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A Living Working Countryside

• A response to the Matthew Taylor Review

Peter Home Senior Planning Officer, HDC
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Introduction
The key problem The English countryside is a
wonderful place to live and work if you can
afford a home, if you can find a reasonably paid
job. Matthew Taylor MP
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Introduction
The key solutions ? The planning process has
to become an engine of regeneration or we face a
future of decline. In many cases just a handful
of well designed homes, kept affordable in
perpetuity for local people, will make all the
difference to the sustainability of the community
and its services.
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The Process

• Matthew Taylor Review July 2008
• Government Response Document March 2009
• Planning Policy Statement (PPS) 4 Planning for
  Prosperous Economies May 2009
• Possible changes to other PPSs (e.g. PPS3
  Housing PPG13 Transport) - ???
• LDF preparation (Core Strategy reviews etc) -
  Ongoing

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The Context Housing Delivery
Three million new homes by 2020 This means at
least 750,000 in areas classed as rural based
on balance of UK population
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The Context Housing Delivery
The South East Plan translates this into average
annual figures for new homes 32,708 per year
until 2026 And for East and West Sussex 5,800
per year South East Plan May 2009
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The Context Demographic Change

• In the last 10 years the UKs rural population
  has increased by over 800,000
• Long term trend of counter urbanisation driven
  by
• Perceptions that quality of life is better in the
  countryside worse in urban areas
• Reducing barriers to commuting by improved
  strategic transport and Internet/communications
  technology
• Cashing in on house price rises in London,
  before rural prices caught up

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The Problems Sustainability Trap

• Government policy for at least 15 years has been
  to ensure housing supply contributes to achieving
  sustainable communities
• Desire to reduce CO2 emissions by minimising
  dependence on car travel
• Desire to increase social cohesion, particularly
  in urban areas
• Desire to protect greenfield land from
  development for good landscape and biodiversity
  reasons

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The Problems Sustainability Trap
But, what makes development sustainable?
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The Problems Sustainability Trap

• Matthew Taylor argues that this national policy
  drive for sustainable development has had
  unintended detrimental effects for rural areas
  by
• Reinforcing the long-term undersupply of all
  types of homes in rural areas
• Contributing to housing characterised by low
  quality and poorly designed estates that harm the
  character of larger rural settlements and
  reinforce car dependence

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The Problems Sustainability Trap

1. Restricting almost all housing delivery in
   smaller and more rural villages creating
   stagnation
2. Causing the demand/supply mismatch that
   contributes to escalating and unaffordable rural
   house prices
3. Holding back and harming the economy of rural
   areas by a combination of the above

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The Problems Sustainability Trap

• Economic Effects of the sustainability trap
• Increasingly unaffordable housing underlines
  economy as labour market is constrained
• Demand for local services declines (e.g. bus,
  P.O.)
• Skills drain from rural areas as young people are
  forced to leave 100,000 young people to leave
  rural areas in next 4 years (National Housing
  Federation)

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The Problems Sustainability Trap

• Social effects of the sustainability trap
• Social and economic polarisation between rural
  haves and have nots
• Service downgrading and closure leads to social
  isolation, particularly for those with no car
• Erosion of family and community ties as young
  move away and wealthy outsiders move in

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The Problems Sustainability Trap

• Environmental effects of the sustainability
  trap
• Fast growth in reverse commuting (rural
  workforce drive in from cheaper housing areas in
  towns)
• Wealthy urban work force drive to urban centres
  reinforcing traditional commuting patterns
• Increased need to travel for services which are
  further away and less accessible by public
  transport /cycling

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The Problems 1. Long-term Undersupply

• Planning policy bias against building on
  greenfield land to protect agricultural land,
  landscape and biodiversity
• National and local targets for building on
  brownfield land reusing a resource
• Emphasis on delivering development in larger
  service centres where range of transport choices
  exists

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The Problems 1. Long-term Undersupply

