Shaping Our Place 2026 Local Development Framework Draft Options Rural Settlement Hierarchy Background Paper July 2009 Contents Consultation Requirements 1.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 4 2.0 Herefordshire in a regional context ......................................................................... 4 3.0 Local Context .......................................................................................................... 6 4.0 Why a revision to the Settlement Hierarchy is needed ........................................... 6 5.0 National and Regional Guidance ............................................................................ 6 6.0 Methodology............................................................................................................ 8 Baseline .................................................................................................................. 8 Existing Services and Facilities............................................................................... 9 Accessibility to public transport.............................................................................. 10 Employment ........................................................................................................... 10 Travel to Work........................................................................................................ 11 Needs and opportunities ........................................................................................ 12 Environmental Factors ........................................................................................... 13 7.0 Results of analysis undertaken .............................................................................. 14 8.0 Categorising the settlements.................................................................................. 14 Defining rural service centres................................................................................. 14 Defining Smaller Settlements................................................................................. 16 Development outside of RSC & Smaller Settlements ............................................ 17 9.0 Policy Direction...................................................................................................... 17 10.0 The direction of development ................................................................................. 17 11.0 Monitoring and review............................................................................................. 18 Appendix 1 - Policy H4 & H6 details Appendix 2 - National Policy Appendix 3 - Review of supporting documents Appendix 4 - PPS1 – Broad sustainability Indicators Appendix 5 - Summary Matrix Appendix 6 - Needs Matrix Appendix 7 - Methodology / Scoring System Appendix 8 - Identified needs and scoring system Appendix 9 - Parish Plan needs table Appendix 10 - Map of Broadband Availability Speeds Appendix 11 - Map of Environmental Constraints Appendix 12 - Accession map – Public Transport Appendix 13 - Accession map – 5km Buffer Zones Appendix 14 - Tier 2 Options - Settlement identification Figure 1 – Key Spatial Diagram Figure 2 – Number of dwellings within settlements in the County Figure 3 – Rural / Urban Split and distances travelled to work Figure 4 – Percentage of people using different modes of transport to work Figure 5 – Levels of Home working in rural and urban parts of the West Midlands Draft Options Rural Settlement Hierarchy Background Paper 1 July 2009 Draft Options Rural Settlement Hierarchy Background Paper 2 July 2009 Consultation Requirements Herefordshire Council has produced this draft options Rural Settlement Hierarchy Background Paper to support the preparation of the Local Development Framework. This Paper reviews the hierarchy that was used for the Unitary Development Plan and updates it to take into account recent guidance, current research and up to date survey information. It introduces the concept of Rural Service Centres and suggests options for how a settlement hierarchy could be implemented in Herefordshire. We would welcome your views on this draft document. Please respond using the questions below as a guide. The period for consultation is 6 July to 28 August 2009. You can forward comments either by post addressed to Gemma Dyke at Forward Planning, Herefordshire Council, PO Box 4, Plough lane, Hereford, HR4 0XH or by e- mail to [email protected]. Consultation Questions 1 / Do you feel that the methodology is correct for determining the Settlement Hierarchy? If no, what elements do you feel need to be changed or are missing? (Page 7) 2/ What else do you feel is needed to help the Rural Service Centres be as sustainable as possible? (Page 9) 3/ Is there sufficient capacity in or around the settlements classified as Rural Service Centres to enable them to develop in an appropriate manner? Please refer to a specific settlement if necessary. (Page 14) 4/ Which option for the smaller settlements do you consider is the most appropriate for Herefordshire? (Page 16) 5/ Are there any other realistic options for categorising the settlements that we have not considered? (Page 16) 6/ Is there sufficient flexibility in the suggested Settlement Hierarchy to best meet housing needs of the County’s rural areas? (Page 17) Draft Options Rural Settlement Hierarchy Background Paper 3 July 2009 1.0 Introduction 1.1 This Rural Settlement Hierarchy paper has been prepared as part of the evidence base of the Local Development Framework (LDF) to help inform the emerging Core Strategy that will guide and shape the County until 2026. This paper does not assess or allocate individual sites for development. 1.2 The Developing Options consultation paper (June 2008) discussed the potential option of defining “Rural Service Centres” (RSC). The 35% of 798 respondents felt that growth within Herefordshire should be within Hereford, market towns and a limited number of sustainable rural settlements with the rest of the rural areas limited to affordable housing to meet local need. For Question 35 of the Developing Options paper, more than two thirds of respondents felt that particular settlements outside of the market towns should be identified as local service centres to help to promote and protect facilities and services. 1.3 This paper sets out the criteria used to identify the settlements that act as “Rural Service Centres” in Herefordshire, and which could accommodate modest but balanced growth, and those settlements where more limited development to meet local needs may be appropriate. Current Government guidance emphasises that planning policies should facilitate and promote sustainable patterns of development for communities in rural areas. Local planning authorities should be aware of the circumstances, needs and priorities of the rural communities and businesses in their area, and of the interdependence between urban and rural areas. 1.4 Rural Service Centres are not defined in Government guidance, however for the purposes of this assessment, they are considered as settlements that have a wide enough range of services to fulfil the day-to-day needs of local residents, surrounding settlements and rural areas. The Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment due for completion later this year will be able to inform the available capacity of each of the RSCs and will be set out in the forthcoming in the Market Towns and Rural Areas Development Plan Document. 1.5 Appendices include the detailed background information used for the methodology including accession modelling, parish council questionnaire results and a ‘facilities and needs’ matrix formulated from various sources of information such as site surveys, parish plans, education surplus places, housing needs studies etc. 2.0 Herefordshire in a regional context 2.1 Herefordshire is in the West Midlands region of England, but borders to the east of Wales. The map below is the Key Diagram from the West Midlands Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS), which illustrates the major functional relationships between Herefordshire and the surrounding West Midlands region. 2.2 As can be seen in the Figure 1 below, Hereford is defined as a ‘Sub-regional Focus for development beyond Major Urban Area’ and the majority of Herefordshire is part of a Rural Regeneration Zone (RR2). The submitted Phase 2 revisions of the RSS now refer to Hereford as a ‘Settlement of Significant Development’. 2.3 The County’s key linkages are both by rail and road, these being the M50, A38 and A49 and the Birmingham to Cardiff railway line. Another key linkage for this south- west area of the West Midlands region are possible cross boundary development Draft Options Rural Settlement Hierarchy Background Paper 4 July 2009 pressures associated with future growth within the Gloucester / Cheltenham Sub region. Figure 1 – Key Spatial Diagram – West Midlands Regional Spatial Strategy January 2008 Draft Options Rural Settlement Hierarchy Background Paper 5 July 2009 3.0 Local Context 3.1 Herefordshire’s physical form and landscape has been shaped by; the geology, the resultant soil types and the vegetation, they support. The ‘footprint’ of the County essentially comprises a combination of high hill ranges round much of the perimeter, pierced by the principal rivers, together with the lower-lying plains in the centre. The main river crossing points have provided a natural focus for the development of settlements. Within that basic