Knowsley Replacement Unitary Development Plan - Knowsley Council

HOUSING
HOUSING
Table 5.1: Estimated sources of housing land supply
as at 1st April 2004 (including demolition
replacements - see para. 5.18)
Commitments
Completions 1.4.02 to 31.3.04 897
Existing planning permissions 1,534
as at 31.3.04 (* see note 1 below)
Allocations
Allocations on the Proposals Map 822
(see policy H2)
North Huyton Action Area 1,450 (source
(see policy H3)
of information:
North Huyton
New Deal
- New Future)
Tower Hill, Kirkby Action Area 300
(see policy H3)
South Prescot Action Area 400
(see policy EC5)
Development Opportunity Site 225
- Valley Road, Kirkby (policy H4)
Windfall allowance
Allowance for “windfall” provision 1,500
(including recycled demolition sites
and other sources of windfall
provision outside the above areas)
(* see note 2 below)
Total supply 7,128
* Notes:
1. Sites with planning permission as at 1st April
2004 are listed in Appendix 4.
2. "Windfall” sites are defined for the purposes of
this Plan as sites which are: not specifically
allocated in the Plan (i.e. in policy H2 or H4);
which are outside the Action Areas (policies H3
and EC5); did not have planning permission for
housing development as at 1st April 2004; and
which are completed between 1st April 2004
and 31st March 2016.
5.19
Table 5.1 also includes an allowance of 1,500 for
"windfall" provision. Some of this allowance will, it is
anticipated be taken up by redevelopment of future
demolition sites and it is therefore not easy to predict
precisely what this allowance should be. However,
the figure of 1,500 is considered reasonable given
recent rates of windfall provision on brownfield sites
in past years and the anticipated scale of the
demolition programme outside the Action Areas.
RELEASE OF HOUSING SITES
5.20
The release of sites for housing development will be
guided by the principles set down below.
AVOIDING AN OVER- OR UNDER- SUPPLY
5.21
This will mean ensuring that the rate of development,
when averaged out over the period 2002 to 2016 (or
any five year period within it), does not significantly
differ from the rate of 230 per year net of demolition
replacements. In assessing any planning application
for housing development, the Council will have regard
to the rate of development and demolitions that have
taken place from the 1st April 2002 and the volume
and nature of the land supply (in sites which are
allocated and/or with planning permission), and how
these compare with Regional Spatial Strategy
requirements and the other priorities listed in
policy H1.
PROVISION OF A GOOD CHOICE OF SITES TO
MEET HOUSING NEEDS
5.22
The Council will seek to ensure that, at any one time,
an adequate stock of land is available to meet
different housing needs, at the right time, in terms of
tenure, type, affordability and location. Planning
applications which meet an identified need (e.g. for
the elderly or for special needs housing) will in many
cases be supported. With regard to point 4 in Policy
H1, the Council would - subject to compliance with
other development plan policies - favourably consider
a proposal to meet a specific and urgent housing
need if it would provide housing for the elderly, less
mobile or other special needs group in accordance
with the Council’s Supporting People, Homelessness
and/or Housing Strategies.
PROMOTION OF REGENERATION WITHIN
EXISTING RESIDENTIAL AREAS AND
ACTION AREAS
5.23
Two of the most significant areas of change in the
housing stock will be at North Huyton and Tower Hill,
Kirkby (see policy H3). As referred to above, these
areas are designated as Action Areas in this Plan,
within which current master planning exercises are
aiming to transform the built form. In North Huyton,
for example, approximately 1,150 dwellings will be
demolished and 1,450 new dwellings provided.
Regeneration of the housing stock is also a priority in
other regeneration areas with similar but less severe
problems, including other parts of Kirkby,
Stockbridge Village, parts of Huyton, Whiston and
South Halewood, and as part of the regeneration
proposals for South Prescot. The release of land for
housing will therefore be managed in such a way as
to support and encourage the regeneration of
these areas.
A SEQUENTIAL APPROACH TO SITE RELEASE
5.24
In accordance with Planning Policy Guidance note
3 “Housing”, the sources of land supply identified
primarily use existing buildings or previously
developed (“brownfield”) land, in preference to
greenfield land. The Council has carried out an urban
capacity study, which together with similar studies
produced by other authorities on Merseyside (see
footnote 2 ) identifies the potential capacity of
brownfield development land across Merseyside as a
whole (as at April 2003). Taking account of the
findings of this study (and of the other sources of land
identified above), the Council considers that there will
be sufficient land from primarily brownfield sources
to meet housing needs through to 2016.
5.25
Greenfield housing developments will only be
permitted where it has been clearly established that
they would form a necessary and supporting element
of wider regeneration proposals which would bring
significant economic, social or environmental benefits
for the community as a whole. Examples of where this
may be the case are the proposed Action Areas in
North Huyton and Tower Hill, Kirkby. It is anticipated
that the emerging master planning exercises for these
areas (described elsewhere in this chapter) could
include, in the context of the overall proposals for
demolition and rebuild, a relatively limited amount of
development on surplus greenfield areas. This is likely
to be necessary to enable the comprehensive
remodelling of the housing stock, and the
transformation of the design and layout of these areas
that is considered to be needed. It is anticipated that
any loss of existing poor quality open spaces in these
areas will be offset by significant investment in and
enhancement of the greenspace network.
5.26
In the 1990s (prior to the publication of Planning
Policy Guidance note 3 "Housing" in 2000) a
significant proportion of the planning permissions
granted for residential development in Knowsley were
on greenfield sites. At the start of the Plan period
(1st April 2002), much of the land supply committed
by existing permissions was still greenfield.
This meant that in the two-year period up to
31st March 2004, only approximately 50% of
completions have been on brownfield sites. However,
as the Plan period progresses, it is expected that the
other, primarily brownfield, sources of provision will
become more dominant, and that, over the Plan
period as a whole, at least 65% of new development
will be on brownfield sites. This would be consistent
with the Regional Spatial Strategy, which requires
that across Merseyside (excluding Liverpool) at
least 65% of all new homes should be on
“brownfield” land.
2 References: “Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council: Urban Housing Capacity Study: Final Report, 2004” White
Young Green and “Merseyside Sub-Region: Urban Housing Potential Study: 2004” White Young Green
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KNOWSLEY REPLACEMENT UNITARY DEVELOPMENT PLAN: Adopted June 2006
KNOWSLEY REPLACEMENT UNITARY DEVELOPMENT PLAN: Adopted June 2006
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