Yes

ID sylw: 106499

Derbyniwyd: 06/03/2025

Ymatebydd: The Umberslade Estate

Asiant : Hancock Town Planning

Potential New Settlement A2 'land east of Wood End': Support.
Hancock Town Planning Ltd acts for the Umberslade Estate which owns the land edged red on the enclosed plan.
The unhatched land is shown as forming a significant proportion of the indicative potential new settlement A2 'land east of Wood End', as currently identified within the SWLP Preferred Options consultation.

The hatched area shown within the plan is land also owned by Umberslade Estate but is sited immediately adjoining the indicative area for the new settlement. If the new settlement were to go ahead, then the hatched area would no longer form part of a wider agricultural holding and would in effect be parcel of 'left over' land owned by the Estate which would be unlikely to form a viable agricultural holding. The inclusion of the land within the area of the new settlement would therefore be sensible.

The Estate land has not previously been submitted via the Call for Sites (CFS) process. Therefore, the Estate confirms that it is submitting the land edged red via the CFS request which is running alongside the current SWLP consultation. The submission refers to the land as 'Land at Umberslade, Broad Lane, Tanworth-in- Arden'.

The Estate wishes to express its support for the potential new settlement A2 and confirms that its land as shown within the enclosed plan may be available for development should the planning authority wish to identify the land for development within further versions of the SWLP.

The Estate highlights that:

its land remains free of land ownership or delivery constraints.

Wood End benefits from a train station which provides a commuter service between Stratford-upon-Avon and Birmingham and beyond. The location therefore offers sustainable transport options. As well as any new community facilities which might be provided as part of the proposed new settlement, the Tanworth-in-Arden Medical Practice is already sited within Wood End and the easily accessible The Warwickshire Lad village already serves as a pub, restaurant, café and community hub.

The new settlement would also be very well related to facilities within the village of Tanworth-in-Arden, such as a public house, dentist and church.

As far as we are aware, the Estate land is free of significant environmental constraints.

The land very predominantly lies within Flood Zone 1.

Yes

ID sylw: 106575

Derbyniwyd: 06/03/2025

Ymatebydd: The Umberslade Estate

Asiant : Sworders

Proposed Strategic Growth Location SG24 Hockley Heath Group
We strongly agree with strategic growth location 24 which is ideally located between the main urban areas of Solihull, Warwick, Kenilworth and close proximity to Junctions 3A and 4 of the M42, with easy access to the West Midlands conurbation. The site lies within Priority Area 3 and would support Strategic Objective 1.
The location is also ideally located between the West Midlands and the Chiltern Railway Lines, as such supporting the 12 Strategic Objectives and the SWLP five overarching principles.
SG24 is supported by high levels of existing infrastructure as opposed to other proposed strategic growth locations which rely on new infrastructure investment.

No

ID sylw: 106577

Derbyniwyd: 06/03/2025

Ymatebydd: The Umberslade Estate

Asiant : Sworders

In terms of housing delivery, we believe Draft Policy Direction 1 is too broad and lacks precision. It should be more certain of providing the number of homes required under the new standard method. The difference in provision between the old and the new standard method is significant. The aim of the Government planning reforms and the revised NPPF para 36 a) says the strategy must “as a minimum seek to meet the area’s objectively assessed needs”.
The wording of Draft Policy 1 must be amended such that the Local Plan will make provision for the delivery of at least 2,188 dwellings per annum not 1,679. The use of the HEDNA figures is not in accordance with Paras 36(a) and 62 of the NPPF which detail that “strategic policies should be informed by a local housing need assessment, conducted using the standard method in national planning practice guidance.” The current wording has not been positively prepared and is not considered to be sound in
accordance with Para 36(a).
We would question the assumed Windfall allowance over the plan period. This suggests 17% of housing need will come from windfall sites which seems very excessive.
We object to the overall strategy of solely relying on the Strategic Growth Areas and New Settlements to bring forward the districts housing requirements, as it takes more time for larger strategic sites like those proposed to come forward for development and as such will fail to meet the housing need in the short term. Due to their scale and complexity larger sites will take time to plan and require significant upfront capital investment resulting in the housing need not being met within the next five year period. This will result in housing shortfall and the potential for an influx of speculative housing applications in areas that are less suitable for development.
In order to have a five year housing land supply upon adoption of the new South Warwickshire Local Plan should allocate a greater number of small and medium sized sites. Sites 41 and 58 to the South West of Hockley Heath and forming part of SG24can contribute to delivery of housing in the early years of the plan. Under the new method the shortfall in delivery will then be carried forward into the next five year period. Without the allocation of smaller sites on edges of existing settlements the housing and employment land provision will risk being in deficit for a significant part of the plan period.

