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ID sylw: 101844

Derbyniwyd: 07/03/2025

Ymatebydd: Savills (UK) Ltd

Creating a new standalone settlement of 6000+ homes is extremely challenging due to the required infrastructure and associated costs. There is a commercial Catch-22 since much infrastructure must be provided up-front for sustainable growth. New residents are required to sustain the infrastructure but without infrastructure sales rates will be lower. This impacts viability.

This is illustrated by Meon Vale which was acquired in 2004, allocated in the July 2006 Local Plan Review, received a first planning permission for 500 in 2010, and 550 further homes in 2015. Adopted allocation to completion of 1,050 homes has taken almost 20 years.

See our representations for Section 4.5 for further comments where we explain how these challenges can be overcome and the clear sustainability merits of focusing strategic development on large sites well-related to existing settlements. Land at Welsh Road and Daventry Road, Southam can deliver 1,500 homes in the plan period and the HELAA B indicates it outperforms all but one of the 1,000+ home locations. This is partly because residents would have immediate access to existing services and facilities.