We are using a neutral methodology to define the boundaries and are confident that there is space within the resulting boundaries for sustainable development consistent with the Council's emerging core strategy.
The draft methodology is set out below:
Introduction
This background paper sets out a
proposed methodology for the definition of settlement boundaries in the
emerging North Northumberland Coast Neighbourhood Plan.
The delineation of settlement
boundaries was considered to be the best mechanism to achieve some of the main
elements of the vision and objectives of the neighbourhood plan, particularly
those related to landscape protection in the Northumberland Coast Area of
Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).
The neighbourhood plan is planning
positively for housing in the plan area.
The objectively assessed need for housing for the plan area over the
plan period stands at 110 dwellings.
Although housing sites have not been allocated, the settlement
boundaries have, collectively, allowed for more than enough land within them to
more than adequately fulfil this housing requirement.
What is a settlement boundary?
In simple terms, a 'settlement
boundary' is a dividing line, or boundary between areas of built/urban
development (the settlement) and non-urban or rural development (the open
countryside). Although a settlement
boundary does not preclude all development beyond the boundary[1],
it does give clarity as to where new development (particularly housing) is
likely to be acceptable in planning terms.
Inclusion of land within a settlement
boundary does not mean that all land within the boundary is automatically
suitable for new development. There may
be areas of land within the settlement boundaries that are not suitable for
development due to other constraints, for example, tree preservation orders,
land protected as Local Green Space (to be allocated through the neighbourhood
planning process) or areas of special townscape character, Conservation Areas,
Scheduled Monuments, listed buildings, etc.
Policies in the neighbourhood plan will clearly define what proposals
are likely to be acceptable, and where.
The benefits of establishing
settlement boundaries are as follows:
·
Ensure
development is directed to more sustainable locations, both in terms of
accessibility to and support of existing services and transport, and in terms
of landscape.
·
Protect
the special character of the AONB from encroachment of land uses more
characteristic of built up areas.
·
In
conjunction with other policies in the neighbourhood plan, to sustain the
individual identity of each of the communities and maintain the distinctiveness
of each settlement.
·
Provide
greater certainty to communities, landowners and developers over where certain
types of development could be acceptable in principle.
·
Support
the plan led approach to development, giving a local context to the strategic
intention of the emerging Northumberland Core Strategy.
Current Planning Context
The North Northumberland Coast
Neighbourhood Plan proposes a general presumption in favour of sustainable
development within the settlement boundaries of the three settlements in the
plan area: Seahouses and North
Sunderland, Beadnell and Bamburgh.
The current strategic plan for the
neighbourhood plan area is the Berwick-upon-Tweed Local Plan (April 1999). Northumberland County Council is in the
process of preparing a Core Strategy (currently consulting on major
modifications until 27th July 2016).
Emerging policies from the Core Strategy as well as the current
Berwick-upon-Tweed Local Plan are being considered in the formulation of policy
in the neighbourhood plan.
In line with national planning policy,
the current strategic policy for Northumberland is to direct development to the
most sustainable locations in the county.
The emerging Core Strategy identifies main towns and service centres
across Northumberland that are able to accommodate some growth[2].
There are no 'main towns' in the
neighbourhood area, but it is important to distinguish between Seahouses and
Beadnell and Bamburgh in terms of the strategic aims of the Core Strategy:
Seahouses is defined as a service
centre, whereas Beadnell and Bamburgh are smaller settlements which are not
expected to contribute significantly to housing delivery in the area. It is therefore reasonable to expect that
Seahouses will accommodate the largest amount of new development, and that new
development in Bamburgh and Beadnell will be at a smaller scale, commensurate
with the nature of those settlements.
It is considered that the definition
of settlement boundaries for the main settlements in the neighbourhood area is
a spatial planning tool that can be used to direct development to the most
sustainable locations in the area, whilst protecting the very special character
of the countryside, the coastal environment and the setting of these
settlements.
Seahouses and North Sunderland and
Beadnell do not currently have settlement boundaries delineated in the Local
Plan. However, Bamburgh does (Policy S9
(saved)). Therefore, the process of
delineating settlement boundaries will involve a review of the current
boundary, in Bamburgh, and the creation of new settlement boundaries for Seahouses
and North Sunderland, and Beadnell.
The principle of development within
the settlement boundaries will be supported provided that it complies with
other relevant policies, is of a scale and nature appropriate to the character
and function of the settlement and is in accordance with the spatial strategy
for the neighbourhood area. Development
will not be permitted outside of settlement boundaries, subject to a number of
exceptions which will be set out in neighbourhood plan policy, within the
context of the NPPF.
Hamlets and small settlements located
outside settlement boundaries are considered to be part of the 'open
countryside' in planning terms. These
hamlets are therefore treated as part of the countryside and do not have
settlement boundaries.
