Warrington Unitary Development Plan (UDP) - June 2005

1. INTRODUCTION

This is the Unitary Development Plan (UDP), for Warrington which became a unitary authority on 1st April 1998. It is the first single comprehensive statutory development plan for the borough. It has been prepared under the provisions of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended by the Planning and Compensation Act 1991). Section 54a of the 1990 Act requires development control decisions to be determined in accordance with the development plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise. The final stages of preparation have been completed under the transitional arrangements of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. The adopted Plan is ‘saved’ as part of the Council’s Local Development Framework under the 2004 Act, and Section 38(6) perpetuates the requirement of previous Section 54a.

The UDP contains policies and proposals for:

• the development and use of land;
• conservation of natural beauty and the amenity of land;
• improvement of the physical environment; and
• the management of traffic

In drawing up its policies and proposals, the Council has had regard to:

• sustainable development objectives;
• national planning policy guidance;
• regional planing policy guidance;
• the level of resources likely to be available; and
• social, economic and environmental considerations.

The UDP also takes account of other plans and strategies of the Council, including the Corporate Plan (previously the Best Value Performance Plan), and will help to deliver wider corporate objectives insofar as they relate to the use and development of land.

When adopted, the UDP will replace all other development plans currently operative in the borough including:

• the Cheshire 2001 Replacement Structure Plan;
• the Cheshire Minerals and Waste Disposal Local Plans; and
• a number of part-area Local Plans approved in the early 1980s and Town Maps dating back to the late 1950s.

2. UDP FORMAT AND CONTENT

The UDP is in two parts. Part 1 comprises a written statement of general policies and proposals of strategic importance for the use and development of land. These provide the framework for the more detailed policies and specific proposals that follow in Part 2. Part 2 comprises a written statement of policies and proposals and a Proposals Map showing the site-specific proposals and area-based policies on an Ordnance Survey map base. Because the future pattern of development within Warrington is largely predetermined by existing commitments these are shown on the Proposals Map. They are, however, shown for information purposes only and are not open to objection through the UDP process.

Part 2 of the plan is divided into a number of chapters dealing with the following specific topics:

TRANSPORT INTEGRATION
HOUSING
TOWN CENTRES AND RETAIL DEVELOPMENT
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND ENHANCEMENT
BUILT HERITAGE
RESOURCE CONSERVATION
MINERALS AND WASTE
MISCELLANEOUS DEVELOPMENT CONTROL

Part 2 of the plan also contains the reasoned justifications for the strategic policies in Part 1.

All policies and proposals are set out in bold text. The policies are each followed by supporting text, which sets out:

• the derivation or ‘origin’ of the policy by reference to relevant national or regional planning guidance;
• the reason for having the policy and an explanation of its intended purpose; and
• its relationship to other UDP policies.

3. STATUS OF THE PLAN

The Town and Country Planning (Development Plan) (England) Regulations 1999 introduced changes to the procedures for preparing UDPs. Publication of the Revised Deposit Draft UDP for formal public consultation with local residents, businesses, interest groups and other interested parties marked the second formal stage in a two-stage deposit procedure.

The First Draft UDP was placed on deposit for formal public consultation from 21st June to 2nd August 2001. The plan attracted over 11,300 formal representations comprising 9,853 objections and 1,462 expressions of support. The Revised Deposit Draft UDP was placed on deposit from 4th November to 16th December 2002 which gave rise to a further 3,295 objections and 9,355 supporting representations. A number of Pre Inquiry Changes were published for consultation between 3rd November and 15th December 2003, resulting in a further 53 representations, 36 of which were objections. A public Inquiry into the Revised Deposit UDP and Pre Inquiry Changes was held between January 6th and November 16th, 2004. The Inquiry sat for 37 days. The Inspector reported his findings and made recommendations in his report published in April 2005. The Council’s response to his recommendations and the resulting modifications were published in late summer 2005. Further modifications were published November-December 2005 in response to objections. The final version of the plan is the outcome of completion of the full statutory preparation process and was formally adopted by the Council, and became operative, on 23 January 2006.

