Appendix 3 Settlement Hierarchy The Plan for the Borough of Wellingborough: Background Paper Date: October 2015 Swanspool House, Doddington Road, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, NN8 1BP Tel: 01933 229777 DX 12865 www.wellingborough.gov.uk 1. Introduction 1.1 The settlement hierarchy is a key part of the new local plan evidence base. The new local plan will be formed of two parts. Part 1 of the new local plan comprises the emerging Joint Core Strategy (JCS) that includes high level strategic policies. The Plan for the Borough of Wellingborough (PBW) will form Part 2 of the new local plan and will provide more locally specific policies. 1.2 The aim of this background paper is to assess whether there is any requirement for the PBW to consider the inclusion of specific detailed policy on settlement hierarchy, further to that provided in the policies of the emerging JCS. 1.3 A settlement hierarchy is a way of categorising the boroughs settlements to recognise their different roles. A hierarchy groups together the settlements that have similar characteristics. At the top of the hierarchy are the larger settlements that fulfil most functions, have the best infrastructure (facilities and services) and are most easy to get to by sustainable forms of travel. The smaller settlements, with least functions, infrastructure and transport links, are nearer the bottom of the hierarchy. This helps us decide how to sustainably distribute development between settlements. 1.4 In order to fulfil the aim of this paper the following steps will be completed; • Examination of local and national policy • Desk top examination of settlements in the borough • Collection of evidence through a parish council questionnaire and site visits • Review of responses to the Issues and Options Consultation • Identification and analysis of available options • Recommendations 2. Current Planning Policy Position 2.1. There are a number of existing plans and frameworks that should be considered when developing the scope of any settlement hierarchy for the borough. 2.2. The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) forms the foundation upon which all planning policies are developed. The National Planning Practice Guidance (NPPG) was introduced in March 2014 and provides detail on how the NPPF should be implemented. 2.3. The current adopted development plan for the borough comprises the Borough of Wellingborough Local Plan, adopted in 1999 (alteration adopted 2004), and the more recent policies of the North Northamptonshire Core Spatial Strategy (CSS) 2008. Together, these policies describe the settlement hierarchy in the borough currently; including specific controls that are in place to both guide and restrict development. 2.4. The Site Specific Proposals Development Plan Document (SSPDPD) was proposed to complement the CSS and update locally specific policy in the borough. The SSPDPD was developed up to preferred options stage in 2010. It was then withdrawn due to the timing of the NPPF and the commencement of work on the emerging JCS. At the same time the work that underpinned the SSPDPD, including its analysis of the sustainability of settlements, provides relevant background to the development of a future hierarchy for the borough. 2 2.5. It is important to ensure that any future settlement hierarchy for the borough does not stifle the ability of local people to develop a neighbourhood plan that is appropriate for their parish or village. 2.6. The existing settlement hierarchy situation described in the adopted local plan, along with the background detail provided by the SSPDPD, will serve as the start point for the assessment within this paper. However, recommended outcomes in this paper will be in line with the strategic policies of the emerging JCS which, in turn, will be NPPF compliant. National policy National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and National Planning Policy Guidance (NPPG) 2.7. The government published the NPPF on 27 March 2012, replacing most previous national planning policy. The purpose of the planning system is to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development. Paragraph 7 of the NPPF defines sustainable development as having three dimensions; those being economic, social and environmental dimensions. 2.8. One of the key principles of national policy is an understanding of the different roles and character of different areas. This enables the borough council to direct growth to those areas that are most sustainable in terms of the services and facilities they offer, or can be made more sustainable through additional growth, and the ease of getting to them. The NPPF additionally identifies that housing in particular should be located where it will enhance or maintain the vitality of rural communities. For example, where there are groups of smaller settlements, development in one village may support services in a nearby village. 2.9. The NPPG advises that 'all settlements can play a role in delivering sustainable development in rural areas – and so blanket policies restricting housing development in some settlements and preventing other settlements from expanding should be avoided unless their use can be supported by robust evidence'. Adopted local plan policy Borough of Wellingborough Local Plan 1999 2.10. The adopted Local Plan comprises a number of policies saved under a direction by the Secretary of State in September 2007 that remain consistent with the NPPF. 2.11. Wellingborough town has consistently been identified as being at the top of the borough’s settlement hierarchy, including upon adoption of the 1999 Plan. 2.12. In terms of the rural area Policy G4 (Villages), Policy G5 (Restraint Villages), Policy G6 (Open Countryside) and Policy H4 (Restraint Villages and Open Countryside) all seek to set out a hierarchy of villages and guidelines on how and where new development will be permitted. 2.13. Policy G4 ‘Villages’ identifies two tiers of settlements in the rural area that are expected to accommodate managed levels of growth within the confines of the settlement. The tiers identified comprise the following: 3 Limited development villages: • Earls Barton • Finedon • Wollaston Restricted infill villages: • Bozeat • Isham • Ecton • Little Harrowden • Great Doddington • Little Irchester • Great Harrowden • Mears Ashby • Grendon • Orlingbury • Hardwick • Sywell, excluding the Old Village • Irchester • Wilby 2.6 Formerly, Policies H2 and H3 of the Local Plan then went on to clarify the distinction between limited development villages and restricted infill villages. These policies, however, were not saved and have since been deleted. In effect, the policies listed as limited development villages and restricted infill villages currently comprise a single tier in the existing hierarchy. To ensure that the extent of acceptable and sustainable growth in these villages is more clearly defined, they are all subject to a settlement boundary (village policy line) identified on their respective inset map. 2.7 Policy G5 ‘Restraint Villages’ then effectively identifies the lowest tier of settlements in the borough’s hierarchy, comprising the following villages: • Easton Maudit; • Strixton; and • Sywell Old Village 2.8 The Local Plan describes these villages as being ‘small settlements of considerable character’, justifying their differentiation from the villages identified in Policy G4. It goes on to state that ‘most development will not normally be acceptable’ in these villages and that ‘because of the close visual relationship of these villages to the surrounding countryside, village policy lines are inappropriate’. 2.9 These villages are therefore not subject to an identified settlement boundary as part of the Local Plan and are considered as open countryside along with other small groups of dwellings across the borough, known as ‘settlements of dispersed form’. These currently include Furnace Lane cottages, Lower End Grendon, Orlingbury Road Isham, and Hill Top Little Harrowden. 2.10 Beyond the hierarchy set out by Policies G4 and G5, the rest of the rural area is to be treated as open countryside. Development in the open countryside is currently severely restrained, with the exceptions set out in Policy G6. Policy H4 ‘Restraint Villages and the Open Countryside’ further comprises the borough’s policy on the types of development that may come forward in either location. 4 North Northamptonshire Core Spatial Strategy 2008 2.11 In 2008 the CSS sought to clarify and in some ways redefine and update the settlement hierarchy applicable to the borough. Table 1 of the CSS reaffirms the principle role that Wellingborough town plays in the borough as the focus for growth and investment, defining it as a ‘Growth Town’. The strategy then identifies three further tiers of settlements as follows: • Smaller towns (a list of defined more urban towns providing secondary focal points for growth); • Rural service centres (a list of larger rural settlements expected to provide the main focal point for infrastructure and development in the rural area); and • Rural areas (all other villages who are to be dependent on the other larger settlements of the Plan area to fulfil their servicing and housing needs) 2.12 Apart from Wellingborough town, all of the other settlements within the borough are identified as Rural Areas, where the scale of development is led by locally identified need. Withdrawn local plan policy Wellingborough Site Specific Proposals Development Plan Document – Preferred Options 2010 2.13 The CSS gave the borough council the option to