Agenda item

To present the first draft of the Development Plan Document (DPD) i.e. ‘the Plan’ for the Tendring Colchester Borders Garden Community to the new Joint Committee and to seek its approval to publish that Draft Plan and other relevant documents for public consultation in accordance with Regulation 18 of the statutory plan making process.

 

Background documents are listed at the end of the covering report but are hosted on a separate website. This link is included in the covering report itself but is also reproduced here https://talk.tcbgardencommunity.co.uk/useful-documents.

The Joint Committee had before it a comprehensive report (A.2) which presented to it the first draft of the Development Plan Document for the Tendring Colchester Borders Garden Community (TCBGC) and sought its approval to publish that Draft Plan and other relevant documents for public consultation in accordance with Regulation 18 of the statutory plan making process.

 

The report was introduced by Mr Gary Guiver, Acting Director (Planning), Tendring District Council.

 

The Joint Committee was aware that the adopted shared Section 1 Local Plan for North Essex identified a broad area of land crossing the Tendring/Colchester border for the development of a new Garden Community comprising 7,000-9,000 homes and 25ha of employment land along with new neighbourhood centres, health facilities, schools, early years facilities, provision for gypsies and travellers, land for the future expansion of the University of Essex and all associated infrastructure. The development was to be served by a ‘Rapid Transit System’ and a link road between the A120 and A133, for which Government funding had been secured through the Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF).

 

Members were also aware that the Section 1 Local Plan required the preparation and formal adoption of a specific ‘Development Plan Document’ (DPD) containing further details of the Garden Community before any planning applications for development at the site could be approved. Officers from Tendring District Council (TDC), Colchester Borough Council (CBC) and Essex County Council (ECC) (“the three Councils”) had worked together with partners and specialist consultants to produce a first ‘Draft Plan’ for the Garden Community which addressed specific requirements of the Local Plan whilst having particular regard to community and stakeholder feedback, a range of technical evidence and a comprehensive master planning exercise.

 

The Joint Committee was advised that the DPD for the TCBGC, like the Local Plan to which it related, must proceed through the statutory plan-making process which involved different stages of public consultation and an examination by a Government-appointed Planning Inspector, before it could be adopted. The Draft DPD was recommended by Officers to be published for a minimum of six-weeks formal public consultation in accordance with Regulation 18 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012. It was considered that this consultation would allow any interested parties (including residents, businesses, developers and other groups and organisations) to comment on the first draft and for those comments to be taken into account by the three Councils in drawing up a revised version of the Plan for a further final round of consultation and submission to the Secretary of State for public examination later in the year.

 

Masterplanning process, engagement and evidence gathering

 

The Joint Committee was informed that a comprehensive master planning process involving specialist consultants with input and review by the three Councils had been carried out to inform the content of the Draft Plan. To date, the master planning process had involved a technical baseline analysis of the site, wide ranging community engagement to inform and guide an overarching strategic vision for the development, and a ‘spatial options’ exercise to generate reasonable options and alternatives for the potential layout and configuration of the Garden Community.

 

Both the master planning process and the drafting of planning policies for inclusion in the Draft Plan had also been informed by a range of technical studies and evidence across a range of topics which would be further expanded and refined in order to inform the evolution and refinement of the Plan as it progressed towards the next stage of the statutory plan making process throughout 2022.

 

It was reported that the recommended policies and proposals in the Draft Plan, including the preferred option and alternative options for its spatial layout, had also been the subject of Sustainability Appraisal (SA) work by independent consultants which met a legal requirement of the plan making process. The purpose of the SA was to assess the high level environmental, social and economic impacts of policies and proposals, and alternative options to inform the three Councils’ decisions on the most appropriate approach to take forward. 

 

The vision for the Garden Community

 

Members were made aware that the Draft Plan contained an overarching strategic vision which underpinned both the proposed spatial layout of the Garden Community and the planning policies that would guide its development. This vision related to a series of ‘themes’ and related ideas that had emerged from the public and stakeholder engagement activities that had been carried out in 2021. The Key Vision Themes which formed part of the Draft Plan (and which defined its structure) were as follows:-

 

·      Nature: The outdoor natural environment of the Garden Community will be its biggest asset. It will comprise green infrastructure where neighbours will spend time, play, interact and grow. It will provide a natural support system for both people and wildlife.