• But, Matthew Taylor challenges these assumptions
• A smaller proportion of UK is developed than
  imagined 3 million homes could be delivered on
  less than 0.5 of UKs presently undeveloped area
• Much greenfield land is monoculture
  agricultural with far less biodiversity than many
  brownfield sites
• The bias towards building in larger centres is
  reinforcing the reduction in transport choices in
  rural areas as bus services disappear

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The Problems 2. Bland housing estates

• The approach to delivery in rural market towns is
  reactive i.e. the minimum amount of land is
  released to meet immediate housing targets with
  little forward thinking
• This results in bland estates with no new
  services that are crammed onto small parcels at
  the edge of the market town
• Restrictive approach to greenfield land makes for
  densities that are inappropriately high

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The Problems 2. Bland housing estates
Typical modern high density estates have gardens
too small to plant trees. The results are clearly
harmful to the character of market towns
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The Problems 3. Stagnating villages
The planning policy context leads to the
writing-off of small and very rural villages
are too unsustainable for any new development at
all. These villages may be very attractive and in
protected landscapes and may already have few
services. Little thought is given to the
long-term effects on these villages
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The Problems 3. Stagnating villages

• Villages preserved in aspic cannot thrive as
  sustainable communities
• High demand by wealthy incomes (particularly the
  retired of second homes owners) drives up prices
  way beyond those affordable to most with a
  connection to the village
• Local services disappear and the young and
  workers on lower salaries leave
• Sustainability and social cohesion is undermined

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The Problems 4. Affordability crisis

• House price rises in rural areas are a relatively
  simple result of supply and demand factors
• Whereas some decades ago all but the lowest or
  unwaged could afford a home, now even skilled and
  graduate workers on average wages can no longer
  afford to buy or rent
• The need for genuinely affordable housing is
  increasing dramatically, but supply is at best
  level.

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The Problems 4. Affordability crisis

• The Government target for new homes in small
  rural villages (under 3,000 population) is 3,400
  per year
• The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has estimated that
  some 9,500 per year would be need to meet
  current demand (does not include removing
  backlog)
• The credit crunch has not helped modest price
  reductions are off-set by a decline in credit
  availability and larger fees for new mortgages.
  Few rural Sussex homes benefit from stamp duty
  holiday.

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The Problems 5. Harming the economy

• Rural economy is relatively strong and it
  contributes far more to UK national economy than
  many think
• Huge changes in recent years away from
  traditional sectors to diverse and dynamic
  sectors including knowledge and financial
  industries manufacturing
• 1998 2006 there was a 46 increase in
  knowledge intensive businesses (urban areas
  21)
• Homework is very strong 17 in rural areas vs.
  8 in urban

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The Problems 5. Harming the economy

• But
• Appearance of wealth in rural UK hides much
  genuine poverty
• Average wages of people who live and work in the
  countryside is 4,653 less than UK national
  average
• Housing scarcity and steep prices push skilled
  workers away from rural area leaving skills
  deficit for low-paid professions (carers, social
  workers, teachers) this constrains the economy

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The Problems 5. Harming the economy

• Planning policy context has traditionally
  restricted rural employment and commercial
  development in the same way as it has housing
  development
• New development restricted to scarce brownfield
  sites
• Existing development afforded little protection
  if application for housing is made
• Home workers and home businesses often struggle
  to get permission for extensions

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The Solutions?

• Matthew Taylor made 48 recommendations of which
  the Government has agreed about 40.
• But this does not mean the problems can be
  resolved quickly this needs to be a long-term
  process
• They are not all new - many of the
  recommendations relate to actions already being
  undertaken by authorities and communities across
  Sussex

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The Solutions - 1. Long-term Undersupply

• The report calls for assumptions about delivery
  on greenfield sites to be challenged
• Where these sites support little biodiversity and
  contribute only marginally to the landscape
  quality, they may be preferable to small cramped
  brownfield sites
• This must be part of a Masterplanning approach
  that looks longer term and seeks to ensure that
  sufficient housing of the right kind according to
  needs (market and affordable) is provided in
  rural areas

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The Solutions - 1. Ensuring housing supply

