Transformation and Sustainability SHEFFIELD LOCAL PLAN (formerly Sheffield Development Framework) CITY POLICIES AND SITES DOCUMENT ECONOMY AND CITY REGION POLICY BACKGROUND REPORT Development Services Sheffield City Council Howden House 1 Union Street SHEFFIELD S1 2SH June 2013 -1- -2- CONTENTS Chapter Page 1. Introduction 7 2. Infrastructure Requirements, Community Infrastructure Levy 11 and Other Developer Contributions 3. Requirements for Economic Prosperity and Sustainable 57 Employment Development Providing for Sensitive Uses 59 Local Employment 68 4. City Centre Design 87 5. Development in the Central Shopping Area and the Cultural 111 Hub 6. Shopping and Leisure Development and Community Facilities 137 outside Existing Centres 7. Policy Areas: 138 - Priority Office Areas 158 - Business Areas 180 - Business and Industrial Areas 217 - Industrial Areas 228 - General Employment Areas 232 - City Centre Cultural Hub 235 - Central Shopping Area 236 - City Centre Primary Shopping Area 238 - Meadowhall Shopping Centre 239 - University/ College Policy Area 240 8. Other Options not Taken Forward 242 -3- Appendices Appendix Page 1. Summary of Infrastructure Issues Identified in the SEWIS 245 Study 2. Potential Funding Sources other than Developer Contributions 247 for Infrastructure Provision List of Tables Table Page Number 3. Section 106 Agreements Income in Sheffield 50 4. Commitments in City Centre Shopping Areas 118 5. Retail (A1) Concentrations in the City Centre Streets 124 6. Footfall Measures 127 7. Spectrum of Housing and Employment Areas 156 8. Balance of Uses in Priority Office Areas 178 9. Balance of Uses in Business Areas 209 10. Employment Land Requirements 219 List of Maps Map Page Number 1. City Centre Shopping Areas 126 2. Buffer of 300 metres around the Primary Shopping Area 129 3. Priority Office Areas in Sheffield 158 4. Business Areas in Sheffield 179 -4- 5. Business and Industrial Areas in Sheffield 214 6. Industrial Areas in Sheffield 226 7. General Employment Areas in Sheffield 232 -5- 1 INTRODUCTION The Context 1.1 This report provides evidence to support the published policies for the City Policies and Sites document of the Sheffield Local Plan. 1.2 The Sheffield Local Plan is the new name, as used by the Government, for what was known as the Sheffield Development Framework. It is Sheffield’s statutory development plan, which the local planning authority is required by law to produce. 1.3 The Local Plan includes the Core Strategy, which has already been adopted, having been subject to formal public examination. It sets out the vision and objectives for the Local Plan and establishes its broad spatial strategy. 1.4 The City Policies and Sites document now supplements this, containing: - Criteria-based policies to inform development management and design guidance. - Policy on land uses appropriate to a range of area types across the city. - Allocations of particular sites for specific uses. 1.5 The document was originally proposed to be two, City Policies and City Sites. Both of these have already been subject to two stages of consultation: - Emerging Options - Preferred Options 1.6 The Emerging Options comprised the broad choices, which were drawn up to enable the Council to consider and consult on all the possibilities early in the process of drawing up the document.1 Having consulted on these options the Council decided which to take forward as Preferred Options. 1.7 The Preferred Options were published and consulted on as the ones that the Council was minded to take forward to submission.2 However, the choice of option and the way it was expressed remained subject to public comment. The Preferred Options document outlined how the Council had arrived at them and the justification for choosing them. It also indicated which Emerging Options had been rejected and why. 1 Emerging Options for City Policies, Sheffield City Council (February 2006) and Emerging Options for City Sites, Sheffield City Council (February 2006) – see Sheffield City Council - Emerging Options 2006 2 Preferred Options for City Policies, Sheffield City Council (April 2007) and Preferred Options for City Sites, Sheffield City Council (April 2007) – see Sheffield City Council - Preferred Options 2007 -7- 1.8 Work following the Preferred Options was delayed whilst priority was given to the public examination of the Core Strategy. In the subsequent version, the Consultation Draft 3, the section on policies was much shorter than in the Preferred Options report, reflecting the transfer of some issues to the Core Strategy, the condensing of many policy options and the proposed transfer of other matters to Supplementary Planning Documents. 