Summary of the Planning Policy Situation relating to:-
Land at Farmhill Crescent, Stroud
Summary prepared by Hunter Page Planning Limited, on behalf of residents of Whiteshill and Ruscombe
15 July 2004
The site owned by Gladwish Land Sales is currently pasture land outside the settlement framework of Stroud and Whiteshill. The land is within the Cotswold AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) and is designated as such because of the natural beauty of the landscape.
Development on the site will therefore be strictly limited due to tight control administered by national, regional and local planning policy. The only development currently permissible on the site would be for activities essential to agriculture and forestry. As the land has recently had all permitted development rights removed through an Article IV direction, any development on the site (small scale – such as the erection of fencing or a track or large scale – erection of a barn) would require planning permission.
The site is also protected by a blanket Tree Preservation Order (TPO) which prevents the removal of any of the trees on site.
National Planning Policy on the countryside found in Planning Policy Guidance Note 7, February 1997 (PPG7) states that the Government’s policy relating to the countryside (paragraph 2.14 of PPG7) is that it should be protected for its own sake and non-renewable and natural resources should be afforded the strongest protection. There is therefore a presumption against development in the countryside unless there is a demonstrable need.
The site is afforded a further layer of protection as it is identified as being part of the Cotswold AONB, which is regarded as a nationally important landscape designation because of the natural beauty of the countryside. Within AONBs, PPG7 states that the primary objective of the designation is conservation of the natural beauty of the landscape. In general, policies and development control decisions affecting AONBs should favour conservation of the natural beauty of the landscape. Development, that effects the overall character and quality of the landscape within the AONB will be resisted. This designation would therefore make residential development unacceptable on this site.
National planning policy on the Countryside therefore provides no support to immediate or future development of this site.
Planning Policy Guidance on Housing, March 2000 (PPG3) recommends that in identifying new sites for housing, authorities should follow a search sequence starting with the re-use of previously developed land and buildings within urban areas and then urban extensions. In deciding which sites should be allocated, the criteria in paragraph 31 of PPG3, recommends that such sites should be free from physical and environmental constraints. By virtue of Farmhill Crescent’s AONB designation and its contribution to the landscape character in the locality, it fails this criteria test and is therefore not considered to be a suitable candidate for future development. Should there be a need for future housing in Stroud, PPG3 would advocate that suitable urban brownfield sites be utilised first followed by suitable urban extensions.
In accordance with this strategy, future growth in Stroud District up to 2011 is currently being directed towards Hardwicke, which is regarded as being a suitable urban extension to the Gloucester Principal Urban Area, and an area that has few landscape constraints. Competing proposals are also being promoted at Stonehouse and Eastington, which are also free from environmental constraints and represent logical urban extensions.
Regional Planning Guidance for the South West (RPG10) September 2001, provides the Regional Spatial Planning Strategy for the South West Region up to 2016 and beyond. The guidance is relevant and up to date and assists in determining the location for future strategic development.
RPG10 provides specific guidance towards special landscape areas. Policy EN1 states that local authorities and other agencies in their plans, policies and proposals, should provide for the strong protection and enhancement of the regions internationally and nationally important landscape areas. In addition the Policy requires local authorities to take special measures to protect the character of the countryside and the environmental features that contribute towards that character.
The Policy recognises that the South West region is rich in landscape areas that contribute to its distinctive character. A priority of the RPG is therefore to safeguard and enhance the quality and diversity of the natural environment, giving the highest level of protection to designated areas of national importance. A key element of this landscape character is the Cotswold AONB. Regional Planning Guidance therefore provides significant protection to the landscape character of this site and effectively presents a bar to significant development on this land.
