Development Management Plan (Regulation 19) Urban Open Space Assessment and Review
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Development Management Plan (Regulation 19) Urban Open Space Assessment and Review October 2017 Contents Executive Summary ................................................................................................ 3 1. Introduction and Background ............................................................................. 4 Scope .............................................................................................................. 4 Process ........................................................................................................... 4 2. Defining Principles for Local Designation........................................................... 6 Borough Local Plan Urban Open Land Definition ............................................ 6 National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and Planning Practice Guidance ........................................................................................................................ 6 Local Appeal Decisions ................................................................................... 8 Other Approaches ......................................................................................... 10 Defining the Local Designation Principles ..................................................... 11 3. The Assessment Methodology ......................................................................... 14 Identifying sites .............................................................................................. 14 Assessment process ..................................................................................... 14 Regulation 18 Consultation and Open Space Review ................................... 16 4. Conclusions of Assessment ............................................................................. 19 Introduction .................................................................................................... 19 Discussion ..................................................................................................... 19 Overall Summary ........................................................................................... 24 5. Recommendations for Policy ........................................................................... 26 Supporting Documents ......................................................................................... 28 Appendix 1 – Urban Open Space Site Assessment Survey .................................. 29 Appendix 2 – Assessment of alternative use potential for medium priority sites ... 35 Appendix 3 – Full Table of Urban Open Space Recommendations ...................... 49 Appendix 4 – Maps of Urban Open Space Assessments ..................................... 68 2 Executive Summary This document has been prepared to support the Development Management Plan Regulation 19 consultation. It presents technical work undertaken by the Council to determine the criteria that should be used to assess the value of urban greenspaces, and to assess whether individual land and sites in the borough play a valuable role as Urban Open Space and should thus be considered for designation within the Development Management Plan (DMP). Note that this report represents an update to the Urban Open Space report published alongside the Regulation 18 DMP consultation document and supersedes that report. It takes into account comments that were raised through the Regulation 18 consultation. The technical work involved two main strands of work: 1) Developing a set of robust criteria and decision-aiding principles which define the valuable characteristics and functions of Urban Open Space 2) Assessing identified sites against the criteria and making conclusions as to their value and priorities for designation within the Development Management Plan. The assessment process considered a total of 243 different sites across the borough. These were drawn from a number of sources including: sites currently designated as Urban Open Land in the Borough Local Plan 2005, sites identified through the 2011 PPG17 Open Space, Sport and Recreation Assessment, sites suggested through public consultation or by local interest groups and sites identified by officers using their local knowledge. The conclusions and recommendations of the study are summarised as follows: 1) Given the development pressures within the borough, there remains strong rationale for designating and safeguarding important open spaces within the urban area 2) 198 sites recommended to be designated as Urban Open Space, including 58 that were not designated in the Borough Local Plan 2005 3) 45 sites recommended not to be designated as Urban Open Space, including 21 sites currently identified as Urban Open Land in the Borough Local Plan 2005 4) Designations should be supported by a dedicated policy in the Development Management Plan. This policy should safeguard designated Urban Open Spaces in all but exceptional circumstances, in line with the provisions of the National Planning Policy Framework 5) Separate complementary policies to promote the specific functions of open space (such as sports, biodiversity, etc.) should be included within the DMP. 3 1. Introduction and Background Scope 1.1 The purpose of this review is to provide an up-to-date assessment of the role and value of local open spaces in Reigate & Banstead. The primary aim is to inform decisions about which sites should be formally designated and specifically safeguarded as Urban Open Space in the Council’s Development Management Plan (DMP). 1.2 The existing Urban Open Land designations in the Borough Local Plan 2005 were conceived in the early 1990s and need to be reviewed as part of the process of updating the Local Plan to ensure that future land designations are based on sound principles and evidence. Note that this report represents an update to the Urban Open Space report published alongside the Regulation 18 DMP consultation document and supersedes that report. It takes into account comments that were raised through the Regulation 18 consultation. Process 1.3 The first stage of the review reconsiders the purpose of designating open spaces and in particular the characteristics and functions which define their contribution to local quality of life. From this, a set of key principles and decision-aiding criteria are developed which are consistent with both national and local policy and against which the value of sites can be assessed and determined. 1.4 The review then assesses a variety of sites against the criteria and principles. This includes: reassessing existing Urban Open Land sites as designated in the Borough Local Plan 20051 assessing potential new sites identified through: o formal and informal public consultation, including the Regulation 18 Development Management Plan consultation o officers’ local knowledge o other evidence, including the Open Space, Sport and Recreation Assessment 20112 1 https://localpl.reigate-banstead.gov.uk/ 2 Available at: http://www.reigate- banstead.gov.uk/downloads/download/106/ppg17_open_space_sport_and_recreation_assessment 4 1.5 For existing designated sites, the review also considers the appropriateness of site boundaries as shown in the Borough Local Plan 2005 in light of any physical or land use changes which may have occurred since original designation. 1.6 Using these assessments, conclusions are then drawn on the “open space value” of each site and their respective priority for protection as open space. This feeds through to recommendations regarding their designation or otherwise in the Development Management Plan. 5 2. Defining Principles for Local Designation 2.1 Although various methodologies exist for assessing and characterising the quality and quantity of open space, there is no clear guidance or criteria as to whether and which sites should be afforded special protection or designation through the Local Plan. This is understandable: the perceived importance and value of open space in delivering different functions will inevitably vary according to local circumstances. Criteria and principles for designation should thus be defined locally. 2.2 The first stage of the Council’s review was therefore to establish the criteria that best capture the value of open space in the context of Reigate & Banstead. To support this, a review of the current Urban Open Land definition as well as criteria and principles adopted elsewhere is set out below. Borough Local Plan Urban Open Land Definition 2.3 There are no detailed records of the methodology used in the selection of sites for the Urban Open Land designation in the Borough Local Plan (BLP). However, paragraph 3.18 of the 1994 Local Plan and paragraph 3.35 of the 2005 BLP defines Urban Open Land as follows: “Areas of urban open land should normally be of sufficient size to possess an identifiable and distinctive character and a need for protection...” [emphasis added] 2.4 It goes on to list those types of open space that would normally be included in the designation: “public and private recreation areas and allotments, cemeteries and gardens of remembrance, woodland areas, ponds and watercourses, schools with grounds, detached school playing fields, other social and community sites such as churches, hospitals and other establishments with grounds, other amenity areas of significant character due to their landscape, wildlife, archaeological or historic interest, together with areas which otherwise contribute to the visual amenity of the area.” [emphasis added] 2.5 It also includes a stipulation as to the size of