Portland NP Development & Growth Report Sept 17
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Portland Neighbourhood Plan Development and Growth Policies Purpose of Report 1. This report sets out the current position regarding the demand for and supply of development land on the Island of Portland and makes recommendations regarding the policy approach that should be taken by the Portland Neighbourhood Plan. Background 2. Neighbourhood plans are development plans, and will be used for determining planning applications. Accordingly, they can identify and allocate sites for new development including housing, employment, business use, leisure and other forms of development which the Town Council considers suitable, should it be appropriate to do so. Neighbourhood plans can also protect and safeguard land for future uses (for example open spaces) and define (or redefine) development boundaries or settlement limits for those places where some further growth may take place. 3. The larger strategic development sites will be allocated within the Local Plan and this needs to be taken into account. In the current Local Plan only three sites on Portland are allocated for specified uses1. The Town Council has the right to consider allocating further sites within the Neighbourhood Plan, particularly if it is considered that policies within the Local Plan do not offer sufficient criteria to guide the development of sites in place of an allocation. 4. The National Planning Practice Guidance (NPPG) confirms that a neighbourhood plan can allocate development sites, subject to meeting the required appraisals, assessments and viability tests2. If a neighbourhood plan does seek to allocate development sites, the NPPG requires the local planning authority to work constructively and positively with the ‘qualifying body’ (i.e. the Town Council) so that identified local need can be met. 5. It should also be noted that the NPPG addresses whether a neighbourhood plan can allocate additional or alternative sites to those in a Local Plan and sets out the criteria which apply where this option is considered. This includes the need for a qualifying body to explain and justify with robust evidence why any alternative sites are more appropriate than those in the Local Plan. Paragraph 044 ends by stating that “Should there be a conflict between a policy in a neighbourhood plan and a policy in a Local Plan, section 38(5) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 requires that the conflict must be resolved in favour of the policy which is contained in the last document to become part of the development plan.” 6. The case for including site allocations in the Neighbourhood Plan, is that it will provide developers, service providers, the local planning authority and residents with more certainty about what sites are likely to come forward in the future, in what order and for what purpose. In short, by identifying specific sites, decisions on planning applications can be a given a clear steer immediately and the community is more likely to see the development it wants take place. It should be noted however that including site allocations could affect the local community. For example, it can be a divisive process and it could have an impact on house prices adjacent to the proposed site. 1 Land at Osprey Quay is allocated for primarily employment, leisure and ancillary retail uses and residential as part of a mixed-use scheme. The Former Hardy Complex as shown on the policies map is allocated for housing development. Land at Kingbarrow Quarry, Tout Quarry, Verne Yeates, Inmosthay Quarry and Perryfield Quarry Butterfly Conservation Nature Reserves is allocated as part of the Portland Quarries Nature Park. 2 See paragraph 042 of the NPPG at http://planningguidance.planningportal.gov.uk/blog/guidance/neighbourhood-planning/preparing-a- neighbourhood-plan-or-order/ 7. Local sensitivities, the need to apply a rigorous appraisal method and provide sufficient evidence for favouring and allocating specific sites, has discouraged many neighbourhood planners. Many Neighbourhood Plans have chosen not to allocate sites, but rather to set locally- based criteria (to complement policies in the Local Plan) by which any site that comes forward for development can be assessed and controlled. 8. The decision as to whether to allocate one or more sites should ultimately be guided by a consideration as to whether doing so is the only way to secure the type of development that is needed and wanted by the community. The Town Council has already decided that it does not want to rely solely on the Local Plan and the local planning authority to determine future development on Portland. This paper explores the efficacy of either allocating sites or setting criteria-based policy, to guide development to appropriate locations, in the context of the local issues and opportunities on Portland and what the community wants to see happen. Planning Progress 9. The Neighbourhood Plan has progressed satisfactorily since work really got going in 2014. By the middle of 2016 the evidence base was in place and its findings had informed the Plan’s topics, aims and objectives. All through the process, the community has been consulted and the views and aspirations of local people have been taken into account. 