Methodology for defining settlement boundaries
Background
There is no single established
methodology for defining settlement boundaries, and different local planning
authorities across the country have taken different approaches to drawing
settlement boundaries. However, where a
methodology has been used the criteria are generally similar from one local
authority to another. These include questions such as whether to draw a
boundary around clusters of buildings close to but separate from the main
settlement; and whether particular uses should be included or excluded from the
boundary, where they occur at the edge of a settlement. This report has drawn on existing
methodologies, and sought to pull together a methodology considered to be most
appropriate within the context of the sensitive AONB landscape around the
settlements in the neighbourhood plan area.
The methodology does not determine
whether a settlement will have a boundary or not. The decision to define settlement boundaries
has been taken by each of the parish councils in the neighbourhood area, to
give clarity and context to policies proposed in the neighbourhood plan. The neighbourhood plan will not allocate
sites for development.
Any methodology must be clear, easy to
understand, and replicable. The same
methodology will be used for all three settlements in the neighbourhood
area.
Existing evidence
There is a significant amount of
evidence available to the neighbourhood plan Steering Group, and the desk-top
element of defining settlement boundaries has drawn on a range of published
studies and evidence base relating to landscape, townscape, land ownership and
the historic and natural environments.
The following evidence has been used
as background information to inform settlement boundaries, as well as the
criteria put forward later in this paper.
Strategic Land Review for the Northern
Delivery Area (NCC) June 2016
It is important to ensure that the
settlement boundaries leave sufficient land to meet the housing requirement for
the delivery area over the plan period. This document details the housing
delivery requirement for the Seahouses sub-area, and is used to ensure that
settlement boundaries incorporate enough land to reflect the unmet housing
requirement for the sub-area.
Consultation with parish councils and local
landowners (ongoing)
Consultation has taken place with
parish councils defining initial settlement boundaries, and local landowners
also defining where they consider settlement boundaries should be to reflect
their longer term interests.
Northumberland Landscape Character Assessment
(August 2010)
This document was produced as part of
the evidence base for the Northumberland Core Strategy (emerging). It was
envisaged that the study would inform decision-making and policy development at
a strategic level. It contains detail on
the landscape character areas within which each settlement is situated.
Northumberland Coast AONB Landscape
Sensitivity and Capacity Study (August 2013)
This document was commissioned by the
Northumberland Coast AONB Partnership to identify the sensitivity and capacity
by rating from high to low each landscape character area within the AONB to
accommodate housing (and other types of development). It specifically identifies settlement edges
that are particularly sensitive to new development (in landscape terms).
Northumberland Coast AONB Management Plan
(2014 - 2019)
The Management Plan, although not a
statutory plan, has policies that are used to influence decision-making in the
AONB area. It sets principles for
development within the AONB area.
Conservation Area boundaries and Character
Appraisals
Seahouses has a Conservation Area, and
supporting Conservation Appraisal document.
Bamburgh has a Conservation Area defined (but no appraisal), and
Beadnell has no Conservation Area, although the neighbourhood plan is seeking
to define a Historic Core Character Area, and it is proposed, at a future date,
to define a Conservation Area for Beadnell.
The Seahouses Conservation area appraisal makes recommendations for the
area which will be taken into account in the review of the settlement boundary
where the conservation area lies on or close to the proposed settlement
boundary.
The Northumberland Coast AONB Design Guide for
Built Development
The Design Guide makes recommendations
for design, but has information on the character of each settlement in the
AONB.
The Northumberland and North Tyneside
Shoreline Management Plan 2 (SMP2) (May 2009)
This document provides an assessment
of the risks associated with coastal evolution and presents a policy framework
to address these risks to people and the developed, historic and natural
environment. It contains key
recommendations along the coast that could have implications for settlement
boundaries, particularly in Beadnell and Seahouses.
Existing statutory designations
There are international, national and
local nature conservation designations along the Northumberland Coast which
will be important in relation to settlement boundaries. International statutory designations comprise:
Ramsar sites, SPAs, SACs and the Berwickshire and North Northumberland Coast
European Marine Site.
National statutory designations
include: SSSIs, Northumberland Coast AONB, Scheduled Monuments and Listed
Buildings. Local statutory designations
include: Local Wildlife sites, Local Nature reserve and Conservation
Areas. Non-statutory designations which
are also important are the Heritage Coast designation, non-designated
archaeology and locally listed heritage assets (the neighbourhood plan is
defining a list of these)
Settlement boundaries will need to
ensure that these designations are also considered.
Local Features
Barring the exceptions below,
settlement boundaries will be drawn along defined features such as walls,
hedgerows, waterways and roads where possible.
Site visits, aerial photographs and
use of evidence base documents referred to above as well as criteria listed
below will be essential to ensure a consistent approach.
Where no specific recommendations
arise from the above evidence base studies, the following principles have been
applied to the inclusion or exclusion of specific uses from within the
settlement boundary where they occur adjacent to an existing or proposed new
settlement boundary. The reasoning for these principles is provided in the paragraphs
that follow.
