Development Management Policies DPD
Introduction
(8) The Role of Development Management Development Plan Document
Development management is a positive and proactive approach to shaping, considering, determining and delivering development proposals. It is led by the Local Planning Authority working closely with those proposing developments and other stakeholders. It is undertaken in the spirit of partnership and inclusiveness, and supports the delivery of key priorities and outcomes. Adopting the development management approach will enable us in conjunction with local communities and stakeholders, to promote and achieve the vision and objectives contained within the development plans and sustainable community strategies, as well as to deliver relevant regional and national objectives. This will assist us in shaping sustainable, prosperous, attractive and safe places where people want to live, work and relax.
The Development Management Development Plan Document (DPD) will set out the detailed day-to-day planning policies through which development within the District will be delivered. It is a document which will form part of the portfolio of documents shaping the future of the District, known as the Local Development Framework.
The Core Strategy is the overarching document of the Local Development Framework. It sets out our core issues and polices for the future development of the District, which the development management policies must conform to in order to be found ‘sound’ and to deliver our vision. As such, the development management policies must not repeat the policies in the Core Strategy and should be read in conjunction with them. Therefore both these documents will be used in the determination of planning applications for the development and use of land and buildings in the District.
The Development Management DPD will be subject to several stages of public consultation, which will help shape its preparation. This consultation document is the first stage in the process and has been developed having regard to our approach to the future development of the District as set out in the emerging Core Strategy.
The diagram below (Figure 1) shows the documents which will comprise the Development Plan for the District. Planning applications are to be determined in accordance with the Development Plan. Supplementary Planning Documents, however, do not contain policies and as such are not part of the Development Plan. These documents will sit below the policy documents and provide additional advice and guidance where appropriate.
Figure 1 - The Development Plan
The Core Strategy has been submitted to the Secretary of State for public examination. The Development Management DPD will need to be adapted to reflect the approach of the adopted Core Strategy, as appropriate.
This document, although not the final version, should be read in conjunction with the approach outlined in the emerging Core Strategy submission document.
(2) The Role of the Development Management Preferred Options
This document is a public consultation document which explains our preferred approach to managing future development within the District. It sets out the preferred options for development management policies reflecting the priorities set out in the emerging Core Strategy, and where appropriate, alternative options with explanations as to why such an approach is not preferred. This document has been subject to a sustainability appraisal.
This is the first stage in the preparation of the Development Management DPD. Following the initial round of community involvement, the submission version of this document will be prepared, having regard to these findings. It will then be subject to another six week period of public consultation, which is scheduled for September/October 2010, and a second sustainability appraisal before a final version of the document is agreed. The Development Management DPD itself will be submitted, along with the results of this consultation and other evidence, to the government.The document will then be subject to an independent examination by the Planning Inspectorate on behalf of the Secretary of State, and if found to be ‘sound’ is scheduled to be adopted in November 2011.
The Development Management DPD is divided into chapters containing preferred and alternative options for managing development within the District. These options are detailed within the following chapters:
- Housing, Character of Place and Residential Amenity
- The Green Belt and Countryside
- Environmental Issues
- Transport
- Economic Development
- Retail and Town Centres
- Preferred Options public consultation;
- Pre-Submission public consultation;
- Examination in Public; and
- Adoption.
(1) Vision
Our vision is shared with that of the Local Strategic Partnership;
‘To make Rochford District a place which provides opportunities for the best possible quality of life for all who live, work and visit here’
To support this, we have four main corporate objectives. These are;
- Making a difference to our people
- Making a difference to our community
- Making a difference to our environment
- Making a difference to our local economy
The Core Strategy and Development Management DPD have a key role to play in the delivery of the vision for Rochford District. For each theme of development management, the vision and objectives for that topic as determined in the emerging Core Strategy have been set out. The Development Management DPD will contribute to the vision and objectives in conjunction with the Core Strategy. Together, these all contribute to the overall vision for the District.
(3) Sustainability Appraisal
The preparation of a Sustainability Appraisal is a mandatory requirement under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 for the production of documents comprising the Local Development Framework. This ensures that the wider social, environmental and economic effects of the policies and proposals contained within Development Plan Documents are fully assessed. The preferred options contained in this document have been the subject of a Sustainability Appraisal. As such, the Sustainability Appraisal forms part of the evidence base of the Local Development Framework.
(1) Community Involvement
In the preparation of this preferred options document, regard has been had to the community involvement exercises from the various public consultation stages which have informed the preparation of the emerging Core Strategy. This document will be subject to public consultation, and this will inform the submission version of the Development Management DPD.
(3) Relationship with other strategies
As stated above, the Development Management DPD will have to conform to the emerging Core Strategy. The Core Strategy is being developed having regard to a wealth of other strategies, at higher and lower tiers to the District. The Development Management DPD should also have regard to these other strategies, and contribute towards their delivery.
