Rother Local Plan 2020-2040 (Regulation 18)

The consultation document asks respondents to comment on the extent to which they agree with the overall vision and objectives of the Local Plan.

According to the Vision, by 2040, "bold solutions will have successfully addressed the climate and biodiversity emergencies and the housing crisis.” These are translated into two Overall Priorities: "Green to the Core" which means considering the impact of all planning decisions on the climate emergency, the biodiversity crisis and the High Weald National Landscape, and "Live Well Locally." The latter means considering the goal of creating healthy, sustainable communities, supporting residents in terms of access to jobs, services and facilities, connected and compact neighbourhoods and new places that foster a sense of belonging, identity and shared experience. While we agree with the overall thrust of these priorities, neither adequately go to the heart of the urgent need for housing, including specifically addressing the current housing crisis.

The housing crisis is acute in Rother and getting a Local Plan in place is the first step to ensure proper, planned delivery of housing in a consistent and sustainable manner to ensure the Council can realise its two overall priorities. However, the Local Plan needs to honestly address the scale of the housing shortfall and the importance of meeting the local housing need in full. Accordingly, we recommend that “Live Well Locally” is expanded to specifically confirm that it will be the aim of the Council to address the housing crisis, meeting local housing need in full and maximising housing delivery.

The draft Local Plan seeks to address ten key planning issues, which are stated to stem directly from the Vision for the Plan and link to the Council’s two ‘Overall Priorities’. In response, all ten 'key issues' are important and should be integrated into the overall strategy. As previously mentioned, the need to fully address housing needs should be explicitly identified as an “Overall Priority,” as it is not adequately captured by the strategic priorities of “Green to the Core” and “Live Well Locally.” We welcome the recognition of the housing need within the 10 key issues.
We support the Council’s recognition that the Plan needs to provide support to rural economies and communities, however this should include reference to the provision of new housing to meet local need.

The draft Local Plan sets out ten strategic spatial objectives, which will be used to support and deliver sustainable development.

Spatial Objective 4 recognises the need to respond to the housing crisis and help facilitate the delivery of housing to meet the needs to different groups. This will be achieved by maximising the potential opportunities for residential development in sustainable and deliverable locations. We strongly support this objective and it is encouraging that the Council specifically acknowledge the housing situation as a crisis. We do question the validity of inferring that there is a matter of choice about the delivery of housing and economic needs.
1.9 As outlined within the consultation document, there is a need to identify enough sites to deliver a minimum of 737 homes per year. This target is not an arbitrary Government top-down target, and instead is based on the Government’s standard methodology and directly corresponds to the district’s established population, affordability, and future needs. Accordingly, creating a place where the range of housing needs are being met in full, and improved, should be clearly explained to be a minimum requirement – it is the way it is achieved that should be subject to more open questions to the public.

We would suggest some minor modification to clarify that the plan is positively prepared and fully aligned with the provisions of the NPPF to make it clear that the plan as a minimum, seeks to meet the area’s objectively assessed needs:
“Respond to the housing crisis and help facilitate the delivery of housing to meet the needs of different groups in the community in full […]”

We are supportive of Spatial Objectives 4 and 7 which seek to maximise opportunities for growth in sustainable locations, or places that can be made sustainable through supporting infrastructure and community facilities. As a largely rural district it is vital that the Council continue to explore opportunities for development in its rural communities to ensure these settlements can continue to thrive and prosper.

We support the general principle of ensuring that new development contributes to climate change mitigation by reducing emissions through energy efficiency and the way that fossil fuels are used, as well as addressing the ways in which developments are designed, constructed and operate over their lifetime. However, draft policy GTC1 seeks to set ambitious net-zero carbon standards for new development that go beyond the minimum standards provided by the Building Regulations.

On 13 December 2023, a Written Ministerial Statement advised that while some local authorities' plans exceed national efficiency standards, the Government aims to balance improving home efficiency with ensuring sufficient housing is built. The Statement also notes that multiple local standards can increase costs and complexity, undermining economies of scale. Thus, the Government does not expect plan-makers to set local energy efficiency standards beyond current or planned building regulations. It advises that:
“any planning policies that propose local energy efficiency standards for buildings that go beyond current or planned buildings regulation should be rejected at examination if they do not have a well-reasoned and robustly costed rationale that ensures:
• That development remains viable, and the impact on housing supply and affordability is considered in accordance with the National Planning Policy Framework.
• The additional requirement is expressed as a percentage uplift of a dwelling’s Target Emissions Rate (TER) calculated using a specified version of the Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP).”