Other

ID sylw: 106578

Derbyniwyd: 06/03/2025

Ymatebydd: The Umberslade Estate

Asiant : Sworders

Whilst we have no objections to New Settlements in principle, we are concerned that over-reliance on large, complex sites will see a shortfall in housing need, particularly in the early years of the plan period.
Furthermore, it will deny other areas of the district the benefits that development can bring. The strategy of New Settlements and Strategic Growth Areas should be supported by allocation of small and medium sized sites adjacent to existing settlements. Sites 41 and 58 to the south-west of Hockley Heath are in single ownership, where the landowner has expressed intention to sell, with no foreseen extraordinary development costs or constraints. Market conditions also appear favourable.
Some of the Potential New Settlements fall outside the Spatial Growth Strategy Priority Areas and do not include any existing settlements of facilities and services. This would contradict the statement in the preferred Options that “the majority of the SWLP’s strategic growth needs will be met within priority areas 1-3.” As such we consider that the Strategic approach should have greater focus on the Strategic growth locations as opposed to the New Settlements.
Some of these locations are also isolated from the main strategic transport network across the SWLP and
local bus routes and train stations which all tend to be concentrated around the northern part of the district and built up areas of Warwick, Leamington and Stratford. However, the Infrastructure Delivery Plan does not propose any major changes in these isolated areas. Without significant infrastructure and to public transport, some new settlements would rely heavily on the use of the private car, therefore, do not represent the most sustainable pattern for growth.

Other

ID sylw: 106582

Derbyniwyd: 06/03/2025

Ymatebydd: The Umberslade Estate

Asiant : Sworders

It is clear that the Strategic Growth proposals alone will not maintain the housing development required over the plan period and, in particularly in the short- term. As such, the five- year housing requirement will need to be met by development in and around existing settlements. Whilst we agree with the broad approach, the draft policy direction still emphasises small scale development and makes little reference to the importance of small-scale development in preserving the vitality of smaller settlements, an approach which would limit growth of some of the larger settlements that do not lie within the Priority Areas 1-3. The Policy Direction should reinforce advice within para 83 of the NPPF that the plan should allow for new housing opportunities for existing settlements, to assist their growth and allow them to thrive and support existing local services, either within that settlement or services within a neighbouring settlement.
We would support a revised single approach to a Settlement Hierarchy classification across the whole
South Warwickshire Plan to ensure consistency. Policy Direction 3 should allow for small scale development to meet local housing need and support existing services within settlements that do not have an adopted Neighbourhood Plan or do not have any settlement boundaries. The draft policy does not recognise the importance of local sustainability, many smaller villages which do not have settlement boundaries.
Draft Policy Direction 3, in line with para 83 of the NPPF should provide for the provision of small sites within existing settlements without settlement boundaries to deliver appropriate levels of growth and to meet local housing need that will support the vitality of communities and the viability of existing services and facilities. As such Draft Policy 3 is not consistent with national policy and therefore the plan is not sound in accordance with para 36(d).

Other

ID sylw: 106583

Derbyniwyd: 06/03/2025

Ymatebydd: The Umberslade Estate

Asiant : Sworders

The Infrastructure Delivery Plan identifies the gaps in infrastructure provision and proposals to overcome such gaps but does not set out a timetable for delivery. It also states that funding from developer contributions will be insufficient to deliver all the infrastructure needs associated with future development. The Infrastructure Delivery Plan appears to be very much a long- term vision later in the plan period and will not maintain the five-year land supply.
Whilst three of the overarching principles of the plan is to be climate resilient and net zero, providing a healthy south Warwickshire and to promote active travel, the Infrastructure Delivery Plan does not promote cycling infrastructure.

Other

ID sylw: 106590

Derbyniwyd: 06/03/2025

Ymatebydd: The Umberslade Estate

We support the recognition that some Green Belt release may be required to accommodate South Warwickshire’s housing and employment land needs. Given the standard method calculation for the minimum number of homes needed is almost an 82% increase on the housing figure calculated using the HEDNA method (notwithstanding any increase when applying a suitable buffer or accommodating any unmet need from neighbouring authorities as previously mentioned), it is considered that Green Belt release will need to form part of the SWLP strategy.

Other

ID sylw: 106591

Derbyniwyd: 06/03/2025

Ymatebydd: The Umberslade Estate

Asiant : Sworders

It is noted that Draft Policy Direction 10 is still clearly in the development stages and are policy directions with insufficient information on what the wording of the policy will be, along with several other policies within the plan. Interested parties should have the opportunity to consult on the draft policy wording within the plan before a submission version of the plan is published at Regulation 19.

Other

ID sylw: 106592

Derbyniwyd: 06/03/2025

Ymatebydd: The Umberslade Estate

Asiant : Sworders

The requirement to provide at least 10% of market dwellings and at least 25% of affordable to M4(3) standards on all new build sites of 10 dwellings or more seems excessive, and we question what evidence this is based on. Whilst we support the need for the SWLP to provide a range of different types of housing to support different groups of the community, this should not be through overly onerous design requirements and should be justified.

Other

ID sylw: 106593

Derbyniwyd: 06/03/2025

Ymatebydd: The Umberslade Estate

Asiant : Sworders

Policy Direction 10 should provide the policy context which enables developments to come forward in a range of settlements, including smaller settlements without settlement boundaries. This would provide an incentive to developers to bring sites forward, ensures the viability of development proposals and provides a mix of housing to meet an identified requirement. The proposed development of our client’s site seeks to seeks to provide residential development. It is suitable for market units, self-build/ custom build units and/ or to meet the local housing need. This strategy also increases the flexibility of the Plan to ensure consistent housing delivery in changing circumstances and avoids the issue of an over reliance on significant infrastructure provision before housing can be delivered.