BCP Draft Local Plan: Your questions answered
What is a Local Plan?
A Local Plan is a document which provides a framework of policies and site allocations to guide future development. A new BCP Local Plan will help us meet our needs for new homes, jobs, infrastructure and other supporting services, whilst respecting and protecting our best features including our coastline, internationally designated environments and Green Belt.
The BCP Local Plan being prepared will replace the current Local Plans being served by Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole.
Once adopted, the new BCP Local Plan will be used to help us determine planning applications and will replace the three preceding Local Plans.
What does a Local Plan do?
The BCP Local Plan sets out our vision, objectives and spatial strategy to protect and enhance our environment, whilst addressing the needs for new homes, jobs and infrastructure until 2039.
The Local Plan development process gives local people the chance to have their say on the future of their communities and where they live.
Why do we need a Local Plan?
Central Government requires all local planning authorities to produce a long-term Local Plan to meet its needs for the future.
Planning affects all of our lives – where we live, work and enjoy our spare time. The new BCP Local Plan will make planning decisions easier and more consistent.
How many new homes could be built?
The draft Local Plan plans for 24,000 new homes, about 9,000 of these already have planning permission but have not been built yet. Given the numerous constraints and land availability challenges, the Local Plan seeks to deliver an average of 1,600 homes a year.
Why do we need so many new houses?
One of the most significant challenges we face is population growth and the need for new homes. New households are forming from the existing population, but the increase is largely through in-migration to the area. Combined with an ageing population, there is a significant demand for property and a need for new homes.
Where will the housing go?
Our area has a number of constraints to development with significant areas covered by environmental designations or being at risk from flooding. The coast to the south and Green Belt to the north also limit the amount of land suitable for development. Our Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment has looked comprehensively across various sources of land to examine where new homes and businesses could be built. While some significant brownfield regeneration opportunities exist there is a shortfall of land which is suitable and available for development.
The Local Plan directs new homes to the most sustainable locations in the area such as our town centres and district centres where there is best access to facilities, services and public transport.
Do we need to provide accommodation for Gypsies, Travellers and Travelling Showpeople?
Yes. It is a legal requirement that local councils assess and meet the accommodation needs of Gypsies, Travellers and Travelling Showpeople in the Local Plan.
The government has an overarching aim, ‘to ensure fair and equal treatment for travellers, in a way that facilitates the traditional and nomadic way of life of travellers while respecting the interests of the settled community’. Local Plans are required to identify sites deliverable for the first 10 years of the plan period and where possible the remaining years. This Local Plan therefore makes provision for the needs of gypsies and travellers in the BCP area by allocating a site for Traveller pitches, and setting criteria against which planning applications for traveller sites will be considered.
There are two types of sites:
Permanent residential sites – providing residents with a permanent home with no limit to length of stay
Transit sites – sites that provide temporary accommodation (normally up to 12 weeks) for travellers passing through the area.
BCP Council and Dorset Council jointly commissioned a Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Needs Assessment (GTAA) (2022).
BCP Council runs one site for gypsies and travellers at Mannings Heath, which is fully occupied, and the site cannot be expanded. The GTAA has identified that further sites are needed. Therefore, a new permanent site is needed to meet our needs and we have allocated a site at Branksome Triangle for this purpose.
The GTAA did not identify a need for the local plan to allocate a transit site in view of existing permanent and seasonal transit provision already in place in Dorset. However, the law prevents the police from redirecting travellers on unlawful encampments to a transit site outside of the BCP area. The council is therefore considering options for providing transit or temporary/emergency stopping places within the BCP area to avoid unlawful encampments. Whilst a site isn’t allocated in the Local Plan, we will explore opportunities to bring a site forward. In the meantime, the council will continue to use a managed approach to unauthorised encampments.
What do you mean by affordable housing?
Affordable housing is defined by the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) as housing for sale or rent, for those whose needs are not met by the market. There are two main categories – affordable housing for rent (social rent and affordable rent) and affordable home ownership products (housing that provides a subsidised route to home ownership and/or is for essential local workers).
How is the need for affordable housing addressed in the Local Plan?
The need for affordable housing in the BCP area continues to rise as the gap between house prices and household incomes continues to increase, making it difficult for people to access market housing-both purchase and rental.
The draft Local Plan sets new policies around affordable housing delivery on both greenfield and brownfield sites, to ensure that affordable housing is delivered onsite wherever viable, or financial contributions are made to allow offsite affordable housing to be delivered.
What is meant by the term ‘infrastructure’?
Infrastructure is a collective term for services, facilities and structures such as roads, electricity, sewerage, water, schools, health provision and open spaces that people need to live happy, healthy and safe lives.
New development is required to provide new infrastructure or upgrades to existing facilities to ensure that the needs of new developments can be met.
What do developers contribute financially towards new infrastructure and how can we be sure that their contributions are made?
Funding for public infrastructure is gathered in two ways; one is through the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), the other is via a Section 106 legal agreement.
