The plan does not set out the rationale for selecting locations for development, apart from the fact that the sites proposed by developers are easy to exploit. Instead a proper transport plan should be developed to determine suitable Park and Ride sites and rapid transit routes and these locations should then be used to inform the list of housing locations.
The plan targets a small number of communities with large numbers of new houses, many driven by the convenience of builders. For example, Knowle has been allocated over 1000 new homes, a 25% increase on the current stock. No community should be required to suffer such an increase and there should be a cap of 10% at most applied to allocations in individual communities.
The Plan also fails to consider at all the option of a new garden city type of development. This could well be located adjacent to UK Central where infrastructure and sustainability needs could be built in from the start. The plan should propose that the immediate need for new housing is met by small additions to existing communities, with the longer term needs (2 years +) met by a new garden city community.