Local Development Plan Preferred Options Paper
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Local Development Plan Preferred Options Paper MARCH 2018 www.armaghbanbridgecraigavon.gov.uk Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council Have your say Public consultation on the Preferred Options Paper (POP) will begin on 28 March 2018, and will be open for a period of 9 weeks, ending on 30 May 2018. Availability of Preferred Options Paper The POP document and supporting information, including the Sustainability Appraisal (SA) Interim Report, will be available on the Council’s website: www.armaghbanbridgecraigavon.gov.uk The POP document is also available in hard copy to view during office hours at the following locations: Planning Office, Bridgewater House, 23a Castlewellan Road, Banbridge, BT32 4AX Banbridge Civic Building, Downshire Road, Banbridge, BT32 3JY Craigavon Civic and Conference Centre, 66 Lakeview Road, Craigavon, BT64 1AL Palace Buildings, The Palace Demesne, Friary Road, Armagh, BT60 4EL Your comments on the POP Document and supporting information can be submitted by the various means below: By email: [email protected] By post: Planning LDP Team Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council Bridgewater House 23a Castlewellan Road Banbridge, BT32 4AX Online Questionnaire: https://armaghbanbridgecraigavon.citizenspace.com The closing date for the receipt of comments is: 30 May 2018, at 5.00pm Please note that representations made at the POP stage should relate to strategic planning issues affecting our Borough. There will be an opportunity to engage in respect of more specific issues later in the LDP process. The POP and supporting documents can be made available on request in other formats, and alternative languages where possible, by contacting the Council’s Planning Office: By telephone: 0300 200 7830 (NI General Planning Line); 0300 0300 900 (Main Council Line) 2 Preferred Options Paper Public Consultation Arrangements Public consultation on our Preferred Options Paper will run from 28 March 2018 and end on 30 May 2018. In the course of this consultation period there will be a series of public engagement sessions, during which you will have opportunity to view the POP document and supporting information and engage with members of our Local Development Plan team. Details of these events are set out below: DATE EVENT TYPE LOCATION Tuesday 10 April 2018 Public Engagement Session The Palace Demesne Afternoon (1.30pm - 3.30pm) Friary Road Evening (5.30pm – 7.30pm) Armagh BT60 4EL Wednesday 11 April 2018 Public Engagement Session The Palace Demesne Afternoon (1.30pm - 3.30pm) Friary Road Evening (5.30pm – 7.30pm) Armagh BT60 4EL Wednesday 18 April 2018 Public Engagement Session The Old Town Hall Afternoon (1.30pm - 3.30pm) 1 Scarva Street Evening (5.30pm – 7.30pm) Banbridge BT32 3DA Thursday 19 April 2018 Public Engagement Session The Old Town Hall Afternoon (1.30pm - 3.30pm) 1 Scarva Street Evening (5.30pm – 7.30pm) Banbridge BT32 3DA Tuesday 24th April 2018 Public Engagement Session Millennium Court Arts Centre, Afternoon (1.30pm – 3.30pm) William Street, Evening (5.30pm – 7.30pm) Portadown, BT62 3NX Friday 27 April 2018 Public Engagement Session Brownlow Community Hub Afternoon (1.30pm - 3.30pm) 7 Brownlow Road Evening (5.30pm – 7.30pm) Craigavon BT65 5DL Tuesday 1 May 2018 Public Engagement Session Tommy Makem Arts & Community Centre Afternoon (1.30pm - 3.30pm) 7 Cow Fair Evening (5.30pm – 7.30pm) Keady Armagh BT60 3UE Friday 4 May 2018 Public Engagement Session Brownlow Community Hub Afternoon (1.30pm - 3.30pm) 7 Brownlow Road Evening (5.30pm – 7.30pm) Craigavon BT65 5DL Tuesday 15 May 2018 Public Engagement Session Rathfriland Community Centre Afternoon (1.30pm - 3.30pm) John Street Evening (5.30pm – 7.30pm) Rathfriland BT34 5QH Tuesday 22 May 2018 Public Engagement Session Lough Neagh Discovery Centre Afternoon (1.30pm - 3.30pm) Oxford Island Evening (5.30pm – 7.30pm) BT66 6NJ 3 Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council Foreword Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council is very pleased to present our Preferred Options Paper (POP) as the initial stage in the development of the Borough’s first Local Development Plan (LDP). The transfer of the majority of planning powers to Council combined with Community Planning provides us with a real opportunity to shape the future of our Borough. Currently all planning decisions are considered in the context of Central Government Area Plans, some of which are well past their notional end dates. The new LDP is an essential tool in achieving our Council’s vision and aims. It allows us to bring forward a planning framework which will guide sustainable development, support inward investment and protect and enhance our environment. The LDP supports the delivery of the Council’s Community Plan ‘Connected’, 2017-2030, which provides a strategic framework for the Borough for collaborative working, helping to integrate local and regional strategies and plans which will deliver positive change for local communities. Ensuring that local voices are considered is