Archived decisions

Contact: Stuart Roberts, ext 6782

1. Summary

1.1 Policy H4 of the Hampshire County Structure Plan 1996-2011 provides a reserve provision of land for housebuilding which may be released for development if monitoring shows that this is necessary. A monitoring paper which assesses the need for such release was published in April 2002 for consultation. The monitoring paper concludes that there is no case this year for triggering the release of any of the reserve provision, but that there remains a possibility that such a release may be necessary in a future year(s). It is proposed, subject to the views of the Strategic Planning Joint Advisory Panel, that the Executive Member for Environment be recommended to endorse the paper's conclusions.

2. The Plan

2.1 Policy H2 of the Hampshire County Structure Plan 1996-2011 (Review) establishes a baseline housing provision of 80,290 additional dwellings over the 15 year period 1996-2011. Policy H4 provides an additional reserve provision of up to 14,000 dwellings over the 10 year period 2001-2011. It also identifies the broad locations of the reserve provision and describes, in general terms, how decisions will be made on releasing the reserve provision.

3. Monitor and Manage

3.1 The way in which Policy H4 will be implemented in detail was set out in Supplementary Planning Guidance `Implementing Policy H4' published by the three strategic planning authorities in June 2001. The process described comprises essentially of three stages:

(i) preparation of a monitoring paper which assesses the adequacy of existing land supply;

(ii) consultation on that paper; and

(iii) consideration of the paper and the comments received by the Strategic Planning Joint Advisory Panel (JAP) which will then make a recommendation to the strategic planning authorities on whether any of the reserve provision should be released.

That sequence of publication, consultation and decision will be repeated annually.

3.2 The inaugural edition of the monitoring paper was published in April 2002. A copy is attached as an appendix. It covers only the information necessary for the purposes of reaching decisions on whether to release any of the reserve housing provision in Policy H4. Wider information about housing (and other structure plan topics) will be contained in a Structure Plan Monitoring Report which will be published this summer. The attached monitoring paper was sent to the Government Office for the South East, the House Builders Federation and other organisations for comment. The paper and the comments received on it will be considered by JAP on 25 June 2002.

3.3 The monitoring paper compares the current projection of future housing land supply with the requirements of the Hampshire County Structure Plan and the Regional Planning Guidance for the South East. It concludes there is no case this year for triggering the release of any of the reserve housing provision.

3.4 The paper's conclusion rests however on an assessment of future housing land supply which includes a large component of as yet unidentified sites. It also assumes that all four baseline Major Development Areas (MDAs) will begin to provide dwellings from 2006 and that the baseline element of each will be fully completed by 2011. Both these elements of future housing land supply will need to be considered further in next year's edition of the monitoring paper when better information will be available.

3.5 The possible need to release some of the reserve provision therefore remains, underscoring the requirement in Structure Plan Policy H4 for local plans to identify the reserve sites, in addition to all of the Structure Plan's baseline provision.

4. Comments Received From Consultees

4.1 The majority of responses are from development interests, but three district councils, four environmental/amenity groups and one statutory agency have also commented. Many of the respondents welcome the publication of the monitoring paper and a smaller number express support for its conclusions.

4.2 Development interests generally believe that the paper is over-optimistic about current housing land supply. In particular, they question:

(i) whether all the potential for new housing emerging from urban capacity studies will be translated into actual sites for development; and

(ii) the paper's assumption that construction of all four baseline MDAs will begin in 2006 and be completed by 2011.

Many of them go on to call for a release now of some of the reserve housing provision.

5. Officer's Response to the Comments

5.1 The concluding section of the monitoring paper recognises the uncertainties about future land supply at the present time, but advocates a cautionary approach towards the release of reserve provision. It states clearly, however, that although no release is justified this year, the possibility remains of a release being required in future.

5.2 This year's paper was published later than planned, due to delays in data collection and analysis and the time needed to shape the inaugural document. It is hoped to produce the next monitoring paper for Policy H4 before the end of this year. In the meantime, the concerns raised by development interests will be addressed by the publication of additional first and second deposit draft local plans (which will introduce more certainty into MDAs and other housing sites) and by the strategic planning authorities' inspection of the completed urban capacity studies.

Recommendation

That it be a RECOMMENDATION to the Executive Member for Environment that, subject to the views of the Strategic Planning Joint Advisory Panel, the conclusions in the monitoring paper be endorsed.

7157/SR