(1) 2. Spatial Characteristics, Issues and Opportunities

Introduction

2.1 A detailed assessment of the spatial characteristics of Rochford District is provided in the 2008-2009 Strategic Environmental Assessment Baseline Information Profile. This chapter provides a summary of these characteristics, together with the key issues and opportunities they represent.

2.2 The District of Rochford is situated within a peninsula between the Rivers Thames and Crouch, and is bounded to the east by the North Sea. The District has land boundaries with Basildon and Castle Point District and Southend-on-Sea Borough Councils. It also has marine boundaries with Maldon and Chelmsford Districts. The District has linkages to the M25 via the A127 and has a direct rail link to London.

2.3 The District is home to an estimated 82,200 people as at 2009 dispersed among a number of settlements, the three largest of which are Rayleigh, Rochford and Hockley.

2.4 The Rochford District has a total land mass of 16,800 hectares. It is rich in heritage and natural beauty, with many miles of unspoilt coastline and attractive countryside. There are more than 200 sites of archaeological interest, 14 ancient woodlands and several nature reserves across the District.

2.5 The District is predominantly rural, which is reflected in the fact that 12,763 hectares are designated as Metropolitan Green Belt. Large areas of the District are of ecological importance, with Sites of Special Scientific Interest totalling 12,986 hectares.

2.6 Part of Rochford District is also within the Thames Gateway - a national priority for regeneration.

Environment

2.7 The landscape of the character of the District has been broadly identified as being made up of three types: Crouch and Roach Farmland; Dengie and Foulness Coastal; and South Essex Coastal Towns. The latter of these three is least sensitive to development. The locations of these character areas are identified within the Strategic Environmental Assessment Baseline Information Profile.

2.8 A significant proportion of the District's land is protected for its landscape and/or ecological value. Such areas are focused in the east of the District towards the coast, but also includes a large area to the south of Hockley (Hockley Woods and the Upper Roach Valley) The exact extent of such areas is shown in the Strategic Environmental Assessment Baseline Information Profile.

2.9 The character of the District is split, with a clear east-west divide. Areas at risk of flooding and of ecological importance are predominantly situated in the sparsely populated, relatively inaccessible east. The west of the District contains the majority of the District's population, has better access to services and fewer physical constraints.

2.10 The District's coast is largely undeveloped, relatively inaccessible, and home to large areas of ecological importance, including Sites of Special Scientific Interest, Special Protection Areas, Ramsar Sites and Special Areas of Conservation. Foulness Island is owned by the Ministry of Defence and is used as a proving ground over marsh sands for munitions, with access to it restricted.

Issues and Opportunities

2.11 Locations for development are limited by physical constraints, including land at risk of flooding, areas protected for their landscape value, sites protected for their ecological value etc. Some such areas are of local, regional, national and international importance, including those protected by the EU Habitats Directive.

2.12 7,071 hectares of the Rochford District have a 1% annual probability of fluvial flooding and/or a 0.5% annual probability of tidal flooding, as calculated by the Environment Agency.

2.13 The District contains a number of Conservation Areas which will continue to evolve and develop over time. It is crucial that any change is managed to preserve the unique character of such areas, whilst allowing them to adapt to change.

2.14 Large areas of open space are located in proximity to the District's main settlements. This provides the potential for recreational opportunities to be created if such spaces are linked to areas of residence. The Upper Roach Valley provides a particular opportunity.

2.15 The western area of the District contains areas of ecological and landscape importance, most noticeably the Upper Roach Valley and Hockley Woods which have the potential to provide high quality open space accessible to people.

(1) 2.16 The additional development the District is required to accommodate has the potential to impact upon the environment, and on resources. While many of these issues are not specific to the District, water supply merits particular mention. South Essex relies on water imported from outside of the area and additional development will exacerbate this requirement. Development will need to be implemented in a manner which minimises its impact on the environment and enables the conservation of resources, as well as being phased to enable providers of water supply and treatment infrastructure to upgrade capacity in a timely manner.

2.17 The physical geography of the District gives rise to the potential to explore opportunities to promote tourism. The potential impact of such tourism on the environment must be carefully considered.

2.18 The Wallasea Island Wild Coast project, adjacent to the realigned coast of Wallasea Island, represents a particular tourism opportunity - one which will have to be carefully managed given the area's ecological importance.

2.19 The nature of the District engenders the potential to position Rochford District as the 'green part' of the Thames Gateway South Essex sub-region.

Population and society

2.20 The last Census in 2001 recorded the District as having a population of 78,489. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimates that the population of the District in 2009 is 82,200 and projects that this will rise to 87,000 by 2022.

