Revised Deposit Plan - Wychavon District Council

POLICY GD1 LOCATION STRATEGY
New development will be accommodated within the main built-up areas
of the towns and villages within the defined development boundaries or
on allocated land. Priority will be given to the use of previously
developed land and buildings within those locations development
boundaries; then to greenfield land within development boundaries; and
finally to greenfield land adjacent to development boundaries.
Proposals for major new shopping, commercial and leisure, sports and
recreational facilities will be required to demonstrate that the proposed
location satisfies the sequential approach to accommodating
development within town centres before edge of centre, out of centre or
out of town locations are considered.
Proposals for new housing, employment, commercial, community, or
leisure development in the countryside outside these areas will only be
permitted where proposals accord with a specific Policy in this Plan.
2.3.2. The strategy of this Plan aims to concentrate and accommodate most
development within the existing towns and settlements in the District to further
sustainability objectives including reducing the need to travel and making best
use of existing infrastructure and the longstanding national policy of
safeguarding the countryside for its own sake. Policies in the Plan seek to
rigorously control development in the countryside outside defined development
boundaries to development which generally requires a countryside location or
which is appropriate in the countryside. Within towns and settlements a
sequential approach to identifying development needs is established, requiring
brownfield sites to be developed prior to greenfield sites. Only when a search
of these areas is exhausted will greenfield sites be considered beyond, but
adjacent to, development boundaries. This is well established in national,
regional and strategic policy. The sequential approach has been used in the
identification of sites allocated for various uses as part of the development
strategy of this Plan and will be addressed in consideration of development
proposals which come forward through the life of the Plan.
2.3.3. Development boundaries, under GD1, have been placed around towns and
around some rural settlements in order to identify locations where
development is acceptable in principle. PPG3 states that infill development in
rural settlements can be acceptable but goes on to say that, where there is to
be “significant” additional housing, support services are required. Many of the
rural settlements identified under GD1 have access to a limited level of service
provision which makes them suitable for limited infill development only.
2.3.4. Development boundaries for the villages have been defined having regard to
their size, character and form. Whilst they relate to the main built up area of a
settlement, they have been drawn to reflect where new development, through
infilling or minor consolidation, would be appropriate as opposed to defining
what constitutes a settlement. This may often differ from the local perception
of what constitutes a settlement, which could include isolated groups of
houses away from the main built-up area. In general, the boundaries of
villages have been tightly drawn to respect their character in terms of size and
form. Wherever possible, the development limits should follow physical
features which can be easily defined on the ground. Long back gardens have
Wychavon District Local Plan Revised Deposit (July 2003) Page 29
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