 

·      Buildings, Places and Character: The Garden Community will provide the right jobs, homes and spaces for all aspects of life. It will create thriving distinctive spaces for a range of activities and employment opportunities. It will be memorable for its landscape and architecture and will be widely recognisable of its place in North Essex.

 

·      Community and Social Infrastructure: The Garden Community will be known for its healthy and happy community. It will have a variety of diverse community spaces, play spaces, great local schools and a network of sport and leisure facilities. It will establish long term and participative stewardship of infrastructure from the outset.

 

·      Movement and Connections: The Garden Community will be structured around a dense network of traffic-free walk and cycle routes with rapid public transit prioritised and supported by a range of innovative mobility measures. This will ensure day to day trips are shorter, quicker and cheaper without a car.

 

·      Sustainable Infrastructure: The Garden Community will make living sustainably easy for its residents. Green infrastructure and building solutions will be integrated from the outset and follow best practice standards.

 

Land uses and spatial approach

 

The Joint Committee was advised that the ‘preferred spatial option’ for the Garden Community, as recommended by Officers and set out in the Draft Plan, was one that involved 7,500-8,000 homes across three defined ‘neighbourhoods’ confined to land north of the A133, south of the A120, west of a new A120/A133 Link Road and east of a new country park around Salary Brook. The alternative options would have involved different levels of residential development, potentially taking place on land south of the A133 and east of the proposed link road. This would lead to a greater loss of agricultural land, resulting in segregated communities and raise greater concerns about long-term coalescence with surrounding towns and villages and the strong wish of residents in Elmstead Market and Wivenhoe for that not to happen.

 

It was reported that new employment land was proposed in the Draft Plan on an area of land south of A120 and east of the Link Road for general business and industrial activity and on an area of land north of the A133 for the potential high-tech expansion around the ‘Knowledge Gateway’ (at the University of Essex). It was also proposed that space for business was created within the neighbourhood centres that would serve each of the three residential neighbourhoods.

 

The Joint Committee was made aware that there were two alternative options for the employment land north of the A133 and for potential expansion of the University of Essex on land south of the A133 for which no preference was currently indicated in the Draft Plan. The inclusion of those alternative options in the Draft Plan drew on recent engagement and communication with the University of Essex, which was keen to ensure the Garden Community provided the opportunity to support its long-term expansion of academic facilities and the creation of high skilled jobs through linkages to the ‘Knowledge Gateway’. The alternative options involved different scales of development with different implications for connectivity with the existing ‘Knowledge Gateway’, commercial deliverability, accessibility and impact on land around Salary Brook and the size of any green gap south of the A133 and north of Wivenhoe. Those alternatives, which would require further assessment and technical consideration by the three Councils, were proposed to be included in the Draft Plan for consultation to enable public and stakeholder feedback before the three Councils made a final choice.

 

Members were informed that, whichever of the above options was eventually chosen, key areas of land around the eastern and southern edges of the Garden Community site running alongside the Link Road and the area of the B1027/Elmstead Road were to be defined as ‘Strategic Green Gaps’ that would be given extra protection against new development in order to ensure a green buffer between the Garden Community, Elmstead Market and Wivenhoe was maintained.

 

The preferred strategy also made provision for an ‘area of special character’ around Crockleford Heath aimed at safeguarding its distinctive rural character; new ‘park and choose’ facilities located near the route of the Rapid Transit System; and a provisional location for a future gypsy and traveller site in the northern area of the site close to the A120 and its proposed connection to the Link Road.   

 

The Joint Committee was made aware that, whilst the Draft Plan set out an overarching spatial layout for the Garden Community, it could not at this stage provide precise details of how each part of the development would be laid out and configured. The policies in the Draft Plan therefore required that additional detail be worked up, in advance of any planning applications, through a Strategic (site wide) Masterplan and Strategic Design Code along with supporting Neighbourhood Masterplans and Design Codes for each phase of development. These would need to be approved by the three Councils but could be carried out either by the Councils, the developers or through a collaborative approach and with community and stakeholder engagement.

 

Planning Policies

 

It was reported that the Draft Plan contained a series of planning policies that supported the delivery of the preferred spatial layout, sought to deliver sustainable development and reflected the themes and vision that had emerged from the community and stakeholder engagement activities. As the Garden Community was potentially a 30-40 year development project and there were many issues that would evolve and change over that period of time, the wording of the policies had to achieve a careful balance in their level of prescription and flexibility. Officers had sought to ensure that the policies were clear enough to be meaningful and understandable, yet flexible enough to respond to inevitable change. Therefore, as a general principle, the policies in the Draft Plan either set out specific expectations and requirements, or they required that further work be undertaken for the three Councils’ approval either before or in support of a planning application, upon which more detailed requirements could be based.