Issues and Opportunities

2.21 The population of Rochford District is unevenly distributed. The largest settlement is Rayleigh which, in 2001, was home to 30,196 people (38% of the District's residents at that time). The population of the District in 2001 was broken down by Parish as follows:

Parish	2001 Population
Ashingdon	3165
Barling	1657
Canewdon	1477
Foulness	212
Great Wakering	5512
Hawkwell	11231
Hockley	8909
Hullbridge	6445
Paglesham	249
Rawreth	1003
Rayleigh	30196
Rochford	7610
Stambridge	696
Sutton	127

2.22 The distribution of facilities and services across the District broadly reflects the distribution of population.

2.23 Rochford District has a higher proportion of older residents than the national and regional averages. The under-20 population of the District is expected to fall between 2008 and 2025, with the population of those aged 20 to 64 remaining relatively stable. The over-65 population is expected to increase considerably by 2025, outnumbering the under-20's by 2015, and leading to an overall increase in the District's population.

(1) 2.24 The District's ageing population may result in a smaller workforce and a higher dependency ratio, to the detriment of the economic prospects of the area. The ageing population could also lead to an increased demand for health and social care, rather than services for youth. However, a lack of facilities for young people is a current weakness in the District. The changing demographic balance could result in the isolation of pockets of young people in the area - this may have an effect on the social and economic futures of local young people.

2.25 The need to support the area's ageing population is a key priority within the District's Sustainable Community Strategy and planning has an important role to play in ensuring that the local population is able to live independently for as long as possible and receive high quality services when needed. For example, the Council must ensure that appropriate forms of housing are implemented and that services and facilities are accessible.

2.26 The District experiences relatively modest levels of in-migration, primarily into areas along the border with Basildon but also into the Foulness and Great Wakering Ward.

2.27 The average household size in Rochford District is greater than the national average. This is particularly the case in the western part of the District, perhaps indicating that the higher levels of in-migration in these parts are due to parents seeking the quality of life and prosperity needed to support families.

Housing

2.28 As at September 2008, there were 35,623 households within Rochford District. The average price of a detached dwelling in July 2008 was £300,000, which is lower than the average price for the same property type in Essex (£397,967, source: http://www.home.co.uk).

2.29 The East of England Plan requires that a minimum of 4600 dwellings be built in Rochford District between 2001 and 2021. This figure is based on meeting the needs of the current and the future population of the District.

2.30 Current need encompasses the number of people in the District who are living within a household and who want to move to their own accommodation and form a separate household. Projected need is derived from the supposition that the population is projected to increase from 81,300 in 2007 to 87,000 by 2021. In order to meet the needs of our growing population, houses need to be provided for those moving to their own accommodation.

2.31 The East of England Plan acknowledges that between 2001 and 2006 810 dwellings were completed in the District. Furthermore, between 2006 and 2008 an additional 618 dwellings were developed.

2.32 The Council are required to ensure there is an adequate supply of housing for a 15 year period, and assuming adoption of the RCS in 2010, that would mean continuing the annual requirement beyond 2021 to 2025.

Issues and Opportunities

2.33 The District is predominately Green Belt, tightly drawn around existing settlements, the vast majority of which is undeveloped. There is a limit to how much infilling and intensification existing settlements can sustain without their character being adversely affected, particularly given that the District contains ten Conservation Areas. As such there are concerns as to the land uptake and loss of greenfield land that the housing requirement will engender.

2.34 Potential housing development land is further limited by the fact that much of the District is subject to constraints which prohibit the development of housing, such as Flood Zone 3 or areas of ecological importance. Details of land subject to constraints are included within Strategic Environmental Assessment Baseline Information Profile.

2.35 There is a high-level of home ownership in the District. However, concealed households (person or persons living within a household wanting to move to their own accommodation and form a separate household, e.g. adult children living with their parents) are largely unable to afford to enter the local housing market due to the gap between house prices and income. There is a limited supply of affordable housing in the District and the development of additional affordable units across the region is not keeping pace with demand. The Thames Gateway South Essex Strategic Housing Market Assessment identifies a total newly-arising housing need of 241 per annum in Rochford District. It also calculates that there is a need for 131 net additional dwellings per annum to be developed in the District - this represents 52% of the District's annual housing completion requirement as set out in the East of England Plan. The Thames Gateway South Essex Strategic Housing Market Assessment notes the need to ensure that the affordable housing requirements set by local authorities do not render the delivery of housing economically unviable and recommends local authorities across the housing market area set a requirement for 35% of new dwellings to be affordable.

