December 2008 WIGANLDF LOCAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK WIGANLDF LOCAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK Martin Kimber BA Dip TP MRTPI Director Environmental Services Department Civic Buildings, New Market Street, Wigan WN1 1RP Fourth Annual Monitoring Report Environmental Services Department Environmental Services Department WIGANLOCALDEVELOPMENTFRAMEWORK Fourth Annual Monitoring Report Wigan Council LDF Contents ONE Introduction 3 TWO Implementation of the Local Development Scheme 12 Local Development Scheme milestones 12 Review of the Local Development Scheme 17 THREE Planning Policy Implementation and Monitoring Issues 18 LDF Core Output Indicators 18 Business Development 18 Housing 20 Transport 24 Minerals 24 Waste 26 Flood Protection and Water Quality 28 Biodiversity 29 Renewable Energy 30 Other Local Indicators 30 Green Belt 31 Safeguarded Land 31 Agricultural Land 31 Land and Buildings for Employment Use 32 Tourism 33 Land for New House Building 34 Environmental Protection and Enhancement 34 Nature Conservation 35 Design 35 WIGANLOCALDEVELOPMENTFRAMEWORK Fourth Annual Monitoring Report Wigan Council LDF Conservation 36 Accessibility 37 Hierarchy and Role of Centres 39 Leisure and Community Facilities 56 Mineral Working 58 Waste Management 59 Planning Obligations 59 FOUR Key Findings 60 Appendices Appendix A Housing Trajectory 62 Appendix B Employment Land Take Up 65 Appendix C Number of People Employed in Tourism 66 WIGANLOCALDEVELOPMENTFRAMEWORK Fourth Annual Monitoring Report Wigan Council LDF ONE Introduction 1.1 Monitoring is crucial to the successful delivery of our local development framework. It helps us understand the main social, environmental and economic issues affecting our borough and the key drivers of spatial change. Regular monitoring will help to show if we are achieving our objectives or if policies should be changed in response to changing circumstances. 1.2 The Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 and associated regulations require us to produce an Annual Monitoring Report, to do the following tasks: Review progress in preparing development plan documents, supplementary planning documents and other documents against the timetable and milestones published in our Local Development Scheme; Assess the extent to which our development plan document policies and supplementary planning documents are being implemented; If a policy is not being implemented, explain why and set out what steps we are taking to ensure that it is implemented or, alternatively, amended or replaced; Identify the significant effects of implementing our policies and whether they are as intended; and Set out whether our policies are to be amended or replaced. 1.3 Our annual monitoring report is therefore a key mechanism for assessing the performance and effects of our Local Development Framework, and for putting into practice the concept of 'plan, monitor and manage' whereby the findings of monitoring feed directly into any review of policy that may be required. 1.4 In particular, our annual monitoring report is required to consider: Whether the timetable and milestones for the preparation of documents set out in our Local Development Scheme have been met or progress is being made towards meeting them or, where they are not being met or are not on track, the reasons why; 3 WIGANLOCALDEVELOPMENTFRAMEWORK Fourth Annual Monitoring Report Wigan Council LDF Whether policies and related targets in our development plan documents and supplementary planning documents have been met or progress is being made towards meeting them or, where they are not being met or are not on track, the reasons why; What impact the policies are having in respect of national and regional targets and any other targets identified in development plan documents and supplementary planning documents, that are not covered by the above; What significant effects implementation of the policies is having on the social, environmental and economic objectives by which we define sustainability and whether these effects are intended; Whether the policies in the local development document need adjusting or replacing because they are not working as intended; Whether our policies need changing to reflect changes in national or regional policy; or If our policies or proposals need changing, the actions we need to take to achieve this. 1.5 This is Wigan's fourth annual monitoring report and is required to be prepared and submitted to the Government Office for the North West by the end of December 2008. It relates to the year from 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2008. Where it has not been possible to provide as full a picture as possible in this monitoring report, in particular for the Core Output Indicators required by national guidance, as full an analysis as possible has been provided. However, the problems of providing the data have been clearly set out in the report along with an explanation of progress made in providing the data since the first monitoring report. 