Teignbridge Urban Capacity Study 2005-2016

An Urban Capacity Study has been prepared to provide a snapshot of the potential of urban areas in the Teignbridge plan area to accommodate additional housing

Background

The Council has undertaken a study of the potential for future housing development likely to be available to 2016 in towns and the more sustainable villages in Teignbridge. The purpose of this study is to assist in informing the decisions on the location of new homes to ensure priority is given to reusing previously developed (brownfield) land and maximising the potential of development land within existing urban areas, in order to reduce the land take for new housing on greenfield sites outside of settlements.

The study has a strong focus on potential sources of housing supply from land, mostly from land that has been previously developed.  This is part of a broad approach to spatial planning that promotes sustainable patterns of development and urban regeneration. It's in line with Government guidance set out in Planning Policy Guidance Note 3 (Housing) and draft Planning Policy Statement 3 (Housing), the 2005 UK Government Sustainable Development Strategy, and Planning Policy Statement 1 (Delivering Sustainable Development).

The method used in the Study follows the Government's good practice guidance in 'Tapping the Potential'.  New guidance relating to housing availability in the context of PPS3 is emerging but has yet to be finalised.

The study is one of the main sources of information about the potential supply of housing to 2016.  It is a key study for the Local Development Framework evidence base, informing the preparation of policies in the Development Plan Documents.  It complements the other key source of housing development information, in the Council's analysis of Housing Land Availability 2005. The latter has information on house building, and future housing development based on commitments from planning permissions and legal agreements.

Together these sources help the Council to prepare the policies on housing provision and to identify potential housing allocations on previously developed land.In turn, this assists in identifying the shortfall in housing that needs to be met by greenfield allocations to ensure that supply is sufficient to deliver the housing provision policy. The study also helps the Council to manage change and to develop a plan that is flexible in response to changing circumstances.

The study reflects information and analysis undertaken in 2005/6.  However, circumstances may change.  The acceptability of large sites identified in the Study as having housing potential, regarding urban design and detailed development control in terms of densities assumed for each site and any other information provided has not yet been finalised.  This will take place during the consultation and testing of the Development Plan Documents allocating sites, or through the Development Control process.  Therefore the numbers are subject to change.The inclusion of a site in the study doesn't imply that it will necessarily be appropriate or available for development at a particular time.

Key Findings

The Study recommends that for the period 2005 to 2016 the following allowances for the category of potential urban capacity for housing development, should be made in the assessment of future housing supply to demonstrate how planned housing provision in Teignbridge could be achieved to 2016.The allowances for potential capacity relate to the settlements named in the Teignbridge settlement hierarchy in Core Strategy Preferred Option Policy CS1:

Potential capacity 2005-2016 (net number of dwellings)

607 - Newton Abbot Sub Regional Centre

853 - Area Centres:Teignmouth and Dawlish; and Local Centres:Bovey Tracey and Chudleigh and Buckfastleigh (outside the Dartmoor National Park),

443 - Classified Rural Settlements.

1903 - Teignbridge TOTAL

In accordance with the Devon Structure Plan 2001 – 2016, there is a strategic requirement for the provision of 7,500 new dwellings within the Teignbridge Local Planning Authority Area. This includes 3,100 new dwellings in the Newton Abbot Sub Regional Centre, 150 in the Exeter Principal Urban Area and 4,250 'elsewhere'. Taking into account the above mentioned potential capacity recommendations and existing commitments, this leaves a residual of 1,794 to allocate within the Newton Abbot Sub Regional Centre and 948 dwellings elsewhere including 150 at the Exeter Principal Urban Area. 

However, the Local Development Framework also needs to take into account the emerging Regional Spatial Strategy.The Council's Submitted Core Strategy can be informed by the Executive's resolution on 7^th August 2006 in response to the consultations on the Submitted Regional Spatial Strategy, and demonstrate how the Plan reconciles Structure Plan and Regional Spatial Strategy policies towards housing provision.The outcome could result in a scale and distribution of strategic housing requirement within Teignbridge that differs from the above analysis of achieving the Structure Plan policy.This could lead to a change in the resultant residual amount of housing provision to be found from greenfield allocations. Other changes to provision may result from consideration of local issues such as affordable housing, sustainability, or improving settlement self-containment.

Status and Availability

On the 4th September 2006 the Council's Executive approved the Teignbridge Urban Capacity Study 2005 - 2016 as a technical document to form part of the evidence base for the preparation of Development Plan Documents to be included in the Teignbridge Local Development Framework 2001-2016.

This study document is available for inspection on the "downloads" section of this web page.  Please note this .pdf document is  1.22 Mb  in size and is in a read-only format.  The study document is also available for inspection free of charge at the Council's Forde House office, Brunel Road, Newton Abbot, Devon 8.30am to 5.00pm Monday to Thursday, and 8.30am to 4.30pm on Fridays, excluding public holidays.  The study document may be purchased from the Council for £15.00 including postage and packing.

Related Documents

Documents related to the preparation of the Teignbridge Urban Capacity Study 2005-2016 are also available for inspection at the Council's Forde House office and in .pdf format on the downloads section of this web page. These include the:

• Teignbridge Urban Capacity Study 2005-2016: Location plans for potential future windfall sites identified for new housing (September 2006) - Read-only
• Teignbridge Plan Area Residential Land Availability Survey as at 31st March 2005 (Urban Capacity Study Re-issue 2006) - printable