2.36 The Thames Gateway South Essex Strategic Housing Market Assessment also examines the need for different forms of affordable housing. The assessment found an acute need for social rented housing, as well as significant potential market for intermediate housing (although notes that actual demand for intermediate housing is still somewhat unproven). As such, the assessment recommends local authorities aim for an 80:20 split of affordable housing between social rented and intermediate provision.

2.37 Housing need studies and other data from sources such as the housing waiting list indicate that demand for housing is focused primarily on the District's larger settlements of Rayleigh, Hockley and Rochford, but there is still demand for housing in other settlements.

2.38 A snapshot of housing need based on the Council's housing waiting list in May 2009 indicated that demand was distributed as follows:

Settlement	Housing waiting list demand (percentage of District total)
Rayleigh	44.4
Rochford	29.0
Hockley	6.3
Great Wakering	5.9
Hullbridge	5.5
Stambridge	0.8
Rawreth	0.6
Canewdon	0.4
No preference	7.2

2.39 As well as directing housing growth to areas of need/demand, and away from unsustainable locations subject to constraints, the Council must consider the relationship of housing growth to areas of employment growth.

(1) 2.40 The development of additional housing will impact upon all forms of physical and social infrastructure. This impact will require contributions to be made by developers by way of planning obligations.

2.41 Failure to provide affordable housing that meets the needs of the District's residents may lead to continued out-migration, to the detriment of the vitality of local communities.

2.42 The construction of additional housing will have the potential to deliver affordable housing to meet the current shortfall, in order to supply housing for local community need. This will only happen, however, if planning policies are in place to ensure a proportion of the housing developed is affordable.

2.43 The release of land for housing provides an opportunity to ensure that infrastructure is developed alongside it that benefits residents of both existing dwellings and those that will be developed. Planning obligations and the use of standard charges provide a mechanism to contribute towards the delivery of the required infrastructure.

Economy

2.44 Rochford has a small, but reasonably productive, and enterprising economy. Although the District does not record significant levels of 'high skills', a solid foundation of basic and intermediate skills underpins the local economy, and supports a healthy share of knowledge-driven jobs.

2.45 Rochford District is a generally prosperous part of the country, despite only a modest share of resident 'knowledge workers', the typically higher paid employees. This is reflected in reasonably low deprivation, excellent health conditions among the District's population (although some pockets of poorer health in the more urban areas are evident), and one of the lowest crime rates in the country.

Issues and Opportunities

2.46 The small economic scale, modest levels of high skills and local competition may be undermining the sustainability of the Rochford economy; resulting in Rochford ranked within the lowest quartile of local districts by its economic change score.

2.47 In addition, data at the ward level shows some evidence of an economic divide between urban and rural areas; this is particularly noticeable in levels of skills, where wards close to the coast have significantly lower levels of skills than wards close to the town centres.

2.47 The economy of the District is dominated by the service sector with over three-quarters of those employed in the District working in this sector. This is, however, a smaller proportion than that of either the region or the country.

2.49 Although the District is predominantly rural, the proportion of local businesses involved in agricultural activities is low, constituting a fraction over 3% of VAT registered businesses in Rochford District compared to national and regional figures of a fraction over 5% and over 5.5%, respectively.

(1) 2.50 The direction of travel for the local economy is not as positive as many other local authorities in the UK. Rochford relies on jobs in manufacturing to a greater degree than nationally and regionally, yet this is the sector which is shrinking the most due to changes in the economy. However, type of manufacturing is important and Rochford has a number of specialist manufacturing businesses which continue to perform well.

2.51 Business enterprise in the District is largely made up of smaller firms, with nearly three-quarters of businesses employing between 0 and 4 people. This is above the national average. Conversely, the District contains few businesses that employ large numbers of people.

2.52 The more highly paid knowledge workers (with higher weekly incomes) are found mainly along the borders of Basildon and around Rochford town centre - giving rise to another rural-urban divide in the District. Higher levels of deprivation are found in the more rural parts of Rochford.

2.53 A high proportion of the Rochford workforce commutes out of the District. 30% travel to work in Southend, 14% to London, 9% to Basildon and 15% travel elsewhere outside the District.

(1) 2.54 London Southend Airport is located within the District and has the potential to be a focus for economic growth, not simply in terms of aviation-related industries, but also as a catalyst for wider forms of employment which would benefit from being in proximity to a thriving airport.

2.55 Skills and training opportunities must be made available to local people to ensure that local communities will benefit from employment opportunities. In addition, the Council must consider the distribution of housing growth in relation to employment growth areas.

