Object

Representation ID: 8074

Received: 02/09/2021

Respondent: Howbury Hall Estate

Agent: Phillips Planning Services

The current housing need requirements of 970 dwellings per annum wase based on the previous housing needs assessment that proceeded on the basis that the Local Plan 2030 was submitted and examined under the procedures of the NPPF 2012.

The reduction of the plan period from 2035 to 2030 as a result of the lack of deliverability of the Colworth New Settlement and the fact that the plan did not sufficiently address growth associated with the arc led the Inspectors who examined the Plan to include a requirement for a review.

It is therefore clear that the Council needs to consider the review in the context of an elevated housing requirement based upon the Standard Methodology.

If this housing step change is not adequately addressed in the early stages of the plan period, then there is danger that there will be a shortfall to meet demand, along with the commensurate need for affordable housing.

This uplift in housing numbers, as well as employment land provision, needs to be targeted from the point of adoption, and not, as has been implied in the text, pushed back five years via stepped trajectory. This approach will undoubtedly compound the problem and will create a far greater burden on delivery between 2030 and 2040.

Paragraph 3.5 infers that additional growth will not be delivered until infrastructure relating to the Black Cat junction and the East West section are complete. However, this is unrealistic and fails to meet the required need of the step change in delivery at the point of adoption.

Growth needs to be planned for in a manner which starts to deliver at the point of adoption, and the strategy needs to deliver a range of sites in a range of locations to meet the need. Strategic Infrastructure development will progress at its own pace and will emerge in parallel with the delivery of new housing and employment opportunities.