Wycombe District Council Draft Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment Version 1 issued November 2015 Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment (HELAA) November 2015 1 Introduction What is a Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment (HELAA)? 1.1 The HELAA incorporates what was formerly known as a Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA). The HELAA is a technical study of all potential housing, economic and retail sites within Wycombe District. It performs the following functions: - It identifies potential sites for housing, employment and retail from a variety of different sources - it gives an indication of the potential overall scale of land that may be available for development - it looks at their suitability for housing, employment and retail use, with likely timescales for deliverability; - It does not make policy decisions or allocate sites but informs plan making. 1.2 The requirement for a HELAA is set out in paragraph 159 of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and in the Department for Community and Local Government (DCLG) Planning Practice Guidance (PPG) under the section ‘Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment’, which provides detailed guidance on how to carry out a HELAA. 1.3 The HELAA presents a strategic picture of the availability and suitability of land for development, providing a key component of the evidence base to inform the preparation of the new Local Plan for a period of 2013 - 2033. It attempts to establish realistic assumptions about the number of homes, employment and retail floorspace that this land could yield and the timeframe within which this might come forward. 1.4 This HELAA report follows the published joint methodology set out in the ‘Central Buckinghamshire HELAA Methodology’1 which is in accordance with the NPPF requirements and follows guidance from the PPG. It is a jointly agreed methodology between Aylesbury Vale, Chiltern and Wycombe District Councils which make up the Housing Market Area and Functional Economic Market Area2. This follows the requirement set out in the PPG for a HELAA to be carried out for the housing and economic market area3. 1.5 Wycombe District Council is currently working on a new Local Plan for the District. An interim SHLAA was published in February 2014 which looked afresh at Wycombe’s housing land availability and formed part of the evidence for Local Plan Issues and Options consultation in early 2014. This report forms an update to the interim SHLAA, identifying the potential housing, economic and retail sites for the 1Central Bucks Joint HELAA Methodology (May 2015) - http://www.wycombe.gov.uk/council-services/planning-and- buildings/planning-policy/new-local-plan/supporting-evidence.aspx 2 Housing Market Areas and Functional Economic Market Areas in Buckinghamshire (March 2015) 3 Paragraph: 007 Reference ID: 3-007-20140306 of the PPG 2 new Local Plan (2013-33), with housing monitoring information based at 1 April 2015. 1.6 The HELAA also plays an important role in the plan monitoring process, providing evidence of the level and distribution of past development, contributing to the district’s rolling five year housing requirement. 1.7 The PPG ‘as amended’ introduces some subtle yet important changes when considering the potential supply of development land. The approach now includes the availability of economic development (not just housing as previously), inclusion of C24 use class (including care homes), the treatment of planning permissions and the inclusion of windfall (set out in paragraph 48 of the NPPF), but the exclusion of residential garden land (without a planning permission). 1.8 It is important to note that whilst the HELAA must be grounded in reality (sites must be realistic and viable) nonetheless its key role is to identify the volume and geography of potential supply. It is important to note that it is not the purpose of the HELAA to allocate land for residential or economic development. That is to be carried out through the Local Plan process. The identification of a specific site in this assessment does not necessarily mean that the site will be allocated for housing or economic development or that planning permission will be granted. It is important to note that the inclusion of any dwelling or floor space potential number for a site does not in any way imply acceptability of that particular level of development. Any proposal would need to be considered as part of the formal planning application process. This report is a draft report and we would welcome comments on the findings to date. In addition we would welcome any suggestions for sites that are not included in this report. Please send your comments by Sunday 13 December: E mail: [email protected] By post to: Charlotte Morris Planning Policy Team Wycombe District Council Council Offices Queen Victoria Road High Wycombe HP11 1BB 4 Paragraph: 037 (Reference ID: 3-037-20150320) of the Planning Practice Guidance (PPG) 3 2 Methodology 2.1 The Bucks Joint HELAA Methodology5 follows the methodology set out in the PPG6 as shown in the figure 1 below: Figure 1 - HELAA methodology Flow Chart 5 Central Bucks HELAA Methodology - http://www.wycombe.gov.uk/council-services/planning-and- buildings/planning-policy/new-local-plan/supporting-evidence.aspx 6 Housing and economic land availability assessment Methodology – flow chart 4 Stage 1 – Site Identification 2.2 Sites have been identified through sources identified in Table 1 of the Joint Methodology and paragraph 2.21 – 2.22 specifically for economic development sites. These are summarised as those sites within the planning process (under construction, unimplemented planning permission, prior notifications, planning applications approved subject to legal agreement, recent refused or withdrawn permission and those at pre- application inquiry stage); allocated sites; sites promoted through call for sites including from developers, landowners such as registered social landlords (e.g. Red Kite), Bucks County Council and Wycombe District Council; vacant and derelict sites; and sites known by Planning Officers. 2.3 Sites are grouped into different types, with those sites listed first where the deliverability is the most certain: - Sites under construction with units which have not yet been completed - Sites with planning permission but not yet implemented - Sites with prior notification for office to residential (PAJ)7 - Allocated sites in existing Local Plan documents - Core Strategy Reserve sites which have been released for development - Urban and rural brownfield sites (not employment) - Employments site (urban and rural) - Greenfield sites within a settlement - Peripheral greenfield sites on the edge of settlements 2.4 Each site is then considered through a set of initial ‘stage 1’ criteria, which is set out in Table 2 of the Joint Methodology. This excludes sites where; - site size is below the minimum size (5 or more dwellings (net) or 0.25ha for employment and retail); - national environmental constraints (including flooding, Sites of Special Scientific Interest, Special Areas of Conservations, Special Protection Areas and Sites of Schedule Ancient Monuments) are present; - the land is Green Belt (if not on previous developed land); - there is ongoing economic development use; - where sites are not within or adjoining a settlement. 2.5 A full list of sites which do not meet the criteria in Table 2 of the Joint Methodology are identified as part of Appendix 3. This resulted in approximately 170 sites being sifted out from the HELAA at this stage. 2.6 A separate Green Belt study is being carried out. Part 1 of the assessment is underway; this tests parcels of land within the Green Belt against the purposes of the Green Belt set out in paragraph 80 of the NPPF. Full details of Part 1 of Green Belt study can be viewed online8. Parcels not meeting the purposes of the Green Belt (as identified in Part 1) will be progressed to Part 2 of the Assessment for further analysis. Part 2 of the assessment will identify sites which may then to be 7 Please note the assessment does not take into account the recent changes made through the Housing Bill to make this change of use permanent. This will be updated in the review next summer (2016). 8 Buckinghamshire Green Belt Assessment Methodology - http://www.wycombe.gov.uk/council-services/planning-and- buildings/planning-policy/new-local-plan/supporting-evidence.aspx 5 included in the HELAA for further consideration. Findings of the assessment are currently unknown. Sites within the Green Belt which are not on previously developed land are excluded as part of the Table 2 Criteria of the Joint Methodology. 2.7 Ongoing employment sites are those which are safeguarded from alternative uses and typically are in use. A recent Employment Land Review has been undertaken and the Council has since reviewed many of these sites and recommended where sites can be released for alternative uses from employment. Sites which are not recommended for release are excluded as part of the Table 2 criteria of the Joint Methodology. Stage 2 – Site Assessment 2.8 Sites which pass Stage 1 (Table 2 criteria) have been taken forward through to stage 2 of the HELAA to consider their suitability, availability and achievability. This is assessed through a combination of desktop assessment, site visits and developer / landowner information. For each site which has been considered suitable the landowner or developer/agent has been contacted for information on availability and achievability of developing the site. Appendix 1 identifies the HELAA form used to obtain landowner and developer information. Existing studies including the 2014 Employment Land Review9 and 2014 Retail Study10 are also used to inform the site assessment, such as information on viability. This information is then used to help inform whether a site is ‘deliverable (to be built within 5 years) or developable (to be built within 6 - 18 years).