What Next for the North Essex Garden Communities?
The North Essex local planning authorities of Uttlesford District Council, Braintree District Council, Colchester Borough Council and Tendring District Council have been planning a series of new garden communities, based on the principles developed by the Town and Country Planning Association.
These garden communities were:
Easton Park – This development would have formed 10,000 new dwellings in close proximity to Stansted Airport, of which circa 2,000 homes would have been built by 2033.
West of Braintree - This new garden community will also comprise 10,000 within Uttlesford District and a further 10,000 in Braintree District. This allocation would be set out as two separate allocations within the Uttlesford and Braintree local plans.
North Uttlesford - To the north of Uttlesford District, and close to Great Chesterford, a new community was planned for 5,000 new dwellings.
Colchester/Braintree Borders [Marks Tey] - a new garden community of circa 24,000 dwellings, of which 2,500 dwellings would have been delivered by 2033 and the rest delivered following this date.
Tendring/Colchester Borders - a new garden community of circa 9,000 dwellings, of which 2,500 dwellings would be delivered by 2033.
They were to be delivered through two local development plans:
Uttlesford Local Plan (Uttlesford District Council)
Local Plan Section One: Shared Strategic Plan (Braintree District Council, Colchester Borough Council, Tendring District Council, Essex County Council)
However, in January 2020, following an examination in public, the emerging Uttlesford Local Plan was found unsound for a number of reasons including a lack of clear delivery mechanisms, a lack of precision and inflexibility.
The emerging Local Plan for Braintree District Council, Colchester Borough Council, Tendring District Council, which set out the strategic policies for the other garden communities was then found unsound in May 2020. The Colchester/Braintree Borders and West of Braintree garden communities were found unsound for a variety of reasons including viability, deliverability, affordability, transport connectivity and lack of evidence.
The only garden community found sound was the Tendring/Colchester Borders garden community, a spatial allocation that was first identified and promoted by A D P through the local plan process. We are really pleased that the Planning Inspector has considered and agreed the planning merits of this particular location.
Moving Forward
In light of the Planning Inspector’s conclusions, in May 2020, Uttlesford District Council voted to withdraw the Local Plan. They have now committed to preparing a new local plan by 2023.
The implications of this decision are:
The Council will be left without a strategic policy framework to meet its identified housing and other development needs.
The policies in the emerging Local Plan will have no weight but the saved policies of the Local Plan 2005 will remain part of the Development Plan for the district.
The Council currently does not have a five-year housing land supply and it is unlikely to have a 5 year housing land supply until the adoption of a new Local Plan in 2023.
Housing development will still happen, but this will be in the form of windfall development on both urban and greenfield sites.
New housing development should be granted planning permission, subject to compliance with the policies set in the National Planning Policy Framework.
This situation represents an excellent opportunity for landowners in and around the villages and towns of Uttlesford to secure planning consent for development, when local planning policies would have otherwise resisted such development.
Neither Braintree District Council, Colchester Borough Council or Tendring District Council has decided how they will now proceed given the conclusions of the Planning Inspector. The options could be:
To remove the unsound garden communities from Section 1 of the emerging Local Plan
Withdraw the Plan from examination.
Assuming that these local authorities decide to proceed with Section One and follow the advice of the Planning Inspector, there will be a need to allocate more sites in Braintree and Colchester to the balance the loss of supply that would result from the removal of the west of Braintree and Colchester/Braintree Borders garden communities. This may have implications in terms of 5 year housing land supply and the long-term housing land supply. If more sites are to be added to the respective local plans for Braintree and Colchester, there will be also be an inevitable delay in the adoption of these plans as additional pubic consultations(s) will be required on any any amendments.
About A D P
Our company comprises planning consultants, urban designers and architectural designers and have undertaken many projects throughout the North Essex area, including Uttlesford, Braintree, Colchester and Tendring. Some of our project examples can be viewed here.
If you require assistance with a site in one of these locations, please contact us at mail@adpltd.co.uk or through the form below.