PPS12 (paras. 4.5, 4.15 and 4.16) states that Core Strategies should make clear spatial choices and take a long term view which is flexible so it can respond to changes in circumstances during the plan period. The submitted Rochford Core Strategy fails to do this which means it fails the soundness tests of being justified, effective and consistent with national policy.

The strategy is unsound since it does not include a policy setting out the settlement strategy. Whilst paragraph 4.9 of the Core
Strategy explains the four tiers of settlements in Rochford, this should be elevated to policy status and provide confirmation that the majority of new development will be directed to the tier 1 settlements (Rayleigh, Rochford / Ashingdon and Hockley / Hawkwell) with progressively less dwellings allocated to each subsequent tier. This is an essential bedrock of the strategy which is missing. Without such a policy, there is no guidance on where additional development land should be found if identified sites fail to come forward as expected. This means that the strategy fails to provide both guidance and flexibility.

Changes to make the plan sound.
New Housing policy H* "The location and scale of development in the District should comply with the Settlement Hierarchy. The Hierarchy
should also be used by infrastructure providers to guide investment decisions.

Q7. Continuation

Settlement Type
Town
Function
Major focus for development in the District.
Suitable for the largest scale of development.
Settlements included
Rayleigh, Rochford / Ashingdon,Hockley / Hawkwell

Town
Rural Service Centre
Function
Main focus for development outside the towns.
Suitable for development that would reinforce the settlement's role as a provider of services for a wider rural area.
Settlements included
Hullbridge, Great Wakering

Settlement Type
Primary Village
Function
Secondary focus for development in the rural area; suitable for a scale of development to serve that settlement and its immediate area.
Settlements included
Canewdon

Settlement Type
All other settlements
Function
Not suitable for development other than that which is small scale and for local needs."
Settlements included
All other settlements

It is considered that our participation at the oral part of the public examination would assist the Inspector for two main reasons
- Sellwood Planning has a detailed knowledge of the Rochford area, appeared at the last Local Plan Inquiry and was a participant at the RSS public examination. This direct knowledge of the local area and the statutory Development Plan may be of assistance to the Inspector
- Sellwood Planning has experience in promoting major schemes through Core Strategies (eg. 7,000 dwellings in Ashford, 5,750 dwellings in Dover, 2,500 dwellings in Horsham and 1,200 dwellings in Newmarket) and the emerging
body of evidence of what constitutes a sound Core Strategy and what is unsound. Our experience indicates that, in a number of respects, the submitted Core Strategy is unsound in its present form.