4. GEOGRAPHICAL CONTEXT OF THE BOROUGH OF WARRINGTON

On 1st April 1998 Warrington became one of two new ‘unitary’ authorities in Cheshire. As a result, Warrington Borough Council assumed responsibility for all planning matters within its area, including minerals, waste and other matters of a strategic nature previously carried out by Cheshire County Council under the ‘two-tier’ planning system.

Warrington is the most northerly of the eight local authorities in Cheshire. It shares boundaries with Halton, which also gained unitary status in 1998, the four metropolitan boroughs of St Helens, Wigan, Salford and Trafford and the Cheshire districts of Vale Royal and Macclesfield (where the County Council is still the strategic planning authority).

The borough of Warrington covers some 176 square kilometres and, at mid- 2000, had a population of 190,800 living in some 80,000 households. The town of Warrington is by far the largest settlement in the borough, having a population of over 160,000 and providing jobs for some 80,000 people. This, in part, reflects over 20 years of planned growth following its designation as a new town in 1968. The Warrington New Town Outline Plan, approved in 1973, set out a strategy to expand the town’s population from about 120,000 to 200,000 by the year 2000. Whilst the planned rate of growth has not been achieved and some of the supporting transport infrastructure is not in place, the growth that has taken place has markedly changed the status, profile and character of the town.

Since the end of the new town era, strategic planning policies in the Cheshire Structure Plan have sought to slow down overall rates of growth in Warrington. The UDP strategy seeks to continue this trend within the overall context provided by Regional Planning Guidance (now the Regional Spatial Strategy, or ‘RSS’) for the North West (see below). The UDP seeks to concentrate new development within the town of Warrington by maximising the amount of new development on previously developed land. It also seeks to direct growth in retail, leisure and commercial activity towards Warrington town centre, which is the principal focus of the borough’s public transport network. In accordance with government policy, the UDP seeks to maintain the viability and vitality of the town centre as the primary location for uses that attract large numbers of journeys such as retail and leisure.

During the new town era, planning policies of restraint were successfully applied to the villages and rural areas of the borough. The largest of the borough’s outlying settlements are Lymm, Culcheth and Burtonwood. These play largely ‘dormitory’ roles but also provide a range of services to their surrounding areas. These, along with the smaller settlements of Appleton Thorn, Croft, Glazebury, Hollins Green, Oughtrington and Winwick, are treated as green belt inset villages in the UDP. Opportunities for development on previously developed land will continue to arise in these villages.

At the next level in the hierarchy, there are a number of small settlements set in open countryside and ‘washed over’ by green belt. These vary greatly in character and include Broomedge, Collins Green, Cuerdley Cross, Glazebrook, Grappenhall, Hatton, Heatley/Heatley Heath, Higher Walton, Mee Brow/Fowley Common, Stretton, Thelwall, Weaste Lane and New Lane End. Some, such as Grappenhall, Thelwall and Higher Walton have been designated as conservation areas and remain largely unspoiled.

The borough has extensive areas of high-grade agricultural land, a varied landscape character, and important areas of nature conservation value, mostly within the relatively narrow gaps of open land separating Warrington from urban areas to the west, north and east. Areas of low-lying land within the Mersey flood plain act as a further constraint to development.

Warrington lies at the hub of the region’s communications network. The M6, M56 and M62 motorways intersect within the borough, providing good access to all parts of the region and beyond. Warrington also lies on the region’s main North-South (West Coast Main Line) and East-West (Trans-Pennine) rail routes. Manchester International and Liverpool John Lennon Airports both lie within easy reach. Two significant waterways sever the main urban area; the River Mersey, which passes close to the town centre and, further south, the Manchester Ship Canal. This role as a crossing point of both river and canal provides an essential part of the town’s character as well as a perennial physical planning issue.

5. PLANNING POLICY CONTEXT

In preparing the UDP, due regard has been given to planning policy guidance at the European, national, regional and sub-regional levels. This section provides a brief overview of the key considerations including the need to promote sustainable development, the emerging European planning agenda, national and regional planning guidance and the legacy of previous development plans in Warrington.

