Vale of Aylesbury Draft Local Plan Consultation, July-September 2016.
Representation by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation on behalf of the Ministry of Defence
Background
1 RAF Halton is one of the largest RAF stations in terms of numbers of personnel in the UK. It is currently the RAF’s major site for development training for Airmen and women. The Station forms an important part of the local economy and community and includes extensive areas of built development.
2 RAF Halton covers approximately 291 hectares and consists of 2 sites straddling the B4009. East Camp contains living, messing, welfare, social and support facilities. West Camp contains training, teaching; administration and sports facilities. North of West Camp is Kermode Hall the SNCO’s mess whilst the Grade II* listed Halton Hall acts as the Officers’ Mess. The grounds of Halton Hall are listed parklands of high landscape quality. There is a Neolithic Long Barrow within East Camp. Topography and adjacent woodlands limits views over the Station from surrounding areas.
3 Whilst the Station does contain some important heritage assets and areas of high environmental quality the majority of the site is ordinary or low in terms of landscape value.
Detail of Representation
4. The DIO previously made representations at the Issues and Options stage of the Local Plan, December 2015. At that time DIO asked the Council to consider as part of the Joint Review of the Green Belt whether there were areas of the site within the current Green Belt that should no longer be categorised as such.
5. DIO contended that in the context of the extensive built development on large areas of the RAF Halton estate that the Council should consider the appropriateness of these areas remaining in Green Belt as these areas perform poorly against the Green Belt purposes set out in National policy.
6. DIO drew the Council’s attention to Paragraph 85 of the NPPF which states that when defining (Green Belt) boundaries local planning authorities should (inter alia): “ensure consistency with the Local Plan Strategy for meeting identified requirements for sustainable development.” DIO’s contention was that the removal of the built
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elements of RAF Halton from the Green Belt would meet that requirement.
7. DIO notes that as part of the evidence base for the Draft Local Plan a green belt assessment has been undertaken jointly by the Buckinghamshire authorities in the context of a significant level of housing need being identified across the Housing Market Area (HMA) which as a whole contains a large amount of land within the Green Belt.
8. DIO also notes that:
i. the housing requirements for Chiltern, South Bucks and Wycombe District Council cannot be met on land outside the green belt within their district boundaries leaving a large unmet need housing requirement, and;
ii. that the Council’s view is that exceptional circumstances are considered to exist to justify removing specific sites from the green belt to help meet housing need closest to where it arises.
iii. That the town of Wendover to the south of RAF Halton is very constrained with Chiltern Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and the Green belt largely surrounding it. That the Town is well placed in the south of the district in relation to where the unmet needs are arising.
9. DIO welcomes and supports the Council’s proposal to remove part of RAF Halton (East Camp) from the Green Belt (paragraph 3.37)and the recognition by the Council through the conduct of the Joint Green Belt Study that that part of the Site has limited value in terms of the role and function of the Green Belt. As such DIO supports the revised Green Belt Boundary set out under Policy S4 and on the Proposals Map.
10. With changing and developing defence requirements the need for and location of training provision may change. This could require the development of additional facilities and could involve a reconfiguration of the Station. New requirements may need to be accommodated and some uses may no longer be required. Flexibility will be required to meet future operational needs. Such a process of potential change will be facilitated by the Council’s proposal to remove East Camp from the Green Belt.
11. In this context DIO is seeking to establish the foundation for the ‘right- sized’ military estate of the future. There is a strong military imperative that the quality and performance of the defence estate must be enhanced in order to sustain, and in places, improve, military
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capability. Given current and future funding pressures, this can only be achieved if the estate is significantly smaller and more efficiently utilised, in order to achieve the best value for money from defence funds.
12. DIO is therefore actively pursuing a programme of work with the aim of reducing its land and property holdings over a 10-15 year period in order to drive greater utilisation of its retained assets. This will enable investment to be targeted towards core locations and facilities that offer the greatest benefit of securing long term delivery of military capability. This programme of work is developing the blueprint for the MOD’s future laydown known as the “Footprint Strategy.”
13. Within this exercise DIO is considering a range of estate options for particular sites, both in terms of continued use and potential release. Consideration of future options for RAF Halton form part of this programme. The outcomes from the Footprint Strategy work will be reported in the autumn of 2016.
Mark Limbrick BA(Hons) MA DipTP(dist) MRTPI Assistant Head Environment and Planning Support Defence Infrastructure Organisation Kingston Road Sutton Coldfield B75 7RL
0121 311 2158
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