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Development strategy questions and answers

Please find below questions we have received relating to the Development strategy of the Dorset Council Local Plan options consultation, along with answers given. Please use the following links to scroll to the relevant topic.

Plan priorities     

Question

Given that Dorset Council has declared there to be a Climate and Ecological Emergency, isn’t it true that the fundamental building blocks of the Dorset Council Local Plan in the Introduction to the Dorset Council Local Plan Consultation are the wrong way around? Shouldn’t nature recovery and tackling climate emergency be the priority and foundations of the plan and “managing growth” should fit in with those priorities; not the other way around?

Answer

Although the Local Plan does promote growth we have used a vigorous approach to include sites that are in the most sustainable locations and settlements to try and lessen the reliance on car journeys and decrease the length of car journeys. The approach to site selection has been based on multiple tests including preserving important habitats, and locating development away from important environmental designations. We have also made sure wooded areas have been considered as a key constraint in the site assessment process, a new approach enabled partly by the councils commitment to the climate emergency and wanting to plant more trees. We have also carried out early engagement with our ecology colleagues and with stakeholders including highways and Natural England to ensure we are looking at sustainable sites with the least impact on areas with high biodiversity.

The approach of focussing larger developments in the more sustainable towns and larger villages means we can protect the more rural areas from larger, less sustainable development and make sure we have a land supply which gives us the homes we need.

Development in the right place whilst having a full land supply for the local plan means we have more say over development, and are in a stronger position to protect the sensitive areas across Dorset from significantly negative impacts. We understand there is always a compromise to any development but the drive for SANG on developments within the 5km heathland buffer, the requirement to provide buffers for nitrogen within the Poole Harbour catchment (which covers a significant amount of Dorset), and the NPPG promoting biodiversity net gain on developments means development must go further to providing greenspaces and increasing biodiversity. We have already seen this on sites in Wimborne which have provided significant areas of SANG and have kept large existing trees by designing them within the masterplan. This is something we want to ensure we promote in policy and are working closely with colleagues in Urban Design and Landscape to include these aspects in the development site policies.

Site selection

Question

Please can you confirm what Dorset's 'preferred sites' actually means? Is it preferred for development? If so why is so much open land & fields preferred and why is green belt land preferred not protected?

Answer

‘Preferred sites’ is a planning term that relates to this stage of consultation. It means we have looked at all of the area and along the way ‘shortlisted’ sites that are most suitable for development. Taking into account all the constraints and considerations we have been talking about in all of our webinars. Our final ‘short list’ at this stage is basically our list of all sites that we believe could be suitable. We review this after our consultation when we’ve had more feedback from our residents and also our experts. This can highlight issues which were previously unknown and helps us ‘shortlist’ our sites even further. 

In terms of why do we propose sites on open land and fields and green belt, well, we first and foremost look at our brownfield land which is land that has already been development and could be either unused or in need of redevelopment. However the Dorset Council plan area is rural and we unfortunately don’t have a great deal of brownfield land. We must therefore must look at our other options which include green field land and a review of our greenbelt to help us achieve our housing targets as we spoke about earlier. Our Distribution of Development webinar will help you understand more about this if you’d like to know more. 

Settlement hierarchy

Question 

What are the criteria for including a village in tier 3? Why is West Lulworth in tier 3? Why does West Lulworth appear to be in the Central Region on your map figure 2.2 page 22, Volume 1? Why does the Dorset Local Plan ignore the findings of the Purbeck Local Plan i.e. 52 units instead of the 12 identified in the Purbeck Local Plan?

Answer

The council has a prepared a background paper which explains how it has used a hierarchy to rank settlements across Dorset. The approach to ranking has been applied consistently across the whole council area and replaces a number of different approaches in existing local plans. The higher-ranking settlements generally have the largest populations and provide good access to services, facilities and jobs. West Lulworth is ranked as a Tier 3 village (the lowest rank Tier in the hierarchy) because of the size of its population (just over 500 people), the type / number of facilities and services available to its inhabitants and the time it takes to journey between the village and higher ranked settlements nearby.

Please refer to the tables (Figure 2.3 and 2.4 of section 2 of the draft local plan) if you need to clarify which functional area a particular settlement is located within. The council will update Figure 2.2 of the draft local plan so that it is consistent with the Figures 2.3 and 2.4.

Question

Why not spread development more widely so that it is not only second homers who can afford to live outside the main centres of development?

Answer

We are proposing to spread development all over Dorset whilst focussing on our more sustainable locations. For instance, those with services and facilities. We are also proposing to try and bolster the sustainability of our existing settlements by allocating more employment land for instance, to create more jobs and reduce the need for residents in that area to travel. To spread development further, to our less sustainable locations, could place unnecessary strain on those villages but also wouldn’t help us in our objective to reduce the need to travel and help us do our bit in the fight against climate change.  

