Leicester and Leicestershire Local Investment Plan February 2011 ______
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Leicester and Leicestershire Local Investment Plan February 2011 ______Foreword
Since 2008 the impact and implications of the downturn in the global economy for the national and sub regional economies are evident. In response, the Coalition Government has set out and begun a challenging programme of measures and actions to transform the country’s economy while at the same time significantly reduce public spending. The need to address the impact of the economic downturn and reduce public spending have in turn presented us with a number of challenges here in Leicester and Leicestershire. We are determined to overcome these by delivering effective solutions to revitalise our local economy and communities, while at the same time ensuring we maximise the impact of what limited public sector investment will be available for the foreseeable future.
In response, the Leicester and Leicestershire Leadership Board, in conjunction with the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) and a wide range of local public and private sector partners, has prepared a Local Investment Plan that sets out our focus for investment to support growth in housing and communities and provide the infrastructure to support growth in jobs in the Leicester and Leicestershire Housing Market Area (HMA).
Given the current economic backdrop, our Local Investment Plan is now even more important as a process to determine local investment priorities. By engagement with our District Councils’, businesses and communities as partners and stakeholders we are confident that we can make a significant step change in place making by creating new communities and revitalising existing places.
We have an ambitious economic vision for our sub-region, a vision to inspire businesses, residents and investors in our City, towns and rural areas. By 2020 Leicester and Leicestershire will have a prosperous, enterprising and dynamic economy, characterised by innovative businesses and creative people, attractive places and sustainable communities. We must capitalise on our enormous opportunities, playing to our strengths and overcoming challenges. Given resource constraints we recognise that all our authorities and community and business partners must cooperate to create the added value necessary to achieve this vision.
This Local Investment Plan is based upon strong partnership structures, a robust evidence base, a clear strategic vision and an agreed performance framework and rationale for determining priorities, all of which are set out in this plan. We look forward to continuing to work together with our partners, including the HCA, to realise our vision.
David Parsons CBE Veejay Patel Leader, Leicestershire County Council Leader, Leicester City Council
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Leicester and Leicestershire Local Investment Plan February 2011 ______TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreword 2
1. Leicester And Leicestershire Local Investment Plan 4 - Vision 4 - Purpose of Plan 4 - Shaping the Plan 5 - Resources 6 - Outcomes 7 - Taking the LIP Forward 7
2. Governance and Delivery 8 - Partnership Structures 8 - Delivery 9
3. Challenges And Opportunities 11 - Delivering Growth: 12 - Employment Land and Premises 12 - Housing: - 13 - Meeting Affordable Housing Needs 14 - Improving the Standard and Design of Housing 14 - Addressing the Needs of Vulnerable People and Communities 15 - Providing Associated Infrastructure 15 - Developing Strong and Vibrant City and Town Centres 16 - Delivering Mixed, Sustainable Communities 16 - Improving Access to Green Space 17
4. Identifying Place-Based And Thematic Public Investment Priorities 18
5. Place-Based and Thematic Public Investment Priorities 19 - Priority Pipeline Projects for Regional Growth Fund 2011-12 19 - Development Priorities 2011-20: 20 - Developing New Sustainable Communities 20 - Regenerating and Improving City and Town Centres, Local Communities and Neighbourhoods 23 - Thematic Public Investment Priorities 26
- Table 1. Outputs from Place-Based Priorities 31 - Table 2. Public Subsidy Required for Place-Based Priorities 32 - Table 3. Outputs from Themed Priorities 33 - Table 4. Public Subsidy Required for Themed Priorities 33 - Map 1. Priority Place-Based Public Investment 34
Appendix 1. HCA Assets & Existing Commitments 35 Appendix 2. Schemes and Possible Funding Sources 37
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Leicester and Leicestershire Local Investment Plan February 2011 ______1. LEICESTER AND LEICESTERSHIRE LOCAL INVESTMENT PLAN
Introduction
1.1 The Leicester and Leicestershire Leadership Board in conjunction with the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) and a wide range of public and private sector partners has prepared a Local Investment Plan (LIP) to support growth in housing and communities and provide the infrastructure to support growth in jobs in the Leicester and Leicestershire Housing Market Area (HMA).
1.2 The Leicester and Leicestershire Local Investment Plan (LIP) provides a strategic framework for prioritising and co-ordinating partner investment across the HMA. This will enable local partners to focus their investment in carefully targeted interventions that address local needs, deliver the maximum economic benefit for the HMA, particularly crucial in a period of constrained resources, and help deliver the long term vision for the area.
1.3 The LIP has been developed locally with the full participation of all local authorities in Leicester and Leicestershire. It has taken account of local needs identified across the whole of the HMA.
Vision
1.4 The Leadership Board recognises that the HMA’s economy faces a number of challenges and is determined to overcome these through a commitment to working together to deliver effective solutions on a HMA-wide basis. It has an ambitious economic vision for the HMA:
To create a prosperous economy, secure and well paid jobs and a sustainable environment through wealth creation by innovative businesses and a highly skilled workforce, we will make Leicester and Leicestershire destinations of choice for successful businesses by clearly differentiating the sub-region, as a place to do business, work and live.
1.5 The vision for Leicester and Leicestershire envisages the transition to a low carbon economy and a new pattern of growth. This will be achieved by reducing the carbon emissions arising from development – through new construction standards and renewable energy generation – and transport – through aligning homes with jobs and services and making the fullest possible use of sustainable modes of transport.
1.6 Underpinning the vision is an economic strategy and performance framework that sets out how the Partnership will deliver its strategic priorities to enable economic growth in the HMA.
Purpose of the Plan
1.7 The LIP sets out the principles and priorities for investment to help deliver the HMA’s overarching vision for housing, infrastructure to support jobs, and communities. The Plan identifies the strategic context for investment, summarises the evidence base used to target investment to address identified weaknesses and build on our strengths, and outlines the outputs and outcomes that could be achieved.
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Leicester and Leicestershire Local Investment Plan February 2011 ______1.8 The LIP provides the framework for prioritising and co-ordinating partner investment across the HMA in order to help deliver: a) The infrastructure to support the creation of new jobs, b) Secure new housing (including a supply of affordable and supported housing), c) Strong and vibrant city and town centres, d) Support for the creation of mixed and sustainable communities and e) Improved access to green space.
1.9 The LIP sets out its place-based and thematic priority activities and illustrates the potential public subsidy requirements for the period 2011 to 2014 that address the key challenges and opportunities facing the HMA. It also sets out the Partnership’s longer term development aspirations from 2014 to 2020.
1.10 The plan’s scope covers the following:
• Place-based priorities identified across the HMA, targeting investment for housing, regeneration, growth and renewal; • Thematic priorities within and beyond place based priority areas; • Governance arrangements to enable the plan’s implementation; • Delivery roles and responsibilities.
1.12 The LIP will not be a fixed plan. It will be a living document, subject to an annual review, with the opportunity to reflect changing circumstances regarding the policy context and public and private sector investment over the coming years. Nevertheless, its strategic framework will provide certainty on which to base detailed investment decisions.
1.13 Detailed information is being assembled on all potential place/theme based projects that fall within the scope of the LIP priorities. This will allow potential individual projects to be matched to available resources through an agreed governance structure.
Shaping the Plan
1.14 The LIP has been developed within the context of existing national, sub-regional and local strategic and policy frameworks and a robust evidence base, including:
• The key priorities identified in partners’ Sustainable Communities Strategies. • The findings of the Economic Assessment for Leicester and Leicestershire. • The strategic priorities and actions identified in the Leicester and Leicestershire Strategic Performance Framework for Economic Growth. • The spatial priorities in partners’ adopted and emerging Core Strategy documents. • Local Transport Plans 3. • The key priorities in other existing strategies and evidence for the economy, housing and neighbourhoods. • Previous, current and planned investment.
1.15 The LIP has been informed by consultation with all the local authorities in Leicester and Leicestershire, local businesses and development partners and other including: the Homes and Communities Agency, Government Office for the East Midlands, East Midlands Development Agency (emda), health, police, fire service and schools representation.
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Leicester and Leicestershire Local Investment Plan February 2011 ______1.16 During the process of developing the LIP, an Equalities Impact Assessment was undertaken using the approach used by Leicester City Council and supported by expertise within the City Council. The LIP has taken account of the key issues and actions highlighted in the Equalities Impact Assessment.
1.17 The management of risk has also been considered and the HMA partners will work diligently to reduce the risk of unsuccessful delivery. Monitoring and reviewing the progress of the LIP will be undertaken by the LIP Steering Group which comprises the following officers from the City Council, the County Council, representative districts, Prospect Leicestershire, EMDA and HCA.
• Sue Smith – Harborough District Council • Dave Hankin – Charnwood Borough Council • Andrew Smith – Leicester City Council • Ann Branson – Leicester City Council • Tom Purnell – Leicestershire County Council • Ian Drummond – Leicestershire County Council • Charles Amies, Kitt McGrath and Nick Sedgwick – Homes and Communities Agency • Lili Tabiner – EMDA • David Hughes/David Beale – Prospect Leicestershire • Emma Grady/Andy Rose – Sub-regional Support Unit
Resources
1.18 Public sector resources will be targeted at tackling systemic issues within the HMA’s economy to promote economic growth in the future - investing in employment land and premises, housing, infrastructure and related community facilities. The Partnership’s approach to economic development within the HMA has seen a fundamental shift away from the culture of grants to one of investment and a focus on creating the right environment for economic growth. In the future, public intervention in Leicester and Leicestershire will be much smarter, making effective use of increasingly limited public funds and integrating spend to maximise return on investment in terms of improving the area’s economy. The LIP will play a significant role in this by targeting public sector resources on measures that will have the greatest degree of influence and where the impact will be most widely felt to help develop the local economy.