The spatial strategy advocated by RPG10 is now directing the majority of Gloucestershire’s growth to the Principal Urban Areas (PUAs) of Gloucester and Cheltenham (Policy SS12) through either intensification of development within the urban areas or through planned urban extensions. Beyond the PUAs, the spatial strategy suggests that Other Designated Centres of Growth (ODCG) should be identified to accommodate smaller scale development. Stroud is not identified as an ODCG and therefore it is not envisaged that further strategic growth will be accommodated in the town for the future. There is therefore no strategic requirement to allocate or develop land at Farmhill Crescent for future housing development.
Local Planning Policy is found in the Gloucestershire Structure Plan Third Alteration and the Stroud District Local Plan.
The Gloucestershire Structure Plan Third Alteration has recently concluded its Examination in Public (EIP) and is therefore specifically relevant to development on this site. The plan provides strategic planning guidance in the County up to 2016. Given the maturity of the Plan and the stages that it has reached towards adoptuion, it is afforded considerable weight in the development control process.
The policy relating to the AONB (Policy MR.6) states:-
"In Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) the conservation and enhancement of the natural beauty will be given priority over other considerations. Regard will also be had to the economic and social well being of the AONB.
Provision should not be made for major development within the AONB unless it is in the national interest and lack of alternative sites justifies an exception."
The Policy remains unaltered by the EIP Panel and accordingly prohibits built development within this landscape designation where it would adversely affect its character. The Policy would not therefore support new residential development on the site such as that proposed by Gladwish Land Sales.
With regard to future residential growth in Stroud, the EIP Panel concluded that Stroud/Stonehouse required a period of consolidation rather than growth and accordingly suggested that the level of growth in these towns should be considerably reduced. The Panel suggested that future growth in the County should be directed towards the PUAs where this could be accommodated more sustainably. Given this background, it is unlikely that a strategic area of land such as Farmhill Crescent would be entertained for future housing development in the County.
The Stroud District Local Plan administers site-specific local planning policy for the area. The Local Plan has recently concluded its Local Plan Inquiry and the Inspectors report is awaited. In the interim weight must be afforded to Policies in the Plan.
The Local Plan designates the area as AONB and recognises this landscape as some of the most sensitive landscape in Britain. Paragraph 8.7.6 of the Plan states that it is the intention of the District Council to uphold the primary purpose of the designation, which is to conserve and enhance its natural beauty. Policy N6 provides this protection and does not allow development that affects the overall character of this landscape. The Policy would not therefore allow residential development on the site.
Although a Development Plan Framework (DPF) will eventually replace the Plan, work towards this new Plan has not commenced and is unlikely to commence for a further three years. Regardless of this, the introduction of the DPF will not relax planning policy relating to the AONB or the spatial strategy advocated by RPG10. Accordingly, it is unlikely that the restraint on development for this site will be changed in any form.
Stroud District Council has confirmed that whilst work towards a DPF will commence, their priority is ensuring their existing Local Plan is adopted in the near future. The local planning authority anticipate that the plan will be adopted in July 2005 after which it will provide an authoritative guide for development up to 2011.
Conclusion
Land at Farmhill Crescent is attractive rolling countryside, which makes up part of the distinctive Cotswold AONB. It is apparent from national, regional and local planning policy that the preservation and conservation of the landscape character of the AONB is given priority over all other development needs. Accordingly, major development within this landscape designation would not be permissible.
It is clear from the spatial strategy for the South West, that the priority to achieve more sustainable patterns of development has now emphasised the need to direct all major development to the Principal Urban Areas. In Gloucestershire these are recognised as Cheltenham and Gloucester. The current growth for Stroud up to 2011 has been directed to Hardwicke, with land at Farmhill Crescent not being recognised as a suitable location for the growth of Stroud.
With the changing spatial emphasis, it is unlikely that Stroud will see further significant growth patterns up to 2016 and beyond. Any future growth will not occur in the AONB and conversely will be prioritised within existing previously developed land within urban areas followed by modest extensions to the urban areas where there are few landscape constraints.
It is therefore concluded that the land at Farmhill Crescent has no medium to long term development potential. In the short term the Council may entertain sympathetic and appropriate agricultural development.
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