Planning matters

First Glinton is faced with becoming joined to North Werrington;
Unwanted development is proposed in the heart of Northborough;
Now Helpston is a target for more growth proposals;
Etton becomes a peninsular in a sea of mineral extractions;
A mixed industrial/housing idea extends south from Mkt Deeping;
Road and rail schemes may make their own demands;

What is happening regarding housing and other development in our villages? This issue should be a concern to all, leading to your active participation.

We are currently in a cross-over during which current applications (such as Lakeside, Northborough) are processed under the ‘old’ Planning guidance, last updated in 2005. Longer-term policies and possible future developments are becoming visible in the ‘new’ system called the Local Development Framework (LDF).

This will commence in 2011, and has projections running to 2026. Global economics and political responses add a layer of uncertainty. Will the market-led lack of demand kill all the plans, or political action lead to more specifically engineered developments – be it eco-communities or high-growth townships as local authorities are able to build social housing again?

It is worth recalling the origins and scale of achievement of the Peterborough Development Corporation, for example.

For rural communities, the concept of the village envelope provides rather weak guidance in the current planning arrangements. There is no ‘big picture’ as the system processes one-at-a-time applications. It is hostage to developers working behind the scenes to cherry-pick sites, irrespective of community views. Affected residents have only a short time after a planning notice is posted to mount a defence against a long-prepared application.

However, following changes of communication guidance, it is now possible for a Parish Council to discuss proposals in advance of a formal application, provided members do not pre-judge the outcome. Residents in frequently-hit villages have also learnt to use local knowledge and support to resist or modify the more outrageous schemes.

For our village communities, we are at a critical stage of the new LDF. The overall strategy has no North Werrington Urban Extension. Helpston, Glinton and Northborough fall within the eight ‘Limited Growth Villages’ which are planned to share a minimum of 500 new dwellings – about 300 in addition to those sites already in progress. This is still subject to review as the City Council prepares the final submission for Government approval.

Efforts have been made to encourage developers and landowners to declare sites they wish to put ‘in play’ for development for all purposes – housing, industry, leisure, mineral extraction etc. These are not planning applications that will go ahead – just declarations of intent. Only IF the site becomes a preferred option, development may, or most likely will follow later, still requiring a full Planning Application. Other sites will still be allowed to come forward – but will then be treated as exceptions rather than part of a pre-agreed plan. In a process far more data-driven, open and timely than the current ‘await an application’, criteria for selection have been proposed.

City Council Planners have commenced the task of sorting and sifting all the declared locations to decide on their preferred sites to meet the overall growth target. In addition to the published criteria, the planners are able to take account of properly founded and expressed community views. The results will be released for last local consultation late 2009 – early 2010, with a final opportunity for submission before a Planning Inspector in 2010.

Taken overall, the current state of these ‘Site Specific Allocations’ looks rather shocking – with each limited growth village facing declarations that far exceed the existing infrastructure and the expected strategy numbers. By their nature and knowledge, developers lead with strongly-argued submissions in support of their proposals. A counter view arising from individuals with less planning knowledge, or bending to community consensus, struggles to take back the initiative. There are also potential weaknesses in sequencing the planning – with some proposals occupying space required to deliver other plan components (eg dualling the A15, other local traffic management ideas, or provision of schools, and Greenspace). Those looking for black and white certainty will be disappointed, as ‘windfall sites’ up to 0.3 hectares will still be allowed (in or outside village boundaries), not all declared sites will be taken up, and other sites can still be put forward later as exceptions.

On the optimistic side, development possibilities have been made public with time for integrated evaluation and public comment. “Do-nothing” is not an option, and developments will continue to occur - just as each limited growth community has grown by an estate every 10-20 years or so! After years of incremental small-step planning, responding only to definite applications, it is a high expectation that the communities will suddenly spring forward with an “optimal” total scheme with citizen’s consensus, democratically reached..

Before the next consultation on preferred outcomes, the common best interest of each village would be to define its own preferred areas for development, according to resources and consequences. (You never know - they may match the planners!) Glinton is trying to do this in integration with another level of local planning - this time the “Neighbourhood Investment Plan” which brings into play the allocation of service provision from Peterborough City Council across all agencies - education, social and youth services, transport. To make an extreme example, it is no use planning to reduce school roll, and allow medical and social services to migrate to a super-centre (say in Werrington) if there is a serious plan to build large number of houses on the Glebe Land - or anywhere else (which theoretically at least could be outcomes). This scenario can be repeated in each village!

It is now too late to comment on the individual sites - both built environment and minerals & waste policies. However, you can see the site details and comments made on the PCC website at http://consult.peterborough.gov.uk/portal/ - you do not have to sign-in. The consolidated plans for each village are shown below - these views will be added to the Tribune and NPVA websites. In addition, details of one further site put forward for waste management on the edge of Glinton are on page 46.

Finally, it is not too late to lobby your PC or Ward Councillor to form a ‘village’ view ahead of the final acceptance process. Contact details for Parish Councils are already in the Tribune. You may also wish to join an increasing number of active residents who participate at an individual or group level – the groups having formed largely in resistance to previous schemes. Contacts are Northborough Residents Association steve.banner@waitrose.com or NPVA at www.npva.co.uk or npva@btinternet.com

David Cowcill, North Peterborough Villages Association, March ‘09