Most development provides contributions through CIL. This is a set fee which is collected when a development starts to be built. This money helps to fund the infrastructure, facilities and services - such as schools or transport improvements - which are needed to support new homes and businesses in the areas.
Section 106 payments are made to pay for specific types of infrastructure that is needed to ensure that a development proposal is acceptable.
You can find out more about CIL and Section 106 payments by visiting: Developer contributions (bcpcouncil.gov.uk)
What is a Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Charging Schedule?
This is a document which identifies which types of developments are liable to pay CIL within different value area zones across BCP and sets out a table of charges expressed as £ per sqm.
Why is the Draft CIL Charging Schedule not part of the consultation?
We have decided to delay the consultation on this document. We want to reflect upon the updated evidence, in the form of the March 2024 Viability Assessment. It provides some recommendations for CIL charges that differ from the Draft CIL Charging Schedule that was agreed by Council on 9 January 2024. We intend to take a new version of the Draft CIL Charging Schedule through our committee process to seek agreement to consult upon the proposed new CIL rates. We anticipate this consultation will begin on 25 April 2024 and close on 6 June 2024.
Temporary closure of Broadstone library
Broadstone library will be closed from 25 March to 15 April. During this period we will relocate the consultation documents to Rossmore library.
How can the Local Plan help protect the environment?
The high-quality natural environment in the BCP area helps to mitigate the impact of climate change and improve the health and wellbeing of residents. This Local Plan has an important role to play in protecting habitats and species, increasing biodiversity and enhancing the network of green infrastructure in our area for future generations.
Development proposals will be required to demonstrate a positive impact on the natural environment by:
-conserving and enhancing the coastline and landscapes
-protecting and enhancing the extent and quality of green infrastructure and ecological networks
-delivering urban greening within new development
-protecting trees and increasing the urban tree canopy cover
-conserving and enhancing protected habitats and species
-ensuring all development achieves a measurable biodiversity net gain.
How have you considered matters such as flood risk when identifying sites?
The Local Plan is supported by the BCP Strategic Flood Risk Assessment (SFRA), which assesses the risk from flooding from all sources, both in the present and in the future, including the impacts of climate change across the BCP area.
The BCP SFRA identifies and categorises flood risk areas as Very High, High, Medium and Low-Medium based on all sources of flooding. Where we are proposing development on sites where there is flood risk, the SFRA will assess risk and provide further guidance.
Will the Local Plan address climate change?
The Local Plan directs development to the most sustainable locations. It plans for adaptation and provides mitigation to tackle the effects of climate change and meet the government’s target for development to be net zero carbon by 2050.
The NPPF is clear that addressing climate change is a core land use planning principle which should underpin plan-making. For plan-making this means ensuring we have a strategy for promoting development in sustainable locations to reduce the need to travel and steering development away from areas of flood risk. We must align our growth with infrastructure and make effective use of land for new homes and businesses. It also means we must ensure we take a proactive approach to shaping new places, rethinking the way homes are designed and built, so that they have a reduced carbon footprint.
The Local Plan has a central role in supporting the transition to a net zero carbon future by helping to limit carbon dioxide emissions, encouraging the use of renewable energy and prioritising infrastructure and nature-based solutions to support growth. The Local Plan also supports the council’s Climate and Ecological Emergency commitments to make our organisation’s operations carbon neutral by 2030 and the BCP area carbon neutral by 2050.
How will the Local Plan ensure jobs for local people and encourage more businesses to base themselves in our area?
The BCP area has a diverse economy with well-established manufacturing, engineering, health and social care, creative, financial and tourist sectors.
To nurture and stimulate the growth of a more inclusive, sustainable and green economy, future employment development proposals must:
-focus employment development on allocated sites
-safeguard existing employment areas for employment uses
-encourage the growth of businesses and industries, as well as attracting new inward investment
-support new models and ways of working, including more flexible working practices
-enable the tourism sector to grow in a sustainable manner
-focus on a town centre first approach for main town centre uses including retail opportunities
-increase opportunities for higher education by supporting colleges and universities
How does a Local Plan support employment?
To ensure we can meet the employment needs of the BCP area in the coming years it is important that the strategically important employment sites are identified and a policy framework is put in place to guide their future development. The strategic sites have been identified as Bournemouth Airport, the Port of Poole, Talbot Village and Wessex Fields.
What do you mean by windfall development?
Along with allocating sites for development there is also a large amount of development which comes forward on sites which are not known about or are too small for allocations, these are known as windfall sites.
Why does this local plan consultation look different from other BCP Council consultations?
This phase of Local Plan development is known as ‘Publication’. Many people refer to this stage as the Regulation 19 consultation as it is a formal legal stage in local plan making undertaken in accordance with Regulation 19 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012. This consultation must comply with National Planning Policy and BCP Council is required to ask specific questions, set by government, around legal compliance, soundness and how the plan has been prepared. We recognise the local plan examination process is complex, so people taking part for the first time may find this short guide created by the Planning Inspectorate useful: Local plans: taking part in examinations - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) If anyone has any questions or seeking additional support please email bcplocalplan@bcpcouncil.gov.uk