Babergh District Council, Planning Policy Team, Corks Lane, Hadleigh, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP7 6SJ
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Appendix A Babergh Development Framework Draft Core Strategy - April 2010 (Preferred Options plus Issues & Options) Table of Contents Introduction 3 Spatial Portrait and Key Issues 9 Spatial Vision and Objectives 16 Spatial Strategy 19 Social and Physical InfrastructureSocial, Physical and Green 39 Infrastructure Planning for Mixed and Balanced Communities 44 Planning for a Sustainable Economy - employment, town centres and 54 tourism Sustainable Development – Planning for Climate Change 64 Built and Natural Environment 73 Monitoring and Implementation 76 Glossary 84 Appendix 1: Local Plan Policies to be Replaced by the Babergh Core 87 Strategy Appendix 2: Evidence Base 88 Appendix 3: Summary of the linkages between sustainable community 90 objectives and the Core Strategy objectives and policies Appendix 4: Housing Trajectory 96 Appendix 5: Summary of advantages and disadvantages of the broad 97 locations/directions of growth Appendix 6: Delivery of Infrastructure 111 Appendix 7: Monitoring framework for the Babergh Core Strategy 114 Appendix 8: Implementation framework for the Babergh Core Strategy 118 Table 1: Housing requirements to 2031 21 Table 2: Geographical distribution of Key Service Centres and Other 23 Villages across the district Table 3: Distribution of housing across the district to 2031 30 2 1. Introduction The Local Development Framework 1.1 In September 2004 the government introduced a new planning system to manage spatial planning in England. The new planning system is aimed at place shaping and bringing together policies for development and use of land and is no longer just focussed on land use planning. It requires Local Authorities to prepare Local Development Frameworks (LDF). The LDF consists of a number of planning documents containing the local authority’s planning policies and proposals that together with the Regional Spatial Strategy forms the spatial plan for the district. The Babergh Development Framework will replace the current Babergh Local Plan. For more information about Local Development Frameworks please view our website. 1.2 The Development Plan Documents (DPDs) to be included in the Babergh Development Framework are the Core Strategy, Site Specific Allocations and Development Management Policies. The Core Strategy 1.3 The Core Strategy is a key document in the Babergh Development Framework. It is a strategic document that sets out the long term spatial vision and strategy for the Babergh district, including working with other organisations to achieve this. It deals with strategic issues such as how we should plan and manage growth and development in the district over the next 20+ years (up to 2031) but it does not deal with detailed issues such as site specifics. The detailed issues will be addressed in subsequent documents. The Core Strategy preparation process provides several opportunities for public consultation and involvement. The public has been consulted on the Issues and Options for the Core Strategy (April/ May 2009); is being consulted on this document, the Preferred Options document; and will be consulted on the Submission draft of the Core Strategy. Purpose of this Document 1.4 This document seeks your views on how the Council should plan for and manage growth and development in the district. It is an important opportunity for people who live and work in the district and other stakeholders to get involved in shaping the future of the district. The document builds on the Issues and Options Core Strategy consultation document, the contributions we received during the consultation period, and our wider findings (referred to as the technical evidence base that supports the Core Strategy). 1.5 This document identifies the Council’s preferred policy approaches to address key issues in the district. They represent the most suitable options to achieve sustainable development in the district. It is important to stress that this current stage is not the final document but instead it sets out our preferences for further comment and debate. This is your opportunity to tell us what you do and do not agree with, and why. How can you comment on the document? 1.6 We would like your thoughts and views regarding this document and all comments received will be considered and taken into account in the preparation of the Submission Core Strategy. The Preferred Options document can be downloaded from the Babergh Council website at www.babergh.gov.uk. It can also be viewed at the Council Offices in Hadleigh, all libraries across the district and at the Sudbury and Hadleigh Town Halls. 3 1.7 We encourage comments to be sent in electronically via our online consultation which can be accessed on the Babergh website. If you are unable to get access to the internet you can post your comments to: Babergh District Council, Planning Policy Team, Corks Lane, Hadleigh, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP7 6SJ. Comments can also be emailed to [email protected] 1.8 The consultation ends on Friday, 2010 at 4.30 pm. For enquiries and to request a copy of the Preferred Options document please call 01473 826678. Please note that no comments (electronic or written) can be treated as confidential. What Happens Next? 1.9 Once the consultation for this Preferred Options has finished the Council will review and respond to comments received during the consultation period. These will be taken into account and considered when producing the next stage of the Core Strategy (the Submission Core Strategy). 