Teignmouth Neighbourhood Plan Written
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Teignmouth Neighbourhood Plan Written Evidence Base Report: Local Evidence Produced for: Teignmouth Town Council and Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group Produced by: Stuart Todd (Director) and Paul Weston (Associate Community Consultant) 27th July, 2018 Contents Page Introduction 1 Context 1 What are we trying to find out? 3 The Plan Area 3 Basic Conditions 5 Deriving Topics 5 Natural Environment 7 Built Environment 28 Population and Housing 39 Economy, Employment and Retail 71 Transport, Infrastructure and Accessibility 84 Tourism, Arts and Culture 95 Sports, Leisure and Recreation 99 Community Facilities and Services 103 Renewable / Low Carbon Energy and Air Quality 110 Waste and Minerals 117 Summary of Key Issues and Messages 119 Appendix 1 - Historic England Listed Buildings Register (Listed Buildings in Teignmouth Parished Area) 117 Introduction Context The neighbourhood plan is a new type of plan introduced by the Localism Act 2011. It is the community’s plan and provides local people with the opportunity (if they wish) to introduce local planning policies which add to those set out in national and local authority-wide planning documents. Once it has passed through formal procedures of scrutiny required by law and it is approved (or ‘made’), it becomes part of the statutory development plan for the area, alongside the local authority’s Local Plan. The wider planning policy context within it sits is set out below. Figure 1 Planning policy and proposals need to be based on a proper understanding of the place to where they relate, if they are to be relevant, realistic and address local issues effectively. It is important that the neighbourhood plan is based on robust information and analysis of the local area. Unless policy is based on real evidence and proper community engagement, then it is more likely to only reflect the aspirations, assumptions and prejudices of the plan’s authors than reflect the needs of the community. Importantly, the evidence base needs to be proportionate1 to the issues to be dealt with in the neighbourhood plan, although this can be a bit ‘chicken and egg’, as it is work on pulling together the evidence base which helps to set 1 The Neighbourhood Plan Roadmap (see http://locality.org.uk/resources/neighbourhood-planning-roadmap-guide/) produced by Locality suggests that “the evidence base needs to be proportionate to the size of the neighbourhood area and scope and detail of the Neighbourhood Plan. Other factors such as the status of the current and emerging Local Plan policies will influence the depth and breadth of evidence needed. It is important to remember that the evidence base needs to reflect the fact that the plan being produced here will have statutory status and be used to 1 out and confirm what some of those key issues are. The evidence for the neighbourhood plan is brought together in a number of ways and tends to ‘sit’ within one of two categories: 1. Local consultation (for example through public events and exhibitions, resident or business questionnaires and surveys, or talking to local groups, clubs and organisations); or, 2. Gathering information on the policies and factual data relevant to our area, otherwise known as the ‘written evidence base’ (for example from existing plans, programmes, strategies, guidance and statistics). These are illustrated in the diagram below. Figure 2 This report forms a key component to satisfy 2. above. It sets out “local” evidence base material, that is, information taken from publicly available data, studies, research and constraints maps, which together help to paint a picture of what Teignmouth is like in land-use planning terms. A further evidence base report has been produced alongside this report which focuses on “strategic” evidence base which focuses on the “wider-than-Teignmouth” planning policy documents such as national planning policy, Teignbridge District Council’s planning policies and other technical research and studies which cover a wider geographic area than just Teignmouth. It is important to recognise that this report provides a snapshot of available documents. There may be other written reports and policy advice which become available or are published after the time that this report has been compiled which may need to be taken into account as the neighbourhood plan develops. In this regard, developing the evidence base is an iterative process and sources of evidence are likely to need to be returned to as policies for the plan start to take shape. decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area. It is necessary to develop a clear understanding of the neighbourhood area and policy issues covered; but not to review every piece of research and data in existence – careful selection is needed.” 2 What are we trying to find out? Teignmouth Town Council already has understanding of many of the key issues of relevance to the local community and to the development of a neighbourhood plan. Indeed, the starting point for exploring local evidence base material has been the Draft Community Plan produced in 2012, which contains a wealth of evidence base material which we have revised and sought to update where possible. We have also supplemented the evidence signposted and referenced in the Draft Community Plan with other sources that we are aware of which are relevant. The Community Plan’s strategic objectives have also formed the basis of our summary of key issues for each topic area and we have sought to understand where these have progressed to inform the development of our neighbourhood plan. Rather than simply repeat all evidence base material we have found, this report aims to provide a synopsis of local evidence so that it can be shared and better understood by those with an interest in neighbourhood planning in Teignmouth. Our review of written evidence base material focuses on exploring what key documents and data tell us about various topics, with a focus on gaining an understanding about things like: • Vision and objectives (i.e. a document’s overall ‘direction of travel’) • Policies and guidance • Constraints and formal designations • Assets (for example, things of value such as facilities, spaces, buildings or infrastructure) • Opportunities (for example, potential development or redevelopment sites) • Relevant statistics (to give us an understanding of the characteristics of our town) At this early stage in neighbourhood plan development, we have focused mainly on those documents and information which relate most closely to land-use planning matters. This has meant that we can concentrate our review of the written evidence on documents and information that we know will be of most relevance. There are other documents which we could review but which may say little directly relevant to our area or to land-use planning matters and others which may prove useful as policies are developed later in the process. There may be other, more local, evidence base documents and information that we can gather which is not reflected in this report. The Plan Area Our collection of written evidence material focuses on that which is likely to most affect Teignmouth. Our Plan area is set out in the map below. 3 Figure 3 Source: https://www.teignbridge.gov.uk/media/4681/teignmouth-proposed-neighbourhood-area.pdf 4 Basic Conditions A neighbourhood plan must meet the basic conditions before it can be put to a referendum and be made. The basic conditions are set out in paragraph 8(2) of Schedule 4B to the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 as applied to neighbourhood plans by section 38A of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. The basic conditions are: • having regard to national policies and advice contained in guidance issued by the Secretary of State • the making of the neighbourhood plan contributes to the achievement of sustainable development • the making of the neighbourhood plan is in general conformity with the strategic policies contained in the development plan for the area of the authority (or any part of that area) • the making of the neighbourhood plan does not breach, and is otherwise compatible with, EU obligations • prescribed conditions are met in relation to the Plan and prescribed matters have been complied with in connection with the proposal for the order neighbourhood plan A main purpose of this report endeavours to set out in an accessible form the prevailing guidance and the strategic policies that need to be recognised and/or adhered to. As regards EU policy in brief there are four directives that may be of particular relevance to neighbourhood planning: • Directive 2001/42/EC2 on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment (often referred to as the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Directive). This seeks to provide a high level of protection of the environment by integrating environmental considerations into the process of preparing plans and programmes. It may be of relevance to neighbourhood plans. • Directive 2011/92/EU3 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment (often referred to as the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Directive). Environmental Impact Assessment is a procedure to be followed for certain types of proposed development. This is to ensure that decisions are made in full knowledge of any likely significant effects on the environment and that the public are given early and effective opportunities to participate in the decision making procedures. It may be of relevance to Neighbourhood Development Orders. • Directive 92/43/EEC4 on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora and Directive 2009/147/EC on the conservation of wild birds (often referred to as the Habitats and Wild Birds Directives respectively). These aim to protect and improve Europe’s most important habitats and species. • Human Rights the Plan should have regard to the fundamental rights and freedoms guaranteed under the European Convention on Human Rights and complies with the Human Rights Act 1998.