Local Plan Issues and Options (Regulation 18)

Comment

Representation ID: 15800

Received: 01/09/2025

Respondent: Central & Country Developments Ltd

Agent: HK Planning

I&O_16359
The monitoring framework should reflect the policies that are contained within the final Local Plan. Based on the current Local Plan and the Issues and Options set out in this consultation the monitoring framework should therefore potentially include: Housing delivery per settlement; Housing delivery per policy requirement (house type and tenure etc.); and Housing delivery in relation to any set restriction or limitation (amount or percentage of housing on previously developed land, open countryside or Green Belt).

Comment

Representation ID: 15801

Received: 01/09/2025

Respondent: Central & Country Developments Ltd

Agent: HK Planning

I&O_16360
The emerging Local Plan housing needs figures show a step change in the amount of housing that needs to be delivered across the Borough over the Local Plan period. This will inevitably require all of the key settlements in the Borough to accommodate some new residential homes. The currently adopted Cuddington and Sandiway Neighbourhood Plan reflect the current Local Plan settlement boundary for the settlement, which is tightly drawn around the urban area of the village together with accompanying policies restricting development outside of the settlement boundary. If development is restricted in line with the Neighbourhood Plan this would not allow for any new development of scale, other than affordable homes around Cuddington and Sandiway. Two of the three options put forward for the emerging Local Plan will lead to new development of scale being allocated to Cuddington and Sandiway, as such it is likely that the settlement will be subject to new development that spans beyond the current settlement boundaries. In cases such as these, the emerging Local Plan (once adopted) should supersede any Neighbourhood Plan policies that do not comply with the Local Plan. This should be set out in Local Plan Policy wording. A significant aim of National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) is that Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) housebuilders should be supported because typically they deliver small and medium sized sites that are often built out relatively quickly. Ultimately it is clear that the Government recognise that supporting SMEs helps to diversify the housing supply, provide competition and innovation, and foster organic growth within communities. The NPPF promotes this by encouraging local authorities to allocate a portion of their housing requirement to smaller sites, and by providing tools and support to help SMEs bring these sites forward more quickly. It is noted that the Neighbourhood Plan does allow for ‘small-scale’ residential developments, albeit this is not defined. This should continue to be reflected in emerging alterations to Neighbourhood Plans during the Local Plan review and the site put forward reflect the aim of supporting SMEs by it virtue of its scale and ownership.

Comment

Representation ID: 15802

Received: 01/09/2025

Respondent: Central & Country Developments Ltd

Agent: HK Planning

I&O_16361
The fourth aim ‘Protecting the Character’ gives off significant tones of restricting change. Significant development to support the rural economy and villages will be required over the plan period. This aim should be altered to reflect that high quality development is needed during the Plan period to ‘Support the Character’ of the rural area.

Comment

Representation ID: 15803

Received: 01/09/2025

Respondent: Central & Country Developments Ltd

Agent: HK Planning

I&O_16362
The Government has recognised there is a national housing crisis and the increased provision of suitable housing opportunities, including affordable and private homes, across the borough must be considered a key aim of 'promoting well-being'.

Comment

Representation ID: 15804

Received: 01/09/2025

Respondent: Central & Country Developments Ltd

Agent: HK Planning

I&O_16363
Key Service Centres currently accommodate approximately 1/6 of the residential development needs in the adopted Local Plan. In order to support and sustain the services in these centres then a similar proportion of the pr posed housing numbers must be allocated to them. If not, other areas will grow faster to the detriment of the Key Service Centres, with services and facilities in these centres such as retail, health and education likely to move to other areas causing a loss of services in these centres over the Plan period. Overall we support the need for concise visions for the key places, but that this needs to include Key Service Centres in the rural area as otherwise there importance may not be reflected in the emerging Plan.

Comment

Representation ID: 15805

Received: 01/09/2025

Respondent: Central & Country Developments Ltd

Agent: HK Planning

I&O_16364
SO9 and SO10 would need to be accompanied by updated settlement boundaries to take account of new development needed for the next Plan Period and retain flexibility for delivery if housing numbers are not being achieved.

Comment

Representation ID: 15806

Received: 01/09/2025

Respondent: Central & Country Developments Ltd

Agent: HK Planning

I&O_16365
The SA objectives do appear to cover a suitably wide range of social, environmental, and economic issues (e.g., climate change, health, housing, historic environment, transport). This breadth helps ensure the Local Plan’s policies are tested against appropriate outcomes.

Comment

Representation ID: 15807

Received: 01/09/2025

Respondent: Central & Country Developments Ltd

Agent: HK Planning

I&O_16366
Plan Objectives set out in the existing Local Plan and SA are very similar- the main difference is the locational policies i.e. SO1, SO3, S09 and SO10. Regardless the settlement boundaries will need to be revised to accommodate any of these objectives.

Comment

Representation ID: 15808

Received: 01/09/2025

Respondent: Central & Country Developments Ltd

Agent: HK Planning

I&O_16367
A tail piece should be added to 'avoid development in locations of high environmental value and on high grade agricultural land' that reads 'unless allocated in the Local Plan' as these are expected to be factors considered in allocating land for development, and should not have be re-iterated at application stage.

Comment

Representation ID: 15809

Received: 01/09/2025

Respondent: Central & Country Developments Ltd

Agent: HK Planning

I&O_16368
The Government has issued many statements recognising there is a national housing crisis, and has updated the NPPF and increased housing requirements to reflect this. Therefore, it seems inconceivable why a reduced supply of housing land would be suggested in the early years of a new Local Plan. Please see Enclosure 2, a letter from The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government dated 18th August confirming ‘All areas of the country must play their part in building the homes we need’. In all likelihood given the Council's current position (and time it will take to get the Local Plan adopted) inevitably there will be a lower amount of development delivered in the early years of an emerging plan. In order to avoid a lag in delivery and actually achieve the Government aims of addressing the housing crisis, rather than defer them, Sites which are relatively unconstrained, well located to existing settlements and not of such a scale to cause significant issues on local infrastructure should be considered for release ahead of the emerging Local Plan adoption. Overall phasing delivery of Housing may be required, but if proposed such policies should not stifle potential early delivery of housing in the Local plan period. Any phasing policies for the delivery of housing must remain extremely flexible as delivery of the likely required large-scale sites will need large infrastructure inputs, alterations and complex Section 106 agreements, and these have historically been shown to take significant time to come forward. Therefore, it would only seem appropriate to phase large scale allocations rather than smaller ones which again meet the NPPF’s aim for SMEs and small-medium sites that can typically be delivered quicker.