Agenda item

Context:

To inform the Economy and Development Select Committee of consultation feedback received to date, to seek any further feedback from this Committee, and to seek the Committee’s endorsement of the Draft Issues, Vision and Objectives Paper which has been prepared in connection with the Monmouthshire Replacement Local Development Plan (LDP).

Key Issues:

·         A full review of the current Monmouthshire Local Development Plan (LDP) commenced in 2017, with the final Review Report published in March 2018. Based on the evidence contained in the Review Report, it was concluded that the LDP should be revised and that this should take the form of a full revision procedure. Council resolved in May 2018 to commence work on a replacement LDP for the County (excluding the area within the Brecon Beacons National Park).

·         The Replacement LDP will cover the period 2018-2033 and will be the statutory land use plan to support delivery of the Council’s vision for the future of the County and its communities. The LDP will set out land use development proposals for the County and will identify where and how much new development will take place over the replacement Plan period. It will also identify areas to be protected from development and provide policies against which future planning applications will be assessed.

·         The Replacement LDP is being prepared in accordance with the Delivery Agreement (DA) which was agreed by Welsh Government in May 2018. The DA sets out the approach, timescales and consultation arrangements for the Replacement LDP. The agreed timetable will see the Replacement LDP being adopted at the end of 2021 / early 2022. Work has commenced on the Replacement LDP with the initial call for Candidate Sites and a targeted consultation on the draft Sustainability Appraisal (SA) Scoping Report having recently closed.

·         The Draft Paper will be updated, as appropriate, to reflect comments received from the targeted engagement. The Replacement LDP vision and objectives will continue to be refined prior to inclusion in the Preferred Strategy (Autumn 2019) to reflect the outcomes of further stakeholder engagement / consultation in relation to the growth options and a revised evidence base. The spatial element of the vision will also need to be determined following consultation on the LDP growth options and will be set out in the Preferred Strategy. The growth options and Preferred Strategy will be the subject of further engagement and political reporting, including an Economy & Development Select Committee workshop.

Member Scrutiny:

·         Infrastructure prior to development taking place is not within the proposed Local Development Plan (LDP) vision.

·         It was noted that the rurality and equality of life attracts people to live in Monmouthshire.  This is in the previous LDP vision but not in the proposed vision. It was considered that this was a unique selling point with regard to Monmouthshire, as a County.

·         A balanced approach is required with regard to future developments within the County.

·         Concern was expressed within the replacement LDP vision regarding the best of the County’s built heritage countryside landscape, as it was considered to imply that only the top three are taken from the list with the remainder being ignored.  A Member considered that ‘best of’ should be deleted from the replacement vision.

·         Consideration should be given to some of the ground rules being put into the replacement LDP in relation to unallocated sites. Monmouthshire comprises of small towns and villages which should not be impinged upon by urban sprawl. The distinct rural character of villages needs to be protected, as well as Monmouthshire’s historic villages.

·         In response, to the points raised, it was noted that there is a need to achieve the right balance, going forward.  There is a need to balance aspirations for brownfield development, growth and demography and affordable housing against economic benefits of tourism, the beauty of the County which attracts people to live there and not doing things that might have a negative effect on the things that make the County special.

·         With regard to the wording on the vision protecting the best of Monmouthshire’s heritage and landscape, this is deliberately put into the vision as the vast majority of the County is countryside.  The Authority cannot have some growth and protect all of the countryside.  Therefore, there is a need to state that the best of the countryside is being protected.

·         With regard to people choosing to live in villages and reference made to infrastructure and character, this is part of the LDP and the planning process. Therefore, there is a need to balance the scale of growth with maintaining the infrastructure and character.

·         In terms of the unallocated site ground rules, they would be incorporated via the LDP policies but would not form part of the vision. Green wedges are designations made via the LDP process.  Current green wedges would be reviewed and re-instated, amended or deleted as part of that process.

·         With regard to a more specific mention of villages in the vision, specific wording would not be incorporated at this stage as it might pre-empt what the strategy is and where growth might go.  This consultation process has not yet been undertaken.

·         In terms of having infrastructure in place before development, it was noted that infrastructure is largely funded by developments, so obtaining the infrastructure before development takes place is a challenging process.  Infrastructure needs have to be assessed as part of the LDP process.  A local transport plan is being undertaken which will sit alongside the LDP.

·         It was acknowledged that that there is a need for affordable housing provision within Monmouthshire, particularly for younger people.  Therefore, it might be necessary to build on some greenfield sites as there are only a limited number of brownfield sites available.

·         There are two statutory consultation points in respect of the LDP. However, various non-statutory engagement and consultation points have been introduced.  The next two key consultation points being, consulting for four weeks in the coming months around growth and spatial options to be followed by statutory consultation, which will be a six week engagement process around the preferred strategy.  Both consultation processes will take place this calendar year.

·         The Economy and Development Select Committee will host a series of workshops in which all members will be invited to attend, with a view to obtaining healthy challenge and consensus during this process.

·         In response to a question raised regarding the LDP being used to change the housing mix, going forward, it was noted that with regard to affordable housing, the Authority has a considerable degree of say in this matter.  The Authority can state what mix is required.  The size and standards are governed by Welsh Government’s design quality and energy efficiency requirements.  With regard to market housing, builders tend to build what they will be able to sell. This is an area that needs further investigation.

·         Discussions are being held with the main developers regarding broadband infrastructure.  A workshop in respect of this matter could be held in due course.

·         There is a requirement in new Planning Policy Wales edition 10 to have a provision for SME builders within the LDP.

·         In response to a Member’s question regarding adopted roads, it was noted that the Authority can require, via the planning process, that roads should be built to adoptable standards but not require them to be adopted.

·         Both the Economies of the Future Analysis and the draft replacement LDP will be presented to Cabinet in March 2019.  A paper will then be presented to Full Council to obtain agreement on a strategy in the autumn of 2019.

·         The manual of streets with regard to garages had found that more than half of households use their garages for storage.

·         A question was raised as to whether the electricity infrastructure on new estates has the capacity to accommodate an anticipated rise in the number of electric vehicles likely to be on the road, going forward. Also, it was considered that there is a need to identify areas on new estates for hydrogen storage for these type of vehicles. Cycle racks, paths and cycle tracks could also be considered.

·         In response to a question raised regarding a potential amendment to the LDP vision regarding protection of the environment, it was noted that there is a need to bring forward new housing and some of that will be located on greenfield sites. However, it will not be at such a level where that would result in the development becoming an urban area.

·         Before a strategy is decided in respect of the new LDP, the strategy for Monmouthshire’s future economies has to be established first.

·         The LDP timetable will be issued to all Members in due course.

·         Currently, affordable housing targets are: 25% in the south of the County, 35% in Chepstow and the north of the County and small rural exception sites are 65%.  These targets will be subject to review under the new LDP.

·         Affordable housing provision is required to be neutral tenure.