Doncaster Green Belt Review Stage 3 Green Belt Sites Re- Appraisal
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Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council Doncaster Green Belt Review Stage 3 Green Belt Sites Re- appraisal ISSUE Issue | 9 May 2017 This report takes into account the particular instructions and requirements of our client. It is not intended for and should not be relied upon by any third party and no responsibility is undertaken to any third party. Job number 245498-00245498-00 Ove Arup & Partners Ltd Admiral House Rose Wharf 78 East Street Leeds LS9 8EE United Kingdom www.arup.com Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council Doncaster Green Belt Review Stage 3 Green Belt Sites Re-appraisal Contents Page 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Overview 1 1.2 Background 2 1.3 Summary of the Method to Assessing the Green Belt in Doncaster 3 1.4 Relationship with Local Plan-making 4 1.5 Structure of this Report 4 2 Policy Guidance and Context 5 2.1 Overview 5 2.2 National Planning Context 5 2.3 Local Planning Context 9 3 Approach to Green Belt Site Re-appraisal 15 3.1 Overview 15 3.2 Starting Point for Assessment 15 3.3 Proposed Methodology for Assessment 15 3.4 Assumptions 21 4 Summarising the Stage 3 Green Belt Sites Re-appraisal 23 4.1 Overview 23 4.2 Grading 23 5 Conclusion 25 5.1 Overview 25 5.2 Summary of Assessment Outcomes 25 5.3 Aligning Outputs from the Stage 3 Re-appraisal with Progression of Sites through the Local Plan 27 5.4 Next Steps 27 ISSUE | Issue | 9 May 2017 J:\240000\245498-00\0 ARUP\0-09 PLANNING\0-09-08 REPORTS\10. STAGE 3 GREEN BELT APPRAISL 2017\7. FINAL ISSUE FOLDER\STAGE 3 GREEN BELT SITES RE- APPRAISAL_DONCASTER MBC_ISSUE_110517.DOCX Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council Doncaster Green Belt Review Stage 3 Green Belt Sites Re-appraisal 1 Introduction 1.1 Overview Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council are currently preparing a Local Plan which will replace the adopted Unitary Development Plan and Local Development Framework (adopted Core Strategy). Since September 2015, Ove Arup and Partners (‘Arup’) has been appointed by Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council (‘Doncaster MBC’) to prepare a series of documents that review the South Yorkshire Green Belt around the Local Authority Area of Doncaster. This report represents Stage 3 of the overall work, and is a more detailed appraisal of sites which have emerged through the process so far, which includes a Stage 1 Green Belt Review: Methodology and Proformas (produced by Arup), and a Stage 2 Technical Sites Assessment (produced by Doncaster MBC). The aim of this Stage 3 Green Belt Sites Re-appraisal is to assess the implications of potentially removing any of the 55 identified individual sites from the South Yorkshire Green Belt, and to judge the sites against the “Local Interpretation” of the five purposes of the Green Belt. Doncaster MBC anticipates, having regard to the development requirement and growth distribution strategy, that only a relatively small number of the total 55 sites may be required for release from the Green Belt. In doing so, the Council needs to understand the relative merits of the different sites, in terms of their role within the Green Belt; and then factor this intelligence alongside other site selection considerations including: Sustainability Appraisal findings, viability appraisals, and flood risk sequential testing, to inform overall decision-making about site selection choices in the emerging local plan. This Stage 3 Green Belt Sites Re-appraisal work will follow the methodology set out below: • Reflect on the changes in evidence base since the Stage 1 Green Belt Review, and understand the implications for the re-appraisal of 55 potential Green Belt sites; • Where necessary, recalibrate1 the Stage 1 Green Belt Review’s “General Areas” to understand the specific Green Belt implications of releasing any of the 55 potential Green Belt sites. This involves looking again at each of the sites against the five Green Belt purposes. It is advised therefore that the Stage 3 work is read in conjunction with the Stage 1 Green Belt Review. • Review the Resultant Boundary created if one of the 55 proposed Green Belt sites is removed from the “General Area”. 1 “Recalibrate” and “re-define” in this sense does not change the outcomes of the Stage 1 Green Belt Review. However, given the change in scale of sites for assessment, these terms define a method to ‘check, adjust or standardise’ against the accepted model of the Stage 1 Green Belt Review. ISSUE | Issue | 9 May 2017 Page 1 J:\240000\245498-00\0 ARUP\0-09 PLANNING\0-09-08 REPORTS\10. STAGE 3 GREEN BELT APPRAISL 2017\7. FINAL ISSUE FOLDER\STAGE 3 GREEN BELT SITES RE- APPRAISAL_DONCASTER MBC_ISSUE_110517.DOCX Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council Doncaster Green Belt Review Stage 3 Green Belt Sites Re-appraisal 1.2 Background Stage 1 Green Belt Review The Stage 1 Green Belt Review analysed 64 General Areas of Green Belt against the local