Sustainable Development

Since the publication of the White Paper ‘This Common Inheritance’ in 1990, the planning system has been a key mechanism for the delivery of sustainable development and growth. Sustainable development is about ensuring a better quality of life for everyone, now and for future generations. A sustainable planning framework should:

• provide for commercial and industrial development, food production, minerals extraction, new homes and other buildings, while respecting environmental objectives;
• use already developed areas in the most efficient way, while making them more attractive places in which to live and work;
• conserve both cultural heritage and natural resources; and
• shape new development patterns in a way that minimises the need to travel.

Subsequent government publications have built upon the 1990 White Paper, including ‘Sustainable Development: The UK Strategy’ (1994) and ‘A Better Quality of Life: A Strategy for Sustainable Development in the UK’ (1999). This latest strategy has four main aims:

• social progress which recognises the needs of everyone;
• effective protection of the environment;
• prudent use of natural resources; and
• maintenance of high and stable levels of economic growth and employment.

Sustainable development is now established as a fundamental principle within the planning system. Planning Policy Guidance Notes reflect this as do the more recent guidance in Planning Policy Statements (PPS), particulary PPS1 ‘Delivering Sustainable Development’. The way in which individual PPGs and PPS’s reflect the principles of sustainable development are covered in the introductory sections of relevant chapters of the UDP. The UDP has a vital role to play in translating the themes of sustainable development into land use policies and proposals at the local level.

The principles of sustainable development have also been taken forward at the regional and local levels. The government’s strategy for sustainable development required all English regions to produce sustainability frameworks by the end of 2000. In the North West, considerable progress has been made in this area, with the launch of the region’s Sustainability Framework and Action Plan, ‘Action for Sustainability’ in July 2000. The Action Plan contains a set of 27 headline objectives together with a series of primary and supplementary targets.

At the district level, Warrington’s Local Agenda 21 strategy ‘A Sustainable Development Strategy for Warrington’ was published in March 2000. Its ‘Vision’ restates the four aims of the national strategy and goes on to set out eight strategic aims. These include:

• working towards the creation of sustainable communities (Aim 1);
• minimising waste production and maximising recycling (Aim 5);
• protecting and enhancing local open spaces and biodiversity (Aim 7); and
• encouraging sustainable economic growth (Aim 8).

‘Key issues’ are identified in respect of each strategic aim, together with a series of action points and targets. The UDP is one of the key delivery mechanisms for aspects of the Local Agenda 21 Strategy that relate to the use and development of land.

Sustainability Appraisal

Local authorities are expected to carry out a full environmental appraisal of their development plans to identify the positive, negative and neutral impacts of policies and proposals upon the environment. However, the principles of sustainable development also encompass social and economic, as well as, environmental issues. The same methodology used for environmental appraisal can be extended to cover social and economic concerns. With the intention of placing sustainable development at the heart of the UDP, the Council carried out a full sustainability appraisal of the policies and proposals within the UDP. The eighteen indicators against which each part 2 policy has been assessed are set out below. A matrix setting out the performance of individual policies is included at the end of each policy chapter.

Environmental

1. Minimise greenfield use
2. Protect open countryside
3. Protect quality agricultural land
4. Protect natural non-renewable resources
5. Protect urban open space
6. Protect wildlife and biodiversity

Social

7. Ensure housing needs are met
8. Ensure adequate affordable housing
9. Meet local needs locally
10. Promote social inclusion by catering for minority needs
11. Minimise the need to travel, especially by private car
12. Promote public safety and crime reduction

Economic

13. Sustain economic performance
14. Utilise available infrastructure capacity
15. Provide a choice of sites by size and location
16. Ensure a thriving town centre
17. Stimulate urban regeneration
18. Promote efficient movement of people and goods

From July 2004 it became a requirement for local authorities to ensure relevant plans undergo an environmental assessment in accordance with EC Directive 2001/42/EC known as ‘strategic environmental assessment’ (SEA). The Directive applies to all plans which start formal preparation after 21st July 2004.

The European Planning Agenda

Regional and sub-regional issues are receiving greater prominence at the European level. This has led to adoption of the European Spatial Development Perspective (ESDP), the final version of which was approved in Potsdam in May 1999. The ESDP provides a framework for spatial planning in Europe which aims to achieve greater economic and social cohesion; conservation and management of natural resources and cultural heritage; and a more balanced competitiveness of the European territory.

