Core Strategy Consultation
The link below will take you directly to East Staffordshire Borough Council’s interactive webpage where you can view and comment on the Core Strategy Pre Publication Strategic Options document electronically:
Have your say on Twenty Year Plan for the Borough
Alternatively if wish to view the Core Strategy Pre Publication Strategic Options document as a whole please select the PDF version of the document below:
Core Strategy Pre Publication Strategic Options
Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA)
In accordance with National Planning Policy Local Authorities are required to carry out a Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA). The purpose of the SHLAA is to understand the level of housing potential within the Borough and to identify sites which are considered to be suitable for housing and likely to be developed. The assessment will form an important part of the evidence base for the Borough’s Local Development Framework (LDF) but does not determine whether a site will be allocated for housing development. The SHLAA is updated annually to ensure all relevant site are included.
You can view the 2011 SHLAA review by clicking on the link below:
http://www.eaststaffsbc.gov.uk/Services/Strategic%20Housing%20Land%20Availability%20Assessment/SHLAA%20update%202011.pdf
Core Strategy/Local Plan
In August/September 2011 we consulted on various ideas for where new development might go in the Borough over the next 20 years. Everybody’s comments on this “Strategic Options” document are being carefully considered and a Consultation Schedule Summarising all these will be available on this website in February 2012.
We are now undertaking a considerable amount of additional work to ensure our evidence base is up to date and robust. Councillors and officers are together coming to a view as to the preferred option for development around the Borough, based on the consultation responses and the evidence base we have gathered.
We hope to consult on the next stage in the preparation of the Core Strategy/Local Plan - the “Publication” stage later this year.
For the latest information on the Core Strategy/Local Plan please contact the Planning Policy Team on planningpolicy@eaststaffsbc.gov.uk or phone 01283 508645 or 01283 508618.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Q: Why does the Council need to prepare this document? A: The Council has a statutory responsibility to prepare a development plan for the whole of the Borough under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. Although new legislation is expected in 2012, we will still need to prepare a plan. This new legislation (the Localism Bill) will abolish Regional Spatial Strategies which set out housing and employment targets for each local authority and places greater control in the hands of local authorities. By preparing an up-to-date plan the Council can set out clearly where development should take place.
- Q: Why are so many houses proposed in East Staffordshire? A: The main criterion for this level of housing development is the government’s Household Projections. A recent update (November 2010) revised downwards the number of new dwellings required over the period between 2006 and 2031. This states that, with net migration, 11,000 homes are required by 2031.
Although the emerging Regional Spatial Strategy for the West Midlands (the Phase 2 revision was not adopted before the general election in May 2010) it set out 12900 dwellings and 150 ha of employment land, these targets need to be supported with local evidence. The Council takes the view that this level of housing cannot be delivered between now and 2026 and have therefore proposed a five year extension to 2031. In addition, given that the Drakelow site in South Derbyshire has been granted consent, the Council feel it is appropriate to rely on this provision to meet the 12900, given that it is, in effect, an urban extension to Burton. This effectively reduces the overall ESBC requirement.
- Q: Why are so many houses proposed in Burton? A: Burton is the main settlement in East Staffordshire with the majority of residents living in or around the town. Although the document sets out possible alternative options, as the largest settlement, this is the most sustainable location for new homes, employment and other commercial buildings.
Uttoxeter is also capable of accommodating additional development relative to its size and function and the growth of both towns will help to maintain the existing town centres and existing facilities. Where necessary, additional facilities will be provided such as new schools, doctors surgeries and community centres.
- Q: Why does so much greenfield land need to be used? A: It is estimated that 60% of these new homes will be built on Brownfield land. Since 2006 around 4000 homes have been built or have permission already. With the Council relying on a further 4700 homes to be developed on brownfield sites in urban areas, this leaves around 4000 new homes to be built on greenfield land.
Although there are some large brownfield sites in East Staffordshire, there is not an unlimited supply of brownfield land. Therefore, while the majority of new homes will be built on brownfield sites, there will be a need to also develop some Greenfield land.
- Q: What is the difference between greenfield and greenbelt land? A: Greenbelt land is a specific designation in planning that refers to land designated around towns to prevent urban sprawl. East Staffordshire has a very small area of greenbelt on the eastern edge of Burton, inherited from South Derbyshire through boundary changes, that is part of a larger area of greenbelt between Burton and Swadlincote. Greenfield land is land that has not been previously developed and can be found both within and outside development boundaries.
- Q: How have the Options set out in the document been developed? A: The three options set out sites that have been submitted to the Council through its ‘call for sites’ known as the Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (or SHLAA). The options each focus development in Burton as the main town, but in each option other development is dispersed differently either mainly to the north, equally to the north and south, or dispersed on the Western edge of Burton. Some development is also proposed in Uttoxeter and the larger villages. The different options show different sites that could be developed in some of the villages.
We have used previous consultation responses and an assessment of the constraints such as location on the edge of the East/West Midlands boundary, flood risk and other considerations develop these Options. The sites included in the options are the ones we see as being the most deliverable and sustainable (also see question X below).But the Council does not at this stage have a preferred option. Your views are important to help determine this.
- Q: Surely the Council have already made up their mind which sites should be allocated? A: The Council does not favour any one of these options. These have been developed as possible options to generate discussion. They are made up of sites that have been submitted to us for consideration and all have been considered to be suitable, available, and viable. Your comments will be used to help us decide which sites should be included in a preferred option that will be set out in the ‘Publication’ version due for release in early 2012
- Q: Why do we need to plan so far in the future? A: The Council is required to prepare a Core Strategy/Local Plan which sets out locations for future housing, employment and commercial development for at least the next 15 years. If we do not prepare a plan, there would still be development, but this might take place on sites or in locations which do not reflect either the Council’s views or those of local communities. Having an agreed Plan and strategy means the Council can directly influence what happens, and secure greater benefits for the local area.
- Q: Is East Staffordshire’s population growing so quickly that we need all these new homes? A: The number of new homes is not just dependant on a growing population (i.e. more babies being born) but also changes in the way that we live such as the increase in ‘single person’ households, the effect of migration and the number of people with second homes. Even if all long term empty properties could all be brought back into use, this would only reduce the number of new dwellings to be built by approximately 500.
- Q: What about other forms of development – Where will everyone work or play? A: Although housing sites might appear to dominate the plans and often get most attention, mixed use sites have been proposed that will incorporate both housing and employment. East Staffordshire consider that around 60 to 90ha of new employment land needs to be found as set out in the Employment Land Review evidence base document.
- Q: What other options were considered apart from the three options set out in the document? A: The consultation document sets out a number of alternative options that were discounted because they were either against national planning policy or left development to be provided by another other Council. Options such as ‘equal distribution of development to be provided across villages and towns would have a significant detrimental impact on the villages.
A new settlement was also discounted as it would need to be on such a scale to be sustainable that it would be largely inappropriate given the high landscape value of the Borough.