Strategic Green Belt Review 2012
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Lichfield District Strategic Green Belt Review July 2012 Lichfield District Strategic Green Belt Review Context & Principles for the Green Belt Review 1 Introduction & Purpose of the Review 4 2 Scope of the Review 6 3 Green Belt Context & Planning History within Lichfield District 8 4 Principles of the Approach to the Review: Considering the 'general extent' of 10 the Green Belt and the need for change Settlements within the Green Belt 5 Lichfield and Burntwood 17 6 The Larger Green Belt Inset Villages 20 7 Smaller Green Belt Inset Villages 30 8 Other Villages and Hamlets within the Green Belt 43 Employment & Other Land Uses Outside Settlements 9 Developed Sites in the Green Belt 48 The Permanence of Green Belt Boundaries 10 Looking Beyond the Plan Period 53 July 2012 Context & Principles for the Green Belt Review July 2012 3 Lichfield District Strategic Green Belt Review 1 Introduction & Purpose of the Stafford Hospital Retail Review Leisure, Tourism and Culture Employemnt Burton & East ¯ Midlands Airport Hospital Retail 1.1 The establishment and maintenance Employment Leisure, Tourism of Green Belts around many of England’s and Cutlure To Stafford and the North West main urban areas in order to strictly control To Ashbourne and the North development, has long been a part of To Rugeley Armitage with To Burton and national planning policy. In the West Handsacre the North Alrewas Cannock Midlands there is a Green Belt that encircles Hospital, Fradley Retail Leisure, Tourism the main ‘conurbation’ area and encloses and Culture Employment Lichfield Birmingham, Solihull, Walsall, Burntwood Whittington To Cannock and Wolverhampton and the built up areas of the North West oll To Brownhills M 6T and Walsall Sandwell and Dudley. It extends to the east To Tamworth To Tamworth and the South Shenstone of Birmingham extending to Coventry. To Tamworth The Black Tamworth Country M Employment Fazeley 6 Hospitals T Retail, Leisure, o l Although National Planning Guidance has Retail l Tourism and Leisure, Tourism To Sutton Coldfield Culture and Birmingham and Culture To Birmingham identified five specific purposes of Green Employment and the South Little Aston Belts, (see paragraph 4.14), the principal Key Train Stations reason for establishing a Green Belt in the Main Roads Birmingham Canals Airport Watercourses West Midlands was to stop the further Major Rail Station M6 Toll Retail Railway Leisure, Tourism and Culture National Forest outward spread of these main urban areas Employment AONB Education SSSI Hospitals into the open countryside surrounding them. Forest of Mercia Green Belt District Settlement Reproduced from The Ordnance Survey Mapping with the permission of the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Offices (C) Crown Copyright : License No 100017765 Dated 2011 Urban areas 1.2 Part of the West Midlands Green Belt lies within Lichfield District. It covers much Picture 1.1 of the southern part of the District Council area, extending from the West Midlands 1.3 The development restraint imposed Planning Authorities areas to approximately by Green Belt policy has been a major the line of the West Coast Main Line railway. feature of land use planning within Lichfield Green Belt therefore covers in excess of half District for many years, particularly in of the area of Lichfield District, although the focussing new development on existing main towns and villages are excluded settlements. This Green Belt Review has through the definition of ‘Insets’ within the been prepared to support the Lichfield Green Belt. This means that the built up District Local Plan Strategy 2012. In areas of the settlements are not within the particular its purpose is to ensure that Green Green Belt, but there is a defined Green Belt Belt policy will continue to be applied within boundary for the settlement that is generally Lichfield District in locations that it is tightly drawn against the edge of the existing essential to keep open, taking account of built up area. The general extent of the the Local Plan spatial development strategy. Green Belt within Lichfield District is shown In order to consider this fully however it is in the diagram opposite. necessary to also examine whether there are places that it may not be essential to keep open in the long term through Green Belt policy, i.e. whether the existing extent and boundaries of the Green Belt are appropriate for the plan period (up to 2028) and beyond. 