Knowsley Replacement Unitary Development Plan - Knowsley Council

HOUSING
HOUSING
• Provide a significant social, environmental
and/or economic regeneration benefit (for
example where the development is
required as part of comprehensive
proposals to regenerate one of the Action
Areas listed in table 5.1); or
• To meet a specific and urgent
housing need.
5. "Windfall" housing development on greenfield
sites will not be permitted except in exceptional
circumstances where the development forms an
essential and supporting element of wider
regeneration proposals that will bring significant
social, environmental and/or economic
regeneration benefits for the community as
a whole.
This is a part 1 policy
EXPLANATION H1
HOUSING LAND REQUIREMENTS
5.11
The Regional Spatial Strategy for the North West
(RSS) requires that Knowsley should provide for an
annual average of 230 new dwellings starting at
1 April 2002. This figure is in addition to new
dwellings that are needed to replace dwellings lost
through demolition. The housing land requirements
identified in policy H1 reflect the RSS requirement,
and will cover the whole period from 1 April 2002
to 2016.
HOUSING CLEARANCE AND RENEWAL
5.12
The demand for public sector housing in Knowsley
has fallen dramatically since the mid 1990s.
This long-term trend is associated with demographic
changes and the enhanced aspirations of residents
for improved standards and choice of housing.
Although the transfer of the former local authority
stock to Knowsley Housing Trust in 2002 has provided
additional resources to manage the stock in a
sustainable way, there is a need for further decisive
action to address fundamental problems of low
demand for some parts of the stock.
5.13
To address these problems, the Knowsley Housing
Trust embarked upon an extensive demolition
programme in 2002. By September 2004, the Trust
had already demolished approximately 600 dwellings
and decommissioned approximately a further 900 in
readiness for demolition. The precise scale, location,
phasing and mix of the dwellings that are still to be
demolished is subject to on-going review by Knowsley
Housing Trust, and could therefore change as the
Plan period progresses. It is anticipated that up to a
further 2,500 dwellings are likely to be demolished in
the period from 2004 to 2012.
5.14
The Council proposes that dwellings that are lost
through demolition should be replaced on a 1:1 basis.
This is justified by the current low rates of vacancy
over the stock as a whole and will allow for the
introduction of new housing of types and tenures
which are better suited to local needs and
aspirations. It will also slow down population loss and
thereby preserve the viability of local services.
5.15
In most cases, it is expected that the demolition sites
will be subsequently made available for
redevelopment as housing sites. This recycling of the
stock, to provide new housing that is better suited to
current needs, will be a major priority over the Plan
period. The dwellings which have been demolished,
and those which may be demolished in the future,
include a significant number of high-rise or walk up
flats (of up to 18 storeys in height) and other forms of
high-density housing. Given the very high density of
many demolition sites, it will not always be possible
(even if re-building takes place at 30 dwellings to the
hectare or higher) to provide all the replacement
dwellings on the same sites (some recent examples
have achieved a “replacement ratio” of little more
than 25% i.e. for every four dwellings lost on a site
only one is put back).
OVERALL REQUIREMENT AND SUPPLY OF
HOUSING LAND
5.16
The total housing land requirement for the period
2002-2016 will comprise 3,220 dwellings to meet the
requirements of the Regional Spatial Strategy.
In addition it is anticipated that (on the basis of the
current and anticipated clearance rates) up to
approximately 4,000 demolition losses will need to be
replaced. It is therefore expected that a total of up to
7,220 new dwellings will be needed over the Plan
period. These needs will be kept under review,
particularly having regard to any variations which
may occur in the demolition programme.
5.17
Table 5.1 indicates the estimated sources of supply
for housing development as at 1st April 2004.
The sources of supply include existing completions up
to 31st March 2004, planning permissions granted
but unimplemented as at 1st April 2004, sites
allocated in policy H2, and provision within the
proposed Action Areas at North Huyton, Tower Hill,
Kirkby and South Prescot (see policies H3 and EC5).
In the case of North Huyton and Tower Hill, the
precise sites will be identified following the
completion of emerging master planning exercises
for these areas. In the case of South Prescot, the
number of dwellings will be partly dependent on the
mix of uses for this site - however an outline planning
permission has subsequently (in early 2005) been
granted for 395 dwellings. A further site (that
currently occupied by the Kirkby Sports Stadium) will,
it is expected, become available following the opening
of replacement leisure facilities in a more central
location in Kirkby. The site of the current stadium (at
a "gateway" location on the approaches to Kirkby
from the M57) is identified as a Development
Opportunity Site within which housing will (once the
site becomes available) be considered appropriate
either on its own or as part of a mix of other uses
(see policy H4).
5.18
In interpreting table 5.1, it is important to stress that
the numbers for proposed "new build" dwellings are
"gross" and should be offset against demolitions
which have or are expected to occur in the Plan
period. For example, of the housing completions
which occurred between 1st April 2002 and
31st March 2004, and the existing planning
permissions as at 31st March 2004, 376 were on sites
which previously had dwellings on them. Within the
sites allocated for development in policy H2, 307
dwellings have either recently been demolished or
are scheduled for demolition in the near future.
Within North Huyton, the plans include over 1,150
demolitions, meaning that the net provision proposed
in this area is expected to be no more than 300 new
dwellings. Within Tower Hill Action Area in
Kirkby approximately 50 existing dwellings have
been demolished.
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KNOWSLEY REPLACEMENT UNITARY DEVELOPMENT PLAN: Adopted June 2006
KNOWSLEY REPLACEMENT UNITARY DEVELOPMENT PLAN: Adopted June 2006
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