The table below describes what types
of development will be included or excluded from settlement boundaries. It is important that a consistent and clearly
replicable approach is used for all three settlements in the plan area. Inevitably, some types of land/development
may need to be decided on a site by site basis.
|
Site by site basis
|
Include
|
Exclude
|
|
Agricultural fields or paddocks that are surrounded by development on
all sides |
Built
development forming the main settlement |
Allotments
(unless within the built up area) |
|
Former farm buildings, converted to other uses adjacent to the
settlement (account will be taken of defensible boundaries and the age of
building - i.e. how established it is within the settlement) |
Hard surfaced
school playgrounds and playing fields where within, or on the edge of a
settlement |
Isolated housing
not well related visually to the settlement.
Housing in large plots on the edge of settlements, but not well
related to the built form, will be excluded. |
|
Caravan sites, except where clearly within a settlement |
Community
facilities e.g. schools, public houses where they are within the
existing built environment |
Designated
wildlife sites (unless within the built up area) |
|
Edge of settlement sites included in the SHLAA or put forward by local
landowners |
Local Green
Spaces (designated through the neighbourhood plan) within settlements |
Woodlands,
orchards and other community green spaces, including cemeteries and
churchyards (unless within the built up area) |
|
|
Land with
planning permission for new development within or well-related to the
settlement |
Agricultural
units (farmyards and farm buildings) including agricultural workers'
dwellings, horticultural nurseries, equestrian facilities where not well
related to the settlement |
|
|
|
Car parks on the
edge of settlements |
|
|
|
Community
facilities clearly outside the settlement (i.e. pubs/hotels) |
|
|
|
Roads, tracks
and public rights of way running along the boundary |
|
|
|
Designated
coastal habitats and areas identified in the SMP as being sensitive to
erosion and unsuitable for development |
Explanation of exclusion/inclusion criteria:
Nature Conservation Designations
The Coastal habitat designations in
the area are highly sensitive, and will also be excluded from settlement boundaries. The Shoreline Management Plan (2) identifies
coastal areas which should remain undeveloped.
These will be excluded from settlement boundaries.
Agricultural fields and paddocks
Where agricultural fields and
paddocks, including those no longer in agricultural use, are entirely
surrounded by a built up area, they will be assessed on a case by case basis.
If they contribute positively to the landscape and/or have biodiversity,
historic and recreational value then it is likely that they will be designated
as Local Green Space through the neighbourhood plan where they can be
demonstrated as having particular importance to the local community they serve.
Agricultural buildings
Agricultural farmsteads are
characteristically part of the countryside and provide the historical
connection between settlements and their agricultural origins. These buildings
can provide visual links to the rural context beyond. Therefore, where
farmsteads are situated on the edge of the built form of settlements, they will
be excluded if they are not well related to the settlement. Where farmsteads are clearly integral to the
built up part of the settlement, they will be included within the settlement
boundary.
Other countryside development
Other developments that would be allowed
in the countryside or have been allowed under countryside policies in the past
are considered to relate more to the countryside than to the settlement and
will therefore be excluded where they lie adjacent to the boundary. This
category includes equestrian developments; housing for agricultural or forestry
workers and garden centres and nurseries and other 'paragraph 55' development.
Community facilities
Extensive community facilities such as
hard surfaced sports grounds (including pavilions) and car parks, where they
have been built outside existing settlement boundaries will be excluded. More intensively built up community uses such
as schools (and their playing fields) or public houses have been included in the
boundary if they are already within the built up area or if they have been
built adjacent to the built up area, and relate well to the settlement.
Caravan Sites
Caravan sites occurring at the edge of
settlements have been assessed on a site by site basis. Caravan sites not within a settlement are
excluded. Caravan sites within
settlements are included. There are a significant number of caravan sites in
the neighbourhood area.
Employment sites or other designated sites
Existing employment sites are included
within the settlement boundary. Sites
designated for housing or other development are included in the settlement
boundary.
Tracks and roads
Where settlement boundaries run along
roads, tracks or public rights of way, they have been drawn along the edge
closest to the settlement.
Detached parts of settlements
Detached parts of settlements of over
20 dwellings of a density in the region of 30 dwellings or per hectare, may
have boundaries drawn around them.
Clusters of low density villa style
housing or of detached houses with sizeable side or front gardens will not be
given settlement boundaries and will be considered to be in the open
countryside for planning purposes.
Where boundaries are drawn around
detached parts of settlements, this will not have any implications for land
lying outside the boundary between the main part of the settlement and the
detached part. This land will be treated
as open countryside for planning purposes.
Conclusion
This methodology is sought for
approval by all three parish councils in the neighbourhood area, prior to the
settlement boundaries being drawn and consulted on in the pre-submission draft
version of the neighbourhood plan.
Next steps:
·
Methodology
is approved/amended by Steering Group/parish councils and NCC
·
Meeting with Steering Group and with NCC planning officers -
Methodology amended and approved.
·
Desk-top
study and site visits (with members of Steering Group where necessary) are
undertaken by planning consultant
·
Site visits and meetings took place with all Parish Councils in
August 2016 to further define boundaries.
·
Proposed
settlement boundaries are drawn, based on methodology contained in this paper
and a written record produced
·
Proposed
settlement boundaries are agreed by parish councils prior to formal
consultation on neighbourhood plan
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