BASE HEADER

Yes

ID sylw: 108637

Derbyniwyd: 07/03/2025

Ymatebydd: Kiely Bros Holdings Ltd

Asiant : Pegasus Group

Policy Direction 35 – Smart Cities
9.4.
The content in this policy direction is supported. It is consistent with the NPPF §§119, 120, 82 and 83, which highlight the importance of advanced, high quality and reliable communications infrastructure, with this being essential for economic growth and social
wellbeing, and supporting rural villages.
9.5.
However, it is contended that the name of the policy direction, ‘Smart Cities’, is perhaps not appropriate for South Warwickshire, which consists of large rural areas, many smaller settlements, and no cities.
9.6.
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, the Post Note states that smart city technologies are mostly deployed in urban areas and would thus 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’, with most of the focus being on high-speed broadband.
9.7.
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.