Support
Draft Local Plan
Representation ID: 13969
Received: 07/04/2016
Respondent: Cllr Roger Hirst
In general I support the key policies as outlined in the Draft Local Plan, and in particular appreciate the efforts to keep the Green Belt as far as possible intact. Also, the designation of specific Strategic Development Sites, in areas aimed to provide as little disruption to existing communities as possible, is to be commended, with the proviso that the provision of the necessary infrastructure, in roads and transport, education, employment, health, drainage and sanitation is ensured through the plan, and that the financing structure, largely from the windfall profits from Green Belt re-designation to Development Land, is negotiated and contractually secured in advance. In particular, the strategic site at Dunton Hills should not be recommended for inclusion until this financing is secured.
In general I support the key policies as outlined in the Draft Local Plan, and in particular appreciate the efforts to keep the Green Belt as far as possible intact. Also, the designation of specific Strategic Development Sites, in areas aimed to provide as little disruption to existing communities as possible, is to be commended, with the proviso that the provision of the necessary infrastructure, in roads and transport, education, employment, health, drainage and sanitation is ensured through the plan, and that the financing structure, largely from the windfall profits from Green Belt re-designation to Development Land, is negotiated and contractually secured in advance. In particular, the strategic site at Dunton Hills should not be recommended for inclusion until this financing is secured.
The Draft Local Plan has a clear omission in relation to the special character of the area of Hutton Mount. This area plays a specific and key role in the economy of the Borough, providing the majority of the executive housing available in the entire area, and hence enabling the Borough to attract and retain national business headquarters, and the concomitant inward investment from the private sector. The beneficial consequences in terms of employment creation, ancillary businesses and NNDR and Council Tax income to support the more deprived residents of the Borough are transparent. The special character Hutton Mount has enjoyed the protection of a specific policy H15 of the 2005 Replacement Local Plan, which has been effective in ensuring the estate remains leafy and semi-rural and has not been urbanised through excessively dense development.
The benefits of protecting the special character of Hutton Mount should be brought out in SO3, SO7 and SO10. The existing protections include a density of no more than 10 dwellings per hectare; a minimum frontage of 18.3m; a minimum space to the next building of 1.2m; and retention of the leafy and semi-rural character. These protections should be afforded Hutton Mount in the relevant policy sections of the new Local Development Plan, and reference should be made to a Supplementary Planning Document where the special nature and character of Hutton Mount and the requirements of development on the estate are laid out in detail.