Archived decisions
Hampshire County Council Executive Member - Environment Item 3 10 September 2001 Winchester District Local Plan Review - First Deposit Report of the County Planning Officer and County Surveyor |
Contact: Sue Clark, ext 5890/Nick Richardson, ext 5429
1. Summary
1.1 The following decisions are sought:
(i) That Winchester City Council be advised that:
(a) at such time as a copy of the published First Deposit Local Plan is served on the County Council under Section 46 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, a statement be supplied to Winchester City Council stating that the Winchester District Local Plan Review is in general conformity with the Hampshire County Structure Plan (Review) 1996-2011;
(b) the County Council agrees the general transport content of the First Deposit Local Plan for consultation purposes; and
(c) the County Council expects the Second Deposit Local Plan to define the boundary of the Winchester City (North) Major Development Area and the reserve provision for the West of Waterlooville Major Development Area and to contain policies setting out requirements for the master planning of these developments.
(ii) That the County Planning Officer, in consultation with the Executive Member as necessary, be authorised to make appropriate officer representations or objections on the First Deposit Plan when it is formally published.
2. Reason
2.1 The Local Plan is in general conformity with the Hampshire County Structure Plan (Review) 1996-2011 but further work needs to be undertaken on the Major Development Area and reserve Major Development Areas.
3. Other Options Considered and Rejected
3.1 Supplying a statement of non-conformity.
4. Conflicts of Interest Declared by the Decision Maker or a Member or Officer Consulted - Not applicable.
5. Dispensation Granted by the Standards Committee - Not applicable.
6. Reason(s) for the Matter being dealt with if Urgent - Not applicable.
Approved by: Date:
Councillor K B Estlin
7. Introduction
7.1 Winchester City Council recently resolved to publish the First Deposit version of the Winchester District Local Plan Review covering the period to 2011. The County Council has been requested to provide a statement of conformity and approve the transport policies for publication.
7.2 The Local Plan cannot be put on initial deposit until the County Council has issued a statement that the Plan is or is not in general conformity with the Hampshire County Structure Plan (HCSP) (Review). A statement of non-conformity counts as an objection to the deposited plan. Before the deposit of a revised deposit version of a plan the City Council will request a further conformity statement.
7.3 This report summarises and considers the main planning and transport proposals, agrees the transport content for consultation purposes, and recommends that a statement of conformity be issued.
8. Background
8.1 The First Deposit Winchester District Local Plan Review is due to be published in October 2001. A statement of conformity has been requested by Winchester City Council. The plan covers the district for the period 1996 to 2011 and will replace the existing Winchester District Local Plan (1998).
8.2 From October the plan will be placed `on deposit' for six weeks to allow for formal objections to be made. The City Council intends to publish the Revised Deposit Plan in 2002, which will be subject to a Public Local Inquiry.
8.3 The purpose of this report is to comment upon the strategic conformity issues and the specific transport proposals. The County Council will be able to submit formal objections or representations on specific matters or policies following the deposit in October. A copy of the local plan text, as agreed for publication by Winchester's full Council, is available in the Planning and Surveyor's Library.
9. Deposit Plan: Main Policies and Proposals
Overall Strategy
9.1 The Winchester District Local Plan Review has five objectives:
(i) to ensure that new development helps to conserve and enhance the character and attractiveness of the district by promoting a design led approach to achieve appropriate development;
(ii) to provide for the development requirements of the HCSP (Review) primarily in existing defined built-up areas, using a sequential approach;
(iii) to promote development which meets local needs, particularly for housing which is affordable and of an appropriate type and tenure, as well as to meet local business, shopping, leisure and facility needs;
(iv) to contribute to sustainable development by avoiding the wasteful use of land, natural resources and energy, and by carefully controlling the amount, type and location of development; and
(v) to protect the district's rural character by avoiding the unnecessary loss of countryside, defining clear limits to settlements and avoiding development that would harm the character of the countryside, towns and villages.
