January 2013

West

Monitoring Report

Covering the period April 2011 to March 2012

Contact Details

Strategic Planning Email: [email protected] Tel: 01822 813600

January 2013

Produced by the Strategic Planning Team Borough Council Kilworthy Park Devon PL19 0BZ © West Devon Borough Council

1 West Devon Monitoring Report 2012

Contents

1. Introduction Page 3 a. Purpose of the Report b. Progress of Local Development Documents c. Profile of the Area

2. Homes Page 6 a. Completions and Commitments b. Housing Trajectory c. Housing Land Supply d. Affordable Housing e. Mix of Housing

3. Economy Page 10 a. Development of Employment Land b. Employment Land by Type c. Farm Diversification and Re-Use of Rural Buildings

4. Community Life Page 13 a. Proximity of New Housing to Local Facilities b. Retail, Office and Leisure Development

5. Environment Page 15 a. Designated Areas b. Development and Flood Risk c. Renewable Energy

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1. Introduction a. Purpose of the Report Picture 1: West Devon The role of this monitoring report is to provide useful facts and figures about the progress and management of development in West Devon during the monitoring period from April 2011 to March 2012. Information is provided about the population, economy, housing and environment of the local area. The report outlines the main issues affecting West Devon in relation to the Council’s four corporate priorities:  Homes  Economy  Community Life  Environment.

This report covers the area of West Devon which is not within the National Park.

b. Progress of Local Development Documents

The following Local Development Documents have been adopted:

Local Development Document Adopted Reuse of Rural Buildings Supplementary Planning Document Adopted March 2006 Infrastructure and facilities to support new development Adopted June 2007 Supplementary Planning Document Core Strategy Adopted April 2011 Affordable Housing Code of Practice Adopted March 2012 Statement of Community Involvement Adopted April 2012 Table 1: Progress of Local Development Documents

We are currently at a very early stage of preparing a new Local Plan for the Borough. This document will incorporate the work previously intended for the ‘ and Northern Area’ and ‘Tavistock and Southern Area’ Development Plan Documents.

The ‘East of Okehampton’ and ‘South and South-West of Tavistock’ Masterplan Supplementary Planning Documents are currently being drafted and will be consulted on in 2013.

3 West Devon Monitoring Report 2012 c. Profile of the Area

The Borough of West Devon is situated just to the north of the city of , and bordering the eastern edge of Cornwall. It is the largest district in Devon, covering an area of 1160 km² (115,962 hectares). 45.8% of the Borough is covered by Dartmoor National Park, leaving an area of 629 km² to be dealt with by this monitoring report.

The Borough is predominantly rural in nature and is characterised by several market towns and numerous smaller villages. The largest settlements are Tavistock and Okehampton but two thirds of the population of West Devon live outside these two settlements.

Picture 2: The South West

Population West Devon is one of the most sparsely populated districts in at just 0.46 people per hectare (ha). This makes the area the least populated district in Devon. The key population statistics are:

 West Devon has a resident population of 53,500 (ONS 2011 census). This is projected to increase to 60,300 by 2023 and to 65,000 by 2033 (ONS).

 Over half (53.8%) of the population of West Devon is aged 45 years or over, compared to 41.7% in the rest of England. (ONS, 2011)

 38.5% of the population is aged 55 or over. This is projected to rise to 46% by 2033 (ONS, 2011)

 Ethnic minorities make up a tiny proportion of the population in West Devon. In 2009, the ONS estimated that just 3.6% of the West Devon population was of non-white ethnicity, compared to 12.5% across the rest of England.

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Employment West Devon consistently has a 4.5% lower proportion of people employed 3.9% 3.9% 4.0% in managerial or professional 4.0% WDBC 3.7% occupations than the national average. During 2010/2011 this 3.5% Great Britain stood at 38.3% compared to 43.3% 3.0% 2.5% for Great Britain. It also has more 2.3% people employed in industrial or 2.5% 2.1% factory based employment than the 2.0%

national average, at 21.5% 2.2% 2.1% Percentage compared to 17.6% for Great Britain 1.5% 1.8% 1.8% (Nomis, 2012). 1.0%

1.0% 1.0% Unemployment in West Devon is 0.5% 0.8% much lower than rates across the rest of Great Britain, and after a 0.0% significant rise during 2008/2009 AprFigure-06 Apr 1: -Job07 Apr Seekers-08 Apr Allowance-09 Apr-10 ClaimantsApr-11 Apr -12 unemployment has since remained fairly constant.

