Monitoring and Review

407. Regular monitoring will ensure that the Plan remains the most appropriate and locally acceptable response to contemporary social, economic and environmental issues.

408. Systems are already in place to monitor development and change in Hampshire. The County Council, Portsmouth City Council, Southampton City Council and the district councils will collaborate in the regular monitoring of:

· the continuing validity of the various assumptions, forecasts and linkages (demographic, social, environmental and economic) on which the Plan is based;

· the effectiveness of the Plan's policies and programmes in terms of meeting their stated objectives; and

· the need for adjustments and changes to policy in a future review of the Plan.

409. An efficient and effective monitoring system is important in operating the `base-line plus additional provision' approach to housing and the criteria-based policies for industry, commerce and retailing.

410. The housing provision in the revised regional planning guidance approved by government following the debate on the draft RPG9 will trigger the process of reviewing the need to release all or part of the additional housing provision. The processes of monitoring and managing any necessary changes are set out in detail in Implementing Policy H4, a background paper produced by the authorities (in consultation with the local planning authorities and others) along with the publication of this Plan.

411. The selection of sites and location will be influenced, not only by such traditional indicators as housing land supply and house prices, but also by the success of initiatives to re-use land previously vacant, underused or released from its former uses. It will be also important to ensure that that adequate provision is made to accommodate the needs not only of the wider city regions focused on Portsmouth and Southampton but

also the smaller, but nevertheless important, urban areas of Andover, Basingstoke and the towns of the Blackwater Valley.

412. The Plan will be `rolled forward' within 30 months of the publication of revised regional planning guidance. This process will enable the policies in the Plan, including Policies H1, H3 and H4, to be fine-tuned in the light of the contemporary local planning studies. These studies, for example, may either demonstrate that current assumptions about future land supply are misplaced or provide greater detail about the impact of development on protected environments. The distribution of housing, the approach to economic development and individual area transport strategies may all need to be revised in the light of this work.

413. It will be important to monitor not only the supply and take-up of industrial and commercial land but also the economic, social and other environmental indicators that underpin the criteria referred to within the policies. Existing monitoring systems have been enhanced and new systems put in place to improve knowledge of the Hampshire economy and improve the measurements of the effectiveness of the policies.

The type of indicators which will be used to track the effectiveness of policies and to provide a context for assessing new development proposals include:

· economic: GDP, employment, land availability;

· social: unemployment, economic activity, vacancies; and

· environmental: land take, traffic levels, air/water quality.

414. These factors, and others likely to affect the vitality and viability of shopping provision within town centres, will also be kept under review, and retail development and trends will continue to be monitored, as part of the on-going review of the effectiveness of strategic retail planning policy.

415. Changes in environmental quality will also be monitored and planning, transport and other policies adjusted accordingly. Monitoring will be assisted by extending the Environmental Record which, year on year, will incorporate the results of research and other data. The Record will contain information which will assist local planning authorities in the preparation of local plans and the interpretation of policies for development control.

416. The extent to which the partnerships referred to above are able to deliver proposals in this Plan remains to be seen. Progress on implementation will therefore be carefully monitored so that any necessary adjustments can be considered if present assumptions about rates and scale of development are not realised or it becomes evident that the provision of infrastructure and services is lagging too far behind demand.