Rother Local Plan 2020-2040 (Regulation 18)
7. Infrastructure
(11) 7.1 Infrastructure can be described as the supporting services, facilities and utilities that are necessary to support growth and development across the district. It can be strategic in nature, supporting growth across the whole or part of district, or it can be local in nature, supporting specific development sites. The term is wide reaching and comprises physical, social and green/blue infrastructure (open space and water), ranging from telecommunication facilities through to public transport measures and health facilities. A full list of all infrastructure types is included in the Council's Infrastructure Delivery Plan (IDP) which supports the Local Plan.
(1) 7.2 The Council's draft IDP is a critical part of the Local Plan evidence base. It is essential that development and resulting population growth is supported by the appropriate level of infrastructure to serve it. However, it is important to note that its delivery is not always in full control of the Council. It is dependent on partnership working between a variety of public, private and voluntary sector agencies known as 'infrastructure providers'. As such the Council is heavily reliant on the expertise and advice of these external providers to determine what is needed to support development in the plan and to deliver the required infrastructure. The Local Plan will play a key role in securing continued investment in infrastructure delivery and in aligning the programmes of the various providers with local need. This will help achieve the important concepts of live well locally and sustainable communities, which are at the heart of the Local Plan.
7.3 In helping achieve this, the Council has undertaken early engagement with key infrastructure providers and organisations to understand their various strategies and programmes and to start identifying the infrastructure required to support proposed development. Ongoing engagement will be required to ensure the effective delivery of infrastructure in the right place at the right time. Through this public consultation we will be seeking the views of infrastructure providers on the impacts of our development strategy on infrastructure needs for the district. Ongoing engagement with infrastructure providers will ensure that these needs are agreed and formalised for the next stage of the Local Plan.
7.4 There are many refences to infrastructure within other chapters of the Local Plan, most notably open space provision and standards within 'Live Well Locally' and green and blue infrastructure within 'Health and Wellbeing'. This chapter presents the high level infrastructure requirements for development, with more detail being provided under the specific supporting policies in other chapters.
(5) Proposed Policy INF1: Strategic Infrastructure Requirements
Policy Status:
Strategic
New Policy?
No
Overall Priorities:
Live Well Locally
Policy Wording:
Where new or improved infrastructure, including community facilities, is needed to support development, appropriate provision or contributions will be required. This will be established in consultation with relevant infrastructure providers, and as set out in the Council's Infrastructure Delivery Plan.
The delivery of infrastructure will be secured by planning obligation or by condition attached to the planning permission, or by any other appropriate mechanism such as the Community Infrastructure Levy.
Timing and Delivery of Infrastructure
(A) Planning permission will only be granted where it can be demonstrated, through the submission of appropriate evidence, that there is, or will be, sufficient infrastructure capacity to meet all the necessary requirements arising from the development. Where new infrastructure capacity is required, it must be demonstrated that it can be delivered upfront or early in the development phasing.
Applications must set out all the infrastructure implications of a proposal and how they have engaged and worked with infrastructure providers. This includes infrastructure that is required to be delivered both on or off-site. If infrastructure cannot be delivered upfront or early in the development timescale, an agreed timetable, secured through planning condition or legal agreement will need to be in place so that the infrastructure can be delivered as soon as practically possible. Larger developments may need to be phased to ensure that infrastructure can be provided in a timely manner.
The design and layout of a development must ensure future access to utility infrastructure for maintenance and upgrading.
Where a proposal would be made unviable in light on infrastructure requirements, open book calculations verified by an independent consultant approved by the Council must be provided. All viability appraisals will be made publicly available and will be assessed with the assistance of an external consultant at the developers cost to ensure the value of planning obligations has been maximised, having regard to development viability.
Safeguarding of Infrastructure
(B) It is important that existing infrastructure services, facilities and utilities are protected where they contribute to the needs of local communities. This is unless an equivalent replacement/improvement is provided or there is sufficient alternative provision of the same type in the local area, subject to requirements set out elsewhere in the Plan. Replacement facilities must be provided to at least the same standard which includes floorspace, volume, functionality and purpose.