Unemployment across the Borough varies significantly from ward to ward. A series of factory closures in Okehampton over recent years have resulted in the area having significantly more people claiming Jobseekers Allowance than anywhere else in the Borough, at over 4% in April 2012 (Nomis 2012).

A report prepared for in May 2011 (“Assembling the evidence base for the Devon Local Economic Assessment”1) has presented baseline economic projections for Devon and its districts. The report suggests that, overall, GVA growth (i.e. the value of goods and services produced in the area) in Devon is projected to be slower than the South West over 2015-20, but will pick up to match the South West average rate over 2015-20. In terms of individual districts within Devon, the report projects the weakest growth in GVA over 2010-20 to be in and West Devon, with growth of around 1½% per annum over 2010-15, and around 2½-2¾% per annum over 2015-20. and West Devon are also projected to see the worst performance in employment terms over 2012-2020. House Price Comparison For people on lower incomes in the Borough, the price of a smaller property is around 8.75 times their income. This is similar to other districts in Devon, but significantly different to the price/income ratio across the rest of England, where the price of smaller properties is around 6.53 times lower level incomes.

High house prices have led to an increase in the number of people joining the housing register. 1,892 people were registered as of 1st April 2012, a rise of 13.5% since 1st April 2011.

1 Assembling the evidence base for the Devon Local Economic Assessment: Baseline economic projections for Devon & its districts. A Final Report to Devon County Council May 2011 5 West Devon Monitoring Report 2012

2. Homes a. Completions and Commitments

Housing Completions Between 1st April 2001 and 31st March 2012, approximately 2758 dwellings were completed across West Devon (excluding the area covered by the DNP). The annual completions since 2000/01 are shown below.

Year 01/02 02/03 03/04 04/05 05/06 06/07 07/08 08/09 09/10 10/11 11/12 Total 168 176 226 193 171 204 530 356 225 415 93 Table 2: Net Housing Completions 2001- 2012

Large Sites There is currently full planning permission for a total of 218 dwellings on large sites (i.e. sites of 10 or more dwellings or above 0.4ha), most of which are on sites which are currently under construction. The following table shows the status of current large sites in West Devon:

Total Number Number Allocated Number of completed Site outstanding/ Status in Local New during incomplete Plan? Dwellings 2011/12 Land adjacent 65 0 Road, 12 12 Not started No Okehampton Land off Crediton 31 Under Yes – 103 23 Road, Okehampton construction Part of H4 The Market, North 0 Under 20 20 No Tawton construction Land adjacent to 33 0 Yes – Baldwin Drive, 20 20 Not started Part of H4 Okehampton Tavistock Hockey Club, 0 Under 34 11 No Tavistock construction Newton Farm, 4 Under 6 2 No Gulworthy construction Lower Brook, Brook 2 Under 13 11 No Lane, Tavistock construction Rockmount, Tavistock 10 10 0 Not started No Land adjacent Meadow 8 Yes – 25 0 Completed Rise, Spreyton H17 Abbey Rise, Tavistock 10 0 10 Completed No Total 218 109 55 - - Table 3: Large Sites 6 West Devon Monitoring Report 2012

Development on Previously Developed Land The graph below shows the percentage of dwellings completed on both brownfield and greenfield land in West Devon in recent years. West Devon has limited capacity for large scale brownfield development, simply due to a lack of suitable sites. There are very few brownfield sites that are large enough to be allocated in a development plan document and so brownfield development in the Borough will come forward primarily from windfall developments.

100 % Greenfield % Brownfield 80 47 61 55 58 71 64 72 60 82 75

40

53 45 20 39 42 36 28 29 25 Percentage 18 0

Figure 2: percentage homes developed on brownfield land

b. Housing Trajectory

The housing trajectory (Figure 3) illustrates the amount of housing that is expected to be delivered by 2026. NB: this does not include a 15% lapse rate which is applied later in the housing land supply projections.

