Agenda item

The Head of Planning made a presentation to the Panel giving an update following the last meeting and information on the Preferred Strategy.

 

Local Plan

 

Submitted Plan for 12,000 homes

Inspector concerned it does not meet objective need

Objective Assessment of Need (OAN) is 16,000 homes 2016-2036

Green Belt Study Stage 3

Received 144 new and re-promoted to call-for-sites

Received 10,200+ representations to call-for-sites consultation

87% of comments were objections to sites

Site Selection process = HELAA sieving + Site Selection Background Paper

Sustainability Appraisal of various options

Preferred Strategy

 

Preferred Strategy

 

Virtually achieves OAN, good balance between housing and employment land, selects lowest harm green belt sites, does not select more sites than necessary

Delivers 15,952 homes

Selects 36 out of 144 promoted sites

Updated position on completions, commitments and windfalls

Maximises capacity on urban sites

Keeps all Submitted Local Plan sites + increases capacity on some sites

Allocation of some employment land for housing –achieves good balance

Releases some new sites from green belt

(but no new high harm sites)

 

Preferred Strategy

 

Completions 2016-2019	1,446
Commitments (planning permissions)	1,268
Windfall assumption	1,304
Existing allocations in Submitted Local Plan	8,027
+ additional capacity from permissions/applications	645
+ additional capacity from modifications	239
New sites	3,004
Small sites (not in windfall)	19
Total	15,592

 

Cabinet Planning and Parking Panel (CPPP) meeting on 23 January 2020

 

PB1 –investigate opportunities

Nor1 –investigate opportunities

Symondshyde + HAT1 impacts on Coopers Green Lane

Pea106 –protect employment

Select StL5 instead of StL13 at Lemsford

Keep Lemsford and Stanborough in green belt

Concern about extra housing at Panshanger

Concern about extra housing at Wheat Quarter

 

Option to: keep MODERATE, remove MODERATE-HIGH, remove HIGH sites

 

More climate change policies

Need to balance housing need ‘v’ green belt harm

16,000 could be irreparable harm

 

Inspector

 

Stage 6 hearing session round up:

 

“Unless there are sound planning reasons for not doing so, in the first instance, the totality of all of the dwellings assumed to be built during the plan period, on sites put forward in the adopted plan, must be capable of meeting, as a minimum, the full objective assessed housing need for at least the plan period”

 

This means:

 

The closer the selected target is to the OAN of 16,000 homes, the greater the likelihood that the plan will be found sound

 

Risks

 

Risk of judicial challenge

Removal of some sites may make it difficult to deliver new infrastructure

Risk that inspector suspends examination

Risk that inspector finds plan unsound

Risk that government could instruct another body to prepare plan

Lack of five year housing land supply

May struggle to resist proposals for brownfield sites and employment land

May start receiving speculative green belt planning applications

Risk of planning by appeal and appeal costs

 

Timetable

 

23 Jan, 29 Jan, 30 Jan	CPPP to debate > CPPP to decide > Cabinet
10 Feb –22 March	Public consultation
w/c 9 March	Hearing sessions –South BGS and Symondshyde
23 March –5 May	Local Election purdah Officers to analyse representations
Early May	Inspector to issue hearing questions
w/c 25 May	CPPP to debate and decide
w/c 1 June	Council to submit new sites
June 2020	Hearing sessions –new sites

 

Maps (attached to these Minutes)

 

Show existing sites in Submitted Local Plan in purple

Show newly promoted sites that passed HELAA Stage 2 in red

Show sites in preferred Strategy in red

Show sites that would be red

 

Identifies capacity of each site

·         Capacity based on best available information

·         Could increase or decrease at planning application stage

 

Identifies green belt harm rating of each site