The Draft Plan recognises that this policy does not currently meet these criteria. Moreover, the detailed requirements do not reflect the evolving nature of zero carbon building policy, where standards inevitably will change in response to technological and market advancement and more stringent nationally set standards. Policy GTC1 contains little flexibility to allow for such changes and provides a high degree of certainty about the standards that will be applied over the lifetime of the Plan. This brings into question whether the evidence that supports the standards justifies the approach as a sound one.

Moreover, this needs to be justified by viability testing at the plan making stage and sufficiently flexible to ensure that it does not threaten the ability of individual sites to be developed viably, nor the Council’s ability to achieve its other identified Main Priorities. Alternatively, we recommend that the Local Plan supports low-carbon and gas-free development more generally, rather than necessitating explicit net-zero compliance.

Please refer to our full representations

We do not consider the Council has identified all possible opportunities within Sedlescombe. Land north of Brede Lane, Sedlescombe is assessed in the Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment (HELAA) (April 2024) under reference SED0032. In summary it is identified as ‘not suitable’ on the grounds of landscape impact and accessibility. We do not consider this assessment to be correct and ask the Council to reconsider this site as a housing allocation.

Location and Surroundings

The site occupies approximately 2.8 hectares and is situated to the east of Sedlescombe with access from Brede Lane. The site is currently an agricultural field bounded by woodland and hedgerow. The site lies to the north of East Terrace View which forms the settlement edge of Sedlescombe.

In response to the HELAA assessment we have undertaken a Landscape and Visual Appraisal of the site and this is attached as a separate document. This assessment has carefully considered the site within its landscape context and its capacity to accommodate development.

At this stage an indicative masterplan has been prepared in order to illustrate the type and scale of development envisioned on site. A range of homes would be delivered, with a balance of tenures and sizes to meet local needs, whilst respecting the character of the local vernacular. The proposals work with the typography of the site and the surrounding character to provide a sensitive small scale development of 35 to 40 dwellings.

The proposal would protect the adjacent woodlands by providing a generous offset in excess of 15m. The topography of the site results in a low density scheme allowing for generous areas of open space as well as green and blue infrastructure providing opportunities for onsite biodiversity net gains and landscaping.

A well connected network of routes for pedestrians, cyclists and vehicles will link to the existing network of footpaths to the north. It will connect onto Brede Lane to provide the necessary connections to services and public transport, encouraging healthy lifestyles and sustainable travel.

Landscape
According to the HELAA, development at the scale considered through the HELAA would be harmful to the landscape and character of the National Landscape and rural setting of the village. LDA Design has considered the ability of the site and its surroundings to accommodate new residential development, identified where opportunities and constraints exist from a landscape/visual perspective, and how potential impacts could be minimised through a sensitive design response. Consequently, the landscape strategy prioritises preserving and enhancing existing vegetation onsite, ensuring the new development integrates within its surroundings. Particular attention would be given to parts of the site that contain key landscape features or are more visible from the site’s surroundings, ensuring the development can be well integrated. Longer range views are expected to be limited and where visible, the proposed development will appear as part of the broader settlement.

Therefore, it is considered that the site can readily accommodate a sensitively designed development whilst respecting the wider countryside setting without harm to landscape visual impact.

Access
The HELAA raises accessibility as a further constraint. It concludes the site is some distance from services within the village and accessed via a narrow part of Brede Lane. We disagree with this conclusion. There is a continuous footpath which runs along Brede Lane providing access to the village and public transport links. The recently consented scheme immediately to the south of this site (RR/2022/2619) for 21 units proposed some improvements to footpath links along Brede Lane and was found to be acceptable by both the LPA and the Highway Authority.

In summary, it has been demonstrated that the site represents a viable and sustainable location for developments in transport planning terms.