10. The latest Local Plan3 was adopted in 2015, although the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group had found it, with only three site-specific policies for Portland, lacking in terms of providing a relevant strategic context for neighbourhood planning on Portland. Indeed, in Mid-2015 the Steering Group had considered whether it should commission its own strategic planning framework that could manifest itself in a form development plan or ‘masterplan’ for the Island and include site allocations. 11. It was decided however that this may not be necessary once the local planning authority committed to a full review of the Local Plan. In finding the Local Plan sound in 2015, the Inspector recommended that an early review should be undertaken, primarily because the Local Plan was not robust enough in demonstrating a five-year supply of housing. 12. The Local Plan Review got underway early in 2017. Whilst housing numbers and potential sites was a focus, the local planning authority has also taken the opportunity to look at other aspects where recent evidence or Government policy changes has had an impact on the 2015 Plan. These include: a more logical assessment of green areas; the changing nature of employment and growth opportunities; new Government housing initiatives; climate change and erosion and sustainable energy. Many of them are matters of a strategic nature that have an impact too, on neighbourhood planning for Portland. 13. The Local Plan Review is scheduled to be completed by 2019. The first stage of the Review was an Issues and Options document which was the subject of a district-wide consultation during February and March 2017. A dialogue has been maintained between the Portland Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group and the local planning authority. This is enabling the Steering Group to frame its approach and policies for Portland in the knowledge of what is emerging from the Local Plan Review and to influence that Review from a Portland Neighbourhood Plan perspective. 14. With this relationship established, the Steering Group has felt more confident in proceeding with policy development. During the first part of 2017 it commissioned: 1. A Heritage and Character Assessment4 – an objective study to describe and articulate what is special and distinctive about a Portland by identifying recognisable patterns of elements or characteristics that make one landscape different from another. Its purpose is to ensure 3 https://www.dorsetforyou.gov.uk/media/209581/West-Dorset-Weymouth--Portland-Local-Plan- 2015/pdf/West_Dorset__Weymouth___Portland_Local_Plan_2015.pdf 4 https://www.portlandplan.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/PCP-Portland-HCA-low-res.pdf that development proposals respond to local character and history, and reflect the identity of local surroundings and materials, while not preventing or discouraging appropriate innovation. 2. A Site Appraisal Report5 - an independent and objective assessment of the sites that were considered available for inclusion in the Neighbourhood Plan, providing a clear assessment of the suitability of each of the sites for potential housing development. The Site Appraisal Report has significantly influenced what follows in this paper. Strategic Context 15. The Local Plan Review process is still far from compete. The Initial Issues and Options Consultation document (February 2017) does however provide an indication of how the Local Plan may evolve. Growth Options 16. A major purpose of the Review, as the Local Plan Inspector explained, is “to identify additional land capable of meeting housing needs to the end of the current plan period” (i.e. to 2031) “as well as the broad location for development in the five-year period thereafter” (i.e. to 2036). The Inspector did not recommend that any specific locations in Weymouth or on Portland should be examined for their future growth potential. However, the need to look forward for a further five years, requires the local planning authority to consider what additional growth will be required to meet the needs of Weymouth and Portland, and where, over the extended plan period to 2036. Housing Development 17. The overall need for housing across the Local Plan area between 2011 and 2031 is calculated as 15,500 net additional dwellings. The average annualised requirement is for 775 new homes per annum. The starting point for the Review is that provision needs to be made to accommodate this level of housing development for a further five years (i.e. 3,875 additional new homes for the period 2031 to 2036). If the currently estimated shortfall to 2031 is added, it indicates that the Review must make provision for at least another 4,520 new homes overall, if to adequately cover the period to 2036. The Review therefore has to identify sufficient additional land to accommodate at least this level of housing growth.