Revised Development Strategy

Object

Representation ID: 55415

Received: 29/07/2013

Respondent: Lone Star Land LLP

Agent: Alliance Environment & Planning Ltd

Housing Supply:

At present Warwick District Council is unable to demonstrate a 5 year housing land supply which is acknowledged at para 5.1.32 of the consultation document and confirmed in the Council's most recent Annual Monitoring Report (2012) as being 2.6 years. This is contrary to NPPF (para 47) in respect to 5 year supply of deliverable sites and an additional buffer of 5% or 20% where there is a persistent record of under delivery of houses.

No reference has been made by the Council in the RDS as to whether they consider themselves to be a 5% or 20% authority in order to be compliant with Framework para 47.

Furthermore, in the absence of a demonstrable 5 year land supply, the Council will be required to identify and release more land for housing development beyond those locations set out in RDS5.

Object

Representation ID: 60186

Received: 29/07/2013

Respondent: Lone Star Land LLP

Agent: Alliance Environment & Planning Ltd

Level of Housing Growth:

RDSl confirms that "the Council is adopting an Interim Level of Growth of 12,300 homes between 2011 and 2029".

It is noted that this figure is based upon the findings of the latest ONS projections (11,500) plus a local growth rate of 2.4%.

It is considered that the Council has placed an over reliance upon this figure which will be subject to change once the findings of the joint Strategic Housing Market Assessment have been published.

Once published, the SHMA will provide a more robust profile of the Council's objectively assessed housing needs along with any unmet needs from neighbouring authorities.

In its current form therefore it is considered that the RDS is not positively prepared or effective and has not taken into consideration the full objectively assessed housing needs of the District and neighbouring authorities as required by NPPF para 47.

Object

Representation ID: 60187

Received: 29/07/2013

Respondent: Lone Star Land LLP

Agent: Alliance Environment & Planning Ltd

It is noted that the consultation document does not cover the full range of topics that will be included in the Local Plan when it is complete and indeed does not cover all of the topics that were included in the Preferred Options consultation which took place in 2012.

Having reviewed the RDS the following observations are made.

Plan Period

Clarification is sought from the Council with regards to the proposed plan period as there appears to be conflicting time periods stated within the RDS, for example para 1.2 suggests a 15 year period and para 4.1 suggests the plan commencement and end dates of 2011 - 2029 which are some 18 years apart. Duty to Co-operate:

WDC has four neighbouring authorities, and the Council has not yet demonstrated evidence of collaborative working with those authorities. Collaboration with these authorities is considered to be critical given the current uncertainty over the level of housing provision required within neighbouring authority areas to meet their own assessed needs for both market and affordable housing.

Caution should therefore be taken by the Council until the findings of the new SHMA are reported as it may be the case that neighbouring authorities will call upon Warwick District Council to assist them with the delivery of their own assessed housing needs.

Object

Representation ID: 60188

Received: 29/07/2013

Respondent: Lone Star Land LLP

Agent: Alliance Environment & Planning Ltd

Act on behalf of Lone Star Land LLP in respect of their land interests at Norton Lindsey, Warwickshire.

Settlement Hierarchy:

Whilst generally supporting the proposed strategy for the broad location of development (RDS3) which seeks to focus development within or on the edge or existing urban areas and at primary and secondary villages, consider that the 'limited growth' now proportioned to the smaller Villages (i.e. Norton Lindsey) and hamlets is unjustified and does not fully recognise the importance that such settlements could play in significantly boosting housing land supply in the District.

As drafted consider the policy as it relates to Settlement Hierarchy is unsound, in that it is not positively prepared (i.e. it will not meet the objectively assessed housing need), neither is it sufficiently justified nor effective.

Questions the robustness of the Council's Draft Settlement Hierarchy Report which been used to inform the identification of Primary and Secondary Villages in RDSS.

This report has only assessed villages with regards to their sustainability and has not undertaken a detailed assessment to fully consider the constraints facing each settlement (para 5.3).

This work should have been completed before any specific settlements were identified to accommodate the District's future growth.

In particular, Norton Lindsey was previously identified within the Council's Preferred Options Local Plan as a Category 2 Village which had the potential to deliver between 30-80 new dwellings.

In the RDS the categorisation of Norton Lindsey and its role in delivering new housing growth has been reduced further although it is noted at para 4.4.6 that some growth will be acceptable where it is practical and also avoids compromising the character of the Green Belt, new Village envelopes will be established to accommodate infill or small groups of dwellings, subject to detailed form, scale and character considerations.

Would wish to see any further material with regards to the Council's intentions to introduce capped proportional growth rates at Norton Lindsey and the other smaller Villages identified at Table 3.

Lone Star Land LLP is willing to work in partnership with the Parish Council to deliver new homes to meet the local needs of Norton Lindsey and a development which respects the existing character and setting of the Village.