Preferred Options November 2021

5. Site Allocations

Housing

5.1 Following consultation on the Spatial Housing Strategy and Infrastructure Delivery (SHSID) consultation in October 2019, site assessments were undertaken using the site assessment criteria consulted on in Appendix 6 of the SHSID. All sites at tier 1-4 settlements and other locations identified in the Council's preferred spatial option for growth (Option G) were assessed.

5.2 Following assessment of sites, the results of these, alongside responses to the SHSID, were considered together to determine where amendments to the preferred spatial strategy were justified (see paragraph 4.14). The process involved considering which sites to allocate in order to deliver the proposed housing target of 8,881 dwellings between 2018 and 2038. This entailed considering a balance of top-down strategic factors and bottom-up site-specific factors, which are shown in the diagram below:

5.3 The full methodology, factors considered, and results of the site assessment process for all site options can be found in our Housing Site Assessment Topic Paper.

5.4 The site selection process has identified proposed sites to meet our revised Infrastructure led strategy between 2018-38, ensuring enough housing land is identified to meet the Council's housing target of 8,881 dwellings between 2018 and 2038, whilst providing extra land to ensure the plan is flexible to changing circumstances. Where possible, the likely infrastructure requirements for both large scale and smaller housing sites have been identified. These are set out in Policies SA1-SA4 and Appendix B for the District's largest site proposals, and in Policy SA5 and Appendix C for the small to medium sized site proposals. Further details on the delivery of these infrastructure items (e.g estimated costs, where known) are set out in the Infrastructure Delivery Plan (2021)

5.5 Further work will need to be done with infrastructure providers following this consultation to confirm these infrastructure requirements, alongside additional viability work. This will include preparing site specific viability assessment of sites with more non-standard infrastructure requirements than are currently reflected in the standard site typologies tested in the Local Plan Viability Study 2021. Following this, site specific infrastructure requirements will be refined (and more detail added where appropriate) for the Publication version of the Local Plan.

Strategic Masterplanning Locations

5.6 The new Local Plan will have a stronger focus on design than the current Local Plan reflecting a desire to create beautiful places. The plan will have stronger design policies for all sites and will commit to site specific Supplementary Planning Documents (SPDs) for the four strategic housing allocations. These SPDs will be finalised following adoption of the plan, setting out a masterplan and associated design codes for these sites whilst sustainably managing the delivery of infrastructure on each site to ensure that infrastructure is provided at the right stage in a site's development. It is proposed that the process for masterplanning these sites will be guided by community engagement, in line with the approach advocated by the Government's national model design code that puts communities at the heart of determining locally popular design. To deliver this, policies SA1-SA4 set out the policy framework for how the sites will come forward.

Housing Allocations

5.7 Housing allocations to deliver growth over the plan period in accordance with the Council's Spatial Strategy (Policy DS3) are set out in policy SA5 below. Details of the methodology for filtering site options and the assessments of allocated sites and reasonable alternatives can be found in the accompanying Housing Site Assessment Topic Paper.

Gypsy and Travellers

5.8 As detailed in Chapter 4, the strategy for new Gypsy, Traveller and Travelling Showperson provision is to meet the needs of existing families that meet Planning Policy for Travellers Sites (PPTS) planning definition, as identified by the GTAA 2021 by continuing to deliver privately owned sites/pitches. The evidence supports an approach therefore of looking to allocate existing temporary or unauthorised sites to permanent (subject to other planning considerations) and looking to intensify and extend existing sites, rather than allocating wholly new sites that may have been suggested by non-travellers. It is currently not possible to test an alternative strategy of dispersing new pitch allocations more widely across the district due to a lack of site options, however we welcome views on whether there are any alternative approaches that have not been considered.

5.9 The GTAA identified a need for 121 pitches over the plan period for those families that meet the planning definition of Gypsies and Travellers. Where possible, the Local Plan proposes to allocate pitches to meet our families 5 year need, as reflected in the GTAA 2021 and Pitch Deliverability Study 2021. Future pitch provision beyond the 5 year requirement (including Travelling Showperson needs) will come through the Development Management process with proposals considered against a criteria based policy (see Chapter 6 – Policy HC8). Policy HC8 and any other relevant policies (e.g. DS1: Green Belt) will also be the mechanism through the Development Management process for considering those families/individuals with an identified need but do not meet the planning definition of a Gypsy, Traveller or Travelling Snowperson. A need of 24 pitches over the plan period for those not meeting the planning definition was identified in the GTAA 2021.

5.10 Proposed allocations are informed by the Council's Pitch Deliverability Study 2021 that identifies family need, engages with families to explore what options they have, including amendments to site layout. Due to site constraints identified in the study, the current 5 year need (72 pitches) for families that meet the planning definition could not be met on all existing sites. The assessment identifies 42 deliverable pitch options which we propose to allocate. The red line boundaries of the sites have been informed by an assessment of capacity considering site licencing requirements and the land needed for access/turning and amenity buildings. Proposed allocations are set out below:

Employment

5.11 Employment land should be identified to meet the needs of all employment uses; offices, research and development, light/general industrial, and storage/distribution. The level of employment sites and premises required to meet South Staffordshire requirements over the plan period was calculated in the Council's Economic Development Needs Assessment (EDNA) 2018 and identified a demand for the district between 67-86ha.

5.12 Assuming the higher demand figure, the supply of employment land over the plan period is sufficient to meet this. The district's main employment areas are set out in Table 9 below which details and the amount of employment land available for the period 2018-2038 on a site specific basis:

Table 9: South Staffordshire Employment stock

5.13 Table 9 uses 2018 as a base date as this is the start of the plan period and the year that the need was assessed in the EDNA. As such, this reflects available employment land from 2018 up to 2038, however some of the available land may now be developed or is being developed. The figures includes new employment land that has become available since 2018, which is limited to West Midlands Interchange (WMI). The figure for the available land at WMI reflects the proposed built area minus the area set aside for green infrastructure.

5.14 WMI already has consent through the Development Consent Order (DCO) process and was assessed through our EDNA Part 2: Economic Land Availability Assessment and Employment Site Assessment Topic Paper, confirming it's suitability. Given this, and the unmet needs within the wider FEMA, it is considered that the exceptional circumstances for the release of the site from the Green Belt exist. It is therefore proposed that WMI is allocated and removed from the Green Belt, with it anticipated that it is built out by the end of the plan period.

5.15 Allocating WMI helps strengthen the portfolio of employment land in the district over the plan period, including a mix of land for strategic warehousing (WMI), advanced manufacturing (i54) and general high quality employment (ROF Featherstone). These are balanced by land for smaller scale employment opportunities (Hilton Cross) and further complemented by smaller scale employment land availability in the wider FEMA. The Council will continue to work positively with the developers on WMI to ensure the site come forward in accordance with the DCO and delivers the best scheme possible.