Archived decisions

Contact: Stuart Roberts, ext 6782 email: [email protected]

Stuart Jarvis, ext 6412 email: [email protected]

1. Summary

1.1 The following decisions are sought:

That the Council approves the attached document for submission to the South East England Regional Assembly as the Council's advice in respect of Central Hampshire and the New Forest, for the preparation of the South East Plan.

2. Reason

2.1 This decision supports Aim 2, Stewardship of the environment, and Aim 3, Achieving economic prosperity, of the Corporate Strategy by helping to ensure that Hampshire's environment and its economic prosperity are safeguarded in the South East Plan.

3. Other Options Considered and Rejected

3.1 Not to submit advice to the South East England Regional Assembly in respect of the Central Hampshire and New Forest area.

4. Conflicts of Interest Declared by the Decision Maker or Other Executive Member Consulted - None.

5. Dispensation granted by the Standards Committee - Not applicable.

6. Reason(s) for the Matter being dealt with if Urgent - Not applicable.

Contact: Stuart Roberts, ext 6782 email: [email protected]

Stuart Jarvis, ext 6412 email: [email protected]

1. Summary

1.1 The County Council is statutorily required, along with other relevant strategic planning authorities, to provide advice to the South East England Regional Assembly (SEERA) on the policies to be contained in the Regional Spatial Strategy - entitled the `South East Plan' - which the Assembly is now preparing. This gives the County Council an opportunity to influence the drafting of the Plan and thus safeguard Hampshire's interests. This report sets out advice in respect of Central Hampshire and the New Forest to complement the views which the Council will send to the Assembly on the sub-regional strategies for South Hampshire and Western Corridor/Blackwater Valley

2. Background

2.1 The Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 places a statutory duty on Regional Assemblies to seek the advice of county (and unitary) councils in their areas in the preparation of Regional Spatial Strategies (RSS). The Act places a statutory duty on those councils to provide that advice. SEERA is preparing its RSS to a challenging timetable, with the aim of a first draft being approved by the Assembly in November 2004 for public consultation during January-March 2005. This timetable means that the County Council's advice to the Regional Assembly needs to be forwarded quickly, if it is to influence the content of the draft Plan.

2.2 The South East Plan will comprise region-wide policies for all topics together with sub-regional policies/strategies for some parts of the region which elaborate on economy, housing and associated transport and other infrastructure. Two sub-regional strategies will cover parts of Hampshire: the South Hampshire Sub-Regional Strategy and the Western Corridor and Blackwater Valley Sub-Regional Strategy. They are the subject of separate reports to this meeting.

2.3 Central Hampshire and the New Forest are not covered by sub-regional strategies, merely by the region-wide policies. The Advice, which is attached to this report, is intended to influence the writing of those region-wide policies.

3. Content and Structure of the Advice

3.1 The attached Advice takes the form of a brief analysis of each topic (including a Hampshire-wide context in some cases), followed by a recommended `Policy Approach' which sets out the nature of the policy(ies) which it is felt shall be included in the South East Plan.

3.2 The Advice does not attempt to cover every topic which will be addressed by the South East Plan. Rather, it concentrates on matters which are distinctive to Hampshire, and where the South East Plan will contain a different approach in respect of Hampshire compared to the rest of the Region. One obvious example of this is the New Forest Natural Park which does not affect any other part of the South East Region.

3.3 Regional Spatial Strategies must avoid repeating national policy guidance (set out in Planning Policy Guidance - PPG) and instead concentrate on adding the regional dimension. The attached Advice reflects this.

3.4 The Policy Approaches are not confined to land use matters; some cover related matters such as a call for increased investment. This reflects the broader spatial nature of RSS which can include non-land use measures/actions; something that Structure Plans were not allowed to do.

3.5 Some important topics are not within the scope of the Assembly's current work because they are covered by separate regional strategies. A regional strategy for transport has just been approved by the Deputy Prime Minister while regional strategies for energy and for recreation and tourism are nearing completion. Regional strategies for minerals and waste are in preparation. The Hampshire authorities have and will continue to contribute to the preparation of those regional strategies which will be incorporated into the South East Plan. Therefore, the attached Advice does not address those topics.

4. Central Hampshire District Authorities

4.1 It would add weight to the submission if the Advice which went to the Regional Assembly was endorsed by the Central Hampshire local planning authorities (Winchester, Test Valley, East Hampshire and New Forest). This would indicate broad support for the policy framework set out in the attached document. The proposed advice has been made available to those four authorities and they are considering their responses at the time of drafting this report. Any further development of this situation will be reported to the meeting.

5. Conclusion

5.1 The statutory role for county (and unitary) councils in the preparation of regional spatial strategies, introduced at a late stage in the legislation's passage through Parliament, provides a welcome and valuable opportunity to influence the writing of the South East Plan. The submission of the attached Advice will not only discharge that statutory duty but enable the County Council to influence the draft Plan before it is completed.

Recommendations

That the Council approves the attached document for submission to the South East England Regional Assembly as the Council's advice for the preparation of the South East Plan.

8926/SR/SJ