Ecology
There are no ecological constraints on site which would prevent the site from being developed. Nevertheless the necessary ecological surveys will be carried out at the appropriate time and will inform an ultimate planning application on the site. The illustrative proposals include significant areas of open space providing opportunities for the provision of the necessary onsite biodiversity net gains.

The site can provide a suitable and sensitive small scale development on the edge of a sustainable village. Catesby Strategic Land Ltd have a legal interest in the site and this reflects the landowner’s willingness to make the land available for development. There are no known viability issues, legal or third-party constraints present and there are no impediments to the site being allocated for development commencing early within the Plan period.

Sedlescombe is the most sustainable village out of those identified cluster settlements around Battle. The settlement study scores the village as having a good level of essential and non essential services and therefore is capable of accommodating more growth than identified. The settlement study identifies that public transport links could be improved and that new development could help deliver a more frequent service. Further opportunities should be sought for a greater level of growth in Sedlescombe to take advantage of the existing services and provide the necessary investment into the transport links. This would deliver benefits to both new and existing residents and make Sedlescombe a more sustainable village.

We are supportive of the Council’s vision for Battle and surrounding settlements and its acknowledgement that small levels of growth are needed to ensure the health and wellbeing of these villages are maintained and improved. However we do not believe that all opportunities for growth have been explored,especially within Sedlescombe which is identified as a sustainable village with potential for growth.

According to the Overall Spatial Development Strategy, the Council will meet the local need for all forms of housing. To achieve this, a minimum of 5,158–7,287 dwellings at an average rate of 258–364 dwellings per annum (dpa) are proposed to be constructed by the end of the Plan period in 2040.

The draft Local Plan is evidenced by a Housing and Economic Development Needs Assessment Update (HEDNA) (February 2024) jointly prepared with Hastings Borough Council to assess future development needs up to 2040. This states that the Standard Method calculation results in a minimum Local Housing Need (LHN) figure of 737 dpa for Rother, which is in sharp contrast to the proposed target of 258–364 dpa and the statement within the Overall Spatial Development Strategy is disingenuous.

The Council has consistently failed to deliver against its housing requirement. This has no doubt led to the current acute shortage of housing in Rother and its current identified need. During this time, the need for affordable housing has also become even more acute, with 238 dpa required for affordable rented housing tenure and 87 dpa required to be affordable home ownership tenure. Therefore, the total net annual affordable housing need for the period 2021 to 2044 is 325 dpa (equivalent to 44% of the local housing need figure based on 737 dpa, which is high).

It is clear therefore, that the proposed minimum targets for housing growth do not meet the local need for all forms of housing. The growing need for both market and affordable housing lends emphasis to the requirement for the Council to plan to meet its full assessed need, as required by the NPPF (paragraph 11b and paragraph 23), supporting the Government’s objectives to significant boost the supply of homes (NPPF, paragraph 60). The new Labour Government’s recent announcements about the restoration of mandatory housing targets only go to emphasise the importance of RDC planning to meet the need in full through the plan making process. It is evident that the Council needs to identify further land to ensure that the housing need is met.

It is also important that the Council has regard to any needs that cannot be met within neighbouring areas when establishing the amount of housing to be planned for, to ensure the Plan is “positively prepared” (NPPF, paragraph 35).

According to the Engagement and Duty to Cooperate Statement, Rother has prepared a Joint Statement with Hastings Borough Council in order to develop and action matters of cross-boundary importance and most importantly, explore joint opportunities to maximise housing delivery. However, other LPAs that neighbour Rother District who may not be able to meet their local housing need include Wealden, Tunbridge Wells, and Ashford, whilst Eastbourne Borough Council has recently declared a Housing Emergency, falling a similar declaration by Crawley Borough Council.

RDC will be required to demonstrate how they have sought to engage with these authorities to establish whether they should be accommodating any unmet need. Demonstrably failing to consider this issue will place the Local Plan at risk of not being found sound. It is therefore even more pressing that the Council plans to meet its housing objective in full, since this could contribute to a worsening housing supply and affordability if there is consistent under delivery of housing in this part of East Sussex and Kent.

Please see our full representations and response to Q54