Publication Draft

Object

Representation ID: 65688

Received: 27/06/2014

Respondent: Lands Improvement Holdings (LIH) and Kenilworth Golf Club (KGC)

Agent: Indigo Planning Ltd

Legally compliant? Yes

Sound? No

Duty to co-operate? No

We have a number of concerns about the approach taken in the JSHMA in that it fails to assess the localised housing need of individual settlements within the District.

Based on housing need alone, the SHMA identifies that a base total of 12,564 dwellings (698 dwellings per annum) will be required in the District during the plan period 2011 to 2029. This includes 2,070 dwellings in Kenilworth equating to 16.5% of the District-wide requirement.

However the SHMA states that forecast employment growth in the District is for 11,860 jobs over the plan period to 2029, it goes on to stipulate that if an adequate number of new homes are to be provided to accomodate the additional employees within the District, then 12,870 new homes would be required to 2029.

The District currently has a high level of out-commuting, planning for a higher number of jobs/ employment opportunities in the Distirct, with a higher level of housing growth would go some way to reducing out commuting.

In summary, to meet the need identified in the SMHA, between 2,070 and 2,445 new homes should be provided in Kenilworth. This is based on Kenilworth accommodating between 16.5% and 19% of the District's housing need.

We consider that to provide a robust housing target, the Local Plan should adopt the higher housing requirement of 772 dwellings per annum in order to meet the objectively assessed need in the District. For the plan period 2011 - 2029 this equates to a housing requirement of 13,896 dwellings.

Kenilworth is the third largest town in the District.It is important that the housing need is met and the growth of Kenilworth is supported to ensure that the working age population is retained.

Due to the housing pressures in the district, and the additional pressures of housing growth in the wider area, particularly Coventry to the north, Kenilworth is a highly suitable location for additional housing growth.

Object

Representation ID: 66271

Received: 27/06/2014

Respondent: Lands Improvement Holdings (LIH) and Kenilworth Golf Club (KGC)

Agent: Indigo Planning Ltd

Legally compliant? Yes

Sound? No

Duty to co-operate? No

Based on our assessment in Section 2, we consider that a proportion of the District wide housing requirement should be directed to Kenilworth. As a minimum, the Local Plan should direct 2,122 new dwellings to Kenilworth.

The level of housing growth for Kenilworth falls significantly short of the minimum 2,122 dwellings that we consider to be required to meet local housing need in the town.This is a shortfall of 892 dwellings. However, applying a more robust District-wide total (13,896) the shortfall will be 1,063 dwellings.

This creates a clear requirement to identify additional suitable locations for housing development in Kenilworth. In accordance with the NPPF requirement to plan positively and to meet for the needs of the area, WDC should aim to accommodate higher levels of housing growth in Kenilworth.

There are limited housing sites within the built up area of Kenilworth, other suitable sites need to be allocated in or around the town.

Kenilworth Golf Club (KGC) has already been identified by WDC as a potentially suitable site to accommodate housing growth in the town.In order to address the shortfall in housing provision in Kenilworth, KGC should be allocated
for housing. The site can accommodate 700 - 1,000 new dwellings, together with a mix of supporting community uses and high-quality formal and informal open space.

It should be noted that the Green Belt function of the site will be eroded by the route of HS2 as it will no longer form a cohesive part of the wider Green Belt or the countryside area. The site, therefore, offers
an opportunity to accommodate significant housing growth in addition to the sites already identified to meet the housing needs of Kenilworth.

On this basis, the KGC site should be released from the Green Belt and allocated for housing.