The human version (we wrote this, not the council)
This section explains the plan's approach to smaller housing sites, which are listed in Appendix K and allocated for residential or mixed development. National policy requires at least 10% of housing need to be met on sites of one hectare or less, and these allocations provide 4,410 homes on such sites. The sites allocated each deliver more than five homes and were assessed through the Council's land availability and sustainability work. All must contribute financially to infrastructure such as school and health capacity.
An unofficial plain English summary. The official wording below is
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The text below is extracted automatically from the official PDF and may
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Small Sites Policy
SMA001: Small site allocations for residential and residential-led mixed use development.
a) The sites listed in Appendix K and shown on the Policies Map, are allocated for residential or residential-led mixed use development and associated uses. They will be developed in accordance with the relevant Local Plan policies and any key development requirements are listed within Appendix K for each site.
b) All sites will need to make appropriate financial contribution to any necessary infrastructure requirements, including towards additional capacity in local schools and health facilities.
6.491 The Local Plan must allocate sites for new development to meet the long-term needs of Buckinghamshire. As set out in the housing spatial strategy most of the growth is coming forward at NESS sites and large allocations in the more sustainable settlements. These sites have their own detailed site policies set out in other sections of this plan. However, a mix of sites is required and the NPPF sets out that small and medium sized sites can make an important contribution to meeting the housing requirement of an area. They can often come forward quicker and provide more options on the market.
6.492 Paragraph 73 of the NPPF requires local planning authorities to identify, through the development plan and brownfield registers, land to accommodate at least 10% of their housing requirement on sites no larger than one hectare. A few sites listed in appendix K are under 1ha. By allocating these sites, the Council are allocating 4,410 homes of the housing requirements on sites no larger than one hectare and are therefore, together with existing commitments on sites below 1ha and expected windfall sites, offering a mix of both large- and small-scale development opportunities.
6.493 The sites allocated in this plan are those that can provide more than five dwellings. The smaller sites allocated have all been identified as part of the work on the HELAA. They have all been assessed against sustainability criteria set out in the Council’s Sustainability Appraisal. The identified development requirements for each of the housing sites are necessary to ensure the likely impacts of the development will be adequately mitigated. Further requirements may be needed when a planning application is under consideration. These will be necessary to make a particular development acceptable in planning terms.
6.494 The tables in Appendix K set out which settlements fall within each tier as identified through the Settlement Hierarchy Assessment. The allocated sites have been set out by tier in the tables. Key requirements for each site where necessary have also been set out.