2.56 The Thames Gateway is a national priority for regeneration and growth and has been identified by the government as one of the growth areas for new housing in the South East. The vision for Thames Gateway South Essex is focused on the creation of sustainable communities that make the most of the unique characteristics of South Essex. Rochford District is recognised as an area for developing leisure, recreation and tourism activities and in particular is key to the development and expansion of the Green Grid - the connection of residential areas with green spaces.

2.57 Rochford District's proximity to engines of economic growth - London, South East knowledge economy etc - together with improvements in technology and the more rural quality of life available in the District - provide economic opportunities.

Transport

(2) 2.58 Rochford District has two strategic trunk routes in and around its boundary, namely the A130 and A127. The A127 provides a link to London, a main commuter and employment destination. There are also three train stations located in the District, which provide a direct service to London Liverpool Street.

2.59 London Southend Airport is located on the boundary with Southend Borough and is predominantly within Rochford District.

Issues and Opportunities

2.60 There is a high level of car-ownership in the District. However, the proportion of people travelling to work by public transport is greater than the national and regional averages, primarily due to the accessibility of rail links from the District three main urban areas.

(1) 2.61 Away from the three main settlements, car dependency is high. Congestion and environmental impacts will continue to worsen with population growth if this trend is not reversed.

(2) 2.62 The strength of the spheres of influence of the large neighbouring centres of Southend, Basildon and Chelmsford means that traffic is drawn through Rochford District's own centres to them. This not only has an impact on traffic congestion in general, but also engenders concern with regards to air quality within the District's town centres. This situation has the potential to be exacerbated if development is not directed to the appropriate locations around settlements. Particular locations where this is a concern include east of Rayleigh, where commuters to Basildon and Chelmsford are drawn through the centre of Rayleigh; west of Hockley, where those commuting by car to Southend or Chelmsford/Basildon are drawn through the centre of Hockley or Rayleigh, respectively; and east of Rochford, where vehicular movements would inevitably be directed through Rochford's historic centre. Given such concerns the location of future development must be considered alongside opportunities to locate development in areas where alternatives to car use are more viable, alongside other sustainability issues.

(1) 2.63 The lack of public transport provision throughout most of the District is an obstacle to reducing car dependency. There is, however, some opportunity to utilise public transport, particularly within the three main settlements which contain rail links between each other, Southend and London.

2.64 Current cycle networks in the District are limited both in quantity and quality and do not encourage people to travel by bicycle. Through the new planning process, there is an opportunity to improve this situation and provide an integrated network of cycle paths across the District.

Settlements

2.65 The proximity of Southend-on-Sea and the relationship between this urban area and the predominantly rural Rochford District has a considerable impact upon the characteristics of the District. Southend is the largest retail centre in the sub-region, attracting consumer expenditure from a wider area and contributing to the leakage of spending out of the District. The retail catchment area of Southend overlays those of all of the District's centres. In addition, Southend provides a range of employment opportunities and is within easy commuting distance of a large proportion of the District's population.

2.66 Different parts of the District have a stronger relationship with different nearby towns. This relationship is illustrated in diagrammatic form below.

2.67 Within the District there are four tiers of settlement. The first tier comprises Rayleigh, Rochford and Hockley. These are all settlements with a range of services and facilities as well as some access to public transport.

2.68 Of the first tier settlements, Rayleigh has the best access to services within the District. Rochford and Hockley contain local town centres catering for local need. Management Horizons Europe's (MHE) UK Shopping Index (2008) ranks the top 7,000 retail venues within the UK (including town centres, stand-alone malls, retail warehouse parks and factory outlets) based on current retail provision. This index ranks Rayleigh as a minor district centre, Rochford as a local centre, and Hockley as a minor local.

2.69 All of the District's settlements have their own identity and characteristics. However, in terms of housing markets and access to services and facilities, it is possible to group some of the District's settlements: Rochford and Ashingdon; and Hockley and Hawkwell.

2.70 The second tier comprises Hullbridge and Great Wakering. These settlements have a more limited range of services and access to public transport is relatively poor.

2.71 The third tier is made up of the small rural settlement of Canewdon. This settlement has few services and public transport provision is generally poor.

2.72 The remaining rural settlements, groups of dwellings located within the Green Belt, can be grouped together as a fourth tier. These settlements have little or no services and residents are often completely dependent on the private car to access facilities.

(1) 2.73 The District's towns and villages are diverse in character reflecting their history, location and size. The character, layout and form of groups of buildings, streets and spaces make a significant contribution to providing a sense of place and adding to the quality of life in town and country. Residents have a strong sense of identity with their own settlement.