The ESDP’s spatial development aims and policy options seek to achieve:

• the development of a more balanced and polycentric system of cities within a new urban-rural relationship;
• promotion of integrated transport and communication, including more equal access to infrastructure and knowledge; and
• development and conservation of the natural and cultural heritage through sustainable development and prudent management.

The ESDP actively promotes co-operation between and within member states and between European Community sectoral policies with significant spatial impacts such as the Common Agricultural Policy, EU Structural Funds, INTERREG initiatives and Trans-European Transport Networks.

Although Warrington is not eligible to receive EU Structural Funds, other European legislation has had, and will continue to have, implications for Warrington in the future. Examples of such legislation include the EU Habitats Directive and the Landfill Directive, which sets targets for the landfill of biodegradable municipal waste.

The ESDP is a voluntary non-binding agreement. However, it is intended that authorities and government agencies responsible for spatial planning at all levels (including local authorities) should take it into account. The ESDP’s aims and principles are, perhaps, more applicable at the regional and sub-regional scales and have been taken into account in Regional Planning Guidance (now RSS) for the North West. The UDP, in turn, reflects RPG’s (now RSS) spatial development framework and other policies guiding the scale and pattern of development within the region. The UDP also reflects the ESDP as far as it can, in particular, through its promotion of sustainable development, conservation of natural and cultural heritage, integrated transport and by taking a holistic approach towards the borough’s urban and rural areas.

National Planning Policy Guidance

National guidance, in the form of Planning Policy Guidance Notes (PPG), Minerals Planning Guidance Notes (MPG) and Circulars, have provided guidance on general and specific aspects of planning policy, and in many cases continue to do so. However the implementation of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, in September 2004, has brought about a number of changes. PPG’s are now no longer issued and are being replaced by Planning Policy Statements (PPS). As a new PPS is issued the PPG it replaces is revoked. A full list of current Government policy is at appendix 1. Local planning authorities must take them into account when preparing their development plans. Specific aspects of individual PPGs and PPS’s are referred to where relevant within appropriate chapters of the UDP.

PPG1 ’General Policy and Principles’ has been the principal guidance used throughout the preparation of the UDP and has provided an overview of the Government’s approach to planning. This is underpinned by the three themes of sustainable development, mixed use and design. It sets out general principles of the planning system and the role of development plans within it. A key role is the provision of homes and buildings, investment and jobs, in a way that is consistent with the principles of sustainable development.

PPG1 advises that urban regeneration and the re-use of previously developed land are important supporting objectives for creating a more sustainable pattern of development. Mixed-use development can be more sustainable than single uses, especially in town centres and other areas highly accessible by means other than the private car. PPS1 ‘Delivering Sustainable Development’ continues the theme, emphasising the need for sustainable communities through public engagement with the process.

The planning system thus has to positively promote necessary development whilst protecting the environment and amenity. The development plan provides a framework for decision-making that takes account of, and seeks to balance the environmental, social and economic aspects of sustainable development. Warrington’s UDP contributes to sustainable development by providing for necessary development in the most appropriate locations whilst protecting valued features of the built and natural environment.

The Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 came into force on September 28th 2004. The Act effectively overhauled the planning system, changing many aspects. From September 2004 Local Authorities are required to produce a series of Development Plan Documents (DPDs) which together will form the Local Development Framework (LDF). The DPDs include a proposals map, site specific allocations and a core strategy. Other DPDs can include Area Action Plans and theme or subject related plan documents. The Local Authority can also produce Supplementary Planning Documents (SPD) to support policy set out in the DPDs. All of the DPDs are supported by a Statement of Community Involvement which sets out how the Local Authority will consult the community on all of the DPDs. A fundamental change to the system is the inclusion of the Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) as part of the statutory development plan.

Warrington Borough Council has progressed the UDP to adoption under the transitional arrangements brought in to enable continuity between the new system and the previous one. These arrangements provide for the adopted UDP policies to be ‘saved’ for a period of 3 years. During that time however the Council will be working on progressing the development plan to bring it in line with the requirements of the 2004 Act. The Council has published the Local Development Scheme (LDS) which sets out the approach in more detail.

Regional Planning Guidance for the North West (RPG13)

RPG13 was approved by The Secretary Of State in March 2003. On implementation of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act in 2004 it became part of the Statutory Development Plan as a Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS).

