Support

Representation ID: 66466

Received: 27/06/2014

Respondent: Gladman Developments

Agent: Stansgate Planning

Policy directs 1,330 dwellings to brownfield sites within the urban areas of the district's settlements, 850 dwellings to greenfield sites on the edge of Kenilworth, 3,245 dwellings to greenfield locations on the edge of Warwick, Leamington and Whitnash, and 763 dwellings to sites within the districts Growth Villages and rural area.
LP explains proposed spatial strategy aims to meet housing needs by allocating sites across towns and in more sustainable villages. Seeks to maximise use of brownfield land by directing allocations to pd sites in urban areas first, bring forward greenfield sites where these are in sustainable locations, and avoid coalescence between settlements. Sets out that Green Belt sites will be limited to locations where exceptional circumstances can be justified.
Policy Analysis
Generally supportive of distribution strategy. Growth should be directed to key towns and villages with established services/facilities, ensuring creation of sustainable communities that have good access to range of jobs, community facilities, key services and infrastructure. However should not overlook need for further development in lower order sustainable settlements that could help to sustain existing services/facilities. Submit that further growth should be directed to identified Growth Villages, particularly in light of need to provide for a higher level of homes than currently proposed through LP.
Support identification of Radford Semele as location for further sustainable growth. As one of the Growth Villages, Radford Semele is one of the larger villages in the authority area with a population of nearly 2,000 and just over 800 dwellings. Village benefits from good range of local services/facilities,and from good public transport links to both Leamington Spa and Southam, where a wider range of employment opportunities and facilities are available.
Whilst supporting the decision to identify Radford Semele as a Rural Service Village, object to level of development proposed to be directed to the settlement. Previous LP Village Housing Options and Settlement Boundaries Consultation identified the village as an appropriate location to receive an allocation of 100-150 dwellings, but this has now been reduced to 50 dwellings consistent with proposed allocation North of Southam Road. Strongly submit there is no robust justification for this change in policy stance. The Council's May 2013 Draft Settlement Hierarchy Report identified Radford Semele as appropriate location to receive 100-150 dwellings. There is no basis for this figure to now be reduced based on the capacity of the North of Southam Road Allocation.
Radford Semele is not washed over by Green Belt or any other landscape designations. Although its development is constrained by an Area of Restraint that seeks to prevent the coalescence of the village with neighbouring urban areas, it is less constrained than other settlements and has ability to support further development. Although aware that further work has been undertaken to assess sensitivity of the landscape around the village to further development, submit that there are no justifiable reasons that would preclude Radford Semele from accommodating further sustainable development that could come forward in the short term to meet the district's housing needs. Submit that development targets for the village should be increased to at least 180 dwellings.
Would be opposed to re-use of previously developed land if this would preclude development from coming forward on sustainable greenfield sites. Whilst §111 of the Framework states that planning policies should encourage effective use of land by re-using land that has previously been developed, it does not state that brownfield development should be prioritised.
Conclusions on Soundness
Generally supportive of proposed distribution strategy, Growth Villages, particularly in light of the need to provide for a higher level of homes in the district. Whilst supporting identification of Radford Semele as a location for further growth, submit that there is no justifiable basis to now reduce level of residential development to be directed to the village.
6.1.9 There is no reason why Radford Semele cannot accommodate further sustainable development that could come forward in the short term. In this regard we submit that the housing targets for the village should now be increased to at least 180 homes.