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ID sylw: 107853

Derbyniwyd: 05/03/2025

Ymatebydd: Catesby Estates Ltd

Asiant : Pegasus Group

The content in this policy direction is supported. It is consistent with the NPPF, including Paragraphs 119 and 120, which highlight the importance of advanced, high quality and reliable communications infrastructure. This is essential for economic growth, social wellbeing, and supporting rural villages, in line with Paragraphs 82 and 83 of the NPPF.

However, the name of the policy direction, ‘Smart Cities’, is perhaps inappropriate for South Warwickshire, which consists of large rural areas, many smaller settlements, and no cities. The Government’s Post Note on Smart Cities (no. 656, September 2021) defines ‘smart city’ projects as “digital technologies and data to improve places by providing citizens with social, economic, and environmental benefits”. As the name suggests, smart city technologies are mostly deployed in urban areas and would not be applicable to most of Stratford and Warwick districts. The policy direction itself makes no reference to the term ‘smart cities’, with no definition provided (leaving this open to interpretation), nor are technologies included which could be described as ‘smart’. Most of the focus is on high-speed broadband. The policy should be renamed to better reflect its content and local geography or revised with a greater emphasis on smart city technologies and applications, with a clear relevance to South Warwickshire, including its rural settlements; for example, by clarifying whether such technologies should be incorporated into developments of a certain nature and scale, across the district, or restricted to schemes within or on the edge of urban areas.