Knowsley Replacement Unitary Development Plan - Knowsley Council

KEY ISSUES AND INFLUENCES
KEY ISSUES AND INFLUENCES
MERSEYSIDE HOUSING MARKET
RENEWAL INITIATIVE
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Within Merseyside as a whole there has been
significant depopulation and out-migration over the
last 3 decades. Under the Government’s Sustainable
Communities Plan, a Housing Market Renewal
Initiative (HMRI) has commenced within Merseyside,
which will bring a renewed emphasis on housing
clearance and regeneration, using millions of pounds
of Government money. The “pathfinder” area for the
Merseyside HMRI is within the inner conurbation
areas of Liverpool, Sefton and Wirral. Given the
ten-year timescale of the initiative and the extent of
clearance and regeneration proposed, the initiative
will also impact on neighbouring authorities
including Knowsley.
THE LOCAL CONTEXT
THE KNOWSLEY COMMUNITY PLAN 2002-2012
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The Knowsley Community Plan, 2002-2012, has been
developed by Knowsley’s Local Strategic Partnership
(known as “The Knowsley Partnership”), and six Local
Community Area Forums. The Knowsley Partnership
includes representatives from the police, health and
education providers, the Schools Council, community
groups, business, and the voluntary sector, as well as
Council Members and officers. The Community Plan
sets out a vision, together with specific actions and
targets, arranged within the key themes of:
Community Safety; Economy and Employment;
Education and Training; Housing and Environment;
and Health and Healthy Living.
Important note: The Unitary Development Plan
must be closely aligned to the Community Plan.
Chapter 3 of the UDP “Vision and Objectives”
explains the overall vision of the Community Plan
and identifies a range of objectives for the UDP
which will guide how decisions about land use and
development will contribute towards meeting the
Community Plan vision.
KNOWSLEY MBC CORPORATE PLAN
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The Council has prepared a Corporate Plan which
explains how the delivery of Council services will be
prioritised to help deliver the Community Plan vision
and which provides a framework for individual
services provided by the Council.
KNOWSLEY MBC HOUSING STRATEGY
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The Council produces a Housing Strategy each year.
This document regularly reviews housing needs and
priorities and will influence planning decisions
relating to housing development over the Plan period.
KNOWSLEY MBC ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT PLAN
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Proposals for promoting the economic development
of the Borough are set down in the Council’s
Economic Development Plan. This is produced
annually and contains proposals, which aim to:
promote opportunity and social prosperity; foster
enterprise, sustainable economic and environmental
development; and encourage life-long learning.
KNOWSLEY MBC CRIME AND DISORDER
REDUCTION STRATEGY
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The Knowsley MBC Crime and Disorder Reduction
Strategy identifies a range of actions to be taken by
the Council and its partners to encourage citizenship
and reduce incidences of crime and disorder in the
community. The Unitary Development Plan has an
important contribution to make to this, for example
by requiring developers to take on board “Designing
Out Crime” principles in new developments.
THE KNOWSLEY SCHOOLS REVIEW
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In January 2002, an independent Schools
Commission was set up, at the request of the
Council, to fundamentally review the provision of
schools in the Borough against likely future
demand for places. The report of the Commission
(dated March 2003) recommended that there
should be a fundamental restructuring of school
provision in Knowsley, involving amalgamation of
many of the existing primary and secondary
schools in the Borough.
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The Council has yet to determine which of the
recommendations will be taken forward, and any
changes will be dependent on further consultation
with the community. As a first stage, the Council is
seeking government approval (under the Building
Schools for the Future Programme) to replace the
11 secondary schools with 8 new learning centres.
Changes to schools provision in the Borough could
heavily influence future land use and development
in Knowsley.
THE NEIGHBOURHOOD RENEWAL STRATEGY
FOR KNOWSLEY
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18 of the 22 wards in Knowsley (covering the great
majority of the built up area within the Borough)
qualify for assistance under the Government’s
Neighbourhood Renewal Fund (NRF). The aim is to
improve economic performance and employment
provision, crime rates, educational attainment, health
and housing. The Council, working in partnership
with others through 6 Local Community Area Forums,
has prepared a Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy.
This covers the whole Borough and identifies issues
and actions to be addressed within each Community
Forum area.
NORTH HUYTON NEW DEAL FOR COMMUNITIES
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The North Huyton area (including the estates of
Hillside, Woolfall Heath, Finch House and Fincham)
is one of the more deprived areas of Knowsley, and is
being regenerated under the Government’s New Deal
for Communities (NDC) programme. This programme
will run until 2010 and will invest £55.8m of
Government funds, with the aim of tackling
unemployment, poor examination results, ill health,
poor housing and crime and disorder. The area is
designated in this Plan as an Action Area within
which major clearance will take place, and up to
1,450 new dwellings will be provided, together with
associated new employment, community and open
space uses to meet local needs.
SINGLE REGENERATION BUDGET
PROGRAMME AREAS
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The Single Regeneration Budget (SRB) initiative
provides financial support for local projects, which
will promote job creation, economic development,
education, training, housing, environment, community
safety, leisure and community development. There is
one remaining SRB programme within Knowsley (for
Kirkby - previous programmes for Huyton and
Halewood having recently been completed). The
programme for Kirkby should generate up to
£35 million of investment but will end in 2006.
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KNOWSLEY REPLACEMENT UNITARY DEVELOPMENT PLAN: Adopted June 2006
KNOWSLEY REPLACEMENT UNITARY DEVELOPMENT PLAN: Adopted June 2006
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