STRATEGIC PLANNING JOINT ADVISORY PANEL

Date: 2 April 2003 Item 9

Report by: Hampshire Director of Environment, Portsmouth City Planning Officer and Southampton Executive Director of Development and Sustainability

`SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES: BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE' - IMPLICATIONS FOR HAMPSHIRE, PORTSMOUTH AND SOUTHAMPTON

Written by: Antony Payne, tel 01962 846766

Purpose and Summary:

The Government published `Sustainable Communities: Building for the Future', known as the Communities Plan, on 5 February.

The Plan is intended to transform communities and reverse the legacy of decades of under-investment. It sets out a long-term vision but also outlines investment priorities over the next three years.

Many of the implications for Hampshire are to be found in the Regional Action Plan `Sustainable Communities in the South East, Building for the Future'.

The Government is taking a `carrot and stick' approach to encouraging planning authorities to improve performance, backed by other funded initiatives (eg skills training) to improve the prospects of regional housing targets being met.

The focus on regional growth areas may reduce the need to accommodate some future housing demand in the South East within Hampshire, although their success depends upon the extent to which they also attract jobs.

Hampshire may benefit from enhanced levels of funding for key workers but the shift to regional priorities for the provision of affordable housing may be to the county's detriment.

Some of the proposed changes may take time to be reflected on the ground (eg expanding the skills base, addressing the current affordability crisis) and it is right that the Government has set its target on achieving a `step change' in communities over a 15-20 year period, rather than a short-term fix.

The Plan is in its final form and views are not being expressly sought on its content.

RECOMMENDATION:

That the three Strategic Planning Authorities note the contents of the Communities Plan and consider the implications for future strategic planning activity.

1. Introduction

1.1 The Communities Plan is in two parts - an overarching document addressing country-wide issues and a series of `daughter' documents covering the Regions. They can be viewed at http://www.odpm.gov.uk/communities/plan/index.htm. The latter document for the South East is intended to be a Regional Action Plan (although it does not attempt to cover all the issues of importance to communities. It highlights actions to address housing, planning and neighbourhood renewal issues). This report draws from both documents and concentrates on the key implications for Hampshire.

2. Strategic Challenges for the South East

Housing Supply

2.1 The Government proposes to work with the Regional Assembly, local authorities, developers and other partners to identify the reasons for the shortfall in housing completions in parts of the South East and take a proactive approach to tackling any obstacles. It aims to create the conditions in which private house builders will build more homes of the right type and address the need for more affordable and key worker housing.

2.2 It will accelerate the building of new communities in Thames Gateway, Milton Keynes-South Midlands and Ashford growth areas and make available over £600 million for these developments.

2.3 Other actions include encouraging better use of land by supporting the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) initiatives, working with the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment and others to improve the quality of design, securing a better mix of housing (more 1 and 2 bedroom properties) and developing further architecture centres (one based in the Solent area).

Impact on Hampshire

2.4 The Communities Plan restates a number of initiatives and policy changes already announced by Government, eg proposals to reform, streamline and simplify the planning system with a greater focus on regional planning. The Regional Assembly is to receive a Planning Delivery Grant of £581,000 in 2003-04 to enable it to make progress on developing the new Regional Spatial Strategy and other policies and plans. The Plan contains a timetable for a review of RPG9 that will see a draft Regional Spatial Strategy published by the end of 2004, with the final version due for publication in summer/autumn 2006.

2.5 There has been a shortfall in annual housing completions nationally and local authorities are expected to take a proactive role in identifying and responding to housing needs. To this end the Government is providing additional funding for planning services via the `Planning Delivery Grant'. This will help ensure planning decisions are taken more quickly and that new style local plans are produced promptly and kept up-to-date.

2.6 A total of £2 million is being made available to Hampshire authorities (unitary and district) for 2003-04. The money can be spent on any aspect of planning but is expected to be channelled to areas that improve performance and meet the housing provision totals in RPG. Future funding will be dependent upon improved performance.

2.7 Although no county council has benefited from the Grant, the Government has not reduced the funding formula in recognition that its input to regional and local spatial planning remains important.

2.8 Comprehensive Performance Assessments (CPAs) will include consideration as to how planning authorities are delivering planned levels of new housing, and the Audit Commission is to reflect housing market issues in the annual refresh of CPA scores for unitary and county councils in 2003/04.

2.9 Where an assessment finds an authority is failing to tackle housing needs satisfactorily, the Commission will consider an urgent and more detailed inspection or refer the authority to the Secretary of State for statutory intervention.

2.10 The proposed changes to the CPA do not immediately affect the County Council because, as an `excellent' authority, it is not due to be inspected for a further three years. However, there is talk of `refreshing' scores in 2004. The recent poor performance of Hampshire in terms of meeting RPG house building targets (20% below for 2001-02), if sustained, could threaten the authority's `excellent' status. However, by the time the county is reviewed it may have lost its statutory responsibility for strategic planning (assuming that the present Planning Bill is not changed).

2.11 It may, however, have implications for other local authorities (both unitary and district) in the county which do not meet their housing targets.