Question

You mention that the population of the area is aging and presumably beyond employment age. But your plan concentrates housing in a few locations. Development has taken place in the past all over the area. Why not spread development more widely so that it is not only second homers who can afford to live outside the main centres development? 

The smallest settlement (Crossways) in the Central Area has the largest housing percentage increase in the Central Area. How is this compatible with the settlement hierarchy?

Answer

The Dorset Council Local Plan aims to deliver sustainable patterns of development and how the Council has developed its ‘spatial strategy’ to achieve this is set out in Sections 2.3 to 2.5 of the draft local plan. By concentrating development at the larger, more sustainable settlements (mainly towns) people will be better able to access facilities and jobs reducing their need to travel.

Provision is also made for some development across the area, where this is considered to be sustainable. Figure 2.4 in the draft Local Plan identifies over 50 larger, more sustainable villages where infilling and redevelopment within the existing built-up area will enable some growth. How this approach was developed is explained in detail in the Settlement Hierarchy Background Paper. Communities in villages across Dorset also have the opportunity to prepare neighbourhood plans, if they consider that growth is needed to meet their local needs.

The allocation of development at each settlement is not reflective of the current size of a settlement but based on constraints, the accessibility to facilities and jobs and the availability of developable sites.

The Council recognises that second home ownership is an issue in Dorset. Section 4.7 of the draft Local Plan discusses the issue and views are sought on what approach the Council should explore to address the pockets of high second home ownership parts of the County. Section 4: Housing of the draft Local Plan also includes a number of policies to address particular housing needs, such as the need for affordable housing generally (HOUS2); affordable housing in rural areas – on ‘exception sites’ (HOUS3); housing for older people and those with disabilities (HOUS4 and 5); and self-build and custom-build housing (HOUS6).

Housing methodology

Question

How were the housing quantities calculated?

Answer

The Housing target is established through the Government’s Standard Methodology which Councils are required to follow “unless exceptional circumstances justify an alternative approach which reflects which also reflects current and future demographic trends and market signals.” The standard method is set out in the national planning practice guidance.

Question

How do you think the government’s proposed planning reforms might affect your Local Plan preparation, given how advanced you are in the process? And are you able to have any influence on the government’s method of determining housing allocations and will their new method alter how you allocate within the county?

Answer

The chief planner Joanna Averley told an event hosted by CPRE in January 2021 that the Government intends to bring forward a planning bill before the end of 2021 to deliver its reforms, but that it would be a ‘couple of years’ before the system was in place. Dorset Council will need to keep the situation under review. It is hoped to submit the Local Plan for examination before the new reforms are in place and usually the Government puts in place transitional arrangements to enable submitted plans to proceed to adoption. The Government consults on planning reforms and Dorset Council, along with many other local authorities, regularly responds to such consultations. In December 2020 the Government published the results of its consultation on the calculation of ‘local housing need’ and published the indicative local housing need figures for each district based on the revised standard methodology. The level of housing provision proposed in the draft Dorset Council Local Plan would enable the revised figure for local housing need in Dorset to be met. The White Paper published in August 2020 put forward some more wide-ranging reforms, including a ‘zonal’ approach to planning, with the identification of ‘growth areas’. At the current time, it is not known whether these reforms will be taken forward in this or another form, so the Council will need to keep this under review.   

Question

To what extent is the need for housing in Dorset fully evidenced and justified, over and above being a changeable Government target (for which the Government has provided no recent evidence nor justification at all)? How can the Council be sure that the new Green Belt boundaries proposed in the Plan will be permanent, that they won’t just be changed again when a new target comes along from Government?

Answer

We have provided evidence and justification for the proposed changes to Green Belt boundaries in the Green Belt background paper which is published on the council’s website. As part of the justification for changes to Green Belt boundaries we have explored the opportunities to provide as many homes as possible within existing built-up areas on brownfield land and underutilised land (including car parks). Dorset is a mainly rural authority and it is not possible to provide all the homes that are needed without some new development in the countryside and Green Belt. As much of our housing need arises from South Eastern Dorset area and the conurbation, in some instances, the managed release of Green Belt may provide the most sustainable and accessible options for development.

In response to the second part of the question we will be doing some further, more detailed work, around forming clear boundaries around the land which we propose to release from the Green Belt. There will be an opportunity to consider this work in the next stage of process of preparing the Dorset Council Local Plan. We are planning to meet the needs for new homes in Dorset up to 2038, and it is unlikely that we will consider additional changes (beyond those outlined in the draft plan) to Green Belt boundaries over this period. Unfortunately it is not possible to give an assurance that the council will not need to consider Green Belt boundaries again in future plans.

