Issue and Options 2023
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New searchThe omission of Bishop’s Itching from the Settlement Analysis is a significant error. Settlement Analysis evidence report advises that the settlements identified for “initial” assessment are those that fall within the first and second tier settlements within the Stratford-upon-Avon Core Strategy (main towns and main rural centres) and the Urban Areas and Growth Villages in the Warwick District Local Plan. The assessed settlements must also be relevant to one or more of the growth scenarios identified in the Scoping consultation SWLP. In addition, a series of other settlements have been assessed on the basis that they are relevant to the rail corridor Growth Strategy. Bishop’s Itchington is one of 5 settlements identified as a Category 1 Village by the adopted Stratford-upon-Avon Core Strategy. As a Local Service Village it falls within the third tier of the settlement hierarchy and has not been assessed. However, it is clear that Bishop’s Itchington is a sustainable location for development. Bishop’s Itchington has a population in excess of 2,000 people according to the 2011 Census. During the course of the last 10 years it has been identified as an appropriate location for development in excess of 390 dwellings. The emerging Stratford-upon-Avon Site Allocations Plan has previously identified the settlement as an appropriate location for the inclusion of Reserve Housing Sites that can be brought forward for development in order to help ensure the Council has a 5 year housing land supply. Bishops Itchington has a series of services and facilities including: • Bishops Itchington Primary School; • Community Centre; • Doctors Surgery; • Public Houses; • Village Store; • Cooperative Food Store; • Various children’s play areas and a park; and • Variety of bus stops with connections to higher order settlements. It benefits from being approximately 1.6km from junction 12 of the M40, and 2.2km from Southam, that provides a variety of services and facilities including a Tesco superstore and Southam College. It is, therefore, a clearly sustainable location for development. In our view, Bishops Itchington could play a number of roles in the growth scenario including the Scoping version of the Plan. It could perform well under Growth Scenario G – Dispersed Growth, as it is a rural settlement with a variety of services and facilities. It could also play a role under Growth Scenarios B – Bus Corridor and C – Road Corridor, given its bus and road connectivity. We are concerned that Bishop’s Itchington omission from the Settlement Analysis could be of detriment to it receiving an adequate quantum of development through the plan making process. It is our view that the Preferred Options version of the plan should make new allocations at Bishop’s Itchington.
Q-S5.2 – Do you think the new settlements should be part of the overall strategy? New settlements that require a complete infrastructure package will take several years to deliver following adoption of the SWLP. They must, therefore, be supplemented by other allocations, especially for the early delivery of new homes. BDW’s land interest at Bishop’s Itching is deliverable in the short term. As detailed in our Call for Site submission, it can provide between 350 – 300 homes, all of which could be delivered within 5 years of the adoption of the plan. Part of the site has previously been identified as a Reserve Housing Site by the Site Allocations DPD, confirming that the Council have previously considered the site to be a suitable location for residential development. Q-S8.1 – For the settlements that fall outside the chosen growth strategy, do you think a threshold approach is appropriate to allow more small scale development to come forward? No. There are a number of settlements that fall outside of all of the identified growth strategies, with the exception of disbursed strategy, that should accommodate some development to provide for their needs. For example, Bishop’s Itchington has a relatively large population (in excess of 2,000 people) and a variety of services and facilities. Allowing infilling development only, or a threshold approach with a cap, would not meet the growth requirements of the settlement. The suggested limited 10 dwellings per site is arbitrary, it would mean that all qualifying sites fell below the affordable housing threshold stifling affordable housing delivery. The SWLP needs to ensure that an appropriate amount of development is directed towards the settlements throughout the plan area to support their growth. Q-S9 – Settlement Boundary Options Option S9b: Within this Part 1 Plan, review which settlements have boundaries defined and which do not, as well as the extent of any such boundaries. If reviewing the settlement boundaries is delayed until the part two plan it will stifle housing delivery in sustainable locations to the detriment of the plan’s strategy. As a consequence, any part one plan should clearly indicate the settlements that will be expected to accommodate additional growth and a broad indication of the level of the growth.
Paragraph 61 of the Framework advises that in order to determine the minimum number of homes needed, strategic policies should be informed by local housing needs assessment, conducted using the Standard Method in National Planning Practice Guidance, unless exceptional circumstances justify an alternative approach which reflects current and future demographic trends and market signals. In addition to the local housing needs figure, any needs that cannot be met within neighbouring areas should also be taken into account in establishing the amount of housing to be planned for. We note that the Standard Method housing figures for Stratford-on-Avon and Warwick Districts are 564dpa and 675dpa respectively. The trend based projection in the HEDNA suggests that 868dpa are required in Stratford-on-Avon and 811dpa in Warwick District. Therefore moving towards a trends based approach would seem appropriate. In terms of the approach for the HEDNA, it is noted that Table 8.13 – Estimated Need for Social/Affordable Rented Housing by Local Authority, identifies a net annual need for 419 affordable dwellings in Stratford-on-Avon and 582 affordable dwellings in Warwick District. This equates to 67% and 52% of the identified overall housing requirement respectively for the two authorities. In all likelihood, the principal way affordable housing will be delivered during the course of the plan period will be through planning obligations associated with residential developments. The PPG advises, at paragraph 2a-024, that the total affordable housing need can be considered in the context of its likely delivery as a proportion of mixed market and affordable housing developments. However, it is not realistic to generally expect housing allocations to deliver 67% or 52% affordable housing. There is, therefore, the possibility that there will be a shortfall of affordable housing provision during the course of the plan period. One way to overcome this would be to increase the total housing figures included in the SWLP Consideration should, therefore, be given to uplift the housing requirement to ensure that an appropriate amount of affordable housing can be provided.
The most appropriate way of “significantly increasing” the overall supply of affordable housing across South Warwickshire is to have a housing requirement that is sufficient to support the delivery of much needed affordable housing through planning obligations. This matter is addressed in response to Q-H1-1 above.
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The emerging plan will have to play a role in meeting the housing shortfall arising from the Black Country and Birmingham. The Draft Plan acknowledges that Birmingham’s Issues and Options document identifies a housing shortfall of 78,415 dwellings. No reference is made to the extent of the housing shortfall arising from the Black Country. Following the abandonment of the Black Country Plan, the four Black Country authorities are producing individual Local Plans. However, the Preferred Options version of the abandoned draft Black Country Local Plan included a housing requirement shortfall figure that can be considered a credible starting point for considering the potential housing shortfall for the Black Country; a figure of 28,239 dwellings. As a consequence, the total housing shortfall arising from the conurbations is 106,653 dwellings. The Sustainability Appraisal suggests that an additional 5,000 to 10,000 homes could be provided within South Warwickshire to support the growth requirements of the Birmingham and Black Country conurbation. This is equivalent to under 5% to 10% of the total housing shortfall. It is entirely possible that the SWLP will be required to deliver numbers near the top end of this range. In terms of the Coventry shortfall, whilst the HEDNA suggests that the housing need for Coventry should be significantly below the Standard Method housing requirement for the city, this has yet to be tested. The Draft Plan should, therefore, consider options for delivering additional housing to support for the growth of Coventry.
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