 

The scope and purpose of the planning policies in the Draft Plan was summarised as follows:

 

·      Policy 1: Land Uses and Spatial Approach – Accompanied by a key diagram and illustrative masterplan, this policy identifies the key elements of the Garden Community, reflecting the preferred spatial option. It defines the areas for development, the approach neighbourhoods, strategic green gaps, the Crockleford Heath Area of Special Protection, the Salary Brook Country Park, the options for expansion and employment land around the University of Essex and Knowledge Gateway, the A120 business park and associated park and choose facility and the provisional location for a Gyspy and Traveller site.

 

·      Policy 2: Requirements for all new development – This policy sets out general requirements around design, practical matters, impacts and compatibility that will apply to all development proposals for the Garden Community and any future development within the Garden Community once it has been established. It is essentially the ‘catch all’ policy for the determination of planning applications – similar in many respects to those found in both Tendring and Colchester’s Section 2 Local Plans.

 

·      Policy 3: Nature – Sets out specific requirements for the development relating to green infrastructure and the natural environment. The policy contains requirements for a comprehensive Green Infrastructure Strategy for the development, the need to integrate green infrastructure and blue infrastructure (water features), the protection of wildlife and the need to achieve a ‘net gain’ in biodiversity, expectations around the protection and planting of trees, creation of ‘productive’ (food producing) landscapes, and the need and technical requirements for Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS). The policy also requires the Garden Community to integrate sensitively with the environmental mitigation for the A120-A133 link road and a list of additional documentation to be provided in support of any planning application.

 

·      Policy 4: Buildings Place and Character – This policy sets out the Councils’ expectations for how the Garden Community will be a unique place with a distinctive character and how this will be determined through further Strategic and Neighbourhood level Masterplans and Design Codes. The policy requires a mix of housing size, type and tenure (with a minimum requirement of 30% affordable housing, which is established in the Section 1 Plan) and that the precise mix will be informed by a ‘Housing Strategy’ that the Councils will have to approve before determining relevant planning applications. The Housing Strategy will also inform the approach to the provision of care, assisted living, specialist and student housing. The policy also provides guidance on achieving an appropriate density of residential development in different parts of the site, sets specific standards around internal space standards, adaptable/wheelchair standards and garden sizes and lists the requirements for additional documents to be provided in support of planning applications. 

 

·      Policy 5: Economic Activity and Employment – This policy sets out the different ways in which the Garden Community will deliver opportunities for employment, education and training across a variety of sectors to achieve a minimum of one job per household, either within or close to home or within a sustainable commutable distance. The key elements of the policy include the expansion of the University of Essex and Knowledge Gateway, the creation of ‘centres’ of employment activity within each of the Garden Community’s three neighbourhoods, a new business park immediately south of the A120 and ensuring opportunities for home working, for example, by providing the highest standard of broadband and live-work space. The policy also promotes the Rapid Transit System for commuters, positive partnership working with educational establishments and developers to ensure the best possible match between new jobs in growing sectors and the skills required by local people to do those jobs, as well as requiring developers to enter into a formal agreement to employ and train local people wherever possible.

 

·      Policy 6: Community and Social Infrastructure – Ensuring the Garden Community is served by the necessary infrastructure at the right time with appropriate arrangements for long term stewardship is a key pillar of the Garden Community Principles. This policy sets out the approach to community and social infrastructure including flexible community space, specific requirements for new schools and other education facilities, sport and recreational facilities and expectations around stewardship. The policy also promotes measures aimed at promoting health and wellbeing as developed through engagement with colleagues in the NHS and Sport England, taking into account ‘healthy new towns principles’ and ‘active design principles’. Community and social infrastructure provision will need to be informed by a ‘Demographic Study’ that the Councils will have to approve before determining relevant planning applications. Proposals must also include planning obligations, a Phasing and Implementation Strategy and be informed by a Health Impact Assessment. 

