Sustainability Appraisal and Habitats Regulation Assessment
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Sustainability Appraisal and Habitats Regulation Assessment
Sustainability Appraisal - January 2023
Representation ID: 4644
Received: 16/03/2023
Respondent: Artemis Land and Agriculture Limited
Agent: DLBP
The Council’s Sustainability Appraisal (Appendix LPD5, page 26) assesses growth scenarios in the North of the Plan Area. A growth scenario including Crouchlands Farm for 1,114 homes (or 62 per year) is found to be most sustainable (Appendix LPD5, page 34) but is discounted without clear and robust reasoning, and a blended growth scenario for 720 homes (or 40 per year) is proposed in the Local Plan (Appendix LPD5, page 40). It is wholly unclear how the Council has arrived at its decision.
See attached representation for further details.
Please see the attached representation.
[See also submission 2756 for supporting documents as per appendices referenced within attached written representation]
As set out in Section 6 of the SA, the lower growth scenario plus the strategic option of a new settlement at Crouchlands Farm was shown to perform well under several of the SA topics (accessibility, communities and health, historic environment and landscape) primarily because its location is relatively unconstrainted in respect of several environmental respects and it would (as promoted) deliver a primary school. However, the SA also highlighted delivery risks associated with a new settlement, in particular whether the Crouchlands Farm proposal provided a sufficient quantum of development to support a comprehensive scheme.
Whilst the SA indicated that lower growth was overall the better performing scenario there were also a number of uncertainties and for some SA topics little to choose between the differing scenarios. In developing the preferred distribution strategy, therefore, consideration was given to the potential for a combination of lower growth in some parishes and higher growth in others in order to meet the housing needs of the Plan Area as far as possible. The Housing Distribution Background Paper (July 2024) sets out a summary of the growth combinations and concludes that overall Crouchlands Farm is not a suitable or sustainable location for the creation of a sustainable new village community.
