Thursday 7 May 2015

Progress on the North Dorset Local Plan


The North Dorset Local Plan Examination moved on a step with the publication of the District Council’s responses to some of the issues raised at the examination hearings.  Of particular note is the change in the plan period to 2031 and the proposed retention of the settlement boundaries and higher housing target for Stalbridge and the larger villages.  Care homes and neighbourhood plans also feature in the updated supply numbers.  The housing targets will now expressed as a minimum, the reference to prioritising 2 and 3 bed house sizes for open market houses is to be removed.
Only invited participants can comment at this stage, but there will be a chance to comment on all the major changes at a later stage.

If you want to find out more it is worth checking out the following links

MHD006: recommends extending the plan period to 2031, and increasing the housing target to 285dpa (dwellings per annum).  It also says that provision will be made for an early plan review to incorporate new emerging evidence on housing needs in conjunction with other Dorset authorities.
MHD007: recommends retaining settlement boundaries around Stalbridge and the more sustainable villages (Bourton, Charlton Marshall, Child Okeford, East Stour, Fontmell Magna, Hazelbury Bryan, Iwerne Minster, Marnhull, Milborne St Andrew, Milton Abbas, Motcombe, Okeford Fitzpaine, Pimperne, Shillingstone, Stourpaine, Winterborne Kingston, Winterborne Stickland and Winterborne Whitechurch), and that between them these provide 41dpa (dwellings per annum).  No change is made for rural employment provision. 

MHD008: proposes including care homes (C2 use class) in the housing supply.  It also revises some of the start dates and capacities of specific sites based on landowner updates, and refers to 42 housing sites ‘identified in Neighbourhood Plans’.
MHD018: sets out a range of proposed changes that arose during the hearing sessions.  This includes changes to the policy wording of (take a deep breath here) Policies 3 (Climate Change), 6 (Housing Distribution), 7 (Delivering Homes), 9 (Affordable Housing), 11 (The Economy), 13 (Grey Infrastructure), 15 (Green Infrastructure), 16 (Blandford), 17 (Gillingham), 18 (Shaftesbury), 19 (Sturminster Newton), 21 (Gillingham Strategic Site Allocation), 24 (Design), 27 (Retention of Community Facilities), 30 (Existing Employment Sites in the Countryside) and 32 (Equine-Related Developments in the Countryside). 

All the documents can be found here.