Support

Representation ID: 6476

Received: 13/09/2021

Respondent: Gallagher Developments Group Limited

Agent: Barton Willmore

Paragraph 74 of the NPPF requires strategic policies to include a trajectory illustrating the expected rate of housing delivery over the plan period and to identify and update annually a supply of specific deliverable sites sufficient to provide a minimum of five years’ worth of housing against their housing requirement set out in adopted strategic policies. This should also include a buffer of a least 5%. 3. Even with a stepped trajectory, we expect the Council will need to significantly boost the number of small and medium housing site allocations in its new Local Plan to ensure a rolling five year housing supply. This is evident from the Council’s latest five year monitoring and forecast rates (Update to May 2019 report), which show much reduced delivery rates towards the latter half of the five year period: Year Estimated homes 2019/20 1343 2020/21 1198 2021/22 1007 2023/24 553 2024/25 442 4. Given the long lead in times for large scale settlements, we are of the view that further small and medium sized site allocations that do no rely on significant infrastructure delivery will be critical to the continuity of supply and the ability of the Council to meet its objectively assessed housing need. Additionally, even with allocation of strategic growth sites potentially delivering towards the latter half of the plan period (i.e. post 2030), there is still the need to allocate small and medium sites around existing settlements to provide choice and competition in the market and ensure flexibility in the housing trajectory in the event that, for instance, strategic site delivery is delayed (especially where the timing of significant infrastructure projects cannot be guaranteed).