Core Strategy Issues and Options Consultation ✓ Preferred Options Consultation Submission Consultation CONSULTATION DOCUMENT To To To Cambridge Peterborough Royston To Cambridge A1(M) A10A10 M11 Rib A507 BUNTING- Beane FORD Elsenham STEVENAGE Ash West of Stort Stevenage Walkern A10A10 Braughing Bishop’s Stortford North Puckeridge A120 A602 A120 High Cross JNCT 8 A120 A602 To Braintree Mimram Watton- Rib Chelmsford at-Stone Much BISHOP’S WELWYN A10A10 Hadham STORTFORD G.C. A1184 Mimram A119 Beane B1004 Ash Hunsdon Tewin lt Review SAWBRIDGE- Be WARE n JNCT 4 e WORTH e North To St Albans A414A414 r G of Harlow Stanstead Abbotts & St Margarets A414A414 Lee HERTFORD Hertford Heath Stort HARLOW JNCT 7 A414A414 A10A10 Lea Consultation closes 5pm Thursday November 25, 2010 Visit our Consultation Portal at http://eastherts-consult.limehouse.co.uk Contents How to navigate this document 5 Chapter 1 Background and Context 8 East 1.1 Purpose of this Issues and Options Consultation Document 8 1.2 What is the Core Strategy? 8 Herts 1.3 How to respond to this Consultation Document 9 Core 1.4 Why Planning Matters 10 1.5 Identifying Issues and Generating Options 11 Strategy 1.6 Testing the Options 14 1.7 National Planning Context 15 | 1.8 Regional Planning Context 16 Issues 1.9 Partnership Working 17 1.10 Evidence: Community and Stakeholder Engagement 18 and 1.11 Evidence: Strategies and Studies 19 Options 1.12 Evidence: Infrastructure 20 Chapter 2 Key Issues and Vision 24 2.1 Purpose of Chapter 2 24 2.2 A Portrait of East Herts 25 2.3 Identifying the Issues: What You Have Told Us 27 2.4 Theme 1: East Herts Energy and Climate Change 28 2.5 Theme 2: East Herts People and Community Safety 30 2.6 Theme 3: Housing East Herts 32 2.7 Theme 4: East Herts Character 39 2.8 Theme 5: East Herts Economy, Skills and Prosperity 43 2.9 Theme 6: East Herts On the Move 47 2.10 Theme 7: East Herts Health, Wellbeing and Play 52 2.11 Theme 8: Green East Herts 56 2.12 Theme 9: East Herts Monitoring and Delivery 59 2.13 Everyone Matters: East Herts LDF Vision 62 Contents Chapter 3 Development Strategy 66 3.1 Purpose of Chapter 3 66 3.2 How Many Homes Do We Need? 67 3.3 How Much Housing Land Do We Need? 72 Options 3.4 How Many Jobs Do We Need? 74 3.5 Land Availability: Call for Sites 77 and 3.6 Green Belt Review 81 3.7 Generating the Options 84 Issues | 3.8 Option A: Towns 88 3.9 Option B: Towns and Larger Service Villages 90 3.10 Option C: Towns, Larger Service Villages, and Smaller Service Strategy 92 Villages Core 3.11 Option D: Towns, Larger Service Villages, Smaller Service Villages 94 and Other Villages / Hamlets 3.12 Option E: Towns, Stevenage and Welwyn Garden City 96 Herts 3.13 Option F: Settlements within Transport Corridors 98 East 3.14 Assessment of Options A - F 100 3.15 Housing Distribution Options 104 Chapter 4 Bishop’s Stortford 108 4.1 Purpose of the Bishop’s Stortford Chapter 108 4.2 A Portrait of Bishop’s Stortford 108 4.3 Bishop’s Stortford: Key Issues 114 4.4 Current Planning Context 120 4.5 Bishop’s Stortford: Future Growth Options 124 4.6 Bishop’s Stortford: Emerging LDF Vision 129 Contents Chapter 5 Buntingford 134 5.1 Purpose of the Buntingford Chapter 134 5.2 A Portrait of Buntingford 134 East 5.3 Buntingford: Key Issues 140 Herts 5.4 Current Planning Context 144 5.5 Buntingford: Future Growth Options 145 Core 5.6 Buntingford: Emerging LDF Vision 150 Strategy Chapter 6 Hertford 154 6.1 Purpose of the Hertford Chapter 154 | 6.2 A Portrait of Hertford 154 Issues 6.3 Hertford: Key Issues 160 6.4 Current Planning Context 168 and 6.5 Hertford: Future Growth Options 169 Options 6.6 Hertford: Emerging LDF Vision 174 Chapter 7 Sawbridgeworth 178 7.1 Purpose of the Sawbridgeworth Chapter 178 7.2 A Portrait of Sawbridgeworth 178 7.3 Sawbridgeworth: Key Issues 184 7.4 Current Planning Context 191 7.5 Sawbridgeworth: Future Growth Options 192 7.6 Sawbridgeworth: Emerging LDF Vision 196 Chapter 8 Ware 200 8.1 Purpose of the Ware Chapter 200 8.2 A Portrait of Ware 200 8.3 Ware: Key Issues 206 8.4 Current Planning Context 214 8.5 Ware: Future Growth Options 215 8.6 Ware: Emerging LDF Vision 220 Contents Chapter 9 Villages 224 9.1 Purpose of the Villages Chapter 224 9.2 What is a Village? 