2.12 Local authority performance in determining planning applications will continue to be closely monitored and the Government will intervene if need be. In the year 2002/03 78 poor-performing LPAs in the country (including five in Hampshire) have been subjected to Best Value development control targets performance standards. Four of the 78 have been subject to formal intervention.

2.13 The regional growth areas are expected to absorb 200,000 additional houses above current planned levels. These levels of growth will only be achieved if economic growth is also channelled into them. If they are successful they may siphon off economic development from other parts of the South East, including Hampshire. However, the development of the growth areas does not mean that the future dwellings requirement for Hampshire will be lower than the current RPG figure. Nor will the location of large numbers of affordable dwellings in the growth areas help meet needs arising from within the county.

2.14 The Government is expecting a significant improvement in the numbers of dwellings built, changes in housing mix, increased use of previously developed land and better design. It is putting additional resources into the planning system and has signalled its intention to intervene if these improvements are not delivered. The challenge for planning authorities is to meet this expectation.

Affordability of Housing

2.15 The Government has defined the challenges as making home ownership more affordable and to provide more homes. Greater effort is to be made to ensure the size and type of housing better matches need, especially by providing more homes for the increasing number of smaller households. PPG3 will be updated and a consultation will take place on allowing authorities to require affordable housing on smaller sites where this is justified.

2.16 A South East Regional Housing Board is to be established to include representatives from the Housing Corporation, Regional Assembly, English Partnerships, SEEDA and other relevant bodies. The Board will prepare a Regional Housing Strategy. There will be a single housing pot for housing capital resources, replacing the Approved Development Programme and Local Authority Housing Investment Programme. The Board will advise Ministers on the allocation of the single pot to meet priorities set out in the Regional Housing Strategy.

2.17 The Government will work with public sector landowners to ensure public sector land releases take account of the need for housing and affordable housing and the Affordable Housing Task Force chaired by the Regional Assembly to deliver its actions.

2.18 Other changes proposed by Government include a consultation on giving local authorities the power to lease long term empty property; changes in council tax for second and empty homes and changes in Right to Buy to discourage profiteering and help local authorities keep the supply of affordable housing in the longer term.

Impact on Hampshire

2.19 The Plan provides for almost £5 billion for more affordable housing in the London, East and South East Regions between 2003 and 2006, of which £1 billion is for key worker housing. This represents an increase on current levels of funding.

2.20 In future important housing policy and funding decisions will be made by the Regional Housing Board rather by local authorities. Funds will be channelled towards key regional priorities, such as the growth areas of Ashford, Thames Gateway and Milton Keynes. Local authorities will only be able to fund small-scale developments while the Housing Corporation will take care of larger projects. Decisions have yet to be taken about the dividing line between the two. Transitional arrangements to ease the impact of this change were announced and then subsequently modified following representation from local and regional bodies.

2.21 Although the increased level of resources for affordable housing is to be welcomed, regional priorities may result in the county securing less of the available funds than is presently the case, where priorities and funding support have been largely determined by local authorities. Other counties, such as Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Surrey, generally have a larger affordability gap between house prices and incomes than most parts of Hampshire and could arguably warrant higher levels of support than here.

2.22 The Government has said it will consult on allowing local authorities to seek affordable housing where this is justified and it will ensure local plan policies are underpinned by robust housing needs assessments. It also proposes to work with district councils through the CPA process on achieving better balance between housing demand and supply. These proposals are to be welcomed, as many planning authorities in Hampshire believe that the current threshold for requiring affordable housing is set too high. However, there remains some concern over the extent to which planning obligations will deliver the level of affordable housing needed.

2.23 The additional funding for key workers represents a significant increase on present levels (£1 billion over the next three years nationally, compared with £100 million this year). Schemes will be more targeted to the recruitment and retention needs of different public services. Employers will contribute to the cost of these programmes. Hampshire has benefited from support for key workers (eg Starter Homes Initiative) and is likely to continue to do so from the substantially enhanced funds announced for this policy area.

2.24 Southampton has already been identified as one of four authorities that will participate in a pilot scheme to enable councils to compulsory lease empty private sector homes.

Land, Countryside and Rural Communities

2.25 The main thrust of this section is about brownfield sites and very little is said about countryside and rural communities. The Government aims to protect the countryside and enhance its quality, rather than create urban sprawl, and also address the housing needs of rural communities. Funding is to be provided for English Partnerships and the Regional Development Agencies to remediate and assemble brownfield land, whilst English Partnerships is to produce a register of surplus public sector land.

2.26 It is seeking to maintain and enhance the amount of Green Belt land, promote more accessible green space in and around communities and expand the Community Forest initiative.

Impact on Hampshire

2.27 The proposed action on brownfield land is welcomed, as is the proposed register of surplus public sector land (although noting that this does not necessarily mean that such land will come forward for development).

2.28 A new and imaginative approach is required for all areas of the urban fringe around towns and cities, not just Green Belt. Current protection policies limit opportunities for creative solutions to urban fringe problems and do little to encourage owners to manage the land or to open up fresh areas for public access. There may also be scope for a more favourable regime to meet the needs of local communities and businesses within such areas without compromising the principles of sustainable development.

