Section Four. General Development Locations

Para 4.6 The Council's intentions to allocate land sequentially and not to allocate land which is subject to landscape designations, biodiversity issues or at risk of flooding is supported. However, it should be accepted that such requirements will limit land available for allocation, particularly where priority is to be given to large previously developed sites within settlements. There should be an acknowledgement that these policy requirements should also apply to any edge of settlement allocations. Edge of settlement allocations will need to be subject to sustainability criteria and be able to demonstrate that they are equally close to existing public transport opportunities, employment, shopping and close to a good range of general facilities and services. Edge of centre sites of this nature, which can also meet deficiencies in community facilities or public open space provision or where they can facilitate the resolution of existing difficulties in access or highway improvements, should be given priority.

We support the Council's three tier settlement hierarchy in principle and in particular, the statement at paragraph 4.6.8 which states that the majority of new development will be focused on the most sustainable locations around the top tier settlements. The Council in making this statement appears to accept that the development will need to be, as it states, "around" these settlements, as opposed to being "within" them. This appears to be an acknowledgement that sufficient land may not be available from urban intensification.

The preferred option of a 90/10 split between the two top tiers is also generally supported. However, the subdivision of the 90% of the top tier, as set out in the preferred option table, is considered to be premature. The Council is not able at this time to accurately predict whether the number of units allocated to the individual settlement locations can actually be delivered. The evidence base for the subdivision is not currently available and the split may need to be re-allocated.

Furthermore, Rayleigh and Hockley/Hawkwell are to be further contained within Strategic Buffers, making any necessary edge of settlement releases more difficult. The Council will need to revisit the split within the top tier once reliable evidence is available. Any capacity which cannot be met in Rayleigh or Hockley/Hawkwell should be reallocated to Rochford/Ashingdon, in particular, the east of Rochford, where capacity is not constrained by Strategic Buffers. Furthermore, the land to the east of Rochford/Ashingdon provides a number of opportunities to connect successfully with the existing urban grain and infrastructure. Edge of settlement development east of Rochford/Ashingdon also provides opportunities to deliver many benefits, which can offset the minimal impact on the Green Belt in the Rochford district. These benefits include:-

• Ability to deliver long-standing open space/playing field deficiency
• Enhanced access to school
• Improved access to the countryside
• Alternative pedestrian/cycle access to Rochford town centre
• Direct access to mains sewer
• Ability to provide traffic relief via new infrastructure