REPORT of DIRECTOR OF PLANNING AND REGULATORY SERVICES to PLANNING AND LICENSING COMMITTEE 14 JANUARY 2016 MALDON DISTRICT COUNCIL RESPONSE TO THE CHELMSFORD LOCAL PLAN ISSUES AND OPTIONS CONSULTATION 1. PURPOSE OF THE REPORT 1.1 Chelmsford City Council (CCC) published the Chelmsfoord Local Plan Issues and Options consultation document in November 2015. This report presents the Maldon District Council response to the coonsultation. 2. CHELMSFORD LOCAL PLAN ISSUES AND OPTION CONSULTATION DOCUMENT 2.1 Introduction 2.1.1 The current Chelmsford Local Plan was adopted in February 2008, providing a strategy for growth up to 2021. A focused review was undertaken iin 2013. A new Local Plan is therefore being produced to provide a strategy for growth and manage development up to 2036. 2.1.2 The issues and options consultation is the first stage of consultation on the new Chelmsford Local Plan. The consultation document sets out planning issues in the Chelmsford City Council (CCC) area over the next 20 years, and proposes options to address identified issues. The consultation document considers thee amount and location of new homes and jobs, the need for new infrastructure to ssupport growth, and how to protect important landscapes and habitats in the future. 2.1.3 The proposed timescales for the production of the new Local Plan are as follows: • Issues and Options Nov 2015 – Jan 2016 • Preferred Options Summeer 2016 • Pre-submission Local Plan Spring 2017 • Submission Local Plan Summer 2017 • Independent Examination Winter 2017 • Adoption Spring 2018 2.1.4 The deadline for providing consultation responses is the Thursday 21 January 2016. Agenda Item no. 17 Page 1 / 9 Our Vision: Working in Partnership to make the Maldon District a better place to live, work and enjoy 2.2 Content of New Local Plan Issues and Options consultation document 2.2.1 Assessment of objectively assessed needs for housing 2.2.1.1 The consultation document confirms that the assessment of the Chelmsford’s housing market area includes the local autthority areas of Braintree, Colchesster, and Tendring. The Maldon District Council Strategic Housing Market Assessmenntt (DCA, 2014) confirmed that when considering household movement and travel to work patterns Maldon District is a single housing market area. The City Council is preparing this new Local Plan on the basis that it will meet the identified housing requirements for the CCC area only. The new Loccal Plan therefore is not seeking to make provision for the unmet housing requirements of any other local authorities. 2.2.1.2 The latest household projections indicate that 657 new homes per year will be required in the CCC area. The household projections should be adjjusted to ensure there are enough homes to support the number of jobs that are forecast to be provided. Other adjustments can be applied if the supply of housing has been suppressed in the past. A number of indicators can be used to identify whether an addjjustment is required, such as house price rises and levels of employment growtthh. 2.2.1.3 The CCC Objectively Assessed Housing Study concluded that the household projections for the CCC area should be raised to reflect the projected number of jobs in the area. CCC has therefore iddentified 775 dwellings per year as the Council’s Objectively Assessed Housing neeed. 2.2.1.4 CCC is continuing to assess the future need for affordable housing in the CCC area. Where this further assessment may result in an increase in overall housing need, the Council has considered it prudent to test a higher quantum of devellopment. A 20% uplift to the Council’s Objectively Assessed Housing requirement has therefore been added, which represents a total of 14,000 new dwellings for the period up to 2036, 930 dwellings per annum. 2.2.1.5 The uplifted figure of 930 dwellings per annum has been used in the consultation document to test three spatial options for the distribution of growthh. The Council’s housing and jobs targets will continue to be tested taking into account evidence base updates and consultation responses. The final housing targets will be contained within the next stage of the Local Plan consultation, the Preferred Options stage. 2.2.2 Gypsy and Travellers 2.2.2.1 The Essex-wide Gypsy and Traveller and Travelling Showpersons' Accommodation Assessment (2014 GTAA) is the most recent assessment of need. Itt identifies a requirement of 55 additional pitches to be developed between 20133 and 2033 within the CCC area. The 2014 GTAA also identifies a need for at least two publicly provided transit Gypsy and Traveller sites to be delivered in Essex County with at least 10 pitches per site. CCC is not proposing to include sites for ttransit pitches within the Local Plan. Agenda Item no. 17 Page 2 / 9 2.2.3 Employment 2.2.3.1 There are a number of economic forecasts that cover projected employment in the CCC area. The primary forecast used by the Council's demographic consultants Edge Analytics was the East of England Forecasting Model (EEFM) which has been prepared on behalf of all Essex Authorities. The number of jobs identified to meet the latest demographic forecasts for the CCC area was 727 new jobs per year. However, the employment projections for the CCC area indicate a higher jobs number. As outlined above, the identified objectively assessed need for housing has therefore increased to account for the higher employment projections. 