interpretation of five Green Belt purposes. The assessment concluded: • That almost all Green Belt areas performed strongly or very strongly on at least one of the Purpose Sub-Criteria. • General Areas adjacent to the built form of the ‘Large Built up Area of Doncaster’ had a stronger role in ‘checking the unrestricted sprawl of large built up areas’, however, there were a large number of areas that connected to the South Yorkshire Green Belt which performed a strategic role in checking the unrestricted sprawl of conurbations. • Few General Areas were considered to play an essential role in preserving a land gap between settlements. However, a relatively large number of General Areas were considered to support a ‘wide, but largely essential’ strategic gap within the South Yorkshire Green Belt. Areas to the north and south of the Borough, which were predominantly more rural, were considered to have a weaker role in preserving a land gap between settlements. • There was a relatively even split of General Areas which resisted ribbon development, those which permitted ribbon development in part, and those General Areas which were not considered to have had a role in restricting ribbon development. Only two areas were considered to have permitted unrestricted ribbon development. • The majority of General Areas were considered to display moderate levels of sensitivity to encroachment or higher, which reflects the open, rural and largely undeveloped nature of Green Belt away from the main settlements within Doncaster. Similarly, the majority of General Areas were considered to display a moderately strong, strong, or strong unspoilt rural character. • There are a number of General Areas which are adjacent to the Historic Core of a Historic Town, however relatively few General Areas supported key views into and out of a Historic Town. • Only one General Area is considered to fall within a Regeneration Priority Area, however, there are 20 General Areas which are considered to be ‘contiguous’ with a defined Regeneration Priority Area. Doncaster MBC-led Stage 2 Assessment Since the production of the Stage 1 Green Belt Review, Doncaster MBC has consulted on a range of other evidence based documents, and has used those documents to help clarify potential Green Belt sites for re-appraisal. These documents include: the Site Selection Methodology and Housing/ Employment Needs Assessments (2015), Housing and Employment Land Availability Assessment (HELAA) (2015/6), Doncaster Local Plan Homes and ISSUE | Issue | 9 May 2017 Page 2 J:\240000\245498-00\0 ARUP\0-09 PLANNING\0-09-08 REPORTS\10. STAGE 3 GREEN BELT APPRAISL 2017\7. FINAL ISSUE FOLDER\STAGE 3 GREEN BELT SITES RE- APPRAISAL_DONCASTER MBC_ISSUE_110517.DOCX Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council Doncaster Green Belt Review Stage 3 Green Belt Sites Re-appraisal Settlements paper (March 2016), and Sustainability Appraisal (SA) of Doncaster’s Growth Options (March 2016). Against this background of evidence and further work, Doncaster MBC has identified 55 potential Green Belt sites which have been shown to be deliverable / developable through the HELAA; and which Doncaster MBC consider to be capable of contributing to the Local Plan and SA objectives. Although the Local Plan process is considering far more Green Belt site representations than just the 55 sites identified by the Council, Doncaster MBC has chosen to omit other Green Belt site options. Doncaster MBC has confirmed that this is due to them being located at (or near) settlements where sufficient sites have already been identified that far exceed the growth and distribution requirements set out in the Homes & Settlements consultation (March 2016). As such, the Council has considered that an exceptional circumstances case could not be made for new development plan allocations on the other Green Belt sites, when other non-Green Belt sites have already been identified. Should any further sites be put forward which could be considered as being reasonable options capable of contributing towards the identified strategy; or sites omitted previously from the study potentially become required, these will be assessed in line with the methodology and included as a subsequent Addendum to this report if necessary. With regards to employment, there is a reduced pool of potential employment allocations compared to residential. Doncaster MBC therefore considered that they have some scope as allocations and therefore all representations were looked at. 1.3 Summary of the Method to Assessing the Green Belt in Doncaster As set out, the overall review of Green Belt in Doncaster has been iterative, and has been undertaken in three stages. Specifically, this report focuses on Stage 3 Green Belt Sites Re-appraisal. To highlight the iterative nature of the work, Figure 1 provides a summary of the process carried out so far, which comprises: • Stage 1 Green Belt Review: This was completed in 2015 and 2016, and supports the objective assessment of General Areas of Green Belt against a Local Interpretation of the Five Purposes of the Green Belt.