Explanatory Text:
(3) 7.5 Infrastructure requirements will be set out in the Council's Infrastructure Delivery Plan which will be a 'live' document that is updated regularly. Essential infrastructure to support growth will be clearly identified, and future site allocations (in the next version of the Local Plan) will detail the specific infrastructure requirements that are required to make development acceptable and sustainable. The Council's annual Infrastructure Funding Statement will state the type of infrastructure for which development contributions will be sought and will detail overall spend and delivery of infrastructure at a district level. Parish Councils have their own duty to publish on their website details of their spend and delivery of infrastructure from Community Infrastructure Levy payments.
7.6 Future growth in the district together with projected population growth will place increased demand upon the capacity of infrastructure. Investment to improve existing infrastructure and the provision of new infrastructure and services will be necessary to support sustainable development. The Council expects developers to fund and provide the necessary investments in infrastructure so as to mitigate or compensate for the impact of their proposals. This will need to be undertaken in partnership with infrastructure providers at the earliest point in the development of the planning application for the scheme. Ultimately the delivery of infrastructure will be secured by a planning obligation or by a condition attached to the planning permission, which are both legally binding. In some cases, the current Community Infrastructure Levy will be used to fund infrastructure, which will be agreed and secured through the Council's internal CIL governance arrangements and protocols.
7.7 It is critical that the Council safeguards existing infrastructure services, facilities and utilities where they important to the needs of local communities and the wider district. The proposed policy therefore references the need to protect infrastructure unless an equivalent replacement/improvement is provided or there is sufficient alternative provision of the same type in the local area. In line with other policies in the Plan this must accord with the Live well locally concept and policies, in that facilities and services must be located near to local communities. It is important that replacement provision must be provided to at least the same standard as the current facility's floorspace, volume, functionality and purpose.
Question Box
(28) 109. What are your views on the Council's proposed policy on strategic infrastructure requirements?
(9) 110. Are there any alternatives or additional points the Council should be considering?
(8) 111. Specifically, what are your views on requiring the submission of appropriate evidence to demonstrate that there is, or will be, sufficient infrastructure capacity to meet the demands of a new development?
Proposed Policy INF2: Digital Connectivity
Policy Status:
Strategic
New Policy?
Yes, building on Policy EC1 (vii) of the Core Strategy
Overall Priorities:
Live Well Locally
Policy Wording:
Major residential and non-residential development will be required to provide a Fibre to the Premise (FTTP) connection.
Where the applicant deems this to not be feasible, evidence will need to be provided to demonstrate this for the consideration of the Council. In circumstances where it is agreed that FTTP cannot be delivered, the next most feasible fastest broadband speed will be provided.
Explanatory Text:
7.8 Currently, Policy EC1(vii) of the Core Strategy states that economic activity and growth will be coordinated through "facilitating investment in high quality ICT connections, especially to business locations, new residential development and as part of infrastructure projects." With the advances in broadband technology since the adoption of the Core Strategy in 2014, there is a need to have a stronger policy to ensure that good broadband is provided in new development for all uses, particularly in rural areas. Fibre to the premise (FTTP), fibre to the home (FTTH), or full fibre involves having a fibre optic cable be laid from the exchange via the cabinet all the way to the premise. This improves on fibre to the cabinet (FTTC) where a fibre cable will be used from the exchange to the local (often green) cabinet and then a copper cable is used to connect from the cabinet to the premise. It is considered that FTTP is the most appropriate solution for the Council as it is much faster and a reliable method of internet delivery. This is because it sues fibre option cables throughout the connection, allowing for fast internet speeds that exceed 1000 megabits per second. This is coupled with the fact that it is a direct connection to the internet so it is not impacted by peak periods of usage.
7.9 The need to improve internet connectivity across the district has been raised as part of early engagement on the Local Plan. Through undertaking the Settlement study in support of the Local Plan, it is clear that the level and speed of internet broadband differs significantly in settlements across the district. Improvements to internet speeds would significantly improve the overall sustainability of more rural locations of the district, which has significant economic benefits for commercial enterprises and enables residents greater accessibility to the internet to help with everyday life.
Question Box