1.19 The LIP is not a stand-alone document. It forms part of a wider strategic framework to realise the overall vision for the HMA. It seeks to integrate investment in housing and communities and infrastructure to support growth in jobs with investment from other funding streams such as transportation, education and health.
1.20 The Partnership will be seeking public sector investment from a wide range of sources to implement the LIP, including: • Regional Growth Fund • Homes and Communities Agency • European Structural Funds • Local Transport Plans 3 • Public assets, where available • Local authority funding.
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Leicester and Leicestershire Local Investment Plan February 2011 ______1.21 The place-based and thematic priorities and key projects proposed in this plan clearly exceed the scale of public sector investment likely to be available over the plan period. A key challenge for the Partnership, especially in a period of uncertainty concerning public sector finances, will be to maximise the potential of the limited resources that are secured and to attract significant private sector investment.
Outcomes
1.22 The LIP focuses on helping to address the following outcomes relating to housing, infrastructure to support jobs and communities that have been identified in the Leicester and Leicestershire Strategic Performance Framework for Economic Growth 2011-14, namely:
• Securing the availability of suitable employment land and premises; • Ensuring there is sufficient housing of the right type, quality and price and in the right locations, including increasing the provision of affordable housing within mixed and sustainable communities; • Promoting low carbon and resource efficient physical development; • Ensuring housing developments are supported by excellent infrastructure and services; • Developing an integrated transport system that provides consistent, reliable and predictable journey times for the movement of people and goods; • Improving access to green space for residents in and around Leicester. • Creating well-designed and attractive City, market towns and urban and rural centres.
Taking the LIP Forward
1.23 The following sections of this document set out: • The partnership structures and governance arrangements that will guide the delivery of the LIP; • The key challenges and opportunities addressed by the LIP; • The “place-based” and themed priorities to support growth in homes, jobs and communities across Leicester and Leicestershire, the investment required to support these priorities and the outcomes that could be delivered.
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Leicester and Leicestershire Local Investment Plan February 2011 ______
2. GOVERNANCE AND DELIVERY
Partnership Structures
2.1 Partners in Leicester and Leicestershire have demonstrated strong commitment over a number of years to working together across the HMA. In the last three years, there has been an increased sense of common purpose, political leadership, optimism and energy within the HMA. As a result, Leicester and Leicestershire became one of the first areas in the country to sign a Multi Area Agreement (MAA) in January 2009. This provided the framework for strong partnership co-operation within Leicester and Leicestershire on economic development, with an emphasis on employment, skills and business growth.
2.2 A strong sub-regional partnership structure, led by the Leicester and Leicestershire Leadership Board, was established to take forward the MAA (see Chart 1). This has provided joint leadership to integrate activity across a broad economic agenda in Leicester and Leicestershire, which will be critical to achieving sustainable economic growth. Clear arrangements have been established to manage the respective roles, relationships and contributions of Leicestershire County Council, Leicester City Council and the seven District Councils in Leicestershire. There is appropriate representation from local authorities, delivery partners, the private sector and the third sector on all the groups in this structure.
Chart 1.
* Note: VC Forum: Voluntary and Community Forum
2.3 A Sub-regional Support Unit was established to support the Partnership by overseeing the implementation and performance management of all activity required by the Leadership L&L LIP.doc______Page 8 of 40
Leicester and Leicestershire Local Investment Plan February 2011 ______Board, Co-ordination Group and all of the Strategy and Performance Groups, including the delivery of the MAA. It will have responsibility for overseeing the implementation and continual review of the LIP. The Support Unit also ensures there is continued and significant cross-agency co-ordination and joint working across the wide range of delivery partners shown in Chart 1 that play an important role in achieving the Partnerships’ strategic objectives. These delivery partners include Prospect Leicestershire Ltd – an economic development company established by the City, County and District Councils to deliver economic development and regeneration projects across the HMA.
2.4 In response to an invitation by Government, the Leadership Board in consultation with its partners, including the Leicestershire Business Council, has submitted a proposal for a Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership (LLEP). Subject to confirmation by Government, the LLEP proposal aims to build on the strong partnership foundations that have been established and provide an opportunity to extend the scope of activity across Leicester and Leicestershire and increase the ability to take local decisions that achieve better outcomes more efficiently. This will include issues such as planning and housing, local transport and infrastructure priorities, employment and enterprise and the transition to the low carbon economy. The LIP will prove valuable to feed into the work of the LLEP and the developing approach of the Partnership will feed into future reviews of the LIP.
2.5 The private sector is actively involved in shaping strategy and making decisions on public funding expenditure associated with the LIP. It plays a significant role at all levels in the current governance arrangements enabling real engagement in developing strategy, co- ordinating delivery and in decision making. These linkages will be strengthened further under the LLEP proposal, where the Leicestershire Business Council will be represented on each of the proposed partnership groups, including the LLEP Board, Executive Board and Strategy and Monitoring Groups.
Delivery
2.6 The delivery of activities identified in the LIP will follow the strategic commission approach being developed by the Partnership to deliver all its economic development and regeneration priorities across the HMA. This approach will provide a better co-ordination of delivery and ensure the most cost effective services are put in place to deliver the Partnership’s priorities and lead to a greater return on public sector investment.
2.7 The Partnership has already made considerable progress by delivering the first of four stages in the commissioning cycle (analyse, plan, do and review). The outcomes of the analysis stage include the preparation of a comprehensive evidence base in the form of a joint Local Economic Assessment for Leicester and Leicestershire. This has informed the preparation of a draft commissioning strategy, which articulates the Partnership’s strategic priorities to be delivered over the next 3 years to facilitate economic growth in the HMA. A key component of the commissioning strategy is a performance framework that outlines the key outcomes and sub-outcomes that will be delivered in order to achieve these priorities. These outcomes are based on the evidence in the economic assessment and focus on the economic weaknesses we need to address and the strengths upon which we can build.
2.8 The key outcomes to be delivered in the HMA, are:
• A productive economy with innovative and high performing businesses • A highly qualified, skilled and motivated workforce in high valued jobs L&L LIP.doc______Page 9 of 40
Leicester and Leicestershire Local Investment Plan February 2011 ______• Improved opportunities for vulnerable people and communities • A highly sustainable environment with excellent infrastructure.
2.9 The performance framework is supported by three key documents, namely: i) Three year commissioning plans that set out the delivery of priorities relating to business, enterprise, employment, skills and education; ii) The Local Transport Plan 3 (LTP3), which forms the commissioning plan for transport- related activities; iii) The Leicester and Leicestershire Local Investment Plan that sets out the priorities for investment in infrastructure to support growth in housing, jobs and communities.
2.10 These three key documents will help realise the vision for the sub-region and are all are closely inter-linked.
2.11 In terms of the LIP, this has been informed by the evidence within the economic assessment and aims to help address both the weaknesses identified through the assessment as well as build on our strengths, in relation to housing, jobs and communities. In terms of the performance framework, the LIP’s place-based and thematic priorities will focus on addressing two of the Partnership’s key outcomes and a number of sub-outcomes, including:
Improved opportunities for vulnerable people and communities: • Increasing the provision of affordable housing within mixed and sustainable communities. A highly sustainable environment with excellent infrastructure: • Securing the availability of suitable employment land and premises; • Securing the availability of high quality designed houses of all types and tenures; • Promoting low carbon and resource efficient physical development; • Ensuring housing developments are supported by excellent infrastructure and services; • Developing an integrated transport system that provides consistent, reliable and predictable journey times for the movement of people and goods. • Improving access to green space for residents in and around Leicester. • Creating well-designed and attractive City, market towns and urban and rural centres.
2.12 The responsibility for delivering the activities identified in the LIP will be determined through the Partnership’s commissioning process. In some cases, responsibility for delivery will fall on partner agencies and local authority departments that are directly commissioned to deliver particular activities and others that will have bid successfully for commissions.
2.13 The Partnership will also work across boundaries with neighbouring areas where common strategic priorities and the co-commissioning of activities will deliver mutual economic benefits and efficiencies. The Partnership already has a strong track record of successfully delivering projects and programmes across political boundaries, including the New Growth Point Programme across Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.
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Leicester and Leicestershire Local Investment Plan February 2011 ______3. CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
Introduction
3.1 The Economic Assessment for Leicester and Leicestershire published in May 2010 presents an assessment of the economic conditions in Leicester and Leicestershire, highlighting the area’s key strengths as well as the key challenges and opportunities. It provides a robust evidence base on which to underpin strategic planning, investment decisions and delivery plans, including the LIP. A copy of the Economic Assessment can be downloaded from http://www.lsr-online.org/reports/leicester_and_leicestershire_economic_assessment
3.2 The key features of the HMA that can be drawn from the Economic Assessment are:
• The local economy is punching below its economic weight. • A heavy reliance on public sector employment, particularly in Leicester, where one in three jobs is in the public sector. • Significant historical under-investment in the area’s infrastructure and a deficit in funding to address the HMA’s current and future infrastructure requirements. • A lack of good quality available employment land and premises in the right locations to meet the current and future needs of business, particularly in Leicester. • It is projected that there will be a substantial increase in the numbers of older people and the number of households in the HMA in the period to 2026. • There is a lack of affordable housing and support for vulnerable people and communities in urban and rural areas. • The quality of some sectors of the housing market are especially poor in Leicester, Loughborough, Coalville and Melton. • There is significant under-occupation of housing particularly in more affluent rural areas, which is forecast to increase as the population ages. • The City Centre and many town centres are underperforming and require a comprehensive area based approach to their regeneration.