The RSS core strategy is to deliver sustainable development and, in support of this, are four core development principles of:

• economy in the use of land and buildings;
• enhancing the quality of life;
• quality in new development;
• promoting sustainable economic growth and competitiveness and social inclusion.

RSS promotes sustainable patterns of growth and change across the region, but with a much greater focus on regeneration and urban renaissance in the region’s main towns and cities (as reflected in its Spatial Development Framework). To this end, RSS sets out a strategy to secure an urban renaissance in the cities and towns of the North West; sustain the region’s smaller rural and coastal communities; and create an accessible region. It also sets out key principles for development in different parts of the region of which policy SD2 ‘Other settlements in the North West Metropolitan Area’ (i.e. outside the conurbations) and policy SD4 ‘Maintaining Urban Form and Setting, and the Treatment of North Cheshire’ are most relevant to Warrington. The Regional Transport Strategy permeates RSS as a whole. It sets out principles for action by all sectors and identifies three priorities for transport investment (public transport infrastructure in major urban areas; key transport corridors; and gateways and interchanges).

RSS is structured around seven objectives, which cut across traditional planning issues. They are:

• to achieve greater economic competitiveness and growth, with associated social progress;
• to secure an urban renaissance in the cities and towns of the North West;
• to ensure the sensitive and integrated development and management of the coastal zone, and secure the revival of coastal resort towns;
• to sustain and revive the Region's rural communities and the rural economy;
• to ensure active management of the Region's environmental and cultural assets;
• to secure a better image for the Region and high environmental and design quality; and
• to create an accessible Region, with an efficient and fully integrated transport system.

RSS policies support these broad objectives. Subsequent chapters of the UDP explain in greater detail how the RSS core strategy, spatial development framework and specific policies have been taken into account in preparing the UDP.

The RSS has become part of the statutory development plan of each local authority within the region. At the time of adoption of the UDP, a review of RSS has commenced. Changes made when the review process has been completed will need to be taken into account in Warrington’s local development framework, as the Council moves towards developing a Core Strategy and other DPDs in accordance with the requirements of the 2004 Act.

Planning Policies in Cheshire

Cheshire County Structure Plan

Because Warrington became a unitary authority prior to the adoption of Cheshire 2011, the earlier Cheshire 2001 Replacement Structure Plan (‘Cheshire 2001’), approved in 1992, still formed part of the approved development plan for the borough. Certain of its policies were time-limited (e.g. those setting out the number of new dwellings and amount of employment land to be provided by April 2001) whilst others have endured until sufficient weight can be attached to the UDP. The adopted UDP has however now superseded the Cheshire 2001 Structure Plan.

Cheshire Minerals & Waste Plans

When Warrington became a unitary authority it assumed responsibility for minerals and waste planning matters within the borough, functions previously carried out by Cheshire County Council. These were adopted in 1987 and also remained in force in Warrington until superseded by the adopted UDP.

Local Plans in Warrington

The Deposit Draft version of the Warrington Borough Local Plan was published in 1994. At that time, it gave the Council its first opportunity to address borough-wide planning issues through the statutory planning system. Objections to the plan were considered at a long-running public local inquiry in 1996/97. However, the Council became a unitary authority prior to receiving the Inspector’s report in September 1998. As a consequence, work on that plan was discontinued in June 1999.

The draft local plan had recognised that opportunities for further growth within the town of Warrington were limited. It therefore sought to safeguard land on the edges of the town and the borough’s larger villages for longer-term development needs whilst, simultaneously, defining defensible green belt boundaries. When work on the draft local plan was discontinued, the definition of green belt boundaries, the related issue of Areas of Search and the safeguarding of routes for future highways schemes, were left to be resolved through the UDP process. The UDP now addresses these issues within the context of sustainable development and the need to maximise the proportion of new development on brownfield land.

Although progress on the local plan was discontinued in 1999, many of its more detailed policies for guiding development control decisions in the borough were incorporated into a ‘Consolidated Policy Schedule’. This was informally adopted by the Council and used for development control purposes prior to publication of First Deposit Draft UDP.

