PROPOSED PUBLICATION AND SUBMISSION OF SITE ALLOCATIONS PLAN

Transcription

1 Wards Affected: All Wards ITEM 10 CABINET 6 SEPTEMBER 2016 PROPOSED PUBLICATION AND SUBMISSION OF SITE ALLOCATIONS PLAN Responsible Cabinet Member: Report Sponsor: Author and contact: Councillor Gifford, Cabinet Member for Place Anna Rose, Service Director - Planning & Transport John Cheston, Interim Development Plans Team Leader, Tel: Executive Summary: The Site Allocations Plan has been prepared to address the identified deficit in the Council s five-year housing land supply. Following an Issues & Options consultation in September 2014 and an Emerging Preferred Options consultation in October 2015, a draft version of the final Plan is now ready for publication. This report proposes that Cabinet recommends to Full Council that the draft Plan is published for consultation under Regulation 19 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations and then submitted to the Secretary of State for examination under Regulation 22 of the same regulations. 1. Recommendation(s) 1.1 That the draft Site Allocations Plan be published for eight weeks consultation and then submitted to the Secretary of State under Regulation 22 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations. 1.2 That the Cabinet Member for Place, be authorised, in consultation with the Service Director for Planning and Transport, to make any necessary minor amendments to the Site Allocations Plan and supporting documents following the consultation. 1.3 That the Cabinet Member for Place, be authorised, in consultation with the Service Director for Planning and Transport, to suggest any necessary modifications to the Site Allocations Plan during the examination process to secure its soundness, in accordance with the findings of the Planning Inspector and subject to any necessary public consultation. 2. Issues 2.1 The preparation of the Site Allocations Plan was required by the 2013 Core Strategy. The Plan is intended to provide a short-term boost to housing land supply by allocating a range of smaller sites to complement the larger strategic expansion areas that make up the bulk of housing land in Milton Keynes. 2.2 The Plan has been in preparation since 2014 and has been subject to two previous rounds of consultation on the Issues and Options (September November 2014) and Emerging Preferred Options (October 2015 February 2016). A range of consultation methods have been used to raise awareness of the proposals including the placing of notices at the proposed site allocations. Full details of the consultation undertaken are set out in the Consultation Statement. 2.3 The draft Plan comprises 21 proposed site allocations for residential use. In total, these are capable of providing just over 1,100 dwellings. The currently

2 identified deficit in land supply is 479 dwellings. A higher figure than this is recommended for four reasons. First, to reflect the fact that more sites have been found suitable than are necessary to address the deficit. Secondly, to provide a contingency in case land supply circumstances should worsen. Thirdly, it is anticipated that in some instances sites may actually have a lower capacity (capacities are currently calculated on a formulaic basis that may not reflect detailed circumstances). Finally, some of the proposed allocations have already been counted towards the Council s identified land supply in recent years. There is therefore a need to allocate them formally to justify their continued inclusion in the housing trajectory although they cannot be counted twice for supply purposes. These sites account for 279 dwellings. 2.4 Each allocation is supported by key principles intended to ensure that they are delivered in an appropriate fashion. These have been drafted based on outstanding assessment issues and other public feedback. This mirrors the approach used in existing Local Plan allocations. 2.5 Where sites have encountered no significant level of public concern and already benefit from an adopted development brief, the draft Plan will generally grant permission in principle. This is a new mechanism introduced by the Housing & Planning Act 2016 whereby the process of granting planning permission is streamlined. Sites that are granted permission in principle through the Site Allocations Plan will not need an outline or full application to be permitted before development can start. Instead, they will require an application for Technical Details Consent to ensure that the key principles for the site s delivery (the prescribed particulars ) are addressed by the proposals. 2.6 Permission in principle will strengthen the contribution that the Plan s allocations make to land supply by making many allocations more deliverable in the short term. It will also mean that the Plan does not duplicate or contradict the robust work and engagement carried out during the preparation of development briefs (which are subject to approval by the Development Control Committee just like planning applications). The Government has indicated that most residential site allocations in the future should utilise permission in principle although, as regulations are still forthcoming, the draft Site Allocations Plan will apply it selectively as outlined above. 2.7 Since the Emerging Preferred Options consultation, proposed allocations have been refined from the earlier likely and possible lists. Two sites (U70 land at Oakgrove School and U38 Land off Phelps Road) that were earlier identified as likely to be suitable have not been allocated, respectively for reasons of access and already being allocated through a neighbourhood plan. The remaining allocations comprise sites previously identified as possible preferred options. However, 10 of the 24 possible preferred options have not been allocated, either for reasons of outstanding assessment issues or because they are no longer available (or have obtained planning permission separately). Full details of this selection process are contained within the plan s accompanying Sustainability Appraisal, the non-technical summary of which is at Annex B. 2.8 The Site Allocations Plan will result in amendments to the Local Plan Proposals Map with the sites concerned changing from their current use to residential use. The Plan will not alter any other aspect of the Development