The Sustainable Community Strategy (2009) is the long-term vision for the District and sets out the priorities for improvement intended to deliver the vision. It is developed by the Local Strategic Partnership – a partnership of local public, private and voluntary sector organisations who play a key part in the provision of services within the District.
Our Local Development Framework should aid the delivery of the Sustainable Community Strategy and acts as an umbrella for all other strategies devised for the area.
The Sustainable Community Strategy identifies seven key priorities:
- Supporting the Ageing Population
- Fostering Greater Community Cohesion
- Strengthening the Third Sector (voluntary sector)
- Increasing Accessibility to Services
- Keeping Rochford Safe
- Encouraging Economic Development: Skills, Employment and Enterprise
- Promoting a Greener District
The Core Strategy has a role to play in delivering all of the above. The Development Management Document DPD will address the Sustainable Community Strategy priorities primarily through aiding the delivery of the Core Strategy.
There are a number of other strategies which influence our Local Development Framework, as outlined below.
Regional Strategies
|
Sub-Regional Strategies
Thames Gateway South Essex Partnership:
|
County Strategies
Essex County Council:
|
District Strategies
|
Sub-District Strategies
Hockley Parish Plan Group:
|
In addition to conforming to the approach to managing development in the District as set out in the Core Strategy, government planning policy, in the form of Planning Policy Guidance Notes (PPGs), Planning Policy Statements (PPSs) and circulars, have also shaped the production of the Development Management DPD.
(1) Evidence Base
This document, where appropriate, has also drawn upon the extensive evidence base which has informed the development of the emerging Core Strategy. These key documents are as follows:
-
Annual Monitoring Reports report on a range of indicators on an annual basis since 2004.
-
Call for Sites was carried out in early 2007 and resulted in the submission of a number of sites from developers, land-owners and agents for consideration by the Council.
-
Community Involvement carried out on the Issues and Options version of the Core Strategy in 2006, the first version of the Core Strategy Preferred Options in 2007 and the revised version of the Core Strategy Preferred Options in 2008. As well as reports on the results of the consultation of the general public and specific stakeholders, this includes reports on the results of workshops at King Edmund School, Fitzwimarc School and Greensward Academy undertaken to ascertain the views of young people in the District.
-
Conservation Area Appraisals and Management Plans (2007) assess the characteristics of the District’s Conservation Areas, as well as proposing action to ensure their value is retained or enhanced.
-
Employment Land Study (2008) examines the supply and demand for various forms of employment land and compares this to the current and projected future economic profile of the District in order to determine the spatial requirements for future employment.
-
Essex Landscape Character Assessment (2003) outlines the extent of the three broad landscape character types within the District, and includes an assessment of their sensitivity to different forms of development.
-
Essex Thames Gateway Water Cycle Study – Scoping Study (2009) a sub-regional review of the existing condition of both the natural water environment and the water infrastructure which serves the population of the South Essex
-
Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (2008) details a wealth of data around health and well-being issues in Essex.
-
Local Wildlife Site Review (2007) is an assessment of existing and potential local wildlife sites to determine their importance as natural habitats.
-
Looking Back and Moving Forward – Assessing the Housing Needs of Gypsies and Travellers in Essex (2006) provides an assessment of the projected future accommodation needs for Gypsies and Travellers up until 2016.
-
Open Space Study (2009) examines the current provision and quality of a variety of open spaces throughout the District.
-
Retail and Leisure Study (2008) examines the shopping and leisure use habits of the District’s residents, and the spatial implications of these for the future development of the area.
-
Rochford District Historic Environment Characterisation Project (2006) provides a wealth of evidence on the importance of the historic environment within the District and facilitates the integration of management and conservation principles within the planning process.
-
Rochford Futures Report profiles the social, economic and environmental characteristics of Rochford District at a District and Ward level.
-
Strategic Environmental Assessment Baseline Information Profile 2008-2009 presents a plethora of secondary data about the social, physical, environmental and demographic characteristics of the District.
-
Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment determines the availability, suitability and achievability of housing development sites within the District.
-
Strategic Housing Market Assessment provides data on housing supply and demand at the sub-regional level.
-
Sustainability Appraisals and Strategic Environmental Assessments were carried out on previous documents, assessing the social, economic and environmental impacts of proposed policies. The results of these have been incorporated into this document. Appraisals of this document have also been undertaken.
-
Thames Gateway South Essex Strategic Flood Risk Assessment determined the areas at risk of flooding across the sub-region, and calculated the probability of their flooding, enabling land across the sub-region to be categorised as Flood Zone 1, 2, 3 depending on the risk.
-
Thames Gateway South Essex Strategic Flood Risk Assessment Review – Scoping Report (2009) provides a review of the Thames Gateway South Essex Strategic Flood Risk Assessment (SFRA) which was published in 2006.
-
Urban Capacity Study (2007) examines the capacity to accommodate development within the District on existing appropriate sites. This study has been superseded by the Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment.
