Annual Monitoring Report
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What is an Annual Inside this Monitoring Report? document: Monitoring and evaluation are both vitally important if councils are to demonstrate their Introduction………..…..…..2 effectiveness and value for money. Recent changes to Government Legislation now mean Profile of Worcester….…...4 councils are responsible for their own perfor- mance management and are accountable to Population………...…..……5 local communities rather than central govern- ment. Economy…………......……..6 Planning delivers the council’s objectives for Employment Land.….…..….8 Worcester through the planning policy and development management processes. Worcester City Council Housing……………………..9 The AMR assesses and demonstrates the Natural Environment……..14 effectiveness of Worcester’s planning policies, Annual Monitoring monitors Worcester’s City Council’s perfor- Built Environment………...16 mance in implementing Local Plan policies Report 2010/11 and monitors the council’s performance in Transport………………….18 producing and implementing Local Develop- Appendix…………………..19 ment Framework policy. Worcester City Council Orchard House Complex Farrier Street Worcester WR1 3BB Phone: 01905 722233 E-mail: [email protected] achieved (Sections 13 and 35 of the Planning and Introduction Compulsory Purchase Act 2004). Executive Summary The AMR is helpful in that it looks to establish the value added by Development Management, Con- he primary purpose of this docu- servation and Enforcement activity. For example, a n 2010 Worcester produced a joint AMR ment is to share the performance statistic like the number of affordable houses de- with Wychavon and Malvern Hills districts. and achievements of the planning livered would translate into the outcome of The purpose of this was feed in to the joint service with the local community. ‘number of families housed’ and/or ’numbers re- T moved from local housing waiting lists’. development plan process. This year the The Annual Monitoring Report achieves this I production of a joint AMR has proven to be un- by: Should you wish to find out further details of the workable due to the constraints and pressures legal requirements regarding Annual Monitoring - reviewing the matters which may be ex- created by the South Worcestershire Develop- Reports you can visit www.legislation.gov.uk/. De- pected to affect the development of ment Plan consultation process. It is envisaged tails of the specific legislation governing AMRs can Worcester or the planning of its develop- that in 2012 the three authorities will once again be found in the Appendix. ment; produce a joint AMR. The Worcester AMR covers the period 1 April - monitoring the effectiveness of policies and The AMR is made up of nationally set Core Out- 2010 to 31 March 2011. Important changes to proposals in the authority’s adopted and put Indicators and Worcester-specific infor- legislation and policy have occurred since April emerging local development plans; and mation , which comprises data and analysis for 2011. These include the enactment of the Local- local indicators . These indicators are drawn - by providing information on the prepara- ism Act on 15th November 2011. Key sections of from the monitoring framework established in tion of planning documents and the extent the act have come in to force including the Secre- the authority as per the council’s adopted Local to which policies set out in these are being tary of State’s powers to revoke the Regional Spa- Plan, the Balanced Housing Market Development tial Strategy. The Secretary of State has not yet Plan Document and Sustainability Appraisals. exercised those powers. Other key components of the Localism Act are: The monitoring year 2010/11 saw the continua- tion of slow economic growth, though did not Neighbourhood Planning and Community see economic recession as in the previous moni- Right to Build toring year. Although the impacts of this will still Duty to consult on developments over a take time to feed through into some indicators, it certain size has had a marked impact on performance against Right to bid for assets of community value housing and economic indicators. With regard to employment and housing targets Worcester City Duty to cooperate Council had been awaiting primary legislation as Housing at Sansome Place Changes to Community Infrastructure Levy the Localism Bill was scheduled to begin its pas- 2 sage through Parliament from Christmas 2010. Worcester Stats Performance Since enacted it has returned powers of plan- Monitoring Indicator Data Source 2010/11 2010/11 making to local planning authorities. As it DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY stands the Regional Spatial Strategy remains Percentage of households built in the urban area SWHLM, 2011 100% part of the Development Plan for the local au- COI, BD2: Total amount & type of completed floorspace on thorities across South Worcestershire but the SWELM, 2011 N/A PDL weight