CITY OF STOKE-ON-TRENT LOCAL DEVELOPMENT ...

Land SupplyLinks to Strategic Aims (SA)2.7 SA1 To meet the overall development requirements for the sub-region inaccordance with the approved West Midlands Regional Spatial StrategySA2SA5SA6SA14To concentrate new development within the North Staffordshire conurbationand promote sustainable patterns of development that reduce the need totravel and promote accessibility by means of transport modes other than theprivate car.To reduce outward migration from the North Staffordshire sub-region andretain and attract new population to the conurbation supported by theinfrastructure necessary to sustain it.To balance the supply and demand for housing by removing surplusaccommodation and providing a better choice of homes in appropriatelocations and ensure that a sufficient number of new homes are affordable.To protect and enhance the built and natural environment of NorthStaffordshire including townscape, landscape, bio-diversity, establishedsettlement patterns, historic buildings and heritage sites (including parks,gardens and battlefields), and valued character areas.Thematic Options2.8 1 No numeric target for the provision of housing and allow housing to comeforward as and when sites are promoted by developers;2 Set a minimum number of units for development but provide no locationalguidance;3 Provide minimum commitments for housing development together with anupper delivery target and steer development towards priority developmentareas in the most sustainable locations.2.9 In order to ensure the delivery of RSS requirements it is necessary to set a minimumbuild level in the plan period. This will be as expressed in RSS, currently 600dwellings per annum, giving a total of 12,000 over the plan period. It should be notedthat this target is predicated on achieving clearance of 500 dwellings per annum. Agreater target for construction of new dwellings is set out in the Core Spatial Strategyand for Stoke-on-Trent is 13,780 (Policy CP12) An explanation of the level ofhousing is provided in the Core Spatial Strategy.2.10 The regeneration needs of the City are significant. Housing development, if usedproperly, can make a significant contribution to regeneration. However, for reasonsof both regeneration and sustainability it is appropriate to focus development intoparticular areas of the City and to manage the release of sites to ensure that the siteswith the greatest overall benefits, principally the locationally best sites but also takinginto account other material considerations, are released first. It is also necessary toprovide some degree of certainty to create confidence in the housing market andallow for the provision of infrastructure. For these reasons an approach of sequentialassessment, prioritization and programming has been followed.10