The individual components for the local plan strategy are outlined in more detail below.
Provision for Housing Development
Baseline Provision
9.3 Policy H2 of the HCSP (Review) requires a `baseline' level of housing provision of 7,295 dwellings to be identified in Winchester District for the period April 1996 to March 2011. Policy H3 of the HCSP (Review) requires that 2,000 dwellings (from the baseline housing provision) be built at West of Waterlooville Major Development Area (MDA).
9.4 Deducting the 2,160 dwellings which had been completed by March 2000 leaves 5,135 dwellings to be completed from April 2000 to March 2011.
9.5 Winchester District Local Plan Review has a strategy for housing provision based on achieving the non-MDA housing requirements from within the district's defined built-up areas.
9.6 An urban capacity study has been carried out, looking at the overall potential for developing and redeveloping land and buildings within the built-up areas. The estimates of urban capacity resulting from the study are based on optimising the capacity of sites in Winchester City Centre where there is good accessibility to public transport and town centre facilities; elsewhere the capacity reflects the local character and built form, whilst aiming to achieve densities in the 30-50 dwellings per hectare range.
9.7 To achieve an assessment of the development potential of the district's built-up areas the City Council has calculated the potential of all the `good opportunities' that are not particularly constrained by policies within the current District Local Plan. That figure is then combined with the potential offered in other situations where, for example, policy constraints operated by the current plan are being relaxed in the Review Plan or where some existing development commitments can be re-examined in order to gain additional housing provision.
9.8 The resultant housing supply (urban capacity plus existing allocations and the West of Waterlooville MDA) is sufficient to satisfy the housing requirement of the HCSP (Review) (see following table).
Sources of Supply at April 2000 Estimated number of dwellings
Urban Capacity (good opportunities) 2,117
`Living over the Shop' 109
Existing commitments and allocations 1,227
West of Waterlooville MDA 2,000
TOTAL 5,453
9.9 The Winchester District Local Plan Review identifies the area where the West of Waterlooville MDA is proposed. This new mixed use community comprises up to 2,000 dwellings, employment provision and associated physical and social infrastructure. The policies in Proposal NC2 outline the requirements for the MDA. These are generally in conformity with the HCSP Policies MDA1 and MDA2.
Reserve Provision
9.10 The HCSP (Review) requires reserve housing provision to be identified in the Local Plan under Policy H4 for the development of a further 2,000 dwellings at Winchester City (North) MDA and an additional 1,000 dwellings at West of Waterlooville MDA.
9.11 The Winchester District Local Plan Review identifies an area of search for up to an additional 1,000 dwellings at the West of Waterlooville MDA.
9.12 The Review Local Plan also identifies an area of search for Winchester City (North) MDA, which is located to the east of Andover Road, to the west of the railway line and south of the A34 (including Barton Farm). The policy for this reserve MDA (Proposal NC3) states that further studies and assessments should be carried out to identify a specific development site and a comprehensive masterplan should be prepared for the development.
Employment Strategy
9.13 A number of sites allocated for employment development in the current Winchester District Local Plan have not been developed. Each of the sites has been reassessed and where justifiable the employment allocations are carried forward into the review Local Plan. The West of Waterlooville MDA includes 30 hectares of employment land. There are revised office policies for Winchester which allow for the development of additional small-scale offices within the town centre to meet the needs of local firms.
Retail Policies
9.14 The Winchester District Local Plan Review identifies the main town centre of Winchester and the other town centres and village centres in the district; these are defined on the proposals and inset maps.
Countryside Policies
9.15 The main objectives of the countryside policies are to:
(i) maintain and enhance the character of the countryside and its natural resources for local people and visitors;
(ii) provide for the economic and social needs of the people who live and work in rural areas; and
(iii) improve services in existing villages, making them living communities and reducing the need for increased car commuting to urban centres.