3.3 The HMA faces a number of challenges but these will be addressed by building on the area’s strengths, addressing its weaknesses and capitalising on the opportunities that are available. The LIP has been developed within the context of the key strengths, challenges and opportunities within the HMA with respect to housing, jobs and communities.
3.4 The key challenges and opportunities facing the HMA that the LIP seeks to address relate to:
• Delivering growth - in terms of: − The provision of employment land and premises; − The provision of housing (including new housing, meeting affordable housing needs, improving the standard and design of housing, addressing the needs of vulnerable people and communities); − The provision of associated infrastructure. • Developing strong and vibrant city and town centres. • Delivering mixed and sustainable communities. • Improving access to Green Space.
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Leicester and Leicestershire Local Investment Plan February 2011 ______Delivering Growth
3.5 A key aim is to improve the HMA’s economic performance. This will be achieved through creating local distinctiveness and competitive advantage by supporting enterprise, innovation and creativity and delivering a low carbon economy and a new pattern of growth. This will require a commitment to plan for a low carbon economy, where there is a balanced supply of housing, where jobs and homes are aligned, there is a balanced supply of employment land and premises, and where businesses operate in low energy buildings and people can travel to work by sustainable modes of transport.
3.6 The Coalition Government has revoked Regional Spatial Strategies, removing top down targets and giving local planning authorities the freedom to identify and deliver their local housing growth targets. This LIP is based upon local evidence of need and identifies the investment required to meet that need.
Employment Land and Premises
3.7 The Leicester and Leicestershire HMA Employment Land Study (PACEC, 2008) identified that the HMA requires an additional 108,000 sq.m. of office space, 180 hectares of light industrial land and 100 hectares of land for small warehousing to meet the future needs of businesses in the period to 2026. The Leicester and Leicestershire Workspace Study (WBM Ltd, 2010) identified the need for a five year rolling programme of public intervention in the provision of additional managed workspace and serviced offices for start-up and micro-businesses, as well as germination, incubation and grow-on space for businesses in science, technology and creative sectors.
3.8 A key challenge for the HMA is to ensure that new employment land and premises are delivered in locations that are viable and sustainable, where employers and the market want to be and has regard to existing and emerging local planning policy considerations that seek to deliver a low carbon future for the HMA, a sustainable transport system and provide employment in the most sustainable locations.
3.9 The PACEC Study highlighted there are issues of local under-supply and over-supply of employment land across the HMA. This is of greatest concern in the Leicester Principle Urban Area (PUA), where 58 hectares out of a total of 68 hectares of additional industrial/warehousing land required to allow for the restructuring of Leicester’s industrial base is unable to be met within the City’s boundary and must be found within the wider PUA. This will require the co-operation of all the local authorities within the PUA and a strategic approach to employment land planning .
3.10 The PACEC Study recommended that the majority of additional employment land should be located in strategic employment sites associated with the proposed Sustainable Urban Extensions (SUEs). This provides an opportunity to promote sustainable development by aligning homes with jobs, reducing the need to travel and providing development platforms for low carbon development. However, due to the development timetables and current uncertainties associated with the SUEs, this may result in a gap in supply of employment land in the short to medium term before land is released in the SUEs. Further work is required to identify suitable sites to meet needs in the short to medium term, particularly in the PUA.
3.11 The Workspace Study identified key investment opportunities in Leicester, Loughborough and Market Harborough for innovation and incubation space, the Cultural Quarter in L&L LIP.doc______Page 12 of 40
Leicester and Leicestershire Local Investment Plan February 2011 ______Leicester for creative industries, Waterside in Leicester for small offices, and Leicester and Melton Mowbray for food and drink manufacturing. It also recommended that Employment Improvement Areas be designated in parts of the City and County to bring forward comprehensive environmental and premises improvement measures for a number of old, declining industrial estates to make them ‘fit for purpose’.
3.12 In a period of diminishing public resources, a key opportunity for the public sector is to help improve the general environment for business growth through greater co-ordination and prioritisation in key areas of public policy. This includes ensuring that policies take a positive approach to growth and enable and encourage physical development. For example, local economies looking to create jobs need planning and housing policies that promote growth, reflect market demand and can help plan for major investments. This includes allocating sufficient new employment land in locations that the market need. The public sector can also support businesses to meet their land and premises requirements by understanding the market, helping to broker land sale agreements and helping to address site constraints.
3.13 Another key opportunity for the public sector is to play a more pro-active role in stimulating private sector workspace development activity by identifying development opportunities, preparing feasibility studies, encouraging the adoption of positive planning approaches by the local planning authorities and matching these opportunities with potential local and national workspace providers. Furthermore, the public sector has an opportunity to work more closely with the private sector to explore opportunities to establish innovative funding, legal, governance and delivery mechanisms to secure public and private sector investment for the release of employment land and development of workspace. This could include joint ventures using capital and revenue budgets to attract partner assets, lever private equity and, where appropriate, draw down debt and attract grant funding.
Housing
3.14 The East Midlands Regional Spatial Strategy (2009) identified a total of 80,000 new houses need to be built in the HMA between 2006 and 2026. This requirement is largely to meet changing housing needs resulting from an ageing population and an increasing number of households, rather than to address a growing population.
3.15 Land availability studies have identified sufficient land within the HMA to accommodate the increase in numbers of housing required. Housing growth will focus on the creation of a number of sustainable urban extensions in and adjacent to the Leicester PUA and the sub- regional centres of Hinckley, Loughborough, Coalville and Melton Mowbray; growth in existing neighbourhoods in Leicester and selected rural areas.
3.16 In order to build 80,000 new houses in the period to 2026, this will require 4,020 new houses to be built each year in the HMA. This represents a significant challenge for the HMA and is an aspirational figure. For example, between 2005 and 2010 only 1,550 houses per year were actually delivered in the HMA and as such a substantial increase in the annual completion rate would be required. A critical factor for the HMA in delivering the required rate of house building will be the ability to bring forward housing sites in a timely manner. An important priority for the HMA will be to address those constraints that could affect the ability to bring sites forward.
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Leicester and Leicestershire Local Investment Plan February 2011 ______Meeting Affordable Housing Needs
3.17 Partners are in agreement that there is a shortage of affordable housing in urban and rural areas across the HMA. The SHMA estimated that there is a need for 26,500 affordable houses to be built in the HMA between 2006 and 2026. This represents a completion rate of 2,653 affordable houses per year. Again, this represents a significant challenge for the HMA, given that over the last five years only an average of around 380 affordable homes per year have been delivered.
3.18 The SHMA has identified enough land is available in the HMA to meet this level of affordable housing provision. However, further work is required to establish the viability of each site that has been identified. Viability assessments are currently being carried out across the HMA as part of the LDF process.
3.19 The scale of affordable housing need cannot be met directly by the private sector. Significant direct public sector investment will be required to facilitate the level of affordable houses needed in the HMA. Investment from other agencies, such as the Registered Providers (formerly known as Housing Associations), is required as well.
3.20 The sustained delivery of affordable homes will be fundamental if the scale of new provision in the HMA is to be met. Significant delivery of affordable housing can be secured as part of the larger urban extensions and strategic regeneration areas included within this Plan. Emphasis will need to be placed on masterplanning and agreeing appropriate proportions of affordable housing as these growth locations are brought forward. However, of equal importance will be the delivery of affordable housing within existing urban area communities and neighbourhoods and in rural areas.
3.21 It is estimated that there is need to provide around 250 new affordable homes within rural areas per year. There are significant barriers to the delivery of rural affordable housing, including planning policy constraints, financial support, and public commitment. The Plan aims to tackle these issues to improve delivery.
Improving the Standard and Design of Housing
3.22 The issue of poor quality housing is a key challenge for some areas within the HMA. For example, 44% of the private sector housing stock in Leicester is classified as “non-decent”, which is one of the highest levels in the East Midlands. Across those local authorities that have retained their housing stock, approximately 13% of their homes did not meet the decent homes standard at the end of March 2009. North West Leicestershire and Charnwood have the highest proportions of their retained housing stock that does not meet the decent homes standard whilst Melton has issues associated with vulnerable households living in homes that do not meet the standard.
3.23 There is a need to adopt a HMA-wide design standard to ensure that all new housing and its associated infrastructure coming forward is both well designed, laid out and sustainable. Masterplanning of new developments will also be essential to ensuring good design and the creation of sustainable vibrant communities within which people want to live and maintain. Good design, and an absence of deterioration and deprivation will be essential to support Leicester and Leicestershire’s economic growth.
