Torfaen RLDP Preferred Strategy
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Housing Growth and Spatial Options Briefing Paper Papur Briffio Twf Tai a Dewisiadau Gofodol July 2019 / Gorffennaf 2019 Torfaen Local Development Plan Review: Housing Growth and Spatial Options Briefing Paper (July 2019) “How much housing and where? - this briefing paper provides information to help us decide how many new homes we plan for (the growth level) in the Replacement Torfaen LDP (2018-2033) and where should they be located (its spatial distribution)?” Introduction - The Council (TCBC) is in the process of producing a Replacement Torfaen Local Development Plan (RLDP) to shape and guide development in the County Borough between 2018 and 2033. The RLDP will be the Council’s new land use plan and will identify land for development, areas to be protected, and contain policies that we will use to take decisions on planning applications. All going well, we hope to ‘adopt’ the Replacement LDP at the end of 2021; noting that the existing Torfaen LDP expires on 31st March 2021 and cannot be used thereafter as a policy framework for determining planning applications. The Torfaen RLDP is being prepared in line with the Council’s published Torfaen RLDP Delivery Agreement (June 2018), which sets out the production’ timetable’ and approach to ‘community consultation’. Given that both our neighbours, Blaenau Gwent and Monmouthshire are producing their own RLDP to the same timescales, we are working jointly with them on many specific items of work / evidence. We have already held a key stakeholder workshop (October 2018) to consider the ‘Vision’ and ‘Objectives’ for the RLDP, which has been used to inform the draft vision and objectives detailed below. At this stage of the process the consultation is focussed on engagement and consensus building with key stakeholders to help assess and the different options for growth and spatial distribution in the RLDP ‘Preferred Strategy’; and also revisit the draft vision, given that the Council has declared a ‘climate emergency’ since last year. Welsh Government guidance advises that the Torfaen RLDP ‘Preferred Strategy’ should contain details of the broad scale, location and type of development, and specifically:- . the regional and local context; . the vision and objectives; . links with other statutory documents; . a summary of the proposed strategy, including strategic sites; . the scale of housing, employment and other key drivers; and . other relevant policies. Also, to comply with legal requirements, the Council has produced and consulted Natural Resources Wales / Cyfoeth Naturiol Cymru on a Draft Sustainability Appraisal (SA) Scoping Report, April 2019 (which identifies key baseline issues & sustainability objectives for Torfaen) and a Habitats Regulations Appraisal (HRA) Screening Report, February 2019 (which considers the effects of the RLDP on European nature sites); both of which will inform the RLDP choices going forward. Similarly, it is noted that the Council has already engaged landowners, developers and agents, in August-October last year, in the ‘Call for Candidate Sites’ exercise for sites they wished to be considered for inclusion in the RLDP; which culminated in the publication of the ‘Candidate Sites Register’ in December 2018. These sites are currently being assessed Torfaen LDP - Housing Growth and Spatial Options Briefing Paper - July 2019 1 for their suitability for inclusion in the RLDP, which will be published alongside the RLDP ‘Preferred Strategy’ at the end of the year. Finally, formal public consultation is expected to be undertaken on the RLDP Preferred Strategy (and associated documents) in November-December 2019, following consideration at a Council meeting in October 2019. Vision & Objectives - We have produced a draft Vision for what Torfaen should be like by 2033, and have written 18 objectives that we want to achieve the vision:- Replacement Torfaen LDP Draft Vision: At the eastern edge of the South Wales Valleys, Torfaen will be part of a Networked City Region supporting healthy, thriving communities and a sustainable prosperous economy in an outstanding historical, cultural and natural environment. To achieve this: By 2033, through collaborative working, the development strategy for the Replacement Torfaen Local Development Plan will deliver sustainable growth that supports the wellbeing of current and future generations whilst responding to the challenges of climate change. It will provide a distinctive, vibrant and prosperous area for people to live work and visit and where people have the skills, knowledge and opportunities to achieve a better quality of life in safe, healthy and thriving communities with accessible green infrastructure and local facilities. Replacement Torfaen LDP Objectives:- 1. To ensure the provision of an appropriate quantity and range of employment sites and retail opportunities to support high and stable levels of employment in Torfaen and deliver a competitive, modern and sustainable economy and thriving town centres supporting local needs and the foundation economy; 2. To promote health and well-being through the provision of development including community facilities, leisure and outdoor recreational opportunities and green infrastructure accessible to all; 3. To ensure that the location of development does not result in unacceptable risk from flooding, subsidence or health hazards; 4. To ensure the highest quality of design in all developments and delivering place-making of safe, healthy and attractive environments; 5. To provide opportunities for the establishment of a network of quality educational and training facilities which serve local communities and are accessible for all existing and future generations sections of the current and future population; 6. To protect, manage and enhance sustainable tourist attractions and facilities in Torfaen for the benefit of tourists and the community; 7. To conserve and enhance the distinctive cultural and historic resources of the County Borough; 8. To ensure that all new development reflects best practise in sustainable design and location, construction, and operation and energy; 9. To allocate mineral sites if required and practicable and safeguard appropriate mineral resources from sterilisation; 10. To protect, manage and enhance green infrastructure, biodiversity and ecological networks across Torfaen; 11. To minimise climate change impacts through reduced emissions of greenhouse gases in both new and existing development, and to adapt to climate change through considerations of its effects in the design and location of new development; Torfaen LDP - Housing Growth and Spatial Options Briefing Paper - July 2019 2 12. To protect and enhance the valued landscape character of Torfaen, including important open space and sense of rurality between settlements; 13. To protect Greenfield land by enabling and promoting the most efficient use of appropriate brownfield sites for redevelopment across Torfaen; 14. To ensure all development contributes to improving water quality, protecting water supply and maximising the efficiency of water consumption; 15. To identify and conserve important soil and geological resources including Regionally Important Geological Sites (RIGS) and maintain their quality; 16. To ensure the allocation of an appropriate quantity and variety of housing sites to deliver high quality choice in form and construction in sustainable locations, well served by essential facilities and accessible by a range of transport modes; 17. To develop integrated and efficient transport infrastructure, public transport and communication networks which protect air quality and are accessible and attractive to all, and encourage active travel and a reduction in private car use; and 18. To ensure people and organisations reduce, reuse and recycle waste and to foster this through the provision of regional and local waste management facilities. Issues / Challenges - To help us decide on how to plan for the future of Torfaen we have identified a wide range of issues / challenges facing our communities, which include:- . By 2033; there will be more older people and less younger people of working age; . We need to promote physical and mental health for all and create sustainable communities where people want to live (place-making); . There are both growth opportunities and pressures associated with the removal of the Severn (Prince of Wales) Bridge tolls, the £1.2bn Cardiff City Region City Deal and from the Bristol region; . We have an ageing employment stock; a limited availability of industrial premises and serviced employment sites and thus issues of retaining existing employers or attracting new employers to Torfaen; employment development is generally commercially unviable; and there is a need for a deliverable ‘strategic employment site’ in Torfaen; . With increasing internet shopping, etc. we need to identify new roles for town centres; . We want to protect the landscapes, green infrastructure, biodiversity and heritage of Torfaen and manage our resources more sustainably; . House prices are increasing more than wages, and we therefore have over 2,600 households on the housing waiting list, noting that meeting affordable housing need is a major Welsh Government priority for the RLDP; . We need to plan for a sustainable level of housing growth, but have viability / infrastructure issues in developing new market houses in the north of the County Borough; . We need to address and mitigate for climate change and carbon reduction; provide opportunities for renewable energy; and