4 July 2012 1.4 The spatial development strategy 1.7 It is intended that Green Belt policy focuses major development mainly on the should direct development to appropriate two main settlements of Lichfield and and sustainable locations. It should not be Burntwood and at Strategic Development used to constrain necessary and sustainable Locations that are located beyond the outer development. The approach followed in this edge of the Green Belt. It is based upon Review is to consider whether there are or evidence of the relative degrees of may be sustainable development needs sustainability of the existing settlements within the plan period that require within the District. This has included a study amendments to existing Green Belt of all rural settlements both within and boundaries and to suggest where these may beyond the Green Belt, in the Rural be. This approach is entirely consistent with Settlements Sustainability Study, which was national planning policy, provided that it published in 2009 with an update in 2011. demonstrates appropriate evidence to Sustainable development is therefore the support any proposed changes to existing central focus of the Local Plan, Green Belt boundaries that would amount to ‘exceptional circumstances’ justifying 1.5 The Local Plan is being prepared at boundary changes. a time when national planning policy is being re-shaped to empower local communities to 1.8 Where the Review concludes that it have a greater say in the future of the is, or may be, appropriate for changes to be settlements in which they live. Parish Plans made to existing Green Belt boundaries, and Neighbourhood Plans developed at a either in relation to villages or employment local scale will have more of a place in the locations, these are identified. This means future of the planning and there is therefore that the principle of making a change to a need to provide for the flexibility within the some existing boundaries and the general Lichfield District Local Plan Strategy to allow locations identified, can be addressed by these to be prepared in the future. The the Local Plan Strategy. However, no Green Belt Review therefore needs to detailed boundary changes are identified by consider what the implications of this might this review or proposed to be included within be for the settlements that lie within the the Local Plan Strategy. The details of general extent of the Green Belt within the boundaries will be the subject of the District. Allocations part of the Local Plan, to be prepared separately, so that any boundary 1.6 Where Green Belt exists, severe changes can be scrutinised at that stage. restriction on the type of development that will be permitted applies, and national policy defines the limited types of development that are appropriate within Green Belts (now contained within the National Planning Policy Framework, published March 2012). The Review considers the implications of such restrictions on existing Green Belt villages and on existing development in open countryside, so as to ensure that the strategy of seeking sustainable development within Lichfield District is supported by, and not hindered by, Green Belt policy. July 2012 5 Lichfield District Strategic Green Belt Review 2 Scope of the Review Key rural settlements 2.1 The Local Plan Strategy Evidence 2.5 The larger villages of Alrewas, Base has already shown that there is no Armitage with Handsacre, Fazeley, Little need within Lichfield District for any major Aston, Shenstone and Whittington, were ‘pulling back’ of existing Green Belt defined as key rural settlements within the boundaries to meet major or strategic RSSS. These settlements were the subject development needs. In particular the of a ‘rural masterplanning’ study during 2010 identified housing requirements for Lichfield and 2011 that involved extensive local District for the period up to 2028, which are community engagement. significant in scale, are proposed to be 2.6 All of the key rural settlements except accommodated either on previously for Alrewas lie within the general extent of developed or greenfield land outside the the Green Belt, although they are ‘Inset’ Green Belt. Overall there is only limited need within it (i.e. their built up areas have been for additional employment land within the excluded from the Green Belt through a District. defined boundary). The Rural 2.2 The context and scope of the Green Masterplanning study resulted in a series of Belt Review is therefore principally to village reports that have already been consider whether there may be any specific published by the District Council as part of requirements to amend existing Green Belt the Evidence Base for the Local Plan. The boundaries to meet more local, rather than reports include recommendations on the ‘strategic’, needs (i.e. those that would have potential for change and growth. The any significant impact upon a District spatial potential implications on existing Green Belt strategy) and therefore at a modest scale. boundaries arising from the Rural It follows that any changes suggested within Masterplanning Village Reports, are this review should not have a significant summarised within this Review. impact upon the overall spatial development ‘Inset’ Smaller villages strategy for the District for the period up to 2028. 2.7 There are several smaller villages lying within the Green Belt that are also 2.3 A particular focus of the Green Belt ‘Inset’ within the Green Belt.