A number of other local plans and town maps were still operative in the borough although, in practice, they were of limited relevance due to their age (see list below). These have been replaced by the adopted UDP.

The UDP has also replaced certain policies in the Merseyside and Greater Manchester Structure Plans (adopted in 1980 and 1986 respectively) and Green Belt Local Plans (1983 and 1984) insofar as they affected land transferred from those areas into Warrington following local government boundary reviews in 1993 and 1994.

The UDP has also superseded the Warrington New Town Outline Plan, approved in 1973 to guide the town’s expansion during the new town era.

Links to other Council Plans and Strategies

Warrington’s Corporate Plan sets out a vision for the borough and identifies priorities for action to guide the Council and other agencies in planning and delivering their services. The UDP is one of the most important delivery mechanisms for those corporate priorities and objectives relating to the use and development of land. Whilst the UDP has links with several corporate priorities, it is particularly relevant to those on regeneration, economic prosperity and the environment.

The UDP also has links with various other Council plans and strategies. By providing the statutory basis for decisions about the future use and development of land for housing, employment, retailing, leisure and other uses, the UDP has clear links with the Council’s Housing, Economic, Leisure and Town Centre strategies. The UDP’s policies and proposals for transport support and will help to deliver elements of the Local Transport Plan (LTP). These, and other policies for minerals, waste and the protection and enhancement of the environment will all help to deliver Warrington’s LA21 Strategy.

6. IMPLEMENTATION AND RESOURCES

The Council does not have the powers or the resources to implement the UDP by itself. One of the UDP’s primary functions is to provide a degree of certainty in the planning framework and a context within which other organisations, businesses and developers can make decisions about their future investments within the borough. The UDP does this in two ways. Firstly, the UDP has proposals for specific actions ‘on the ground’, most notably on sites allocated for new housing, employment, retail or other uses. The successful development of these sites will largely depend on the actions of other agencies and organisations. The private sector is expected to continue to be the major provider of new houses, employment opportunities, etc. over the lifetime of the plan. The implementation of many other UDP objectives (e.g. bringing derelict and vacant land and buildings back into beneficial use, the provision of new and better health, recreation and community facilities, public transport improvements to name but a few) are all reliant on the efforts of other agencies. These might be from the private, public and voluntary sectors, perhaps working in partnership with the Council or, in some cases, with each other. The Council intends to prepare development briefs for the most important or problematical of sites allocated in the UDP to provide developers with further guidance on how it expects, or would like to see them developed.

The Council will take account of the UDP when co-ordinating and prioritising its own spending programmes and when making decisions about its own land and property holdings. It may also be used to underpin bids (either by the Council or other agencies involved) to secure grants or other forms of funding where these are needed to enable the successful implementation of UDP proposals. The Council will also use the UDP, where appropriate, to lobby and influence other agencies to invest their resources in Warrington.

As well as allocating sites, the UDP’s more general policies provide certainty as to the types of development that will and will not be acceptable in different parts of the borough. These normally set out criteria against which the Council can judge what is and is not acceptable and measure the quality of development proposals. Such policies provide guidance to developers by clearly setting out the Council’s requirements and expectations. The Council will use these policies to guide its decisions on planning applications. Where necessary, expert advice will be sought from other Council departments (for example, on matters such as traffic, noise and contamination), statutory undertakers and other external agencies such as those responsible for heritage and conservation matters. In granting planning permission, the Council may attach planning conditions or obligations to secure the provision of facilities or other improvements needed in connection with the proposed development. This might, for example, include the provision of open space, play equipment, affordable housing or highways improvements.

Further guidance relating to particular types of development is available for developers in the form of Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPG). A schedule of current SPG is attached at appendix 4. The Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 introduced a new approach involving Supplementary Planning Documents (SPD) that will be development plan documents within the Local Development Framework. Any new SPDs will be prepared with full consultation in accordance with the Council’s Statement of Community Involvement. Where it is clear that a new SPD will be required to support a UDP policy or group of policies, this is referred to in the explanatory text to the policy or policies in question.

7. MONITORING AND REVIEW

Local planning authorities are required to monitor the effectiveness of their development plans. Monitoring is the process by which the Council ‘tests’ the performance of the plan and ascertains whether it is achieving its stated aims and objectives. Ultimately, monitoring provides the basis for future plan reviews. Specific performance indicators for key policies, which will be the subject of future monitoring reports, are listed at the end of the relevant policy chapter.