2.29 Further initiatives are essential for urban fringe areas to establish multi-purpose countryside, support appropriate land management and improve benefits for the countryside for urban populations, particularly those who are socially excluded.

2.30 There is no indication of a commitment to long term funding necessary to achieve the Government's aims.

2.31 The Government is increasing the Housing Corporation's rural target to provide 7,000 affordable homes over the years 2004-06 in settlements below 3,000 people, in addition to the 1,600 in 2003-04. It will be for Hampshire housing enablers and providers to argue for a fair share of the increased levels of funding. However, whilst welcoming the commitment to rural-proof the region's strategic approach to investment, sustainable rural communities need more than just housing and the Plan contains no proposals to improve accessibility of rural people to services, healthcare, jobs and training.

Transport

2.32 The Government will consult upon and finalise the Regional Transport Strategy, which has been drafted by the Regional Assembly, including the identification of regional priorities for transport investment. It will also work with the Highways Agency and the Strategic Rail Authority to bring forward schemes to improve travel within and through the region. It also proposes to take forward the findings of multi modal studies (eg South Coast and Thames Valley).

Impact on Hampshire

2.33 The Plan contains no new announcements on Transport. The Government states that it will work with local authorities to develop integrated and safer public transport and cites the South Hampshire light rail line as an example. It also recognises that three authorities (including the County Council) have been designated as "centres of excellence" for local transport.

Skills and the Labour Market

2.34 The Government recognises that the current shortages of skilled people in some professions and trades will seriously hamper achievement of its objectives to develop sustainable communities. It therefore proposes to work across Government and with key stakeholders, including the private sector, to develop the skills base, building on current initiatives.

2.35 It intends to develop, by July 2003, a comprehensive skills strategy for sustainable communities. This includes boosting capacity and skills in planning, providing £4 million over the next three years for Planning Aid to help communities become more involved in the planning process and £17 million to support action at a regional level to improve urban design skills. It will also work with the construction industry to ensure that people have the right skills to meet the future needs of the industry.

2.36 At the regional level the Government will work with Learning and Skills Councils and local authorities to ensure that resources are put to best effect.

Impact on Hampshire

2.37 The national and regional plans appear to have a different focus on this issue. The national perspective is to address the skills and training required to deliver sustainable communities, whereas the Regional Action Plan concentrates more on the low skills, exclusion and under-utilisation of the workforce as a whole.

2.38 The Hampshire House Completions Study considered deficiency in the skills base (eg construction workers, planners, etc) to be an important contributory factor to account for the decline in house building in recent years. The recognition of this issue by Government, backed by enhanced funding, should go some way to addressing it, and others related to delivering sustainable communities.

Tackling Deprivation and Renewing Communities

2.39 The Government plans to continue to develop the Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy in four areas of the South East - including Southampton and Portsmouth. The programme of Area Investment Frameworks promoted by SEEDA and new delivery partnerships for the Priority Areas for Economic Regeneration will also be developed. It will also support sustainable rural development, work in reducing health inequalities and work with others to deliver schemes to improve liveability.

Impact on Hampshire

2.40 Places such as Leigh Park and Rowner continue to present challenges to create `sustainable communities' and the commitment to develop existing programmes is to be welcomed. There is, however, little by way of recognition of the needs of the suburbs, which have been dismissed as `suburban sprawl'. The aims and aspirations of the `In Suburbia Partnership' (which includes the County Council and Rushmoor District) concur closely with those of the Government and it is disappointing that the suburbs are not recognised as requiring attention. They are not all thriving and successful and they do not look after themselves; they should be considered as an integral part of the urban renaissance for the sake of the communities that live in them. Their future is intrinsically interconnected with urban centres and rural areas.

2.41 The `In Suburbia Partners' have identified assets and deficiencies in some of their suburban areas with a view to putting in place measures to protect or enhance the assets and others to overcome deficiencies. However, when a course of action has been identified, appropriate support has not always been available. Making them more attractive and sustainable places, where people want to continue to live, may help to reduce the pressure of population exodus from suburban to rural areas to stem further suburban sprawl, thus reducing the pressure on the urban fringe. The Plan provides no clear support or funding for them.

Community Engagement and Partnership Working

2.42 The Plan recognises that healthy, vibrant sustainable communities can only be achieved with the involvement of the people who live and work in them. The Government proposes to take forward the region's Social Inclusion Statement and encourage further development of Local Strategic Partnerships and the sub-regional partnerships such as Priority Areas for Economic Regeneration. It will also work with partnerships throughout the region to tackle street crime, racist crime and domestic violence.

Impact on Hampshire

2.43 Local Strategic Partnerships are currently engaged in developing Community Strategies and consulting those for whom the strategies are designed, whilst local crime reduction partnerships are a vehicle to address some specific community issues.

3. Conclusion

3.1 The Communities Plan should be broadly welcomed, particularly the proposed changes to provide the impetus to raise housebuilding levels and help deliver the type and quality of new development expected. There is, however, the prospect that Hampshire may receive a reduced share of the funds for affordable housing as a result of the application of regional priorities. Local authorities will need to argue the case for more resources based on robust and up-to-date housing needs assessments.

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.

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