Total Projected Completions 600 530 Total Past Completions 500 PLAN - Strategic Allocation (annualised) 415 399 356 400 349 MANAGE - Annual requirement taking 283 account of past/projected completions 300 251 246 225 226 232 204 202 217 200 162 126

93 82 82 100 81 0 0 0 0

Dwellings -100

-200

-300

-400

-500 Figure 3: Housing Trajectory 7 West Devon Monitoring Report 2012 c. Housing Land Supply

As at 31st March 2012, it is considered that West Devon (outside the area covered by Dartmoor National Park) has at least a five year supply of readily deliverable housing land.

Most of the sites allocated in the 2005 Local Plan are now either completed or under construction. Only four Local Plan allocations remain undeveloped, one of which has active developer interest and is currently going through the planning application process. A further site which was allocated in the Local Plan (H9 in Tavistock) has been absorbed into the Core Strategy allocation SP23A.

Most of the proposed future housing development in West Devon will take the form of relatively large extensions to Okehampton and Tavistock, as identified in the 2011 Adopted Core Strategy. In these areas, the supply of housing will be managed over the whole plan period through monitoring the delivery of sites within prescribed timescales.

The table below shows the number of dwellings which the Council knows to be deliverable in the next five year period (2012-2017). This is based on a realistic assessment of available housing land taking into account:

 A 220 per annum housing target  A 15% lapse rate on allocated sites and sites with outstanding planning permission  Phasing strategies  Sites being confirmed as available, suitable and achievable  Current economic circumstances

The assessment does not include any allowance for windfall development.

This assessment gives a baseline figure of 5.4 years of assumed readily deliverable housing supply comprised as follows:

Assumed readily Including 15% lapse rate 2012/13 – 2016/17 deliverable supply Under Construction 204 204 Planning Permission 597 508 Allocated Sites 562 478 Total 1363 1190 Table 4: Housing Land Supply 2012/13 – 2016/17

It should be noted that there is a significant amount of additional housing land allocated in the 2005 Local Plan and 2011 Core Strategy which can also come forward for development. Taking these allocations into account, there is sufficient housing land available for development to give over 11 years worth of housing land supply.

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The Council will be preparing a housing position statement in 2013 which will provide the latest figures on the housing land supply and will reflect the provisions and requirements of the National Planning Policy Framework. d. Affordable Housing

Affordable housing has long been a significant issue in West Devon, due to high house prices and low wage levels. House building levels in the Borough are at their lowest levels for many years and the knock-on effect of this is that fewer affordable houses have been completed. During 2011/12, only 14 new affordable houses were built. Of these, 12 were in Tavistock and 2 were in Okehampton. In addition, 5 empty properties in Tavistock were brought back into use following land stabilisation works. It is anticipated that the low completion rates will continue into 2012/13, with only 5 affordable houses expected to be completed.

2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 Completions 14 133 120 52 157 14 Table 5: Affordable Dwelling Completions 2006/07 – 2011/12 e. Mix of Housing by Type

The tables below show the mix of housing types completed in recent years. Please note these figures are gross and so may differ from the total completions figures shown in Table 2.

Houses 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 1 Bedroom 0 (0%) 4 (2%) 0 (0%) 2 (2%) 2 Bedroom 61 (29% 48 (27%) 64 (24%) 27 (33%) 3 Bedroom 105 (50%) 83 (46%) 138 (51%) 35 (43%) 4+ Bedroom 42 (20%) 44 (25%) 68 (25%) 18 (22%) TOTAL* 208 179 270 82 Table 6: Mix of houses by type 2008/09 – 2011/12

Flats/Apartments 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 1 Bedroom 57 (38%) 14 (30%) 81 (55%) 3 (23%) 2 Bedroom 92 (60%) 28 (60%) 65 (44%) 10 (77%) 3 Bedroom 3 (2%) 5 (10%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 4+ Bedroom 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) TOTAL* 152 47 146 13 Table 7: Mix of flats/apartments by type 2008/09 – 2011/12

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3. Economy

a. Development of Employment Land

A total of 3.42ha of land has been granted permission for employment use (B1, B2, and/or B8) during 2011/12, which will provide around 3294m² of employment floorspace. Of this, around 1341m² is made up of new units or extensions to existing units on existing industrial estates in , Lifton and Okehampton. Only one employment development was completed during 2011/12. This was a new unit on a brownfield site in an existing industrial estate, creating 206m² of new employment floorspace.

