Object

Representation ID: 14690

Received: 14/12/2020

Respondent: Rainier Developments Limited (School Road Hockley Heath)

Agent: Marrons Planning

Legally compliant? Yes

Sound? No

Duty to co-operate? Yes

Hockley Heath certainly contains a range of facilities for everyday needs, and includes a primary school. The one key service lacking in the village is a doctors surgery as noted in the Plan8 . However, there are no proposals within the Plan to address the lack of this facility which is a missed opportunity to create a more sustainable pattern of development. In fact, in proposing an allocation of only 90 dwellings and nothing else, the existing problem is only compounded by increasing the population in the settlement.
Based on the Spatial Strategy as drafted, a proportionate addition is supported by the Plan. Again, proportionate is not defined within the Plan. Hockley Heath has a population in excess of 2,000 with circa 800 households, and yet only one allocation is proposed for 90 dwellings and overall only 141 dwellings are expected to be delivered in the Plan period . An increase in the size of the settlement by circa 15% is a relatively small proportionate increase, and it is noted that the proposed increase in the size of Hockley Heath is significantly less than other settlements of similar size (such as Cheswick Green which is proposed to accommodate 1,000 dwellings).
The Spatial Strategy would therefore appear to support a much higher level of growth in Hockley Heath than has been allocated in the sites selected.
It is considered therefore that selecting one site of 90 dwellings in Hockley Heath does not reflect the Spatial Strategy, unnecessarily constrains growth in a sustainable location, and misses an opportunity to enhance the sustainability of the settlement through the delivery of key services in the form of land for a doctors surgery and new two form entry primary school on Site 416. It is in an accessible location, it is a lower performing site in Green Belt terms, and is therefore a Priority 5 site