Panel Report - South West Regional Assembly

The Spatial Strategy
• the general form and content of the Spatial Strategy Statement;
• the broad transport implications of the strategy;
• the expression of intended outcomes for the SSCTs and other settlements (Policies A, B
and C);
• the treatment of rural areas;
• the approach to PDL and the re-use of buildings (Policies H and I); and
• the proposed arrangements for joint working (Policies D and J).
The general form and content of the Spatial Strategy Statement
3.6 The Spatial Strategy Statement in paragraph 3.1.3 of draft RSS is accompanied by text
which, at paragraph 3.1.2, identifies it as “the core strategy for the Region” a point reaffirmed
in paragraph 3.1.3 itself in introducing three strategic emphases (realising potential,
stimulating economic activity and managing growth). The provenance for core strategy in
draft RSS is found in paragraph 2.1 of PPS11, but this says little more than that it should be
reasonably robust. Clearer advice on structure and content can be found in Core Strategy
Guidance published by the Planning Advisory Service in December 2006. This draws on
PPS12 (and is thus set within the context of LDF formulation) to list a comprehensive range
of key elements that core strategy should include.
3.7 While the expression of core strategy at regional level will inevitably be more broad brush,
there is in the Panel’s view a large measure of resonance between the higher and lower tiers
of the planning process in this advised approach. In comparison with the 2006 Guidance,
the Panel finds draft RSS paragraph 3.1.3 particularly thin on content, form and structure
and much to be commended in the alternative format for the strategy statement advanced
during the EiP through the West of England Partnership 1 . That said, there is no suggestion
that draft RSS has excluded any particular strand of spatial policy, whether from the
Integrated Regional Strategy, the Regional Economic Strategy, The Way Ahead document,
or elsewhere. There are also many permutations and combinations of ways in which text
might be ordered with little overall added value to the end result, while paragraph 1.7 of
PPS11 further urges a concise expression of spatial strategy. The Panel is thus attracted to
brevity for the Core Spatial Strategy Statement rather than to a lengthy and all-embracing
formulation, which runs the risks of unnecessary repetition and added complexity. The
Panel does, however, consider that the Core Spatial Strategy Statement is such an important
component of the draft RSS that it should be clearly and more fully expressed than in draft
RSS, with its key components elevated from text to policy status.
3.8 In particular, the Section title and the heading to Section 3.1 should, in the Panel’s view, be
amended to refer to “Statement of Core Spatial Strategy” rather than simply “The Spatial
Strategy”, as the latter is not sufficiently distinct from draft RSS as a whole. Drawing on the
suggestions before us, paragraph 3.1.1 should be modified to say that the vision, aims,
strategic development policies and contextual background in Sections 1 and 2 lead to a
strategy designed to meet change and development needs in the most sustainable way, while
improving the quality of life in the region and safeguarding the quality of the region’s
environment. This would then lead naturally to the first suite of main policy thrusts of the
Core Strategy, formulated as an overall framework for policies in other Sections of the Plan
and providing the overall steer for LDF formulation. These thrusts, broadly in the Section
order of draft RSS are: meeting housing and community needs (Sections 4 and 6);
1 West of England Partnership Statement on Matter 3/1: Strategy Approach.
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