Full Outline Developed Planning Planning Under Since 1995 Permission Permission Construction Remaining Site (ha) (ha) (ha) (ha) (ha) OKEHAMPTON Road Ind. Estate (ED2) 2.28 8.86 8.76 Existing Exeter Road Ind. Estate 1.18 1.78 North Road Ind. Estate 2 0.9 SP22B (East of Okehampton) 10 TAVISTOCK Pitts Cleave 4.7 Brook 0.3 New Land at Brook (ED3) 4 Plymouth Road 0.2 SP23B (South of Tavistock) 13 HATHERLEIGH Industrial Estate (ED6, ED7, ED8) 0.025 0.98 North Tawton Station (ED10) 1 LIFTON Tinhay 0.3 0.15 0.44 BERE ALSTON Bere Alston Station (ED5) 0.97 CRAPSTONE Yelverton Business Park 0.16 0.01

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Full Outline Developed Planning Planning Under Since 1995 Permission Permission Construction Remaining Site (ha) (ha) (ha) (ha) (ha) OTHER Hayedown (ED15) 2 0.5 Sampford Courtenay 0.18 Northlew (ED11) 0.45 TOTAL 13.12 3.365 8.86 0.44 39.34

TOTAL OKEHAMPTON 5.46 2.68 8.86 0 18.76 TOTAL TAVISTOCK 5.2 0 0 0 17 TOTAL ELSEWHERE 2.46 0.685 0 0.44 3.58 Table 8: Employment Land Development

The table above shows that there is a significant amount of land available for employment development in West Devon. Taking the amount of land with planning permission, that which is under construction and that without planning permission, a total of around 52 ha of land is available on existing employment sites.

Away from the employment sites detailed above, as of 31st March 2012 there was just under 1ha of land with outstanding planning permission for employment development.

b. Employment Land by Type Figure 4: Employment Land by Type Over half of the units on 35% employment sites in West Devon are in use for either B1 29% (office) or B2 (light industry). 30% There is also a relatively high percentage of units in A1 use, 25% many of which sell bulky goods 21% 21% such as carpets or beds which 20% are less suited to high street 16% locations. The graph opposite shows the use class mix on 15% existing employment sites in West Devon as of 31st March 10% 7% 2012. 5% 4% 2%

0% B1 B2 B8 A1 Sui Other Vacant Generis Use Class

11 West Devon Monitoring Report 2012 c. Farm Diversification and Re-Use of Rural Buildings

Farm diversification is becoming increasingly necessary to supplement farm incomes. Such schemes can vary from on-site food processing, to the re-use of redundant farm buildings for business purposes. In West Devon the most common farm diversification schemes involve the conversion of redundant farm buildings for use as holiday lets. During 2011/12, permission has been granted for the conversion of 3 barns to holiday lets.

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4. Community Life a. Proximity of New Housing to Local Facilities

A key issue in West Devon is access to public transport. Many settlements have few or no regular bus services and only the larger settlements have services which could be used for journeys to and from work.

Only 1 application for major residential development has been granted full planning permission during 2011/12. The site forms part of an allocation set out in the Adopted Local Plan. The site is in a large settlement (Okehampton), with a bus stop within 200m and within 30 minutes public transport time of a GP, school and foodstore. b. Retail, Office and Leisure Development

Retailing During 2011/12, a Town Centre, Shopping and Leisure study has been carried out in Okehampton and Tavistock. It looked at what shops and facilities are available in the towns and how well these are serving the people who live, work and visit them. The study found that there is no immediate need to plan for additional food or non-food shopping facilities in either Okehampton or Tavistock, although some additional floorspace may be needed by 2031. The final version of the study is available here: www.westdevon.gov.uk.

Town Centre Uses There have been no completions for town centre uses (A1 – retail, A2 – financial and professional services, B1a – offices, and D2 – assembly and leisure). However, a number of such uses have been granted permission during 2011/12 and there are some currently under construction.

