Hampshire County Council

8 December 2005 Item 9

65: South East Plan: Final Sub-Regional Policy Advice to the South East England Regional Assembly

Report of the Cabinet

Contact: Debbie Vaughan, ext 7330, e-mail: [email protected]

With the concurrence of the Chairman under Section 100B (4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972, this matter has been included on the agenda to enable the latest available information to be brought to the attention of Members.

1. Summary

1.2 The County Council is required to advise the South East England Regional Assembly (SEERA) on sub-regional policy development and the distribution of SEERA's sub-regional and residual county area housing requirements between districts. This advice has been prepared in discussion with District Council partners and the Partnership for Urban South Hampshire, widely consulted upon and the results have been considered by the Cabinet on 28 November 2005. The advice supports Aims 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the Corporate Strategy (Maximising life opportunities, Stewardship of the Environment, Achieving economic prosperity and Building Strong and safe communities) by setting out proposals for the long-term spatial planning framework to guide the management of development and change in the county's environment, economy, infrastructure and communities over the next 20 years.

2. Consultation

2.1 The proposed advice was prepared in full consultation with the District and Unitary authorities of Hampshire, and the results have been considered by the same parties. The proposals were also subject to extensive stakeholder consultation and a general public consultation exercise in September and October 2005.

3. Statutory Role

3.1 The County council no longer has any statutory duty to prepare a County Structure Plan. However, it does have a statutory duty to advise SEERA on the development of the South East Plan, including preparation of initial proposals for sub-regional policies.

4. Views of the Cabinet

4.1 The report considered by the Cabinet on 28 November 2005 (a copy of which has been distributed to all Members of the County Council) gave a comprehensive review of the technical and appraisal work undertaken, together with the outcome of the consultation exercises. During the course of their deliberations, the Cabinet expressed strong concerns that:-

_ the amount, density and type of housing proposed could have a detrimental effect on the quality of life for the communities of Hampshire and this was not acceptable;

_ strategic gaps, which were viewed as absolutely essential, must be retained;

_ it was paramount that adequate funding from central Government be available to support the infrastructure necessary for the proposed level of house-building, and this should take into account the current deficit on transport systems and the road network;

_ reduced Government funding was being made available for major transport schemes such as the Chickenhall Lane Link Road, Stubbington By-pass and Botley By-Pass, all of which were currently on hold, thus exacerbating the infrastructure concerns;

_ for areas already suffering chronic congestion, such as Gosport, the infrastructure concerns that have already been raised must be adequately addressed; members were of the view that the introduction of congestion charging is not the way forward;

_ a decision was still awaited on the Light Rapid Transit scheme submitted to the Government as a means of tackling the congestion situation in Gosport and the surrounding area and this was very disappointing;

(NB: Since the Cabinet meeting the Government have announced that they will not fund the Light Rapid Transit scheme)

_ the outcome of the public consultation exercise clearly demonstrated that the people of Hampshire have real concerns about the proposed development set out in SEERA's plans for Hampshire;

_ the `broad brush' approach by SEERA for the whole of the South East was not working and that proposed solutions, which were unacceptable, should not be thrust upon Hampshire;

_ adequate recreational space must be provided in new development, taking account of the potential additional pressures on the National Park(s) from proposed development

5. The Western Corridor/Blackwater Valley Sub-Regional Group met on 30 November 2005, followed by a meeting of the Partnership for Urban South Hampshire on 1 December 2005. Any significant developments arising from these meetings will be reported at County Council on 8 December 2005.

Recommendation

That the Cabinet recommends the County Council should:

_ note that the County Council no longer has any statutory duty to prepare a Strategic Plan to set the framework for the development of the County of Hampshire, and that this is now the responsibility of the unelected South East England Regional Assembly (SEERA) through its Regional Plan;

_ note that the advice offered is based upon a widespread consultation exercise with the public of Hampshire to which more than 7,000 replies were received;


_ note that the County Council in respect of the planned development in the Partnership for Urban South Hampshire Area (PUSH) does not believe that the planned level of growth in that sub-region's GVA is sustainable;

_ note that without substantial commitment from central Government as to infrastructure funding, development in Hampshire cannot be achieved and in particular, draw attention to the deficit in transport systems and road networks;


_ affirm that Hampshire County Council has met its statutory obligations under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, and at the request of SEERA, has provided advice on the allocation of SEERA's housing totals between Districts in Hampshire. The County Council has facilitated this process and worked closely with District and Unitary Councils in Hampshire, including facilitating an extensive local consultation process. This is now submitted to SEERA on the basis that Hampshire County Council advises that the following is the outcome of this process conducted on behalf of SEERA, but that the County Council reserves its own position:

(i) note the findings of the Sustainability Appraisal work to date (summarised in Appendix 1) and reflect this consideration in determining its advice to SEERA;

(ii) submit sub-regional advice to SEERA in respect of employment, transport and other infrastructure, for North and South Hampshire, based on the principles set out in the report (including the Appendices 2, 3, 4 and 5), accompanied by relevant technical work reports;


(iii) object to SEERA in respect of its proposed Aldershot/Farnborough/ Camberley regional hub on the grounds set out in Section 6 of the report, and that the County Council fully endorses the stance of the Western Corridor and Blackwater Valley Sub Regional Steering Group on this matter:

(iv) submit to SEERA advice on the distribution of District Housing numbers in North Hampshire set out in Appendix 6 of the report;

(v) submit to SEERA advice on the distribution of District Housing numbers in Central Hampshire set out in Appendix 7 of the report;

(vi) submit to SEERA advice on the distribution of District Housing numbers in South Hampshire, tabled at the Cabinet meeting, in the context of the information set out in Appendix 8 of the report, subject to any additional considerations following discussion of these matters by PUSH on 1 December 2005; and

(vii) submit appropriate sub-regional policy advice to SEERA based on the principles set out in Appendix 10.