Rural Exception Sites Policy - Public forum - Planning Advisory Service (PAS)
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En cours - juillet 2012
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Dernière modification - May
Rural Exception Sites Policy
In discussion with my local authority they are considering affordable housing applications outside the framework boundary of urban areas (population of around 12,000 and which the development plan refers to as an Urban Area) within the context of their rural exception policy. The Policy states As an exception to normal planning policies small affordable housing developments will be permitted within and adjoining the villages in the District provided that: i) There is a demonstrable local need for affordable housing which cannot otherwise be met; and ii) The scheme must be capable of implementation and proper management to ensure that the benefits of the provision of affordable housing to meet local needs will be held in perpetuity. This seems inconsistent with PPS3 which states the rural exception site policy enables the authority to allocate or release small sites within and adjoining existing small rural communities, which may be subject to policies of restraint. Does anyone know of either relevant appeal cases or where the policy has been interpreted as a district wide?
I am under the impression that shropshire council has a policy that permits exception schemes on sites immediately adjoining urban area boundaries. The following is an extract from their existing 'Interim Planning Guidance on Affordable Housing' "100% affordable housing may be permitted on exceptions sites surrounding Shrewsbury and Shropshire’s larger market towns, and settlements of greater than 3,000 population3, provided that they do not prejudice the Shropshire LDF’s role in identifying new directions for growth for these settlements" (Shropshire Council July 2009 http://www.shropshire.gov.uk/planning.nsf/viewAttachments/EWET-7ZWCGE/$file/adopted-ipg-on-affordable-housing.pdf ). I think that a similar approach was also taken by the previous Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council when interpreting the local plan exception policy. Hope I have understood your query correctly and that this is of some help.
PPS3 indicates that RES Sites Policy can be used specifically for affordable housing in small rural communities which are designated for enfranchisement and right to aquire purposes under the Housing Act 1996. This means that the housing built on such sites can be allocated for local people and retained in perpetuity. If sites are permitted that are not adjacent or closely related to the designated settlements the question is whether such sites can be retained in perpetuity? If not I would question whether a policy is in accordance with the original intentions of PPS3. However whether such an approach is justified/legal given, for example the level of need is another matter.
David, Emma is quite right, we have been successfully operation a policy Shropshire wide since last year posted as Interim Planning Guidance. If you would like to talk this through further once you have checked the document out on our web site then do not hesitate to contact me or Helen Howie in the Policy team or David Garratt in the Housing Enabling team from a user perspective.