Question

What considerations have been given to reducing the housing numbers set for Dorset by central government given the environmental constraints and designations of both the Green Belt and the AONB(s) in Dorset?

Answer

National policy states that the Government’s standard methodology should be used to calculate housing needs, unless exceptional circumstances justify an alternative approach which also reflects current and future demographic trends and market signals. We are required to meet the needs of all sectors of the market and not just those of local residents. The high level of constraints around Dorset do restrict development opportunities however at the current time, it is not considered that the level of constraints, when applying national policy, would demonstrate the exceptional circumstances needed to satisfy the test in national policy. Even where exceptional circumstances exist, the approach proposed must reflect current and future demographic trends and market signals. The proposals in the consultation document identify a supply of homes that will meet the requirement established by the Government’s standard methodology whilst also enabling flexibility to respond to changes in the housing requirements, to respond to the consultation and to respond to the delivery of sites during the plan period.

Question

How has the Dorset Council used the report from Dorset CPRE produced by Opinion Research Services in the development of the emerging Dorset Plan?

Answer

The report produced by Opinion Research Services has been reviewed by officers and some councillors. However as set out in national policy the standard methodology should be used to calculate housing needs, unless exceptional circumstances justify an alternative approach which also reflects current and future demographic trends and market signals. At this stage, the council is not of the opinion that there are exceptional circumstances that warrant an alternative approach for the Dorset Council area however the Council will be considering the responses received on this matter as part of the consultation.

Employment land methodology

Question

How were the employment land quantities calculated?

Answer

Employment land quantities are calculated using economic projections to arrive at an expected number of new jobs. This is then translated into a need for employment land. The detail of this is included in the Workspace Strategy. However this report will be updated to respond to the impact of Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic prior to the plan being submitted for examination.

Duty to cooperate

Question

What checks and balances exist to stop neighbouring councils saying they are unable to meet their targets and pushing their housing allocations onto other authorities?

Is there any statutory requirement that Dorset Council to do this? If there is no statutory requirement, why would Dorset Council do this?

Is there a realisation/acceptance/plan that houses built in South Eastern Dorset will be for people who work in the Bournemouth, Christchurch, and Poole Council area?

Answer

As part of the Duty to Cooperate, Dorset Council is legally obliged to work with neighbouring councils to address cross boundary issues. This includes issues related to traffic flows, habitat sites and the needs for development. If the housing or employment need of one council area cannot be met within that council area that council will need to formally request that Dorset Council considers meeting any unmet need from their area. Dorset Council will then need to examine the evidence that the need cannot be met and that it is an appropriate approach for some of that need to be met within Dorset including consideration of the implications of doing so. This Duty to Cooperate will be examined by the Planning Inspector at the examination of the Local Plan.

The main purposes of the planning system is to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development. This has three overarching objectives – an economic objective, a social objective and an environmental objective which must be pursued in mutually supportive ways. The planning system therefore looks to focus development in the locations that minimise the need to travel and the distance travelled and that offer a choice of travel modes including public transport, walking and cycling to the places where people want to travel for work and leisure. For this reason, we are suggesting that the plan area has four relatively self-contained functional areas within which the economy and housing market, although interrelated, function separately. It would therefore be reasonable to assume that development within each functional area would act to serve the economy and housing market within that area.

Glover Report on the Landscapes Review

Question

Answer

The Government are yet to formally respond to the recommendations of the Glover Report on the Landscapes Review: National Parks and AONB and as such, Dorset Council is not in a position to act on them. If Government supported some of the recommendations, the position for Dorset may well be very different to what it is now. When the Government indicates what its actions are likely to be, Dorset Council will be in a position to move forward with an appropriate approach in response. Whatever the outcome of the Review, there will be a need to have a Local Plan in place covering the whole of Dorset as soon as possible.

Neighbourhood planning

Question

How can I find out more about Neighbourhood planning?

Answer

For further information regarding neighbourhood planning, please either visit the Dorset Council website or contact the Community Planning Team via  

The Community Planning Team will be happy to answer any questions relating to neighbourhood planning.

Question 

What if our Neighbourhood plan has been made/adopted? How does the new Local Plan impact on our earlier work?

Answer

The community planning team work closely with town and parish councils so that complementary neighbourhood and local plan policies are produced.  Should there be a conflict however between a policy in a neighbourhood plan and a policy in a local plan, planning guidance requires that the most recent Plan to be prepared takes precedence. 

For older neighbourhood plans, the community could also choose to update their Neighbourhood Plan after the Local Plan is adopted. This allows the neighbourhood plan policies to once again taking precedence in any conflict with the Local Plan.