes are mooted that will have a significant impact on planning and development of rural areas. The first of these is the Community Right to Build. As part of the wider ‘Big Society’ drive, the policy seeks to take some developments, predominantly within rural areas, outside the scope of planning control. The scheme is designed to facilitate more housing development in rural areas. However, other development such as village halls or sports facilities could come forward as part of the scheme. In brief, Right to Build offers communities, where there is overwhelming support for a development proposal, to bring forward development without applying for planning permission. This could include greenfield, and potentially greenbelt sites if the community is overwhelmingly in favour of this type of development. Some minimal criteria will have to be met by any new development, including that the proposals do not expand the size of the community by more than 10 percent over any 10 year period, and that sustainable development and environmental criteria are met. The other policy shift is the authority to be conferred on parish councils or area committees to produce neighbourhood plans. These plans will be part of the statutory system and will be used to determine planning applications, direct development to particular sites and specify types of development within the neighbourhood that will not need formal planning permission. 1.2 Local Policies Burnley’s adopted Local Plan sets the planning policy context for the Borough and contains policies pertaining to its rural settlements and areas. General Policy 2 of the Plan is the overarching policy directing development in rural areas. Two elements of the policy are of particular relevance to rural areas, namely that new development will be limited to the use of infill sites (small gaps in otherwise built-up frontage) within named rural settlements; or proposals which contribute to the solution of a particular local housing, social, community or employment problem within named rural settlements. Re- use of existing buildings is encouraged. Policy EW 11 promotes rural diversification and conversion of rural buildings for employment uses subject to criteria related to impact, design and accessibility. Local plan policy relating to agricultural land is outlined in Policy E28, which promotes protection of agricultural land and businesses. The policy sets criteria to protect the best quality agricultural land (3a and above) and will permit development that does not detrimentally affect the local environment and or local landscape character, does not have a detrimental effect on farm operations, including that on adjoining farmland, and would not lead to the severance or fragmentation of farmholdings. Policy CF12 relates to local and village shops. This policy permits small-scale development of this type if it meets purely local needs, does not impact adversely on the amenity of neighbouring properties and is accessible by a variety of transport modes. In 2009, the Council began work on the Core Strategy of the Local Development Framework with an Issues & Options Consultation focusing on the housing elements of the plan. A series of options were consulted on, ranging from minimal growth, i.e. replacing only homes in the urban area cleared through the Housing Market Renewal programme, to more expansionist policies. Consultation indicated a preference for a phased approach, which would restrain residential growth to the urban areas in the early part of the plan period with scope for some expansion on more peripheral sites in the longer-term if regeneration activity is successful in arresting population decline, and creating housing demand. The Burnley & Pendle Strategic Housing Market Assessment completed in April 2008 by Fordham Research states found that in the rural areas, in contrast to the urban part of the Boroughs, there was an overall shortfall of all sizes of both market and affordable housing. Chapter 2: Parish Council framework 2.1 Dunnockshaw & Clowbridge Parish Profile The Parish of Dunnockshaw and Clowbridge is located in the South of the Borough on the boundary with Rossendale, on the southern slopes of Hameldon Hill. Dunnockshaw is the principal settlement