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Leicester and Leicestershire Local Investment Plan February 2011 ______3.24 It is not envisaged that the private sector will be able to address this problem without direct public investment. Similarly, the HMA seeks to achieve a baseline improvement from the current standard of code 3 of the Code for Sustainable Homes to Codes 4 and eventually to Code 6 as a key part of improving standards. This will be a challenge for the HMA in the current economic climate given the higher costs of the construction methods required to reach Code 6 and the current values in the housing market.
Addressing the Needs of Vulnerable People and Communities
3.25 Demographic projections for the HMA forecast that the proportion of older people in the sub-region will increase at a faster rate than the national average. This will have implications for the provision of housing in the sub-region, in particular an increasing need for “extra care” supported housing. Partners are committed to enabling older, disabled and other vulnerable people to continue to live in their own home. However, the provision of supported housing is costly and to deliver the number of supported houses that have been identified will be unviable without significant public intervention.
3.26 There is also a need to meet the needs of gypsies, travellers and travelling showpeople. This requires the maintenance of existing sites and the provision of new good quality sites across the HMA. The Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessments carried out by the local authorities identified the need for 368 new pitches across the HMA to 2016 (203 residential, 100 transit and 65 showman) with a recommendation that 25% of permanent pitches and 50% of transit caravan spaces should be socially rented. A strategic approach to the delivery of these sites is required. A key constraint is the cost of delivering these sites.
Providing Associated Infrastructure
3.27 Delivering the scale of development and growth identified for the HMA will require significant investment in associated infrastructure to ensure the capacity in the highway network is not a constraint to ensuring a sufficient supply of housing. The Local Transport Plan 3’s (one for Leicester City and one for Leicestershire County) aim to prevent potential constraints to the highway network from occurring and will ensure interconnectivity between places within the HMA and its neighbours is sustained and enhanced where necessary.
3.28 However, the findings of a recent Growth Infrastructure Assessment for the HMA identified a deficit in funding of some £1.3 billion to deliver all the essential infrastructure associated with the level of new housing required in the HMA. This figure includes £700m for 2 tram lines but still leaves a large amount required. This is a considerable challenge for the HMA and has created uncertainty over how all the new infrastructure required to support development can be funded and raised questions about the current viability of some schemes. The historic under investment in infrastructure in the HMA also contributes to the situation.
3.29 The impact of the recession is also creating further challenges for the area. The recession has exacerbated issues of viability, caused a sharp fall in development values and led to a dramatic reduction in the level of development activity. The drastic reductions in public spending planned over the next five years will reduce the ability of public investment to bridge the investment gap in the provision of housing, employment land and infrastructure.
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Leicester and Leicestershire Local Investment Plan February 2011 ______Developing Strong and Vibrant City and Town Centres
3.30 Leicester City Centre and the town centres across Leicestershire are the focal points for their communities and important centres for business, commerce and retailing. However, they have undergone significant changes in function and form over the last few decades. In many instances, these changes have meant that market dynamics are failing and the vitality of some of these centres is being eroded.
3.31 Significant investment has been made in Leicester City Centre in the last couple of years that has greatly improved its retail, cultural and business offer. Nevertheless, the City Centre is still in need of on-going comprehensive regeneration to maintain and enhance its competitiveness as a retail centre with other regional centres, including the need for additional retailing, leisure, and cultural development to maximise choice and enhance the scale, range and appeal of the City Centre. Improvements are also required to the major Gateways into the City as well as the need to promote additional residential and employment growth in the City Centre, including addressing the problems with the City Centre office market, which has suffered at the hands of out-of-town developments offering freely available parking at no charge. Associated infrastructure is required to enable sites to be accessed as well as to serve the resulting communities.
3.32 Many of Leicestershire’s town centres are underperforming due to a lack of investment, poor quality public realm, a low retail and cultural offer, vacant property, limited night-time economy and low quality housing. There is also a diminishing supply of employment land in many town centres that is putting additional pressure on future growth and prosperity. Furthermore, the restructuring of the local economy brought about by the decline in traditional industries has resulted in pockets of multiple deprivation in many town centres with residents having lower than average incomes, suffer poor health and have lower levels of educational attainment. Where individual Town Centre Master Plans have been drawn up for the regeneration of each of the major town centres in the HMA, these have identified opportunities to develop additional retail, commercial, employment and residential space, environmental enhancements to improve the public realm and built environment, and the provision of supporting infrastructure.
3.33 The City Centre and town centres also have a rich history and heritage. These are important assets, particularly in terms of their draw for tourism and investment and the creation of jobs. It will be important to promote the conservation, enhancement, sensitive use and management of historic and cultural assets. Care will be needed to ensure that each preserves and enhances its own heritage and historic built environment, supports the sensitive reuse of quality historic buildings and ensures that it is an integral part of any future development.
Delivering Mixed, Sustainable Communities
3.34 An important aim for the HMA is to deliver a low carbon economy with a new pattern of growth to create more balanced and sustainable new communities. This includes a commitment to plan for a balanced supply of housing and employment land and premises, where jobs and homes are aligned, businesses are able to operate in low energy buildings and people can travel to work by sustainable modes of transport.
3.35 The proposals to develop a number of planned expansions to the existing urban areas of Leicester and key sub-regional centres in Leicestershire (i.e. Sustainable Urban Extensions) L&L LIP.doc______Page 16 of 40
Leicester and Leicestershire Local Investment Plan February 2011 ______represent a significant opportunity to create more balanced and sustainable new communities in the HMA. However, they also represent a significant challenge to ensure that they do deliver balanced and sustainable communities and not just large scale housing estates.
3.36 The Sustainable Urban Extensions (SUEs) will need to be carefully designed using the latest building standards and meet the diverse needs of existing residents as well as attract new people to the area. They should be places where people will want to live and work, now and in the future. This means they will need to be safe and inclusive, offer equality of opportunity and good services for all, be sensitive to the local environment and contribute to a high quality of life. They will also need to be planned in such a way as to provide people with a mix of tenures and sizes of houses, opportunities to live and work in close proximity, as well as reduce the need to travel and support a modal split dominated by walking, cycling and public transport. A key concern is that the development of SUEs could exacerbate current congestion problems in key urban areas. There will need to be good connections by public transport, high-frequency bus services, cycle and walking routes to the existing town centres, schools and the major employment areas.
3.37 Sites within existing rural and urban neighbourhoods across the HMA also present significant opportunity to reduce deprivation, address place making issues and rebalance provision within existing communities to contribute to the provision of mixed and sustainable communities throughout Leicester and Leicestershire. These sites present significant additional opportunity to improve design standards, increase opportunities for vulnerable communities, meet housing and affordable housing objectives and enhance the housing offer and quality of communities within the HMA as a whole.
Improving Access to Green Space
3.38 ANGSt (Access to Natural Green Space standard) identified a need to improve the quality and accessibility of some of the green space in and around Leicester. This would have multiple benefits for well-being, physical and mental health, biodiversity, air quality, flood management, climate change adaptation and sustainable transport.
3.39 It is critically important to protect these landscape assets and maximise their potential. Green Spaces and Green Infrastructure provide important opportunities for access and recreation, and are therefore an important contribution to the quality of offer of our overall housing and infrastructure provision. To fulfil this potential, Green Infrastructure must be well master-planned and taken into consideration within developments at an early stage.
3.40 The 6Cs 1 Green Infrastructure Strategy supports this principle and identifies key Green Infrastructure of particular importance in this respect; for example The Soar Valley River Corridor, Charnwood Forest, Burbage Common and the National Forest. However, access improvements and protection works are required to protect both the City and the County’s natural assets whilst providing accessible Green Infrastructure to ensure a good quality of life of current and future population in sustainable communities.
1 6 Cs area comprises Leicester City, Leicestershire, Derby City, Derbyshire, Nottingham City, Nottinghamshire L&L LIP.doc______Page 17 of 40
Leicester and Leicestershire Local Investment Plan February 2011 ______4. IDENTIFYING PLACE-BASED AND THEMATIC PUBLIC INVESTMENT PRIORITIES
4.1 The principal role of the LIP is to set out the priorities for investment to deliver housing, regeneration, and growth in the HMA. The plan identifies the likely public sector investment required to deliver these priorities for the period 2011 to 2014, as well as the longer term aspirations to 2020. It covers a range of place-based priorities and a number of thematic priorities within and beyond the place-based priority areas. A key aim is to maximise the potential of the current resources and to attract significant private sector investment.
4.2 The “place-based” priorities identified in the LIP reflect the vision and spatial priorities for the HMA as expressed through a range of strategies including the sustainable community strategies and the adopted and emerging Core Strategies across the HMA, set against the agreed priorities in the Strategic Commissioning Framework for Economic Growth in Leicester and Leicestershire and the public investment required for their delivery.
4.3 The “thematic” priorities reflect needs identified in the Economic Assessment that are either not solely related to specific places or have yet to be prioritised geographically.
4.4 Many of these interventions require further public investment to realise their delivery, particularly over the short to medium term 2011-14 as a result of the current economic down turn. Given the pressure on public sector resources over the next five years it is not possible to provide the necessary public investment to enable all these proposals to be delivered within the current plan period. Careful consideration has will need to be given to identifying those investments that will provide the greatest strategic benefit in achieving the HMA’s identified priorities as well as issues of phasing and ability to deliver.
