An outline application is being prepared to assist Bromsgrove in rectifying the delivery of much needed market and affordable homes on a sustainable, grey belt site on the edge of the main town in the District.
Paragraph 155 of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) is supportive of housing development on Green Belt sites when they comply with the provisions within it. The introduction of Paragraph 155 to national policy was a positive intervention to allow greater flexibility in the planning system. It does not undermine the wider role or function of the Green Belt but instead allows for the release of sustainable sites for development where the planning system is otherwise failing to meet the development needs in that area.
Among other things, the criteria in Paragraph 155 includes sites that meet the definition of Grey Belt (which is the case here) and where there is a demonstrable need for homes in that local authority. A demonstrable need for homes can arise when a Council has less than a five-year housing land supply or when it has failed to score 75% in the Housing Delivery Test. Both apply in Bromsgrove, with the Council unable to demonstrate a five year housing land supply and scoring just 50% on the Housing Delivery Test.
Further to the above, the Council is only at the early stages of their local plan review. It will take time for this to progress and planning applications are the vehicle to provide additional supply in the short term to not only keep up with current needs, but to make up the shortfall identified above.
Our view is that a housing development on this site would comply with Paragraph 155 of the NPPF and an outline application is being prepared in this context. It will make a significant contribution to the delivering of new homes in the Borough, on a site that is well related to the main town of Bromsgrove and would not undermine the strategic role or function of the Green Belt.
An Outline Planning Application is a type of planning application that enables applicants to seek approval for the general principles of a development project. Details of the site access, layout, appearance, scale and landscaping can all be reserved for future consideration, although the details of the site access are often included at the outline stage to provide certainty over the access solution.
Once outline planning permission is granted, a subsequent application(s) will need to be submitted known as a Reserved Matters Planning Application. This would include the detailed consideration of the proposed layout of the housing development, along with its appearance, the scale of the homes and the associated landscaping. This application would be subject to further consultation with the local community before being determined.
The adopted Development Plan for Bromsgrove is the Bromsgrove Development Plan which was adopted in 2017.
The Council has recently consulted on the Bromsgrove Draft Development Strategy which sought views on a range of topics including the number of homes that the plan should accommodate and sites that have been identified as draft housing allocations.
Officers are currently considering the responses, and a further round of consultation is anticipated next year. However, whilst this is happening, planning applications are the vehicle to assist in addressing the significant shortfall in housing delivery in the short term, rather than allowing this shortfall to continue to grow and the existing issues with this compound further.
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