1.9 The present version of the City Policies and Sites document has been published as the Council’s final version. This is for final representations by stakeholders and other members of the public, followed by submission to the Government and public examination. A schedule of changes may be produced following representations and a final chapter will be added to each Background Report to explain why the changes have been proposed. 1.10 The Background Reports set out the Council’s evidence for considering that the policies are sound. That is the issue on which representations are invited, in line with national policy. The policy document itself has space only to summarise the reasons for the chosen policies. So, the more detailed evidence and analysis is found in the Background Reports. 1.11 The Background Reports are not actually part of the Sheffield Local Plan but they contribute to the statutory process of preparing it. So they are not published as the subject for representations though consultation comments on the policies may well take up evidence or conclusions set out in the Reports. 1.12 This Report supports the published policies for Economy and City Region. The chapters are based on each of the policies presented in the chapters on Economic Prosperity and Serving the City Region and they deal with each of the soundness considerations in turn: - Consistency with national and other strategic policy - Justification - Effectiveness - Conclusions on Soundness – drawing together the strands under the four criteria for soundness set out in the National Planning Policy Framework. 1.13 The City Region covers the four South Yorkshire Districts of Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield and parts of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire counties, comprising North East Derbyshire, Derbyshire Dales, Chesterfield, Bolsover and Bassetlaw districts. The policies are intended to help deliver prosperity and services to the people of Sheffield and the area it serves. 1.14 A further chapter deals with related policy areas. A final chapter deals with issues and options not followed through to the current draft version. 3 City Policies and Sites: Consultation Draft (May 2010) – see Sheffield City Council - City Policies and Sites -8- 1.15 The Sheffield Local Plan aims to contribute to creating the right conditions for businesses to grow and therefore to benefit the citizens of Sheffield through improved prosperity. Most of the policies for achieving economic prosperity and sustainable development are contained in the Core Strategy but there are three major areas of economic improvement that can be delivered through the development management process: • Businesses can only thrive if the right infrastructure is in place and where deficiencies are likely to occur, provision will need to be made and the funding for infrastructure improvements will need to be identified. • Businesses also need to operate, develop and grow in appropriate areas without having to worry about the presence of sensitive uses that could hold back future economic activity. • On the other hand, new developments and residents can benefit from relative proximity by matching the employment requirements of new development with communities that are in need of new employment opportunities. 1.16 The City Centre has a key role as a driver for the transformation of the economy of the City and the City Region. Again, three issues need to be addressed: • The distinctive character of the City Centre, and in particular the Quarters that make it up, are important components of this distinctiveness. The Local Plan seeks to achieve improved design quality to support regeneration through reinforcing the character of these areas, which will assist with providing a range and diversity of premises and sites across the City Centre. • More specific policy is required to supplement the broad statements in the Core Strategy about shopping and other facilities in the City Centre and how the centre can best meet the objective of serving the whole region. • As recognised in national policy the locations in the centres may not be able to accommodate all the retail development required. Although the Core Strategy seeks to limit non-food development outside the City Centre, further local policy is needed to inform decisions about proposals for out- of-centre development. -9- 2 INFRASTRUCTURE REQUIREMENTS, COMMUNITY INFRASTRUCTURE LEVY AND OTHER DEVELOPER CONTRIBUTIONS Introduction 2.1 Effective and full economic regeneration through the provision of new homes, businesses, services and leisure cannot be achieved without adequate supporting facilities. Infrastructure connects people with these jobs and services and provides the means for these to be delivered effectively. The City’s aspirations for economic growth, as set out in strategies such as the Economic Masterplan, City