 

·      Policy 7: Movement and Connections – This policy sets out all the measures to be adopted within the Garden Community to prioritise walking, cycling, public transit and other low carbon forms of transportation over private cars to help achieve net zero carbon transport by 2050 – whilst recognising that private transportation (moving towards electric and other sustainable forms) will still play an important role in people’s lives in the future and appropriate provision must be made. The policy requires further development of a Public Transport Strategy and a specific Design Code or Guidance for parking and electric charging. It also sets out expectations for the connectivity of the Garden Community with the Rapid Transit System, the new A120/A133 Link Road and the wider public transport networks as well as specific documentation in support of planning applications.

 

·      Policy 8: Sustainable Infrastructure – The Garden Community is to be an exemplar development that leads the way in meeting the very highest standards of energy efficiency, water efficiency and renewable energy generation. This policy sets out the Councils’ expectation for all buildings to be net zero carbon, as a minimum, and contains either specific requirements for development or further work to be carried out, for the Council’s approval, to inform the development approach – given that the technologies and techniques are likely to evolve and improve over the lifetime of the development. The policy covers the approach to design and construction, renewable energy, water conservation, sustainable waste management, ultrafast broadband, and prior minerals extraction.  

 

·      Policy 9: Infrastructure Delivery and Impact Mitigation – The final policy in the Draft Plan sets out how the Council will work with the developers to ensure infrastructure is provided at the right time and follows a carefully planned phased approach. The policy also explains how the Council would intend to use legal agreements or a Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) to secure infrastructure or relevant financial contributions. 

 

Pursuant to the provisions of the Public Speaking Scheme for the Joint Committee, the following persons addressed the Joint Committee on the subject matter of this item:-

 

Richard Cook (Latimer by Clarion Housing Group);

Christopher Oldham (University of Essex);

William Sunnucks;

Yvonne Meronti (Crockleford Heath & Elmstead Acton Group);

Manda O’Connell (Chair of Community Liaison Group);

Sir Bob Russell;

Councillor Julie Young (Colchester Borough Council);

Councillor Mark Cory (Essex County Council); and

Councillor Tim Young (Colchester Borough Council).

 

In addition, the Chairman of the Joint Committee (Councillor Nick Turner) read out a written statement that had been submitted, on behalf of Wivenhoe Town Council, by Town Councillor Asa Aldis.

 

After the completion of the public speaking session, the Chairman adjourned the meeting for 15 minutes in order to allow those persons present to have a comfort break and take refreshment. Following that adjournment the meeting resumed as follows:-

 

Following a discussion and debate on matters pertaining to the DPD and questions by Members that were answered, as appropriate by the Acting Director (Planning) (Gary Guiver), the Spatial Planning Manager (Matthew Jericho) and Rob Smith (Director at Hyas Associates Limited):-

 

It was moved by Councillor Paul Dundas, seconded by Councillor Carlo Guglielmi and:-

 

RESOLVED that the Tendring Colchester Borders Garden Community Joint Committee -

 

i)       agrees, subject to resolution iii) below, that the ‘Tendring Colchester Borders Garden Community Draft Plan’ (attached as Appendix 1 to report A.2) and the related Sustainability Appraisal (SA) (attached as Appendix 2) and other supporting evidence be published for six weeks consultation in accordance with Regulation 18 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012 (as amended) and Regulation 13 of the Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programme Regulations;

 

ii)      authorises the Acting Director (Planning) for Tendring District Council, in consultation with the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Joint Committee, the Lead Officer for Planning, Housing & Economic Growth for Colchester Borough Council and the Spatial Planning Manager for Essex County Council, to make corrections, if necessary, in order to address any minor formatting, typographical, grammatical or factual errors within the aforementioned Draft Plan (in Appendix 1), in the event that any are discovered before the public consultation commences; and

 

iii)     agrees further, in respect of the DPD, that –

 

(1)    the text of Policy 1, as set out on pages 61 to 65 of the Agenda, is checked for consistency with the maps, and phrases which refer to areas such as “Land north of the A133” are replaced with clear references to diagrams or very clear text;

(2)    all maps are to be of a high resolution, “zoomable”, have scales and dimensions included and have a clear key;

(3)    if the intention is that were the University allocation to be moved to south of the A133 then the current University allocation in Option 3 would then become employment land then this needs to be clearly shown on the maps;

(4)    both option 3 & option 3A should each have a clear, unique map showing the changes to land allocations and those changes in hectares or percentages; and

(5)    an explanation of whether Insets 1 and 2 are a combined option or are separate options should be included.