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ID sylw: 108611

Derbyniwyd: 07/03/2025

Ymatebydd: Kiely Bros Holdings Ltd

Asiant : Pegasus Group

Policy Direction 2 – Potential New Settlements
4.28.
In addition to the Strategic Growth Locations in Priority Areas 1, 2, and 3, the South Warwickshire Councils have identified twelve potential new settlements, and a policy direction is included which states that one or more will be considered for allocation. The New Settlements Assessment Topic Paper (November 2024) only identifies four of the potential new settlements as “more suitable”.
4.29.
New settlements can make an important contribution towards meeting South Warwickshire’s housing requirement. Indeed, NPPF §77 states that the supply of large numbers of new homes can often be best achieved through planning for new settlements, thus this approach would be consistent with national policy, and the provision of one or more new settlements is supported in principle. The Councils are reminded that where such large-scale residential development is proposed, NPPF §22 stipulates that strategic policies should be set within a vision that looks at least 30 years ahead (taking into account the timescales likely to deliver a new settlement). The vision in the SWLP Part 1 is currently restricted to its 25-year plan period, thus, if the Councils were to pursue a new settlement, this should be amended/addressed accordingly within the plan.
4.30.
New settlements have long lead-in times typically 6.6 years from first application to first home on site (source: Lichfield’s Start to Finish 3), which means that their contribution towards South Warwickshire’s housing supply would likely be in the latter part of the plan period, and possibly into the next. If too much of the supply depends on a new settlement, and delays arise in its delivery, the Councils risk significantly underdelivering housing. Therefore, it will be critical for the Councils to allocate a range of other sites across the Strategic Growth Locations, and these should form the majority of South Warwickshire’s housing supply, in addition to any new settlement(s). This aligns with NPPF §61, which states that a variety of land should be brought forward for housing, i.e. sites of different scales, ranging from minor development through to new settlements. It will also better meet the needs of SME housebuilders, who are able to respond more flexibly to meet short term requirements and provide variety and choice in the marketplace NPPF §73.
4.31.
The SA assesses the potential new settlement locations. Whilst they would all make a major positive contribution to housing (SA Objective 9), all options will generally result in minor adverse to major adverse impacts across most of the other SA objectives. The Emerging Spatial Growth Strategy Topic Paper recognises that new settlements will have a harmful impact due to the amount of land they would occupy in existing countryside locations. The SA suggests that the Strategic Growth Locations are therefore generally more sustainable, in terms of having lesser adverse impacts on the SA Objectives. However, it is important to note that this is only a high-level exercise, which has not taken potential mitigation, which could include ecological and landscape enhancements which would give rise to major positive impacts, into account. As with the Strategic Growth Locations, the positive impacts on transport and accessibility (SA Objective 11) and, as a result, Climate Change (SA Objective 1) have also not been recognised.