224 9.3 Villages: Key Issues 228 Options 9.4 Current Planning Context 231 9.5 The Approach to Development in the Villages 234 and 9.6 Identifying Villages for Development 236 9.7 Villages: An Emerging LDF Vision 241 Issues | Chapter 10 North of Harlow 246 10.1 Purpose of the North of Harlow Chapter 246 Strategy 10.2 Current Planning Context 246 10.3 North of Harlow Context 248 Core 10.4 The Consultants’ Study: Background and Scope 249 Herts 10.5 The Consultants’ Study: Methodology and Options 250 10.6 The Consultants’ Study: Options Testing and Suggested Approach257 East 10.7 Further Technical Work 260 Glossary 264 How to navigate this document You may only be interested in a selection of the questions in this document. If so, you may wish to navigate directly to particular sections. 5 To do this, please use the navigation bar on the left-hand side of the screen. You East will notice that the document is arranged across ten chapters. If you click on the '+' symbol next to each chapter, you can show (expand) the particular sections within each chapter. By clicking on the blue icon for any particular chapter or section you Herts will be directed straight to the start of the relevant content. By clicking the '-' symbol you can hide (collapse) sections within each chapter. Core The location of each question in the document is shown in the table below. Strategy Chapter Question Numbers Question Section Numbers | Issues 1: Background and Context 1 and 2 1.6 2: Key Issues and Vision 3 to 21 2.4 to 2.13 and 3: Development Strategy 22 and 23 3.14 and 3.15 Options 4: Bishop's Stortford 24 to 26 4.5 to 4.6 5: Buntingford 27 to 29 5.5 to 5.6 6: Hertford 30 to 32 6.5 to 6.6 7: Sawbridgeworth 33 to 35 7.5 to 7.6 8: Ware 36 to 38 8.5 to 8.6 9: Villages 39 to 42 9.5 to 9.7 10: North of Harlow 43 10.6 In order to understand any consultation question, you should read the relevant parts of the Issues and Options consultation document. Chapters 1 to 3 provide the context for subsequent chapters, and therefore ideally you should read them first, even if you only intend to answer one or two questions on a particular issue or settlement. If you answer questions on any particular settlement, you should read the entire chapter in order to fully understand the context of the question. For ease of reading, you can also select any chapter or section to download as a PDF by clicking the 'Download Document' button. Consultation questions are contained in blue boxes. Above each box there is a line which says "Add Comment". Click the words "Add Comment" and a form will appear, into which you can type your response or upload a file (such as a Word document or PDF). You can then either save and review your submission, or click "Submit". East Herts Core Strategy | Issues and Options 6 How to navigate this document Chapter 1 Background and Context Chapter 1 . Background and Context 1.1 Purpose of this Issues and Options Consultation Document 8 1.1.1 This Issues and Options consultation document represents the initial draft of the East Herts Core Strategy; the new overarching planning document for the district which, as part of the East Herts Local Development Framework (LDF), will replace the East Herts Local Plan 2007 from 2013. Options 1.1.2 The focus of the planning system has shifted away from being solely concerned with how land is used, to a wider understanding of how places and such as towns and villages function. This is especially important in a rural district like East Herts where we need to carefully balance competing social, environmental and economic demands to ensure that we maintain our high Issues | quality of life for both our generation and future generations. 1.1.3 East Herts Council, as the local planning authority must prepare a series of planning policies for its local area that set out how the Council will manage Strategy development proposals on behalf of its residents. These policies are set out in a plan which is used to judge applications for development such as changes to the use of land and the design of the built environment. However, unlike Core the Local Plan, the LDF is not a single document; rather it is a series or folder of documents each of which has a separate purpose and function. Herts 1.1.4 More information on the East Herts LDF can be found in the Issues and Options Supporting Document that accompanies this consultation which is East available to view and download at www.tinyurls.co.uk/H9282. This chapter includes questions 1 and 2. 1.2 What is the Core Strategy? 1.2.1 The Core Strategy is the key planning document for the district that will set out the overarching development strategy for East Herts to 2031.