fundamental to the Community Plan process and as such, it is crucial that the LDP as the spatial reflection of the Community Plan, includes a meaningful and robust engagement framework. The Preferred Options Paper (POP) is the first formal stage in the preparation of the LDP, and the first of three main public consultation documents that we will issue during the Plan process. The POP is designed to promote focused debate on key issues of strategic significance which are likely to influence the direction of future development within our Borough to 2030. As such this Paper sets out the key plan issues and the options available to address them, along with our Council’s Preferred Options. The main purpose of this consultation is to encourage feedback from a wide variety of interests and stakeholders so that they may be taken into account during the preparation of the Draft Plan Strategy, which is the next phase of the LDP. Therefore the POP offers the opportunity to influence the LDP, which will contain the planning policy framework and land use proposals needed to guide future development decisions within the Borough up to 2030. Your views are very important to us and we welcome your comments on our Preferred Options Paper. Alderman Freda Donnelly, Chair of Planning and Regulatory Services Committee 4 Preferred Options Paper Contents Have your say 2 Public Consultation Arrangements 3 Foreword 4 1. Introduction 6 2. Policy Context 12 3. Borough Profile 18 4. Vision, Overarching Principles and Strategic Objectives 24 5. Spatial Growth Strategy 30 Settlement Hierarchy (Key Issue SGS 1) Housing Allocation (Key Issue SGS 2) Economic Development Lands Allocation (Key Issue SGS 3) 6. Social Theme 52 Urban Housing (Key Issue SOC 1) Rural Housing (Key Issue SOC 2) Design and Place-Making (Key Issue SOC 3) Open Space, Sport and Outdoor Recreation (Key Issues SOC 4-5) Community and Cultural Facilities (Key Issue SOC 6) Developer Contributions (Key Issue SOC 7) 7. Economic Theme 90 Economic Development- Urban (Key Issues ECN 1- 3) Economic Development- Rural (Key Issue ECN 4) Town Centres and Retailing (Key Issues ECN 5- 9) Tourism (Key Issue ECN 10) Minerals Development (Key Issue ECN 11) Infrastructure, Telecommunications and Utilities (Key Issue ECN 12) Transportation (Key Issues ECN 13-18) 8. Environment Theme 148 Built Heritage and Archaeology (Key Issue ENV 1) Natural Heritage (Key Issues ENV 2-3) Landscape (Key Issues ENV 4-6) Flood Risk and Drainage (Key Issues ENV 7-8) Renewable Energy (Key Issue ENV 9) Waste Management (Key Issue ENV 10) 9. Appendices 184 Appendix A: Glossary Appendix B: Local Development Plan Preparatory Papers Appendix C: Existing Suite of Planning Policy and Supplementary Guidance Appendix D: List of Key Issues Appendix E: List of Maps, Figures and Tables Next Steps 193 5 Preferred Options Paper 1. Introduction The following section outlines the purpose of the Local Development Plan (LDP) and provides an overview of the stages involved in the LDP process. 7 Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council Background In April 2015, the responsibility for includes the preparation and review of planning transferred from the former the Local Development Plan (LDP) for the Department of Environment (DOE) to Borough, which our Council has begun Local Councils under the Planning Act work on. (Northern Ireland) 2011. This broad range of new powers and responsibilities What is the purpose of the Local Development Plan? The Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon housing, employment and services, whilst take account of the regional direction Borough Council Local Development protecting our unique environment. The in the Regional Development Strategy Plan (LDP), comprising the Plan Strategy planning framework for development 2035 (RDS), the Sustainable Development and Local Policies Plan, is to inform the and land use over the plan period Strategy for Northern Ireland (SDS) and general public, statutory authorities, will be developed in line with the the Strategic Planning Policy Statement developers, investors and other widely accepted term of Sustainable (SPPS). Once adopted, the LDP will interested bodies of the policy framework Development which is defined as replace the operational planning policies and land use proposals that will guide ‘meeting the needs of the present without in the existing Area Plans that were development decisions within the compromising the ability of future produced by the former Department of Borough up to 2030. generations to meet their own needs.’ the Environment (DOE) – now Department for Infrastructure (DfI). The LDP will seek to facilitate future In order to contribute to the delivery of growth throughout the Borough for sustainable development, the LDP will The Local Development Plan Process There are four key stages in the LDP • Publication of the LDP Timetable and • Publication of the Preferred process (as illustrated in Figure 1.1), Statement of Community Involvement Options Paper (POP) and summarised as follows: (SCI); associated documentation for • Informal consultation with Elected public consultation.