2.2.3.2 Taking into account past growth and forecasts within the East of England Forecasting Model, alongside demographic forecasts (Greater Essex Demographic Forecasts - Edge Analytics Phase 7 Report), CCC considers employment growth of 887 jobs per year, a robust number to sustain the local economy. The new Local Plan will therefore allocate appropriate employment land to seek to accommodate this level of jobs growth. 2.2.3.3 The Chelmsford Employment Land Review has assessed the demand for future office floorspace against likely demand. This concludes that there could be a need for up to 49,900sqm of new office floorspace. The consultation document therefore includes a proposed target of 50,000 sqm of new office floorspace. 2.2.4 Retail 2.2.4.1 As part of the evidence base support the new Local Plan, a Retail Capacity Study has been produced to assess the need for new shopping space, for food (convenience) and non-food (comparison) items. The Study identified a current and growing requirement for more convenience floorspace for Chelmsford City and South Woodham Ferrers over the Plan period. The Study identified limited capacity for new non-food floorspace in the CCC area after 2020. 2.2.4.2 The consultation document therefore includes a proposed target of 1,900 sqm and 11,500 sqm of new retail floorspace at South Woodham Ferrers and Chelmsford City respectively. 2.2.5 Spatial options for housing growth 2.2.5.1 The Local Plan consultation document has identified three Spatial Options for accommodating growth in the CCC area up to 2036. The distribution of growth within the three Spatial Options is set out in the table overleaf: Agenda Item no. 17 Page 3 / 9 Table 1: Summary of the spatial options for growth: 2.2.5.2 CCC has identified that up to 2,500 new homes alongside new offices, shops and other commercial development can be accommodated on brownfield land in Chelmsford City. All spatial options therefore include 2,500 dwellings on brownfield land, leaving 11,500 dwellings to be accommodated on greenfield sites across the CCC area. 2.2.5.3 The initial outputs from the SLAA suggest that approximately 18,500 new homes could be provided on deliverable sites outside of the green belt and identified green wedges. The consultation document notes that locations within and close to Chelmsford City and South Woodham Ferrers, as the main city and town, offer the most sustainable locations for future development growth. 2.2.5.4 The identified spatial options seek to focus large amounts of greenfield development at key locations rather than providing a more dispersed approach. This strategy is more beneficial in seeking to deliver necessary infrastructure as it provides an appropriate 'critical mass'. However greenfield developments that are very large will often have significant infrastructure requirements and long lead-in times which render such sites undeliverable within the Plan period. The spatial options therefore do not include locations for growth that exceed 3,000 dwellings. 2.2.5.5 The three spatial options all provide the same amount of development on brownfield sites in Chelmsford City. The difference between each of the spatial options therefore relates to the distribution of development on greenfield sites. 2.2.6 Option 1 – Urban Focus 2.2.6.1 Option 1 seeks to concentrate new development at locations within and/or close to the existing urban areas that are within Chelmsford. These are the urban areas of Agenda Item no. 17 Page 4 / 9 Chelmsford, where the majority of new development would be planned, on land to the north of the town of South Woodham Ferrers, and on land to the north and east of Great Leighs which is two miles south of Braintree and which would provide linkages to development planned in Braintree District. 2.2.6.2 Growth proposed on land to the north of South Woodham Ferrers is likely to have the largest impact on residents of Maldon District. This proposed allocation includes the following: • 2,000 dwellings • 1,000sqm of office floorspace • 1,900sqm of convenience retail floorspace • Proposed delivery between 2021-2031 • The following infrastructure requirements: • Two new primary schools; • Additional secondary school provision; • Additional healthcare provision; • Strategic pedestrian/cycle connectivity; • Improvements to inter-urban bus services Local highway network improvements; • Highway capacity improvements to A132; • Potential improvements to the wider strategic highway network; • New Neighbourhood Centre/focus; • Open space, leisure, recreation and community facilities; • Green Buffer to north and west.