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Leicester and Leicestershire Local Investment Plan February 2011 ______5. PLACE-BASED AND THEMATIC PUBLIC INVESTMENT PRIORITIES
Introduction
5.1 This Chapter summarises the place-based and thematic priorities for the HMA identified in the prioritisation process to address the key challenges and opportunities highlighted in Chapter 3. This includes those priority pipeline projects that the Partnership proposes to submit in the first bidding round for the new Regional Growth Fund that will deliver early and substantial spend in 2011/12 and generate growth in private sector jobs. It also includes those Partnership’s development priorities for the period 2011 to 2014 as well as the longer term aspirations to 2026.
Place-Based Public Investment Priorities
5.2 In view of the fact that our places cross-cut a number of different challenges for our HMA, the place-based priorities are divided into two broad categories, together addressing the overarching challenges and opportunities for Leicester and Leicestershire: a) Developing new sustainable communities. b) Regenerating and improving City and town centres, local communities and neighbourhoods.
5.3 These categories are not mutually exclusive. For example, the development of new sustainable communities will in some places also require the regeneration of existing centres. Improving town centres in other circumstances will also be dependent upon the provision of new housing.
Priority Pipeline Projects for Regional Growth Fund 2011/12
5.4 One of the key short term funding sources that the Partnership has identified to provide investment for a number of its major project ambitions outlined in the LIP is new Regional Growth Fund (RGF), believed to be worth £1bn over two years 2011/12 – 12/13.
5.5 The Partnership has identified a number of potential priority pipeline projects for submission to the RGF. Bids for the first funding round of the RGF are required to be submitted by 5 December 2010. Those potential projects that have been identified include: • Delivery of NBQ Phase 2 – including the relocation of Royal Mail to facilitate the office development. • Construction of Innovation Workspace at Leicester Innovation Park. • Construction of an Innovation Centre at Loughborough Science Park. • Improvements to Great Central Railway infrastructure to facilitate freight services. • Technology Development Project at the University of Leicester. • Cultural Quarter Property Strategy. • Improvements to Leicester Market. • Food and Drink Park in Leicester. • Support for development of MIRA facility as research park, near Hinckley. • Loughborough – AstraZeneca site – support for developing site options and delivery solutions.
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Leicester and Leicestershire Local Investment Plan February 2011 ______5.6 The Partnership believes these projects will address the key criteria the Government has set for the RGF, including encouraging private sector enterprise, stimulating private sector investment and jobs, creating opportunities for people and places, leading to a transformation of the area and a rebalancing of the economy away from an over- dependence on the public sector. They also fit with the HMA’s economic priorities, will help achieve the Partnership’s long-term vision for the HMA. Some of the projects identified above will be able to commence from April 2011 and deliver early and substantial spend in 2011/12. Others will be developed and submitted in time for a second bidding round for funding, which is envisaged to be held before the start of financial year 2012/13.
Development Priorities 2011 – 20
5.7 This section outlines the Partnership’s development priority places for 2011-20 in relation to the two key place-based priority categories: a) Developing new sustainable communities. b) Regenerating and improving City and town centres, local communities and neighbourhoods.
5.8 A range of potential place based projects have been identified for each of the place based priority categories. Detailed information is being assembled on each project. This will allow projects to be matched to available resources through an agreed governance structure. This will in turn enable the Partnership to finalise its development priorities for the period 2011 to 2014 as well as the longer term aspirations to 2026.
5.9 A brief summary of the potential projects that have been identified for each category is provided below. Tables 1 and 2 at the end of this chapter provide a summary of the outputs and level of public investment required by each project. A summary of the possible funding sources for each scheme is outlined in Appendix 2.
a) Developing New Sustainable Communities
5.10 The vision for the Urban Extensions are thriving, prosperous new communities with a mix of employment and housing opportunities with well integrated community facilities. The Urban Extensions are being planned as exemplars of sustainable development, providing a substantial number of new homes, as well as other amenities including local shops, employment land for low carbon development, schools, open space and other community facilities.
5.11 The proposed Urban Extensions will incorporate a commitment to a wide range of sustainable development principles, will be to a high standard of design and will promote social cohesion and inclusive communities.
5.12 There are proposals to develop new sustainable communities at: a) Ashton Green b) Barwell c) Coalville – Stephenson Green d) Coalville – South East e) Earl Shilton f) East Hamilton g) Loughborough h) Lubbesthorpe L&L LIP.doc______Page 20 of 40
Leicester and Leicestershire Local Investment Plan February 2011 ______i) Melton Mowbray j) Thurmaston k) Wigston
Ashton Green SUE, Leicester
5.13 Ashton Green is a 130 hectare Greenfield site on the north west edge of Leicester. This Sustainable Urban Extension (SUE) will provide up to 3,500 homes and other amenities including local shops, up to 10 hectares of employment land for low carbon development, as well as schools, open space and other community facilities. It will incorporate a commitment to a wide range of sustainable development principles, be to a high standard of design and promote social cohesion and inclusive communities.
Barwell SUE
5.14 Barwell is a local urban centre to the north of Hinckley town. This proposal will act as a catalyst for the regeneration of Barwell and support Hinckley as a sub-regional centre. The Sustainable Urban Extension will consist of 2,500 homes (20% affordable), up to 15 hectares of employment land, green infrastructure and the services required to support the new residents. It will be an exemplar of sustainable design and well linked with the existing community. This planned growth is linked to a Public Realm Strategy for Barwell and regeneration objectives for areas of deprivation identified within Barwell.
Coalville SUE
5.15 A total of 6,700 houses and up to 25 hectares on employment land is being proposed. Currently two sites are being considered – Stephenson Green and South East Coalville. Further information required. While Coalville has been identified as an area for significant growth over the next 20 years, the town centre and other facilities in the town are in need of regeneration and renewal.
Earl Shilton SUE
5.16 Earl Shilton is a local urban centre to the north east of Hinckley town. This proposal will act as a catalyst for the regeneration of Earl Shilton and support Hinckley as a sub-regional centre. The Sustainable Urban Extension will consist of 2,000 homes (20% affordable), up to 10 hectares of employment land, green infrastructure and the services required to support the new residents. This planned growth is linked to a Public Realm Strategy for Earl Shilton and regeneration objectives for those areas of deprivation identified within Earl Shilton.
East Hamilton, Leicester
5.17 Hamilton is an existing Greenfield urban extension currently under construction to the north of Leicester. Development at Hamilton began in the late 1980s and about 2,700 new homes had been built by March 2010. This proposal includes an additional 1,150 dwellings and associated social and community infrastructure in the. This will include the development of three committed housing sites, taking advantage of existing infrastructure.
Loughborough SUE
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Leicester and Leicestershire Local Investment Plan February 2011 ______5.18 Loughborough and Shepshed have been identified as a major location for growth supported by appropriate infrastructure. Options to the east, south-west and west of Loughborough have been identified capable of accommodating a Sustainable Urban Extension of between 3,500 homes (west), 3,000 homes (south-west) or 4,200 homes (east), with up to 20 hectares for employment and integrated transport, community and educational facilities. A final decision as to the preferred location has yet to be made.
Lubbesthorpe SUE
5.19 The proposed Sustainable Urban Extension at Lubbesthorpe lies to the west of Leicester between the communities of Leicester Forest East, Braunstone Town and Enderby. The development will be able to accommodate around 4,500 houses, of a variety of types and tenures, in the period to 2026. Some 1,350 of these houses will be affordable accommodation. Associated with the development of the SUE is the proposal for a Strategic Employment Site (SES) of between 20 to 25 hectares. A new link across the M69 will be required in order to encourage pedestrian and cycling movements. It will also include other services, shops and schools as well as green infrastructure.
Melton Mowbray SUE
5.20 A sustainable urban extension is proposed to the north of the town. This will consist of 1,000 new homes to meet local housing needs, including an ambitious target of 40% affordable housing and an emphasis on addressing stock imbalances by providing small sized accommodation suitable for small families, couples and single person households. The SUE will be well connected to the town centre, secondary school and major employment sites in the town. In addition to the SUE, there is a need for additional employment land in the area to discourage commuting, and attract more higher-value, knowledge-based activities with higher paid jobs. The preferred option is for the development of 14 hectares of industrial and warehousing land to the west of Melton Mowbray, with an additional 20 hectares to be held in reserve.
Thurmaston SUE
5.21 A site to the east of Thurmaston has been identified for the development of a Sustainable Urban Extension to contribute to the need for new homes, jobs and supporting facilities within Charnwood Borough with a capability to support regeneration and communities in neighbouring areas including the City. The scheme, as currently envisaged, includes up to 5,000 new homes (30% affordable), up to 25 hectares of employment land (with an additional 25 hectares held in reserve). This will be supported by a full range of social, educational and community infrastructure and facilities with sustainable transport linkages into Thurmaston, Syston, Hamilton and the City of Leicester. This also offers significant opportunities for related regeneration of priority areas within adjacent areas of Thurmaston. However, a final decision as to the suitability and scale of the prospective SUE has yet to be made.
Wigston
5.22 The Oadby & Wigston Core Strategy proposes a Direction for Growth to the south east of Wigston to help meet a substantial proportion of the new housing growth required in the Borough and to provide new and replacement employment land to help address concerns about the lack of available employment space, the general poor quality of the environment L&L LIP.doc______Page 22 of 40
Leicester and Leicestershire Local Investment Plan February 2011 ______and image as well as congestion problems. The proposal will include 450 dwellings and in the region of 2.5-3.5 hectares of employment land.
b) Regenerating and improving City and town centres, local communities and neighbourhoods.