Retail Mix in Okehampton and Tavistock Over 60% of the units in both town centres are in use for either A1 (retail) or A2 (financial or professional services such as banks).

In Okehampton, the number of vacant units has stayed fairly steady over the past few years, at between 9-10%. This equates to around 16 empty units. In Tavistock, the number of vacant units has reduced significantly since 2010, from 10% to 5%.

The following graphs show the retail mix in the two main towns over the past couple of years.

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Okehampton Retail Mix 2010-2012

2010 2011

2012

Percentage of Units Units of Percentage

EMPTY A1 A2 A3 A4 A5 D1 sui generis Use Figure 5: Okehampton Retail Mix

Tavistock Retail Mix 2010-2012

2010 2011

2012

Percentage of Units of Percentage

EMPTY A1 A2 A3 A4 A5 D1 sui generis Use Figure 6: Tavistock Retail Mix

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5. Environment a. Designated Sites and Areas

Heritage and the Built Environment The Borough has a very high quality built environment, with over 2200 listed buildings, and over 700 Scheduled Ancient Monuments. There are also 25 conservation areas (outside the area covered by Dartmoor National Park), which have been designated for their special architectural or historic interest.

English Heritage monitors the condition of heritage features, including conservation areas and listed buildings. English Heritage currently considers that four conservation areas (North Tawton, Bere Alston, Hatherleigh and Okehampton) are in poor or very bad condition. This relates to issues such as the potential impact that new development in the area may have or changes in the fabric of buildings, such as plastic windows. The Council will continue to monitor these areas and will seek to improve the condition of them through planning policies and the appropriate management of development.

8 listed buildings in the Borough are also considered by English Heritage to be at risk. Further information is available here: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/caring/heritage-at- risk/.

A large part of Tavistock lies within the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage Site, inscribed by UNESCO in July 2006. The World Heritage Site covers mining landscapes dating from 1700 to 1914, and in West Devon it covers parts of Tavistock and areas such as Morwellham Quay and Devon Great Consols.

Wildlife Areas There are a number of important wildlife areas in West Devon (outside Dartmoor National Park), including 4 Local Nature Reserves. The Borough also includes the Culm Special Area of Conservation, the Plymouth Sound and Estuaries Special Area of Conservation, and the Tamar Estuaries Complex Special Protection Area.

A total of 36 Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) lie within West Devon, and cover an area of 15707.68 ha. However 22 of these SSSIs lie completely within Dartmoor National Park. The remaining 14 SSSIs are completely or partly within West Devon but outside the National Park, and cover an area of 909.82 ha. The latest figures from Natural England (May 2012) show that 99.7% of the area covered by these 14 SSSIs is in a favourable, or recovering towards favourable condition.

Landscape Designations Some of the landscape of the Borough lies within a special designation, as shown in the table on the following page. Whilst all of the area designated as AONB lies outside the Dartmoor National Park, most of the areas designated as SSSI or SAC lie within Dartmoor National Park.

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Landscape Designation Hectares Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty 9,089 Sites of Special Scientific Interest 15,707 Special Area of Conservation 18,061 Table 9: Landscape Designations b. Development and Flood Risk

During 2011/2012, 40 planning applications have been granted consent in Floodzones 2 and/or 3 (which are the medium/higher risk zones). Most of these were for minor alterations to properties. Only 2 applications related to the creation of new dwellings, and in both of these cases the objections from the Environment Agency were overcome. c. Renewable Energy

Whilst there are no large scale renewable energy schemes in operation or under construction in West Devon, planning permission exists for an 18MW wind farm at Denbrook, near North Tawton. The developers are currently aiming to begin construction on the site in early 2013.

Figures from the Renewable Energy Progress Report: South West Annual Survey carried out by Regen SW show that as of March 2012, current installed capacity for renewable electricity in West Devon is approximately 6.17MW. Installed renewable heat capacity is approximately 2.093MW.

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West Devon Borough Council is committed to acknowledging the full diversity of our communities and to promoting equality of opportunity for everyone.

This document can be made available in large print, Braille, tape format or in any other language on request.

For further information please contact:

West Devon Borough Council Email: [email protected] Tel: 0182217 West813600 Devon Monitoring Report 2012