REPRESENTATIONS ON BEHALF OF NURTON DEVELOPMENTS
Nurton Developments does not agree with the spatial strategy and considers that Hockley Heath should be included as a location for growth for reasons set out below.
Paragraph 83 of the draft Local Plan sets out a vision for rural areas that, by 2028, the network of strong and vibrant communities will have been sustained with a range of local facilities and services that are readily accessible on foot and by bicycle and that are appropriate to the scale and hierarchy of the settlement. It envisages that sustainable extensions to those settlements that are highly accessible or have a wide range of services will provide for the Borough's housing needs. Therefore it is within the vision of the Draft Local Plan to locate additional housing adjacent to sustainable rural settlements in order to sustain strong and vibrant communities.
The Draft Local Plan spatial strategy includes in the hierarchy at paragraph 101 'development that would be a proportionate addition adjacent to an existing settlement that although is less accessible still has a limited range of services available within it (including a primary school)'. Therefore the spatial strategy clearly envisages locating additional housing adjacent to settlements with a range of services, including a primary school.
The Draft Local Plan Housing Topic Paper (December 2016) sets out reasoning behind the chosen spatial strategy. In relation to Hockley Heath it concludes that 'the poor accessibility of this settlement and the restricted opportunities [for development] mean that it is not suitable for growth'. This is considered to be an inadequate assessment which all-too-readily dismisses Hockley Heath. The village is a sustainable location for growth and the local village services and continued vitality of the community are reliant upon the growth of the village.
Hockley Heath is a compact village where local facilities are easily accessed by foot. The village has a primary school and other local facilities include pubs, restaurants, a café, take-away establishments, a convenience shop, butchers, post office, dentist, a physiotherapy clinic, hairdressers, various other retail shops and a community hall. This good range of local facilities supports the vibrancy of the community and village life.
Hockley Heath is served by two bus routes. The S3 links Acocks Green to Hockley Heath via Solihull, Knowle and Dorridge. This service runs every half an hour in each direction Monday to Saturday and hourly on a Sunday and in the evenings. This connects to the medical centre and railway station in Dorridge and the secondary school in Knowle. There are also school bus services from Hockley Heath to Tudor Grange Academy (the catchment secondary school) and Alcester secondary schools. The X20 runs from Birmingham to Stratford-upon-Avon via Hockley Heath. The service runs hourly in each direction Monday to Saturday and every 90 minutes on Sundays.
In view of the local facilities available at Hockley Heath and the range of bus services to higher order settlements, it is unjustified to conclude that the settlement has poor accessibility.
The National Planning Policy Framework (paragraph 55) states that, to promote sustainable development in rural areas, housing should be located where it will enhance or maintain the vitality of rural communities. This appears to be recognised by the Draft Local Plan vision and spatial strategy, but the actual location of housing allocations falls short of achieving this objective at Hockley Heath. It is important that the village population is sustained by a mix of housing so as to sustain a strong and vibrant community and retain local facilities and services.
Between the 2001 and 2011 Censuses Hockley Heath grew by 80 households. This equates to 11% growth over a 10 year period. The Draft Local plan now considers a subsequent 17 year period. It is considered that allowance should be made for modest and proportionate growth to Hockley Heath in order to support the village as a strong and vibrant community and to provide for a mix of housing to meet local needs.
The objectively assessed housing need to be addressed in the Draft Local Plan provides the exceptional circumstances to review the Green Belt boundary to Hockley Heath. Without such a review the village is constrained and has very limited potential to meet needs for housing. The emerging Hockley Heath Neighbourhood Plan is also restricted in addressing the growth needs of the village without alteration to the Green Belt boundary.