5.23 Our city and town centres are the focal points for their communities and important centres for business, commerce and retailing. They have undergone significant changes in function and form over the last few decades. In many instances, these changes have meant that the vitality of the centres has reduced. Programmes of action to ensure that employment, retail activity and sense of place are retained and developed are highly desirable.
5.24 The provision of new homes of the right types, tenures, sizes, and prices along with improvements to our existing stock are essential to the sustained regeneration of centres and improvement of our neighbourhoods and communities.
5.25 Key places in needs of regeneration and improvement are: i) Blaby, Coalville, Melton Mowbray, Oadby, Thurmaston and Wigston Town Centres. ii) Braunstone Town, Glen Parva and Narborough. iii) Hinckley and Burbage. iv) Leicester: i. Existing neighbourhoods within Leicester. ii. Strategic Regeneration Area. v) Loughborough/Shepshed. vi) Market Harborough.
Blaby, Coalville, Melton Mowbray, Oadby, Thurmaston and Wigston Town Centres
5.26 The town centres of Blaby, Coalville, Melton Mowbray, Oadby and Wigston are all underperforming in varying degrees due to a lack of investment, poor quality public realm, a low retail and cultural offer, vacant property, limited night-time economy and low quality housing. There is also a diminishing supply of employment land which is putting pressure on future growth and prosperity. The restructuring of the local economy brought about by the decline in traditional industries has resulted in pockets of multiple deprivation in many of these town centres with residents having lower than average incomes, suffering poor health and having lower levels of educational attainment.
5.27 Town Centre Master Plans have been drawn up for these town centres. A key priority will be to develop a regeneration programme for each town centre that identifies the key priorities for action given the level of resources likely to be available. A range of projects to improve the vitality and viability of these town centres need to be considered, depending on the specific needs of each town centre, but could include: • The development of additional residential, employment, commercial, retail, community and leisure space, • The provision of supporting infrastructure • Environmental enhancements to improve the public realm and the major gateways into the city and centres • The comprehensive redevelopment pockets of low quality housing within city and town centres to deliver more appropriate uses • To create a stronger brand image that is reinforced through a quality physical and business environment. L&L LIP.doc______Page 23 of 40
Leicester and Leicestershire Local Investment Plan February 2011 ______
Enderby, Whetstone, Braunstone Town, Glen Parva and Narborough
5.28 A key priority for local communities in Enderby, Whetstone, Glen Parva and Narborough is the provision of additional affordable homes and sites. Public intervention/grant subsidy is required to deliver the affordable housing provision and in some cases to help release land and deliver development earlier than expected with higher levels of affordable housing. These schemes involve private developers working with local registered housing providers.
5.29 A key priority for local communities in Braunstone Town, Glen Parva and Narborough is improvements to public realm, increased access to the open countryside and improving a number of small neighbourhood shopping parades to remove long-term signs of neglect from these communities. Braunstone requires general regeneration and is the possible site for an extra care scheme.
Hinckley and Burbage
5.30 Hinckley provides a mix of retail, employment and leisure facilities to the rest of the Borough and key transport links to nearby centres. Burbage, lying immediately south of Hinckley, provides more local services to its residents and also supports Hinckley’s role as a sub- regional centre.
5.31 Hinckley town centre is underperforming due to a lack of investment, poor quality public realm, a low retail and cultural offer, vacant property and limited night-time economy. There are also pockets of multiple deprivation in Hinckley and Burbage, particularly in relation to health deprivation and disability and education, skills and training.
5.32 Key priorities are the provision of housing and infrastructure along with the regeneration of Hinckley town centre to create a vibrant, thriving sub regional centre, with opportunities for retail, leisure and commercial activities, whilst supporting the vibrancy and vitality of Burbage as an important urban local centre. Additional housing and employment land is proposed in Burbage to support the Hinckley sub-regional centre.
Leicester - Existing Neighbourhoods
5.33 There is a significant supply of land for housing on sites within existing urban area neighbourhoods, including Beaumont Leys, Braunstone, Eyres Monsell, New Parks and Saffron. Here, development or redevelopment can help to address place-making issues at a neighbourhood level. Many of these sites can deliver new homes, affordable housing and other priority outcomes over the next few years and will allow partners to ensure that, even in the current economic climate, key housing, employment and economic outcomes continue to be delivered. The development of these sites within existing communities will ensure the realisation of outcomes identified by local community leadership in response to local engagement. This includes tackling long-term empty homes, addressing non-decent standard privately-owned homes and ensuring that 100% of Council housing stock continues to remain ‘Decent’ beyond 2010. For example, locally agreed proposals at Eyres Monsell call for the relocation of the existing shopping centre to a more sustainable location within the neighbourhood and the redevelopment of some existing housing to produce more housing of a better mix.
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Leicester and Leicestershire Local Investment Plan February 2011 ______Leicester - Strategic Regeneration Area
5.34 Significant investment has been made in City Centre in recent years to improve its retail, cultural and business offer, including Highcross Centre, Phase 1 of the New Business Quarter, Curve Theatre and Phoenix Square. Nevertheless, the City Centre is still in need of further comprehensive regeneration. The City Centre is also experiencing “City Flight” resulting in the loss of more economically active, wealth-generating households, either out of the city to the suburbs and rural areas.
5.35 The City Council has already made the decision that much of the future development activity within the City will be focused in the Strategic Regeneration Area (SRA). Further investment is required to promote additional residential and employment growth in the City Centre, including the development of further phases of the New Business Quarter to counteract the growth of out of town office development, additional investment in the Cultural Quarter, the development of the Leicester Science Park and Innovation Centre, major Brownfield regeneration in Waterside and Abbey Meadows to create new residential-led mixed use developments, improvements to the major Gateways into the City, improvements to Leicester Market. Investment is also required in new retailing, leisure, and cultural development to maximise choice and enhance the scale, range and appeal of the City Centre. The provision of associated infrastructure (highways and transport, education facilities, health care centres and public realm) is also required to enable sites to be accessed as well as to serve the resulting communities.
Loughborough/Shepshed
5.36 Loughborough, along with the neighbouring community of Shepshed, will be the focus of new development within the Borough of Charnwood. The thriving university town of Loughborough is an important centre for business, commerce and retailing. Nevertheless, Loughborough has some considerable pockets of deprivation, particularly within the eastern quarter of the town where residents have lower than average incomes, suffer poor health and have lower levels of educational attainment. The announced closure of the AstraZeneca research and development facility, with the loss of 1,500 jobs, will have a significant impact on Loughborough. There is a diminishing supply of employment land which is putting pressure on future growth and prosperity in the area. Loughborough town centre faces increasing competition from recent significant increases in quality retail floorspace in Derby, Leicester and Nottingham, with a resulting detrimental impact on the town centre.
5.37 The provision of additional homes, employment land and premises, supporting infrastructure, and the expansion of the Loughborough Science Park is essential to enable Loughborough to grow and prosper and reverse recent trends of out commuting and mitigate the shift in the local economy brought about by the decline in traditional industries. The regeneration of derelict brown field sites in East Loughborough affords opportunities for investment and business growth in an area of need. The Loughborough Town Centre Master Plan identifies the need to stimulate interest in vacant and derelict sites along the route of the proposed Inner Relief Road and regeneration opportunities associated with the former General Hospital at Baxter Gate, property around Devonshire Square and improvements to the public realm in the town centre. An Area Action Plan is proposed for Shepshed to encourage and direct investment to regenerate the town centre. Also of strategic importance is the proposal for the connection of the Great Central Railway to the Mainline for freight transfer.
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Leicester and Leicestershire Local Investment Plan February 2011 ______Market Harborough
5.38 A key priority for Market Harborough is the urgent provision of additional affordable homes to meet local need. The possible closure of an existing residential village near Shangton for people with learning difficulties including care and support to meet daily living, emotional and social needs is also a significant issue for Market Harborough.
Thematic Public Investment Priorities
5.39 The LIP aims to have the greatest impact on those places that we have prioritised. However, there are some issues where the planned responses are not place-specific either because their delivery may be across the HMA or the appropriate locations for delivery have not yet been identified. The response to the themes is likely to be fairly fluid as often a range of smaller schemes will be identified and delivered. Furthermore, the specific actions undertaken will be determined by the level of public subsidy allocated to each theme.
5.40 The thematic public investment priorities in the LIP include: • Affordable Housing • Green Infrastructure/Cross boundary • Design • Employment Land and Premises • Gypsies, Travellers and Travelling Showpeople’s Sites • Improving Existing Housing Stock • Support for Delivering the LIP • Supported Housing in Leicestershire
Outlined below is a summary of the key aims and objectives for each theme and the indicative actions that have been proposed to address the key challenges and opportunities in the HMA as they relate to each theme. A summary of the indicative outputs and level of public investment required by each of these themes is provided in Tables 3 and 4 at the end of this Chapter. A summary of the possible funding sources for each theme is outlined in Appendix 2.
Affordable Housing Theme
5.41 The aim is to provide sufficient affordable housing with a choice of housing type, size and location to meet identified needs in urban and rural areas across the HMA and contribute to the development of sustainable communities. Also of importance is the impact of affordable housing on potential schemes such as garage sites and on any windfall sites that developers bring forward with proposals for all affordable housing.