Some aspects of the plan will be easier to monitor than others. The Council’s development control and building control processes will, for example, be used to monitor progress on sites allocated in the plan as and when they are granted planning permission and developed. Other policies lend themselves to monitoring because they are expressed in quantitative terms. Many of the housing policies, which need to be monitored in accordance with the provisions of PPG3, fall into this category. These include the number, tenure, size and type of new dwellings built during the plan period; the number of affordable dwellings provided; the proportion of dwellings on brownfield sites or provided through the conversion of existing buildings; housing densities; parking and open space provision in new housing developments.

The Council will also need to monitor the take-up of land for employment uses and, in accordance with PPS6, monitor the vitality and viability of Warrington town centre and smaller district centres within the borough. Key environmental assets and features of the natural and built environment will also need to be monitored, including, for example, the protection of open spaces, ponds, hedgerows and listed buildings.

The UDP’s policies have, wherever possible, been expressed in a form that allows them to be monitored. Some incorporate specific targets. However, some policies deal with more qualitative issues and are, consequently, more difficult to measure. Examples include the standards of design in new developments, the extent to which the UDP can contribute towards reductions in crime and improvements in air quality.

All of these issues will be monitored on a regular basis. The Council will publish the results of this monitoring work at regular intervals. The aim would be to monitor key developments, i.e. decisions on major planning applications, at 6 monthly intervals with annual reports on a broader range of policy issues. This will build upon existing monitoring work already carried out by the Council such as its annual reports on housing and employment land. As well as monitoring the effectiveness of specific policies within the UDP, the Council has a general duty to monitor demographic, economic, social and environmental changes within the borough.

The results of this monitoring work will be taken into account in future reviews of the Development Plan.

8. STRATEGIC AIMS, POLICY OBJECTIVES AND PRINCIPLES

The UDP is one of a family of corporate strategies through which the Council’s strategic objectives are delivered.

The Corporate Plan builds on five themes set out in the Community Strategy:

• Community Safety
• Transportation
• Health and Wellbeing
• Environment Regeneration and Housing
• Learning, Skills and Inward Investment

Each of the themes are translated into strategic objectives, which are further split into improvement priorities and key tasks. Although no explicit reference is made to the Council’s corporate priorities and objectives in the body of the UDP in relation to individual policies, they have been taken into account in the preparation of the Plan, and implementation of the Plan will contribute to their achievement. This inter-relationship between the broader aims of the Council, its land-use policiies, and the community is an area to be explored more fully under the new planning system.

9. PRINCIPLES GUIDING THE UDP'S PART 1 POLICIES

Drawing upon all of the contextual factors set out, and having particular regard to the UDP’s role as a delivery mechanism for the Council’s corporate priorities and strategic objectives the following principles have guided formulation of the part 1 policies.

DEVELOPMENT CONTROL STRATEGY

• To ensure that new development is approved only where harm to the amenity of local residents, the conservation of recognised built and natural environmental assets and of the environment of the surrounding area is avoided, and that land is used efficiently and does not undermine the achievement of sustainable patterns of development.
• To ensure that, where reasonable and necessary for the granting of permission for development, ‘planning obligations’ for provision of, or contributions towards provision or upgrading of engineering services and/or for social, community and recreational facilities are secured through negotiation with developers and that this process is applied rigorously, comprehensively, consistently and openly.
• To ensure that the highest achievable standard of urban and architectural design is secured in all development, including that relating to public spaces and transport infrastructure.

HOUSING

• To ensure that sufficient land for housing, including conversions of existing buildings, will be provided to accommodate the strategic housing requirement for Warrington as set by the Regional Spatial Strategy for the North West, for the period to 2016.
• To maximise the proportion of housing from previously-developed land (including conversions of existing buildings).
• To ensure that in larger housing developments, as defined in policy HOU15, every opportunity to provide affordable homes is investigated and secured through negotiations with developers.