1.6 The report format is in 4 broad sections, the first being this introduction which, in addition to dealing with the purposes and aims of the document, includes material setting out the key contextual characteristics of the Borough. The second section deals with the implementation of the Local Development Scheme and compares the timetable and milestones set out in that document with what has been actually achieved in practice during the year. It then goes on to consider any need to revise the Local Development Scheme in the light of that information or for other reasons. The third section deals with planning policy implementation which is assessed against both the national core output indicators and local 4 WIGANLOCALDEVELOPMENTFRAMEWORK Fourth Annual Monitoring Report Wigan Council LDF indicators. In practice these other local indicators are, in the main, taken from the Unitary Development Plan. It also includes commentary on the need for development of future monitoring systems to fill any shortfalls in data collection. The final section pulls out the main conclusions derived from the monitoring. Key Contextual Characteristics of the Borough 1.7 Demographics Population size Wigan has an estimated resident population of 305,495, of which 151,000 are men and 155,000 are women. 31,400 are over 70 years of age and 75,200 are under 20 years of age. (Source: ONS mid-year population estimates, 2006) Ethnicity 97.5% of the borough is white, which is higher than the national average of 89.1%. The remainder of the population is made up as follows. Mixed race – 0.6% Asian or Asian British – 0.9% Black or black British – 0.5% Chinese – 0.2% Other – 0.2% (Office of National Statistics, June 2005) Migration There are estimated to be around 2,000 economic migrants currently living in the borough, largely originating from Eastern European countries such as Poland. (Source: Wigan Council, 2007) . 5 WIGANLOCALDEVELOPMENTFRAMEWORK Fourth Annual Monitoring Report Wigan Council LDF Deprivation In the indices of deprivation 2007, Wigan was ranked 67 out of 354 local authorities in England, where 1 was the most deprived. This rank was derived from the average deprivation score of the Local Super Output Areas in the local Authority (Source: National Statistics, 2007). Overall Wigan has become less deprived than in 2004 when it was the 53rd most deprived authority in England. 1.8 Housing Household types and tenure 75% of the properties in the Borough are semi-detached and terraced with detached properties accounting for under a fifth of the Borough offer. Flats and apartments account for 7.7% with the majority being purpose built. The housing market largely caters for family housing. (Source: Census, 2001) Compared with the national picture Wigan has a high proportion of owner occupation (80.4%) and 19.61% socially rented stock (Source, HSSA, 2005) House prices The average house price for Wigan Borough in the second quarter of 2007 rose to £134,103 (land registry). Wages have not increased as much as the rise in house prices, so there has been a deterioration in affordability 1.9 Health and Leisure Life expectancy Although life expectancy has improved in Wigan, it still remains lower than the North West and national averages. 6 WIGANLOCALDEVELOPMENTFRAMEWORK Fourth Annual Monitoring Report Wigan Council LDF Wigan North West England Male 75.1 75.4 76.9 Female 79.4 79.9 81.1 (Source: ONS, 2004) Healthiness As of November 2007, 10.7% of the working age population were claiming incapacity benefits or severe disablement allowance. (Source: Nomis - November, 2008) In 2006, 111.7 people aged under 75 died from all circulatory diseases. This is more than the North West average of 96.24 and considerably worse than the national average of 79 deaths per 100,000 people. 22 % of the population of the borough have a limiting long-term illness Residents living in more deprived areas are more likely to report poorer health (including dental health). (Source: Wigan Health Survey, 2006). Physical activity and leisure 60% of the population report low levels of physical activity (source: Wigan Health Survey, 2006) In a Wigan Council survey conducted in November 2007, 76% of people said they had visited a park or country park within the last 12 months. 1.10 Economy and Employment Employment As of July 2008, 2.8% of the working age population were claiming Jobseekers Allowance. This compares with a national average of 2.3% and a North West figure of 2.7%. More males (3.9) are claiming this allowance than females (1.5%). Unemployment is not evenly distributed, with deprived areas making up a greater proportion of the total. (Source: Nomis, July 2008) 7 WIGANLOCALDEVELOPMENTFRAMEWORK Fourth Annual Monitoring Report Wigan Council LDF A higher proportion of working age people claim out of work benefits in the worst performing neighbourhoods. In quarter 2, 2007 there were 32.4% of claimants in Wigan’s most deprived areas. This is similar to the North West and National averages. Wages The weekly average wage for Wigan from Jan - December 2007 was £431.70, this is only £1 lower than the North West average and £28.30 lower than the national average.