9.16 The Local Plan Review defines the extent of the Strategic Meon Gap and identifies a number of Local Gaps. It has a landscape character area policy and Winchester City Council will be carrying out a comprehensive review of the landscape of the district using the character area approach.
Transport Proposals
9.17 The transport element of the Review Plan takes into account the many changes in Government guidance since the previous plan was adopted and the thrust of the HCSP (Review). In particular, the Plan is closely linked with the Hampshire Local Transport Plan 2001-2006 and reflects the level of integration between land use and transport plans required by the Government. Transport considerations are evident throughout the Plan in terms of maintaining and developing sustainable transport, particularly walking, cycling and public transport. The Local Plan Review complements the established integrated transport strategies affecting the Winchester District.
9.18 The Local Plan Review includes guidance and requirements for new development where non-car access is available or can be provided and sets out guidance for access, design and parking provision with consideration of appropriate developer contributions. The presumption is made in the Plan in favour of development that would support an integrated transport network, particularly the provision of walking, cycling and public transport facilities. The requirement to support and encourage the use of rail for freight transport is accommodated by the safeguarding of existing sites. Specific transport proposals refer to Botley Bypass and the completion of Whiteley Way, and also improved access to and from Whiteley from the M27 at Junction 9.
9.19 The possible Winchester City (North) MDA has been considered in terms of transport in order to integrate as fully as possible with existing transport networks and minimise the potential impact of road traffic. Extensive liaison has taken place regarding the proposed West of Waterlooville MDA. This is being taken forward on the basis of sustainable transport principles, including the provision of high quality public transport access to the site by the A3 Public Transport Priority Corridor.
10. County Planning Officer's Comments
10.1 The City Council has liaised closely with officers from the County Planning Department during the preparation of the policies and proposals in the First Deposit Plan.
Housing Provision
10.2 The proposals to meet the `baseline' housing requirements and the `reserve site' allocations are in general conformity with the Policies of the HCSP (Review) in terms of the scale of new provision. The Local Plan Review identifies an 'area of search' for the reserve MDA provision at West of Waterlooville and Winchester City (North). Further work will need to be undertaken to determine specific development sites for the reserve provision before the revised Deposit Plan is published.
10.3 Ideally, the exact boundary of the reserve MDAs should have been shown on the proposals maps. The Supplementary Planning Guidance on implementing Policy H4 states that the strategic planning authorities will deem local plans that do not identify all the reserve provision required by Policy H4 to be not in conformity with the Structure Plan. However, if the City Council had waited until the work had been undertaken to define an exact boundary before producing the First Deposit Local Plan, the Plan would have been significantly delayed. For that reason, and because the areas of search are quite tightly defined, it is not recommended that this Local Plan should be deemed not to be in conformity with the Structure Plan.
Major Development Areas
10.4 The MDA policies are in general conformity with the policies of the HCSP (Review). The further work which the City Council intends to undertake ought to lead to the formulation of policies setting out the requirements for the master planning of the developments, similar to Proposal NC2.
Other Policies
10.5 Retail and employment policies, recreation and tourism policies and countryside and historic environment policies are all in general conformity with the HCSP.
11. County Surveyor's Comments
11.1 Close liaison has taken place with the City Council regarding the transport implications of the First Deposit Plan. The transport proposals are fully consistent with Government guidance, the HCSP (Review) and the Hampshire Local Transport Plan 2001-2006.
12. Additional Information
12.1 The decision sought is within the delegated powers of the Executive Member for the Environment. Consultation on the report has been undertaken with all other appropriate Chief Officers and the report contains the results of those consultations.
12.2 The proposed actions are within the County Council's legal powers and comply with the County Council's Corporate Strategy and policies. The recommendation has no financial or staffing implications.
Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background papers | |
The following documents disclose facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report. | |
NB the list excludes: | |
1. |
Published works. |
2. |
Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act. |
TITLE |
LOCATION |
Winchester District Local Plan Review 2001 |
County Planning Department Strategy Group |
6640/SC/NR