EMPLOYMENT

• To ensure that provision is made for sufficient land for business, general industrial and storage/distribution uses during the period up to 2016, in addition to the Regional Employment site at Omega.
• To ensure, in particular, that established businesses, located within communities can continue to operate in an environment and with the infrastructure required to enable them to thrive.
• To facilitate the successful development of the Omega Regional Employment site, with the major part of the site being made available to meet the needs of employment developments within the priority sectors identified within the NWDA’s Regional Economic Strategy.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND ENHANCEMENT

• To establish firm green belt boundaries around Warrington town and the borough’s larger villages that will be capable of remaining unaltered for as far as can be seen ahead, taking account of the potential land supply to meet continuing development needs beyond 2016 and within the intended life of the green belt.
• To guide new development primarily to sites within the existing built-up areas of the borough, protecting the open countryside (green belt) and green spaces within the urban areas, whilst seeking to maintain the setting, form and character of settlements.
• To promote and encourage the reclamation of derelict and despoiled land and buildings for beneficial uses.

RESOURCE CONSERVATION

• To ensure that prudent use is made of land, environmental and energy resources.
• To protect the best and most versatile agricultural land from development, unless there is an overriding need for development, and there is no suitable alternative site for the proposed development.
• To manage the risks of climate change.

TRANSPORT INTEGRATION

• To pursue the establishment of safe, sustainable and integrated patterns of transport and movement in the borough, linked to existing and future land-uses in the most resource-efficient and sustainable manner, in particular, to contribute to desired reductions in the overall need to travel and to facilitate trips by the most environment-friendly modes of transport.

TOWN CENTRES AND RETAIL DEVELOPMENT

• To ensure, as far as possible, that provision for retailing in the borough safeguards and enhances the vitality and viability of centres, according to the following hierarchy:
  • Warrington Town Centre
  • The District Centres, of Birchwood, Stockton Heath, and Westbrook
  • Neighbourhood, and Local Centres
• To promote the retail core of Warrington town centre, as the primary focus shopping in the borough and for a sub-regional area extending beyond the borough’s boundaries.
• To facilitate retail development in District, Neighbourhood, and Local Centres, where it is of a scale and type appropriate to the area served by the centre and consistent with the nature and function of the centre which it is intended it should support and enhance.
• To allow retail development on the edge of the retail cores of the centres in the hierarchy, only where there is a demonstrable need for the development and no suitable site can be found within the centres themselves.
• To permit out-of-centre retail development, only where there is a need which cannot be met in, or on the edge of, the Town Centre, District, Neighbourhood, Local and Village Centres, or where (by reason of its scale or character and the bulky nature of the goods to be sold) it would be inappropriate to site the development within the retail hierarchy.
• To employ the development control process to facilitate development of Warrington town centre’s role as the principal focus of a range of uses other than retail, including cultural, community, leisure, entertainment, commercial and business development.

SOCIAL PROGRESS

To ensure, as far as possible, that new development is located and designed such that it provides a safe environment and contributes practically to greater social inclusiveness by being accessible to all sectors of the community, especially those with impaired mobility or without access to private transport.

MINERALS AND WASTE

• To ensure that the principles of sustainable waste management are central to the consideration of all development proposals for waste management facilities in accordance with European Directives and the National Waste Strategy. In determining proposals for waste related developments, regard will be given to the Best Practicable Environmental Option for the waste stream, including regional self-sufficiency, the proximity principle, the waste hierarchy, and sustainable transportation
• To ensure that waste management facilities are allowed only where a demonstrable, proven need exists for the development
• To ensure that minerals and waste developments are approved only where environmental quality and resources can be safeguarded and that planning applications are supported by all necessary information.
• To approve proposals for primary aggregate extraction only where there is a demonstrable need for the aggregate and where the aggregate cannot be met from secondary or recycled sources.

To summarise:

Through its policies and proposals and the measures through which they will be implemented, the UDP seeks to play a key role in promoting and bringing about the development of ‘sustainable communities through regeneration’. This is a long-term challenge and the UDP’s policies are designed to provide a transparent and assured framework for action, guidance and control in the period up to 2016, but with implications for the even longer-term. However, it is not a ‘blueprint’: it is not prescriptive as to what should or should not take place on every plot of land in the borough. Rather, it provides a flexible framework within which development issues can be considered as they arise.

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