Lichfield District Local Plan Review: Preferred Options Executive summary 1 Executive summary 3 Introduction & context 2 Introduction & context 5 3 National context 11 Contents 4 Local context 13 Profile of the district & issues 5 Profile of the district 14 6 Issues 26 Our vision & strategic priorities 7 Our vision 28 8 Our strategic objectives & priorities 30 Our strategic policies 9 Our spatial strategy 33 10 Our sustainable communities 40 11 Our infrastructure 49 12 Our sustainable transport 51 13 Our homes for the future 55 14 Our economic growth, enterprise & tourism 64 15 Our healthy & safe communities 71 16 Our natural resources 76 17 Our built & historic environment 85 Our settlements 18 Lichfield and Streethay 90 19 Burntwood 97 20 Larger service villages 101 21 Smaller service villages 122 22 Smaller rural villages and our wider rural areas 129 Our next steps 23 Our next steps 130 Appendices A Non Strategic Allocations (Existing and Proposed) 131 B Masterplan Guidelines 134 Lichfield District Local Plan Review: Preferred Options Contents Glossary & abbreviations Glossary & abbreviations 135 Lichfield District Local Plan Review: Preferred Options 3 1 Executive summary Executive Summary 1.1 Lichfield district council is reviewing its local plan with the aim to create a new local plan which will provide the planning framework for our district up to 2040. Once adopted the new local plan will replace the current local plan strategy which was adopted in 2015 and local plan allocations which was adopted in July 2019. Until the new local plan is adopted, the current plan will continue to be summary used when making planning decisions. 1.2 Our vision for the district is one of growth. The council aspires to deliver housing and employment growth within our district. Growth in our district will focus on enhancing the sustainability of our villages, delivering key infrastructure requirements to enable these communities to become cohesive, inclusive and healthy places where historic assets are enhanced and make a positive contribution to local character and distinctiveness. 1.3 Our spatial strategy set out how we will deliver a minimum of 7,282 dwellings plus a contribution of 4,500 dwellings towards meeting the Greater Birmingham and Black Country housing market area. Executive We have identified four strategic allocations within Lichfield city, Fradley, Fazeley and Whittington and set out our ambition to plan for a new settlement within our district. We will continue to maintain 1 and support enhancements to our existing employment areas to meet the needs of the local economy to 2040. 1.4 The preferred options document also includes policies that set out how will be plan for transport, our natural environment, our built and historic environment and the health of our communities. We know that we still have a number of pieces of evidence that need completing, this information will support the development of policies that will address our identified strategic objectives and priorities. 1.5 We are now seeking your views on the preferred options, the consultation runs from Friday 29th November 2019 until the 24th January 2019 . There are a number of ways in which you can let us know your views: Online via the website: http://lichfielddc-consult.limehouse.co.uk?portal Email: [email protected] In writing to; Spatial Policy and Delivery, Lichfield District Council, Frog Lane, Lichfield, WS13 6YZ 1.6 At the end of the consultation period, we will consider all the comments received on issues relevant to the plan together with evidence that we have and are collecting. The information gathered will inform the Regulation 19 version of the plan which we intend to publish in May 2020. Introduction & context 4 Lichfield District Local Plan Review: Preferred Options 5 2 Introduction & context What is a local plan? 2.1 All planning authorities are required to produce strategic plans which show how their area will develop in the future. These plans are often known as 'Local Plans'. The local plan should provide a positive vision and framework for the future development of the area, seeking to address needs and context opportunities in relation to housing, the economy, community facilities and infrastructure as well as safeguarding important environments. A key task of a local plan is to provide policies which will guide & decisions on whether or not planning applications can be granted approval. In law the local plan is described as a development plan document which can consist of one or more documents including local plans and neighbourhood plans. 2.2 The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) establishes that the planning system in England should be 'genuinely plan-led' and that authorities are expected to keep their local plans up-to-date. The development plan for the area must include strategic policies to address the areas priorities for development and use of land. Alongside strategic policies authorities should also consider non-strategic policies to provide more detailed policies for specific areas, neighbourhoods or types of development. These policies can be included in a single plan, within subsequent local plan documents and/or within neighbourhood plans. Introduction 2.3 The current Lichfield local plan is a district wide plan and comprises of two development plan 2 documents: 2.4 The local plan strategy: which was adopted in February 2015 and sets out the strategic vision, objectives and spatial strategy for the district including the levels of development needed and a number of large strategic allocations for housing growth; and 2.5 The local plan allocations: which was adopted in July 2019 identifies site specific proposals and policies to deliver the strategic vision established through the local plan strategy. 2.6 There are also a number of neighbourhood plans which have been produced by communities within the district which form a further layer of approved planning policy within the district. Neighbourhood plans are required to be in general conformity with the local plan for an area and as such complement the local plan within the district. What is the local plan review and why are we reviewing it? 2.7 The local plan review will provide for a full review of the existing local plan within the district to ensure that there are appropriate and up-to-date planning policies. There have been a number of important changes to the planning system in recent years including the publication of a revised National Planning Policy Framework and associated Planning Practice Guidance in 2018. 2.8 There have been a number of reforms to the system. Three major reforms are the implementation of a standard method for calculating housing need in an area, a new requirement to ensure authorities are working with their neighbours to meet housing needs where it has been robustly demonstrated that they cannot be met within an administrative area. There is also a requirement for all authorities to consider a review of their local plans at least once every five years. Changes such as these mean it is vitally important for the district council to begin the process of reviewing its local plan. 2.9 In addition to the above, the local plan allocations document commits Lichfield district to carry out an early review of the local plan in order to respond to the changing needs for development, especially the need to accommodate additional housing arising from unmet needs in neighbouring authorities within the same housing market area. 6 Lichfield District Local Plan Review: Preferred Options 2 2.10 The district council commenced its local plan review in April 2018 with consultation on a scope, Introduction issues and options document. The scope, issues and options document focused on identifying the key issues facing the district and presented a number of possible spatial growth options. The responses to the consultation were used to shape the preferred options & policy directions document which was developed in January 2019. The document set out preferred growth options and strategic and local policies against a range of areas relating to identified objectives. Responses to the preferred options and policy directions have helped refine and further develop our preferred options document. 2.11 The previous version of the local plan review stated that the plan period would go up to 2036, in this version of the plan the time frame has been extended to 2040. This extension of time will enable the district council to set out how we intend to grow our district in the long term, offering more certainty for our communities, partners and those that will deliver development for us. The extension of the & plan period will also mean some of our evidence base will need to be updated to account for this charge. This work will be completed ahead of any formal Regulation 19 consultation. context What is the scope of the local plan? 2.12 This preferred options document begins to refine elements of the local plan based on the information we have available to date. 2.13 The final version of the local plan will include: Spatial profile & issues: a high level picture of Lichfield district today with its key features and issues identified; A vision: a high level picture of how Lichfield district will appear in 2040; Strategic objectives & priorities: setting out the main challenges and how these will help meet the vision; Spatial strategy: setting out how different areas of the district and the district as a whole should develop within the plan period, setting out how much development will take place, where this development will be located and when it will be delivered; Strategic policies: theme-based strategic policies which will support the delivery of the spatial strategy and establish the principles of development.