• Looking long term and taking a Masterplanning
  approach will allow development to be scaled so
  that
• transport services can be supported and
• sufficient space set aside for high quality
  natural open space that is biodiversity rich
• These will help to ensure the development is
  environmentally sustainable

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The Solutions Improving design

• The report argues for the Masterplanning approach
  to be delivers through the LDF process. Key
  requirements to deliver better housing
  developments include
• Taking a longer term outlook that does not seek
  to allocate the minimum land for the minimum
  possible number of homes
• Ensuing that local communities participate fully
  in the production of Masterplans

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The Solutions Improving design

• Ensuring that development is scaled (over a
  number of years) to be able to provide for
  services, employment areas, retail and
  infrastructure that is needed
• The objective must be to create a community and
  not a housing estate creating destinations not
  routes to take cars to other places
• More innovative use of densities and open space
  is needed to protect and enhance character of
  market towns

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The Solutions Hub and spoke design
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The Solutions A Horsham Masterplan
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The Solutions Revitalising small villages

• Possible solutions considered
• Do nothing villages will continue to stagnate
  and social cohesion and overall sustainability
  will deteriorate
• Let the market deliver seeking to correct
  demand/supply imbalance with large-scale building
  will be environmentally unacceptable
• Increase plan-led allocations for mixed (market
  and affordable housing developments

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The Solutions Revitalising small villages

1. Increase plan-led allocations for mixed (market
   and affordable housing developments.

• Allocations must be based on local needs and on
  viability assessments. Affordable housing likely
  to be viable due to high market house prices.
• Like the masterplanning approach for market
  towns, there must also a high level of community
  participation.
• The allocation must seek to ensure that services
  are enhanced and protected.

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The Solutions Revitalising small villages

1. Promote Exceptions Sites

• Pioneered in 1989 for affordable housing in
  villages less than 3,000 population where houses
  would not normally be permitted.
• Houses must be affordable in perpetuity not
  subject to right to buy
• Must be a clear connection between homes
  delivered and local needs and community support
  is a vital part of the process

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The Solutions Revitalising small villages

• Report terms this approach Community led
  affordable housing
• It requires the planning authority to be
  proactive in seeking sites and helping deliver
  the homes
• The local community (particularly parish
  councils) have a clear role in this process as to
  Rural Housing Enablers (Action in Rural Sussex)
• Matthew Taylor recommends that local communities
  should be able to initiate and expect planning
  authority support

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The Solutions Horshams experience
Horsham District Council works proactively with
local communities and AiRS in a way the Report
recommends- Andrew Smith Housing Development
and Strategy Manager Horsham District Council
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The Solutions 5. Protecting the rural economy

• The Report recommends changing the national
  policy framework
• To ensure existing rural employment sites are
  offered protection
• To realign the criteria for assessing new
  employment and commercial development
• And in both cases the key criterion should be the
  level of existing employment/commercial provision
  in that local community in other words ensuring
  needs are met

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The Solutions Horsham Case Study

• The HDC General Development Control Policies
  Document adopted December 2007
• Specific policy for rural economic development
  (DC25)
• Encourages new development where it delivers
  specific economic benefits for the rural economy
  e.g. employing local workers or providing a
  needed service
• Policy DC19 also offers protection in Employment
  Protection Zones many of which are located in
  rural areas and outside of village boundaries.

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The Solutions 5. Protecting the rural economy

• Home working and home businesses also need to be
  protected and encouraged
• The Government is actively looking at changes to
  the use class orders to allow better
  development management for house extensions that
  will be used as business premises
• Many authorities are looking at live work
  solutions for rural areas and at rural small
  business hubs to service home businesses

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Conclusions
An impossible task? The planning system has a
crucial role to promote and deliver sustainable
communities ensuring development occurs in the
right place at the right time and makes a
positive contribution to peoples lives
providing homes, jobs, opportunity and enhancing
quality of life. It must simultaneously protect
and enhance the natural and historic environment,
and conserve the countryside and open spaces that
are important to everyone.
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Conclusions
Thank you!