5.42 In the context of the current economic climate, viability of development sites is limited. This is putting increasing pressure on the delivery of affordable housing in both rural and urban locations. Public intervention/grant subsidy will be required to help deliver essential affordable housing provision until such time as the market recovers sufficiently to increase its ability to deliver without grant subsidy.
5.43 The indicative outcomes that will be achieved between 2011/12 and 2013/14 from the proposed actions to address the key challenges and opportunities in the HMA in relation to affordable housing are: L&L LIP.doc______Page 26 of 40
Leicester and Leicestershire Local Investment Plan February 2011 ______• 200 affordable rural homes in settlements under 3,000 population • 150 affordable homes in settlements with 3,000 to 10,000 population • 850 affordable homes in settlements with over 10,000 population • 530 affordable homes in Leicester.
Green Infrastructure/Cross boundary Theme
5.44 The aim is to increase the provision of, enhance and improve access to Green Infrastructure in the HMA through effective master planning.
5.45 The indicative outcomes that will be achieved between 2011/12 and 2013/14 from the proposed actions to address the key challenges and opportunities in relation to Green Infrastructure include: • SUE green networks are connected with the wider Green Infrastructure framework for Leicester and Leicestershire. • Cross boundary Green Infrastructure improvements, including the Strategic Water Corridors (River Soar, Grand Union Canal and the major streams) and the National Forest. • Other Green Infrastructure improvements including Charnwood Forest, Market Towns and SUEs and potential links to GI outside of the county – e.g. River Trent, Grantham Canal, north Northants. • Proposals for a Charnwood Forest Regional Park • Investment secured for advance infrastructure within SUE’s to provide on and off site renewable energy generation.
Design Theme
5.46 The aim of this theme is to achieve well designed and sustainable physical environment, infrastructure and housing within which people will want to live and to develop communities which they are proud to live in and maintain to a high standard. City and County planners/designers have already identified a set of measures and activities designed to ensure that the challenges of housing design quality are addressed as effectively and efficiently as possible through joint working among the local authorities and with other key partners. A key strand is improving Design Capacity, Knowledge, and training.
5.47 The indicative outcomes that will be achieved between 2011/12 and 2013/14 from the proposed actions to address the key challenges and opportunities in relation to Design include: • Improved cross boundary working, including a sharing of design skills and experience. • All local authorities and key stakeholders formally signed up to Building for Life (B4L) criteria for use on all housing sites and Ourplace' Website is rolled out and promoted. • Training programmes available to address specific gaps and knowledge aspirations for both officers and members. • Targets for renewable energy and energy efficiency in new development are aligned across the HMA. • Designing to address climate change is embedded throughout the planning and design process.
Employment Land and Premises Theme
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Leicester and Leicestershire Local Investment Plan February 2011 ______5.48 The aim of this theme is to achieve a balanced supply of B-class employment land and premises across the HMA. Land and premises will be available in locations that are viable and sustainable, meet the needs of employers, is of a type of development likely to be attractive to developers. Locations will also have regard to existing and emerging local planning policy considerations that seek to deliver a low carbon future for the HMA, a sustainable transport system and provide employment in the most sustainable locations.
5.49 There are a range of workspace projects that could be taken forward and developed by Prospect Leicestershire in the period 2011 to 2014 to address the key challenges and opportunities, including: • NBQ 2. • Construction of Innovation Workspace at Loughborough Science Park and Leicester Science Park. • Improvements to Leicester Market. • Food Sector Infrastructure. • Property interventions to support private sector growth initiatives in the automotive sector. • Workspace projects associated with extension of Great Central Railway. • Leicester Cultural Quarter workspace projects.
5.50 In a period of diminishing public resources, there is also the need for on-going public sector support to help meet business needs for employment land and premises. The proposed support programme for 2011 to 2014, will involve Prospect Leicestershire: • Working with developers and the local planning authorities to bring forward accelerated employment land provision in the Leicester Principal Urban Area, particularly to the north of Leicester and the advance delivery of strategic employment sites in the proposed Sustainable Urban Extensions. • Supporting businesses in meeting their land and premises requirements by helping to broker land sale agreements and helping to address site constraints. • Working with the private sector to explore opportunities for the re-development of the Astra Zeneca site. • Stimulating private sector workspace development activity by identifying development opportunities, preparing feasibility studies, encouraging the adoption of positive planning approaches by the local planning authorities. • Supporting the local authorities to deliver a more effective and efficient management of local authority industrial and commercial property portfolios. • Working with the private sector to explore opportunities to establish innovative funding, legal, governance and delivery mechanisms to secure public and private sector investment in workspace. • Preparing a rolling five-year workspace development programme to address key investment opportunities in the HMA.
Gypsies, Travellers and Travelling Showpeople’s Sites Theme
5.51 The aim of this theme is achieve an appropriate provision of good quality sites with residential and transit pitches for Gypsies, Travellers and Travelling Showpeople in suitable locations, responding to the diversity of those using the sites. There has been no new local authority site provision in Leicester and Leicestershire for over thirty years. In April 2007 Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland authorities jointly commissioned a study that identified
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Leicester and Leicestershire Local Investment Plan February 2011 ______the need for 368 new pitches across the study area to 2016. Each local authority has either identified or is in the process of identifying the need for new sites.
5.52 The indicative activities proposed in this theme during 2011/12 to 2013/14 to address the identified challenges and opportunities are: • To conduct a study to identify strategic sites for socially rented pitches across the whole of Leicester and Leicestershire. • To refurbish the existing local authority permanent Gypsy and Traveller site at Aston Firs, Sapcote. • To provide a new 4 pitch site on Bonham’s Lane, Gilmorton in Harborough. • To provide a new temporary 1 pitch site on Greengate Lane in Leicester. • To provide 80 further new pitches across the area.
Improving Existing Housing Stock Theme
5.53 The key aims for this theme are for all local authority and housing association homes to meet the Decent Homes Standard, to achieve a significant increase in the number of private sector homes that meet the Standard, and to make better use of the existing housing stock by reducing the number of empty homes.
5.54 The indicative actions proposed in this theme to address the identified challenges and opportunities with regard to decent homes include: • Assess the implications of changes in Government spending and proposals to change the Housing Revenue Account. • A number of specific schemes to review the use of social housing properties to identify possible change of use to better target housing need. • Continue with targeted Capital Investment Programmes. • Continue investment to help deliver sustainable communities. • Continue with private sector housing strategies which targets the assistance provided in areas that have the highest percentage of non-decent homes and to vulnerable households across the city.
5.55 The indicative actions proposed to address the identified challenges and opportunities with regard to empty homes include: • Continue to identify empty homes and their owners. • Continue to encourage owners to bring their empty properties back into use, providing advice and assistance as required. • Instigate compulsory purchase action where owners refuse to take action themselves.
Support for the Delivery of the LIP
5.56 A range of resources and support will be required to manage the implementation of the LIP. The anticipated actions required to implement the LIP include: • Overseeing and co-ordinating the delivery of LIP and LIP activities. • Strategic Commissioning/ Contract Management / monitoring of LIP activities • Capacity Building, expertise, knowledge Master planning etc • Delivery Support • Viability Management
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5.57 The aim of this theme is to provide an adequate range, number and quality of housing and support services to vulnerable people in Leicestershire (the requirements for supported housing in Leicester are contained within the place based activities for the City). To objectives of this theme being to promote people’s independence, choice and participation in their community, achieving positive outcomes.
5.58 The indicative actions proposed to address the identified challenges and opportunities with regard to supported housing in Leicestershire include: • Constructing a model for procurement of 860 units of Extra Care homes. • Plan for the possible closure of the Care Shangton site in Harborough. • Commission a homeless prevention floating support service across the county. • Re-commission direct access accommodation based provision on a more County wide basis. • Explore consistency of approach to accepting 17 year olds on housing waiting list and in terms of the introduction of choice based lettings. • Contribute to work to establish single access points in each district for 16/17 year in conjunction with Children and Young People’s Services and district councils to establish clear protocols for housing and supporting 16/17 year olds.
