Contact: Richard Lemon, ext 6760/Peter Syddall, ext 6050

1. Summary

1.1 The following decisions are sought:

(i) That Test Valley Borough Council be provided with a statement that the Test Valley Borough Local Plan is not in general conformity with the Hampshire County Structure Plan (Review) 1996-2011, as it fails to make sufficient provision for reserve housing as required by Policy H4 of the Structure Plan.

(ii) That the County Planning Officer and County Surveyor, in consultation with the Executive Member for Environment as necessary, be authorised to make appropriate objections or representations on the First Deposit Draft Plan when it is placed on deposit.

2. Reason

2.1 Almost all of the policies and proposals set out in the draft Local Plan are in conformity with the Structure Plan. The only part which is not in conformity is the draft Local Plan's provision of reserve housing, which falls substantially short of the 1,000 dwelling requirements in Policy H4 of the Structure Plan.

3. Other Options Considered and Rejected

3.1 To advise Test Valley Borough Council that the whole of the draft Local Plan is in conformity with the Structure Plan.

4. Conflicts of Interest Declared by the Decision Maker or a Member or Officer consulted - None.

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

7312/RLn/PCS

Contact: Richard Lemon, ext 6760/Peter Syddall, ext 6050

1. Summary

1.1 Test Valley Borough Council has resolved to publish the Initial Deposit Draft of the Test Valley Borough Local Plan this autumn. The County Council has been requested to provide a Statement of Conformity.

1.2 This report summarises and considers the draft policies and proposals in the Local Plan and recommends that the Executive Member be advised that a Statement of Non-Conformity should be issued. This is because the Local Plan's provision for new dwellings does not meet the requirements of the Hampshire County Structure Plan 1996-2011 (Review).

2. Procedures

2.1 Before a Local Plan is put on initial deposit, a statement from the County Council is required indicating whether or not the Local Plan is in general conformity with the Structure Plan. A Statement of Non-Conformity counts as an objection to the deposited Local Plan.

2.2 The decision on general conformity is a key decision for the Executive Member for Environment in the County Council's Forward Plan because of its significant effects on communities living or working in the area. The assessment of conformity is, however, largely a straightforward, technical process of comparing the policies and proposals in the Local Plan with the policies in the Structure Plan.

3. Background

3.1 The Local Plan is due to be placed on deposit for six weeks during November/December 2002 to allow for formal objections to be made. The Local Plan contains policies and proposals to guide development in the Borough to 2011 and beyond. When adopted it will replace the current Local Plan adopted in 1996 covering the period to 2001.

3.2 The purpose of this report is to comment upon the strategic conformity issues. The County Council will be able to submit formal objections or representations on specific matters on policies following the deposit in November. A copy of the Local Plan text, as agreed for publication by the Borough Council, is available for inspection in the Planning and Surveyor's Library.

4. Overall Strategy

4.1 Following the lead set by the consultation documents `Test Valley Beyond 2000' issued in May 2000, the Borough Council has adopted a long term approach to development in the Local Plan. No specific time period is stated in the Plan, although it is made clear that the proposals and policies will guide development to "2011 and beyond".

4.2 The Plan also predicts the review of Regional Planning Guidance (RPG9) and the roll-forward of the County Structure Plan, which will mean further reviews of the Local Plan around 2006.

4.3 The scope of the draft Plan is very comprehensive and it adopts a novel approach to the content of chapters and sub-divisions which is designed to be user-friendly.

5. Conformity Issues

5.1 The draft Local Plan raises potential non-conformity issues in relation to Policies H1 to H4 of the Structure Plan.

5.2 The `baseline' provision in the Structure Plan (Policy H4) is 6,160 dwellings from 1996 to 2011 in Test Valley (North) and 2,730 in Test Valley (South). Once completions since 1996 are taken into account, the total provision made in the draft Local Plan meets the baseline Structure Plan requirements.

5.3 The Structure Plan figure for Test Valley (North) includes a requirement for 3,000 additional dwellings in the Andover Major Development Area (MDA). The draft Local Plan contains proposals and allocates land which match the concept and principle of the MDA as set out in the Structure Plan. The 2,400 dwelling capacity of these, however, is 600 below the 3,000 specified in the MDA by Structure Plan Policy H3. Despite this, the total provision for Test Valley (North) meets the overall Structure Plan requirement.

5.4 In addition to the baseline provision, Policy H4 of the Structure Plan requires identification of a `reserve' provision of 1,000 dwellings in Test Valley (South). The draft Local Plan does not make any provision for the reserve requirement in Structure Plan Policy H4.

5.5 In addition to the provision for development up to 2011, the draft Local Plan also identifies two large areas of land, at Picket Piece and Andover Business Park, which are safeguarded for development post 2011.

6. County Planning Officer's Comments

6.1 The Borough Council is to be congratulated for producing a draft Local Plan which is refreshing in its approach. The long term post 2011 vision, particularly for Andover, and the various proposals put forward as part of the Andover MDA, designed to bring social and community infrastructure benefits to the town, are all welcomed.

6.2 Although the detailed proposals for the MDA represent a 600 shortfall in relation to the Structure Plan's MDA figure, the overall housing requirements of Test Valley (North) are met and the package of proposals is consistent with the Structure Plan MDA concept. There are some concerns about the detached nature of some of the allocations and the degree to which they can bring forward the community benefit essential to the MDA policy approach, but these are matters which could form detailed comments in response to formal consultation on the published deposit draft and are not conformity issues.

6.3 More serious is the failure of the draft Local Plan to identify any allocations to meet the Policy H4 requirement of 1,000 reserve dwellings in Test Valley (South).

6.4 The Supplementary Planning Guidance `Implementing Policy H4', adopted by the three strategic planning authorities in 2001, states (paragraph 2.6) that Local Plans which do not identify all the reserve provision required by Policy H4 will be deemed not to conform to the Structure Plan.

6.5 It is essential for this approach to be upheld by the County Council to provide a clear and consistent message to the local planning authorities in Hampshire.

7. County Surveyor's Comments

7.1 There has been considerable liaison between County Council and Borough Council officers on the transport content of the Local Plan throughout its development.

7.2 The transport policies take into account those of the County Structure Plan (Review). The policies also reflect the Local Transport Plan (LTP) policies relating to the Test Valley areas of the four transport strategies, namely: the Andover Transport Strategy (ATS); the South West Hampshire Transport Strategy (formerly the Southampton Area Transport Strategy); the New Forest Transport Strategy; and also the Western Hampshire Transport Strategy (WHTS), now combined with the ATS.

7.3 The general transportation principles relating to the major development proposals at Andover and major employment allocations, together with other development sites, are consistent with the aims and objectives of both the County Structure Plan (Review) and the LTP.

7.4 In relation to transportation there are no issues of non-conformity. However, further liaison with Borough Council officers will be undertaken on some minor points of detail which should be agreed prior to the publication of the Plan.

Recommendation

That the Executive Member for Environment be advised that Test Valley Borough Council should be informed that the Test Valley Borough Local Plan Initial Deposit Draft is not in general conformity with the Hampshire County Structure Plan 1996-2011 (Review), as it fails to identify sufficient reserve housing sites in Test Valley (South) to satisfy the requirements of Structure Plan Policy H4.

7297/RLn/PCS