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SLDC Development Plan- LATEST NEWS, as @ 18th February 2012
The Levens Resident's Group is holding a public meeting at the Institute on Tuesday 21st February at 7.30 p.m., to discus the SLDC proposals and to see if the LRG should be retructured. to respond to them and to see if it continues to have a role to play.
SLDC approved the draft Land Allocations document on Jan 18th.
2 sites have been allocated in Levens for the provision of a total of about 73 houses between now & 2025. About 50 are destined for the site R51M east of Greengate Crescent & Beathwaite Close, and 23 for RN121M comprising the derelict poultry farm and part of the disused stables (Brigsteer Rd.). The two sites which had most opposition during the earlier consultations, R682LVM & RN291 (the land opposite Hyning court & the bungalows on Brigsteer Rd.) are NOT now in the plan. Neither are any of the other ones previously discussed or suggested.
This link takes you to the Maps folder & the draft Land Allocations document on SLDC's website
www.southlakeland.gov.uk/dirlist.asp
The draft document states that there will be a public consultation period (starting 24 Feb and ending 30th March) in which SLDC invites comment about the process by which the land allocations have been decided (NOT objections about specific sites or suggestions about alternatives).
We can make our representations via the SLDC website
www.southlakeland.gov.uk/ldf or by writing to The Development Plans Manager, South Lakeland House, Lowther Street, KENDAL, LA9 4DL.
Following the consultation, SLDC will refer its plan to the Secretary of State who will appoint a Planning Inspector. The inspector will conduct a public examination of the plan (June/July), following which SLDC expects to be adopting the document as policy, in October 2012.
LEVENS PARISH COUNCIL RESPONSE TO "Alternative Sites Consultation". This can be seen at
www.southlakeland.gov.uk/ldf/consultation/viewresponses.aspx
SLDC website location of the most relevant current documents
www.southlakeland.gov.uk/planning/local-development-framework-1.aspx
SLDC ANNOUNCES TIMETABLE FOR NEXT STAGE OF LAND ALLOCATIONS - SLDC News release on 18 November 2011
The latest press release from SLDC is below. I have highlighted the bits about the timescale. Although it says the sites will be "delivered" it says nothing about how many houses each community will be allocated. Remember the "South Lakeland Housing Survey 2011"? You might have been one of the households which received and completed the survey forms, which were about your housing needs. The results have not yet been published.
Following two major consultations this year, South Lakeland District Council has now set a timetable for the formal and legal processes leading up to the Independent Examination of the Land Allocations document by a Planning Inspector.
The council plans to approve the final Land Allocations Document for publication at a special meeting of Full Council on 18 January 2012. The publication will include SLDC's finalised list of proposed land allocations and the policies that will guide development. The Land Allocations document will deliver sites to meet the districts needs for housing, affordable housing in particular and new jobs.
Once the document is published, there will be a formal six-week consultation period between February and March 2012. During this period, members of the public will be able to make representations on whether the proposals in the document are justified, effective and in line with strategic local and national policies. This is called 'soundness' and includes issues such as:
* Have the correct procedural steps been followed by the council?
* Is the document is backed up by a robust evidence base?
* Does the document comply with strategic policies in the council's Core Strategy?
* Are the proposals deliverable and do they represent the most sustainable option?
People who wish their views to be considered by the Planning Inspector must make formal representation during the consultation period, and they will be able to do so on-line or by writing to SLDC's Development Strategy team.
Councillor Peter Thornton, portfolio holder for Housing and Development, said: "The Governments proposed National Planning Policy Framework makes it clear that all councils must have an up to date plan identifying land for employment and housing. Areas without this are at the mercy of unplanned development and we know that many areas of South Lakeland are at risk without this plan. We want South Lakeland to grow in a planned and sustainable manner and this process is essential in achieving this."
Following the consultation period, SLDC will submit the Land Allocations Document to the Secretary of State in April 2012. The Secretary of State will then appoint the Planning Inspector to examine the Land Allocations Document. The Inspector will set the timetable for the Examination and it is anticipated that examination hearings will take place in late June and July 2012, with the Inspector's Report being received in September 2012.
If the Inspector finds that the Land Allocations Document is 'sound', the council will be able to adopt the document in October 2012. For more information and to view the timetable, please check the council's website at www.southlakeland.gov.uk
ORIGINAL SLDC FIGURES - The overall target for the whole SLDC area excluding the National Parks is still 8800 houses by 1025, but after deducting those built since 2003 & UP TO March 2010 , and the 350 under construction at that date (I assume they will be finished by now) the new build will be 6536. When existing planning permissions and the potential yield from small sites are taken into account SLDC will need to find 6058 house sites: 1104 of these will be in the 9 Local Service Centres (of which Levens is one) in the "Kendal Rural" area (see "Appendix 1" of the SLDC Cabinet document via the link below. You need to deduct the "built 2003-" figure from the "Adjusted for Need" figure).
As far as Levens (like the other villages) is concerned, the number of "affordable" new builds is to be at least 35% of the total of any development of more than 3 houses. Of the 35%, more than half (55%) should be "social rented housing" (See SLDC Land Allocations Development Plan Document section 3.68 p50). 35% of 74 is about 26.
How many "affordables" does Levens need? See the link to our last parish survey "HOUSING NEEDS - Levens", Link 4 below.
For the ins and outs of what is an "affordable" & who is eligible for one, see pages 143 to 153 of the SLDC Core Strategy - Link 5 below. Link 5a takes you to the "South Lakeland Housing Needs...Executive Summary" where p6 relates "affordability" to household income.
I have to declare an interest in this, my garden backs on to the threatened site behind Greengate. So don't take my word for it, "see for yourself" below and access SLDC documents direct.
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