Response from Ms Jane Johnson, Burton in Kendal Parish Council
1. Ms Jane Johnson, Burton in Kendal Parish Council : 21 Mar 2012 15:23:00
Before completing this online representation please tick the box to show you have read the 'Guidance Notes for Making a Representation'
I have read the guidance notes
Policy/Site No.
LA1.3 Housing Allocations - All Burton-in-Kendal sites
1.1 Do you consider that the South Lakeland District Council Land Allocations DPD is legally compliant?
No
1.2 If NO please identify which test of legal compliance your representation relates to by selecting the relevant option(s) below and completing section 1.3.
Sustainability Appraisal has not been carried out and its baseline information and conclusions have not been used to inform the DPD
1.3 Please give details of the change(s) you consider necessary to make the South Lakeland District Council Land Allocations DPD legally compliant, having regard to the test you have identified at question 1.2 above.
It would be helpful if you could state your proposed change to the DPD and the reasons why you think it is necessary.
Burton-in-Kendal Parish Council have agreed that the following representation should be sent to the Planning Inspector.
The Sustainability Appraisal (SA) for Burton-in-Kendal contains omissions and errors which are then used to help justify a one third expansion of the village. In particular, the SA states that there is access to a GP surgery in the village. In fact the nearest GP surgery is over 6km away in Milnthorpe. A Milnthorpe GP visits Burton Memorial Hall for 2hours on a Monday morning but it is disingenuous to describe this as access to a GP surgery.
The SA also fails to identify the social impact of a one third growth in the village. For example, although there is a regular bus service running to both Kendal and Lancaster, the times do not support people travelling to work, working village residents are thus dependent on their cars for transport even to access local work places at the outlying sites within the parish at Dalton and Clawthorpe. The impact of an increase of possibly 300 cars in a village which is already swamped with vehicles, is not seriously considered by the SA.
The SA correctly identifies the adverse impact on the landscape character, the existing built environment and the air quality which will result from this proposed one third growth. When these factors are taken in to account along with revised assessments for Health Services and Transport the proposed one third increase in the size of the village cannot be sustained. Having regard to these amendments the DPD should be amended to reduce the size of the proposed developments in Burton-in-Kendal.
In particular, sites R76M and RN226/227 should both be removed from the plan. RN226/227 has very poor access for vehicles. Development of R76M would have a very adverse visual impact, it has poor access to the village facilities and it is strongly opposed by residents. It has, twice previously, been turned down for development approval including by an inspector on appeal. The Parish Council propose that the land allocations should be limited to a phased development of the southern half of site MN26 supported by limited infilling at smaller sites such as already approved at the old Royal Hotel. This would be more in keeping with the existing scale and needs of the village and would be sustainable.
2.1 Do you consider that the South Lakeland District Council Land Allocations DPD is sound?
No
2.2 If NO please identify which test of soundness your representation relates to by selecting the relevant option(s) below and completing section 2.3.
The DPD is not justified in that it is not founded on a robust and credible evidence base and/or is not considered the most appropriate strategy when considered against the reasonable alternatives.
2.3 Please give details of the change(s) you consider necessary to make the South Lakeland District Council Land Allocations DPD sound, having regard to the test you have identified at question 2.2 above.
It would be helpful if you could state your proposed change to the DPD and the reasons why you think it is necessary.
Burton-in-Kendal Parish Council have agreed that the following representation should be made to the Planning Inspector.
The proposed growth of Burton-in-Kendal village by a third runs counter to the policies established in the Core Strategy and the DPD. The Core Strategy paragraph 2.24 states that: “Extensions to Local Service Centres will be pursued only when there is clear local need for development and significant environmental impacts can be avoided, and once previously developed land has been utilised. The amount of development in each of the Local Service Centres will be dependent on the environmental capacity, existing size, role and infrastructure provision of the settlement, and supporting identified local need (utilising the findings of Parish Plans and Local Housing Needs Surveys).”
The proposed developments in Burton-in-Kendal far exceed any needs identified in the Parish Plan or the Cumbria Rural Housing Trust Survey both of which identified a need for a limited amount of affordable housing for local occupancy. The 2004 Housing Needs Survey found a requirement for 12 affordable homes and the 2009 survey found a need for 14 affordable homes.
The DPD has been through a lengthy development which has considered alternative sites but the plan has relied on encouraging demand led development to fund affordable housing need. No alternatives to this model have been seriously considered for Burton-in-Kendal.
Even allowing for this development model, an indicative figure of 146 new houses, to which must be added the 16 houses which have been given planning permission at the Royal Hotel site, would result in over 50 affordable homes which is far greater than the measured housing need for the village. The Parish Council suspect that the DPD has been developed on the basis of how many houses can be built in Burton-in-Kendal to help meet the District Council's perceived overall need, rather than a proper approach to planning in the village based on local need as required by the Core Strategy.
The Parish Council propose that to meet the measured local affordable housing need a phased development of the southern half of site MN26 supported by limited infilling at smaller sites such as already approved at the old Royal Hotel would more than meet the requirement and would be more in keeping with the existing scale and needs of the village. Importantly, this would mean that site RN226/227 which has very poor access and R76M which has a very adverse visual impact, poor access to the village facilities and is strongly opposed by residents, could both be removed from the plan.
3.1 If your representation is seeking a change, do you consider it necessary to participate in the oral part of the examination?
NO, I do not wish to participate at the oral examination
Please tick the box if you wish to be notified when the document is submitted, published and adopted.
Please notify me