3 Plan although certain policies may no longer be applicable to individual sites, e.g. Policy E1 of the Local Plan regarding protection of employment land. In terms of administering updates to the Proposals Map, this will be facilitated through the Council s existing interactive online system although new paper versions may also be produced. Revisions can also take into account changes that have resulted from processes other than the Site Allocations Plan, such as the adoption of neighbourhood plans. 2.9 The draft Plan is shown in Annex A to this report. Cabinet is asked to note that the submission Plan may differ slightly in terms of format and design, most notably with the addition of higher resolution mapping at a consistent scale. The site boundaries of the proposed allocations will not, however, change. 3. Options 3.1 The options are to publish and submit the Site Allocations Plan for examination or not to publish and submit the Plan. 3.2 Not publishing the Plan and submitting it for examination would be contrary to the 2013 Core Strategy. It would also continue to leave the Council vulnerable to speculative proposals on the basis of not having an identified five-year supply of housing sites. Examples of such speculative proposals include the Wain Close development in Woburn Sands and on land at High Street, Sherington. 4. Implications 4.1 Policy When adopted, the Site Allocations Plan will form part of the Development Plan for Milton Keynes and alter the Proposals Map that indicates land use across the Borough. The adoption of the Plan will be subject to the agreement of both Cabinet and Full Council once the Secretary of State s Planning Inspector has issued his/her findings on whether or not the Plan is sound. The recommendation will also directly deliver objective 2.2 of the Council Plan to resolve the deficit in five-year land supply and increase housing delivery, and submit [the Plan] to the Secretary of State by December Resources and Risk There are no identified risks to publishing and submitting the Plan beyond sitespecific concerns that may be raised by members of the public. These have been dealt with through earlier consultations. The Plan is resourced from within the existing Development Plans budget. The introduction of permission in principle would potentially result in changes to application fee income. The fee rates for Technical Details Consent applications will be detailed in forthcoming national regulations; however, any reduction in income will be offset by fewer resources being required to process the applications and also reflect the fact that resources have already been expended in the preparation and adoption of development briefs and the Site Allocations Plan. The allocation of Council-owned assets in the Site Allocations Plan will also contribute to the achievement of objective 1.5 of the Council Plan by increasing the value of Council-owned assets that have been found to be

4 suitable for residential development. It is important to note that fulfilment of this objective has not influenced the site assessment process in any way; publicly owned sites have been found suitable on their own merits for reasons of sustainability only. N Capital Y Revenue N Accommodation N IT N Medium Term Plan Y Asset Management 4.3 Carbon and Energy Management 4.4 Legal Not applicable. a) The Plan will be submitted in accordance with the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012 (as amended). The consultation that Cabinet is recommended to agree is referred to as Regulation 19 under these regulations whilst submission is covered by Regulation 22. b) The Issues & Options consultation from September to November 2014 fulfilled Regulation 18, whilst the Emerging Preferred Options consultation was an extra stage of consultation that did not fulfil the duties prescribed under any particular regulation (although a preferred options consultation is a standard approach used by many authorities ahead of the statutory Regulation 19 consultation that is proposed). c) The Council would not be exercising any statutory or discretionary power outside of those described by the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012 (as amended). d) The recommendation does not refer to any delegated authority other than the potential for the Cabinet Member for Place to make minor amendments and suggest other changes in response to any findings made by the Planning Inspector. The recommendation outlines that this would occur in consultation with the Service Director for Planning and Transport. e) The recommendation complies with the Council s constitution in that proposed changes to the Development Plan are subject to Full Council approval following Cabinet consideration. f) The overall level of legal risk associated with the recommendation is anticipated to be low. The planning regulations outline the due process, which has been followed. Outstanding concerns in respect of the Plan and its content are expected to be of a planning nature rather than concerning lawfulness, and as such will be addressed through the quasi-judicial role of the Planning Inspector. General risks will continue to be obviated through project management procedures; the Plan as a project is being run as per the corporate MK Approach.

5 4.5 Other Implications The draft Plan is supported by its own Sustainability Appraisal, a planning process designed to ensure that outcomes are sustainable and will not have an unacceptable effect on environmental, economic or social objectives. The Plan has undergone extensive public engagement already with most proposed sites engendering a degree of concern from members of the public. These concerns have been factored into the assessment process, which has concluded that the proposed allocations represent acceptable locations for residential development in principle. N Equalities/Diversity Y Sustainability N Human Rights N E-Government Y Stakeholders N Crime and Disorder Annexes Annex A: Annex B: Draft Site Allocations Plan Sustainability Appraisal Report Non-Technical Summary Background Papers: Draft Site Allocations Plan Sustainability Appraisal Draft Site Allocations Plan Consultation Statement Site Allocations Plan: Emerging Preferred Options Consultation (October 2015) Site Allocations Plan: Issues & Options Consultation (September 2014) Milton Keynes Council Assessment of Five-Year Housing Land Supply (June 2016)