Core Strategy Preferred Options: Rural Area Spatial Options Technical Paper Core Strategy Preferred Options: Rural Area Spatial Options Technical Background Paper June 2007 Core Strategy Preferred Options: Rural Area Spatial Options Technical Paper Contents Purpose and Structure of this Paper................................................................3 1. Parameters for the Core Strategy Rural Area Spatial Strategy ..................4 National Policy............................................................................................4 The Milton Keynes Core Strategy...............................................................4 2. Background to Rural Area Development Strategy in Milton Keynes...........5 The Adopted Local Plan .............................................................................5 Evidence to the Draft South East Plan Examination in Public ....................5 3. Considerations for Future Rural Area Spatial Strategy...............................7 Demographic Trends ..................................................................................7 Health 7 Availability of Rural Services and Facilities ................................................8 Healthchecks and Village Plans and Appraisals.......................................10 The Role of Newport Pagnell....................................................................10 Employment Land Study ..........................................................................10 Council Owned Garage Sites ...................................................................11 Windfall 11 Plans of Other Key Stakeholder and Service Providers ...........................11 4. Options for the Core Strategy...................................................................13 Housing Numbers.....................................................................................13 Spatial Strategy Options...........................................................................13 Annex A Rural Services Audit: Changes Between 1998 and 2007.........15 Annex B Public Transport Provision: Changes Between 1998 and 200717 Annex C Education Provision: Changes Between 1998 and 2007..........18 Annex D Correlation Between Rural Settlement Population and Key Services....................................................................................19 Annex E Housing Completions and School Rolls....................................20 Annex F Windfall Development 2001/02-2006/07...................................24 2 Core Strategy Preferred Options: Rural Area Spatial Options Technical Paper Purpose and Structure of this Paper The purpose of this Paper is to identify the main issues in relation to the potential of the rural area to accommodate residential development over the period of the Core Strategy. It draws together information and evidence as at April 2007. It moves on to a summary of potential Spatial Options on the back of this current evidence. The Paper is structured into the following sections: 1. Parameters for the Core Strategy Rural Area Spatial Strategy – what the Core Strategy needs to provide to meet national policy and the relationship with the adopted Local Plan. 2. Background to Rural Area Development Strategy in Milton Keynes – the adopted Local Plan and the council’s position on the long-term Growth Strategy for Milton Keynes in respect of the rural area. 3. Other Relevant Considerations – a review of newly completed or emerging work that has a bearing on the rural spatial strategy. 4. Options for the Core Strategy – discussion of the various Preferred Options in light of the current Local Plan, evidence base. 3 Core Strategy Preferred Options: Rural Area Spatial Options Technical Paper 1. Parameters for the Core Strategy Rural Area Spatial Strategy National Policy Planning Policy Statement 3 (PPS3) sets out national guidance for identifying suitable locations for housing development. The overarching policy is to develop housing in conjunction with good access to community facilities, jobs, key services and infrastructure. It advises local authorities to take into account the need to provide housing in rural areas in order to enhance or maintain sustainability. Planning Policy Statement 7 (PPS7) states that in rural areas local authorities should focus most new development in or near to local service centres where employment, housing, services and other facilities can be provided close together. It also states that authorities should allow some limited development in, or next to, rural settlements that are not designated as local service centres, in order to meet local business and community needs and to maintain the vitality of these communities. The Milton Keynes Core Strategy In terms of overall housing numbers the approved Sub Regional Spatial Strategy and the draft new Regional Spatial Strategy (the South East Plan) do not set a housing target for development in the rural part of the Borough. They do say, however, that development in the rural area will ‘continue to be related to local needs at the same rate’. The adopted Local Plan provides new sites for development up to the period 2011 at Newport Pagnell, Woburn Sands, Olney, Hanslope, and Bow Brickhill. A Strategic Reserve Area is also identified at Newport Pagnell The Core Strategy needs to set out what further development is required in the rural area in the period 2011-2026, and a spatial strategy. 4 Core Strategy Preferred Options: Rural Area Spatial Options Technical Paper 2. Background to Rural Area Development Strategy in Milton Keynes The Adopted Local Plan The current Local Plan was adopted in December 2005. The Development Strategy in the Local Plan (under Policy S1) is to concentrate new development at Milton Keynes City, and in or around existing centres. In the rural area those centres include Newport Pagnell, Woburn Sands and Olney, which are classified as ‘Key Settlements’. In addition to this Hanslope and Bow Brickhill are classified as ‘Selected Villages’. In these villages there is provision for small-scale development to help support and improve local facilities, in line with parish council support. In ‘Other Villages’ and ‘Open Countryside’ there is a restrictive approach to new development. The strategy of Key Settlements, Selected Villages, and Other Villages was based on the principle of concentrated, rather than dispersed, growth. The Key Settlements were identified by assessing facilities and accessibility by public transport. Newport Pagnell, Woburn Sands and Olney are the 3 largest settlements and have the widest range of services. The Selected Villages are considered an exception to the overall strategy. However they were identified on the basis of sustained parish council support for some limited new development. During the production of the Local Plan the council, in conjunction with parish councils, investigated the level of local support for new development. This was particularly investigated in villages where there are schools. Where there was no such support these settlements have been identified as ‘Other Villages’ where development is confined to within the limits of development. Some settlements in the borough are so small, or are so physically disparate that a limit of development is not considered appropriate. In this case the village is shown as being within Open Countryside where development is restricted to only essential agricultural, forestry or recreational uses. Development in the rural part of the Borough averages at about 120 dwellings per year. The rural development strategy was supported by the Inspector at the Local Plan Inquiry. Evidence to the Draft South East Plan Examination in Public In the council’s evidence to the draft South East Plan Examination in Public (looking at development in the period 2006-2026) the council stated that it 5 Core Strategy Preferred Options: Rural Area Spatial Options Technical Paper considers it unrealistic to make no provision for additional housing in the rest of the Borough. The adopted Local Plan provides for development sites up to 2011 but after that the council suggested that the South East Plan should allow for current rates to continue - i.e. 120 dwellings per year, from 2011 to 2026. This would provide about 1,800 dwellings in total. 6 Core Strategy Preferred Options: Rural Area Spatial Options Technical Paper 3. Considerations for Future Rural Area Spatial Strategy Demographic Trends The population of the rural area in the 2001 census was 35,024. This is almost 17% of the Milton Keynes total. In 2001 the mean age in the rural area was 39 years compared to around 33 years in the urban area. Only 9% of the urban population was aged over 65 in 2001 compared to almost 14% of the rural population. By 2006 this had risen to almost 15% in the rural area compared to less than 10% in the urban area. Population aging, a national phenomenon, is affecting both areas but is most marked in the rural area. In 2006 the median age in the urban area was 35 but in the rural area it was over 40. At ward level by 2026 the retired population aged 65 plus will have risen to 16% in urban wards but the rise will be more substantial in the rural wards with 23% of the population aged 65 or older. Most population growth will occur in the urban area as this is where the majority of new houses are planned to be built, which forms a key driver for inward migration. This has the effect of counteracting the level of population aging in the urban area as migrants have a predominantly younger age profile. A development