1.10 The Submission Core Strategy will be subject to a formal public consultation period and will be submitted to the Secretary of State. It will then be subject to an independent examination. The inspector responsible for the examination will check that the authority has prepared the document legally and tests whether it is ‘sound’. For the Core Strategy to be considered sound the document should be justified, effective and consistent with national policy. “Justified” means that the document must be: founded on a robust and credible evidence base the most appropriate strategy when considered against the reasonable alternatives “Effective” means that the document must be: deliverable; flexible; and able to be monitored 1.11 After the inspector has examined the document he/she will produce a binding report with his/her decisions. Babergh District Council will then make the changes to the document before it is adopted by the Council. When the Core Strategy is adopted, the policies within it will replace some of the saved policies of the Babergh Local Plan, adopted 1st June 2006. These are set out in Appendix 1. The remaining “saved” policies will still be relevant until such time as all Development Plan Documents (DPDs) are adopted within the Babergh Development Framework (BDF). The policies in the Core Strategy will therefore need to be read in conjunction with ‘saved’ policies in the Babergh Local Plan (2006). 1.12 It is anticipated that the consultation periods regarding the Core Strategy will occur as follows: Core Strategy Reports Consultation Date 1st Stage : Issues and Options April 2009 – May 2009 2nd Stage: Preferred Core Strategy June - August 2010 3rd Stage: Submission Core Strategy Late 2010/ Early 2011 Note: The dates in this table may be subject to change 4 Sustainability Appraisal/ Strategic Environmental Assessment 1.13 Sustainability Appraisals/ Strategic Environmental Assessments have been completed for the Issues and Options Core Strategy and the Preferred Options Core Strategy, assessing the anticipated impacts of each of the options and preferred options on the social, economic, environmental, and sustainable development objectives. The Sustainability Appraisals were prepared in accordance with the adopted Babergh Sustainability Appraisal Scoping Report. The Sustainability Appraisals assessed the predicted impacts of the Core Strategy policies against the adopted sustainability objectives and indicators. The Sustainability reports will be published on the Council’s website together with the Preferred Options Core Strategy. Appropriate Assessment Screening 1.14 Under Regulation 48 of the Conservation (Natural Habitats & c.) Regulations 1994 (the Habitats Regulations) an appropriate assessment screening has been carried outis required for the Babergh Preferred Options Core Strategy in order to see whether its proposals could have the potential to result in adverse effects upon an internationally important site. These are sites that have been designated for their international nature conservation interests and include: Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) designated under European Council Directive 92/43/EEC(a) on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora (the Habitats Directive); Special Protection Areas (SPA) designated under the European Council Directive 79/409/EEC on the Conservation of Wild Birds (the Birds Directive); and The UK Government (in the accompanying circular to Planning Policy Statement 9) as a matter of policy has chosen to apply the appropriate assessment procedures in respect of Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar sites), candidate SACs (cSACs) and potential SPAs (pSPAs) even though these are not European sites as a matter of law. 1.15 Within Babergh there is one international site, the Stour and Orwell Estuaries SPA and Ramsar site. In accordance with Regulation 48 of the Habitats Regulations, Stage 1 of the Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA) process (Screening) ihas beeing carried out to determine whether this Core Strategy is likely, either alone or in combination with other plans and projects, to have a significant effect upon the international sites identified. 1.16 Initial scoping work indicates that the level and location of growth proposed in the district in the plan period is unlikely to result in significant effects on the international site provided that a monitoring and mitigation strategy is in place. We are working with Natural England to ensure the screening is robust, and to explore a range of measures that could be included in a monitoring and mitigation strategy. The results of the Stage 1 HRA screening show that there are no likely significant effects on the international site provided that appropriate mitigation measures are included.