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Table 1. Outputs from Place Based Priorities
Place-Based Place Key Outputs Category Homes Employment Open Office space Retail Other land (ha.) space (sq.m.) space (ha.) (sq.m.) Ashton Green SUE, 3000 <6 49 Unknown 4-6 units Community facilities Barwell SUE 2500 15 Unknown Unknown 0 Community Facilities Coalville SUE 6700 25 Unknown Unknown Unknown Community Facilities Earl Shilton SUE 2000 10 Unknown Unknown Unknown Community Developing New Facilities Mixed, Thurmaston SUE 5000 25 Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Sustainable Hamilton SUE 600 ? Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Communities Loughborough SUE 3000- 78 Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown 4200 Lubbesthorpe SUE 4500 20 Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Melton Mowbray SUE 1000 14 Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown
Wigston – Direction for 450 3.5 Unknown Unknown 0 Unknown Growth Blaby Town Centre 0 0 0 0 0 Environment improvem’ts Braunstone Town 0 0 GI 0 0 P.Realm Improvem’ Improvem’ts ts Glen Parva 0 0 GI 0 0 P.Realm Improvem’ Improvem’ts ts Hinckley & Burbage 1415 Unknown GI 34000 26400 Community Improvem’ facilities ts Leicester
Regenerating and • Existing 715 0 Unknown 0 0 Inc at Improving City neighbourhoods least 40 and Town Centres, suppt’d Local • SRA 7030 6 Unknown 31000 0 ? Communities and Neighbourhoods. Loughborough/Shepshed 230 8 0 2300 0 P.Realm Improve m’ts Market Harborough 1788 0 0 0 0 0
Oadby Town Centre 81 0 0 2480 5870 P. Realm Improve m’ts Wigston Town Centre 166 0 0 4675 13225 P. Realm Improve m’ts River Mease Issue 0 0 0 0 0 Water Cycle Study
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Table 2. Public Subsidy Required for Place-Based Priorities
Place-Based Place Public Subsidy (£ millions Capital/Revenue) Category 2011-14 2014-17 2017-20 Ashton Green SUE, Leicester 10.33 25.93 0
Barwell SUE* 18-26 19-30 14-21 Coalville 15 0 0 Earl Shilton SUE* 18-26 19-30 14-21 Developing New East Thurmaston 0 56 0 Mixed, Sustainable Hamilton SUE 0.1 10-12 5 Communities Loughborough SUE 0 51 0
Lubbesthorpe SUE Unknown Unknown Unknown Melton Mowbray 1.2 39.8 2
Wigston – Direction for Growth 0.5 0 8 Blaby Town Centre 1.5-5.5 13 0
Braunstone Town 0 Unknown 0 Glen Parva 0.2 Unknown 0
Hinckley & Burbage 25 7.3 4.4
Regenerating and Leicester Improving City • Existing neighbourhoods 52.4 51.0 51.0 and Town Centres, Local • Strategic Regeneration Area 14.2 24.7 8.0 Communities and Neighbourhoods. Loughborough/Shepshed 70.9 1.3 1.3 Oadby Town Centre 1.6 5.0 0
Market Harborough 7.3 7.7 0 Wigston Town Centre 2.4 8.3 0
River Mease Issue 0.5 Unknown Unknown
*Subsidy includes transportation requirements to be shared between the Barwell and Earl Shilton SUE’s.
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Leicester and Leicestershire Local Investment Plan February 2011 ______Table 3. Outputs from Theme Priorities
Key Outputs Themes Homes Employment Open Office space Retail space Other land space (sq.m.) (sq.m.) (ha.) (ha.) Affordable Housing 2194 - 2232 140,500 0 60,000 0 -
Green Infrastructure/ 0 0 0 0 0 Essential Cross Boundary infrastructure Design 0 0 0 0 0 Good design Employment Land and 0 0 0 0 0 - Premises Gypsies, and Travellers 0 0 0 0 0 111 pitches Sites Improving Existing 0 0 0 0 0 15062 Housing Stock Improvements Research 0 0 0 0 0 Housing Delivery Rural Affordable Housing 825 0 0 0 0 -
Support 0 0 0 0 0 Delivery Supported Housing 399-409 0 0 0 0 -
Table 4. Public Subsidy Required for Themed Priorities
Theme Public Subsidy (£ millions Capital/Revenue) 2011-14 2014-17 2017-20 Affordable Housing 33.5 14.8 14.8 Green Infrastructure/ Cross Boundary 5.2 Unknown Unknown
Design 0.15 Unknown Unknown Employment Land and Premises 9 9 9
Gypsies, Travellers and Travelling 3 5 3.5 Showpeople’s Sites Improving Existing Housing Stock 61 25 20 Research 0.15 0.15 0.15
Rural Affordable Housing 16.5 16 16 Support 7.5 7.5 7.5 Supported Housing 15.3 ? ?
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MAP 1. PRIORITY PLACE-BASED ACTIVITIES
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Leicester and Leicestershire Local Investment Plan February 2011 ______Appendix 1 Homes and Communities Agency assets and existing commitments
Assets (as at 31 st August 2010)
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Leicester and Leicestershire Local Investment Plan February 2011 ______Existing commitments (as at 31 st August 2010)
Programme 2011/12 existing commitments Kickstart £431,000 Property & Regeneration £100,000 Local Authority Newbuild £631,000 National Affordable Housing Programme £4,908,000 Total £6,069,000
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Appendix 2. Schemes and Possible Funding Sources for Place-Based and Thematic Priorities
POSSIBLE INTERVENTION Regional HCA HCA European PLACE-BASED PRIORITIES Growth LTP Enabling Funding Funding Funding A) Developing New Mixed, Sustainable Communities
Ashton Green SUE √ √ Barwell SUE √ √ √ Earl Shilton SUE √ √ √ Lubbesthorpe SUE √ √ Thurmaston SUE √ √ Loughborough SUE √ √ Melton Mowbray SUE √ √ √ South East Coalville SUE √ √ Stephenson Green, Coalville SUE √ √ East Hamilton SUE √ √ Wigston – Direction for Growth √ √ √
B) Regenerating and Improving City and Town Centres, Local Communities and Neighbourhoods
Strategic Regeneration Area, Leicester: − Abbey Meadows √ √ − NBQ2 √ √ − Abbey Meadows Workspace √ √ − Rutland Street Workspace √ √ − Leicester Market √ √ − Cathedral Square √ − Waterside Blackfriars − Waterside Public Realm √ − Donisthorpe √ − Merlin − Northgate Riverside √ √ − Abbey Park Improvements √ − City Centre Gateways √ √
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POSSIBLE INTERVENTION Regional HCA HCA European PLACE-BASED PRIORITIES Growth LTP Enabling Funding Funding Funding B) Regenerating and Improving City and Town Centres, Local Communities and Neighbourhoods (Cont.)
Existing Neighbourhoods, Leicester − Braunstone √ − New Parks √ − Saffron √ − Eyes Monsell √ √ − Beaumont Leys √ √ − Loughborough / Shepshed: − Loughborough Science Park √ √ − East Loughborough Regeneration Plan √ √ − Brown Field Housing Sites √ − Loughborough Station Improvements √ − Greater Great Central Railway − Dishley Grange Employment Land √ − L’boro Town Centre Masterplan − Shepshed Regeneration Masterplan √ − Shepshed Affordable Housing √ √ − PRC Houses in Shepshed √ √ − Windmill Road Workspace √ √ − Grand Union Canal √ − Bell Foundry Estate Renewal √ − Warwick Way Estate Renewal √ √ − Public Sector Decent Homes √ √ − Private Sector Decent Homes √ − Extra Care Housing √ √ − Direct Access Temporary Accommodation √ √ − Replacement Women’s refuge √ √ − Sheltered Accommodation remodelling √ √ Hinckley & Burbage: − Sporting Hub, Land off A47, Hinckley √ − Extension to Hospital to deliver a ‘one stop health hub’ √ − Strategic Green Infrastructure √ − Affordable Housing √ − Cycling Routes √
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− Green infrastructure deficiencies (play) √ − Transportation Improvements √ − Public Realm Improvements √ √
HCA Regional HCA European PLACE-BASED PRIORITIES Expertise Growth LTP Funding Funding (Atlas etc) Funding B) Regenerating and Improving City and Town Centres, Local Communities and Neighbourhoods (Cont.)
Coalville: √ − Parkridge Development √ √ − Extra Care Housing √ √ − Market Place – Whitwick √ √ − Fern Carpet Site √ √ − Chiswell Drive √ √ − Minnesotas Site √ √ − Thornborough Road √ √ − Kane Close √ √ − Highfield St √ √ − DAAT Project √ √ − Single/Teen Parent Provision √ √ − Additional Workspaces √ − Town Centre Public Realm √ − River Mease Issue √ √ Blaby Town & District: − Blaby Town Centre √ Thurmaston: − Sheltered Housing remodelling √ √ − Grand Union Canal Green Infrastructure Enhancements √ − Thurmaston Area Action Plan − PRC Homes √ √ − Private Sector Decent Homes √ √ − Public Sector Decent Homes √ √ − Affordable Housing √ √ Melton Town Centre: − Town Centre Masterplan − Cattle Market Regeneration − Fairmead Estate Regeneration √ √ − Historic Core Regeneration − Waterfield Leisure Pools Refurbishment
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HCA Regional HCA European PLACE-BASED PRIORITIES Expertise Growth LTP Funding Funding (Atlas etc) Funding B) Regenerating and Improving City and Town Centres, Local Communities and Neighbourhoods (Cont.)
Oadby Town Centre: − Housing Growth √ √ − Public Realm √ − Transport and Highway Improvements √ Wigston Town Centre: − Housing Growth √ √ − Public Realm √ − Transport and Highway Improvements √ Market Harborough: − Care Shangton Closure √ Glen Parva & Narborough: √ − Knightsbridge Estate − Redevelopment of sheltered schemes for general needs and vulnerable groups √ √ − Sence & Soar Valley Green Wedge √ Braunstone Town: − Public realm & neighbourhood shopping parades √ − Redevelopment of Pevril Court Sheltered Scheme √ √
THEMED PRIORITIES*
Affordable Housing incl. Section 106 √ √ Design √ √ Employment Land and Premises √ √ Gypsies & Travellers √ √ Improving Existing Stock √ √ Rural Affordable Housing √ √ Supported Housing √ √ Support √ √ Green Infrastructure/Cross Boundary √ √ Data and Intelligence √ * Thematic Priorities may also be delivered as part of place based priorities on named sites
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