afforded to it in the case of individual COI, H3: New and converted homes built on PDL SWHLM, 2011 100% planning applications (and by Inspectors in the SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC GROWTH case of appeals), will need to be judged against the advice issued by Government and its Chief Number of employees jobs WCEA, 2011 50,500 Planner. Unemployment Count (economic inactivity rate) WCEA, 2011 12,400 Whilst in this transition phase it will be chal- COI, BD1: Total amount of additional employment by type N/A Figure not available ? lenging for planning and delivery work to facili- COI, BD3: Employment Land Available WSEDM, 2011 33.08ha tate a speedy recovery of the housing market COI, BD4: Total annual change in the amount of floor space N/A Figure not available ? when demand starts to pick up. The adoption for town centre uses of a development plan will provide greater cer- HOUSING tainty to the development process. Number of Households in Worcester DCLG, 2010 42,147 — Estimated popula- The Core Output Indicators are tabulated to Latest Government Population Projection to 2033 ONS, 2010 tion = 94,800 people — the right. The AMR comments on possible rea- 2009 = £175,777 sons for the performance against these indica- Average Household Price WCEA, 2011 2011 = £178,145 tors in 2010/11. A key factor has been the continuing economic recession. Prospects for COI, H2a: Net additional homes in monitoring year SWHLM, 2011 190 homes 1770 Homes built the housing market, and therefore the rate of COI, H2b: Net additional homes in previous years (since ‘06) SWHLM, 2011 since April 2006 future house building in Worcester, remain uncertain. Although the impacts of this will COI, H4: No. of Gypsy and Traveller Pitches Worcs County Council 20 Pitches take time to feed through into some indica- COI, H5: No. of affordable houses delivered in 10/11 SWHLM, 2011 20 Homes tors, it has had a marked impact on perfor- COI, H6: Building for Life N/A Unknown — mance against housing indicators in particular. ENVIRONMENT COI E1: No. apps contrary to EA advice Planning applications 0 COI E2: No. of apps contrary to WWT advice Planning applications 0 Key: COI E2: Sites of Biodiversity importance (hectares) N/A Unknown ? Change in performance from 2009/10 = COI E2: Health of SSSI Natural England, 2010 Unknown N/A or or COI E3: Renewable Energy Generation Planning applications See appendix N/A 3 Geographically, it is located ap- Profile of Worcester proximately 120 miles (193 km) north west of London and 27 miles (43km) south west of Bir- mingham in the West Midlands. orcester is the principle The City covers an area of ap- urban area of Worcester- proximately 13 square miles, shire and is the primary varying between urban, residen- W administrative and em- tial and green spaces. The River ployment centre in the county. It was of Severn passes through the cen- England’s first settlements to gain city status tre of the city. Tourism attrac- by royal charter, in 1189 and is rich in ar- tions include the Royal chaeological and heritage sites; archaeologi- Worcester Porcelain Museum, cal finds have proved that Worcester was Commandary, Worcester Ca- New Road– home of Worcestershire CCC involved in many different battles, including thedral, The Racecourse and the Cricket important Civil War conflicts. Ground. countries and its largely rural landscape. The Worcester has good transport links with city is a key employment centre with large busi- the rest of the UK. Running close to nesses such as Mazak, Lea and Perrins, Mitsi- Worcester, there are motorway links to bushi Pencils and Worcester Bosch. Birmingham, Wales and the South West via The City has large employment areas in the the M5 and M50. Local railway stations north and east of the city in close proximity to provide rail access to London (2.5hrs) and the M5, while a new Worcester Technology Birmingham (40min). Additional public Park is planned to further take advantage of the transport links are provided by way of a city’s position. regional bus and coach station in the City Worcester has a rich cultural tradition through Centre with frequent local services and a music, with links to Elgar, and through the arts, national coach stop by Junction 6 of the theatre and museums and also a rich sporting M5. tradition. The city can boast top-flight rugby, cricket and basketball teams, while Worcester Worcester is an attractive place for busi- City FC currently play in the Conference nesses due to its links to other cities and North. 4 Population distribution by age (000s)– 2001 v 2010 Population 10 “The graph below, projecting 9 population by age-group in 8 Worcester, emphasises the 7 growth of the retirement-age 6 population. While the projec- 5 tions suggest that the numbers n recent times Worcester City has 4 of 0-17 and 18-64 year-olds will seen a small net out-migration; howev- 3 stay fairly consistent, the num- er since 2006 the City has recorded 2 1 ber of 65+ year olds is predicted small net gains.