The human version (we wrote this, not the council)
This section introduces the strategic policies chapter through the spatial strategy, which directs growth to the edges of the district's larger settlements where services and transport are strongest. It explains that brownfield sites can deliver fewer than 700 new homes, so the plan provides for around 4,200 dwellings on land currently in the Green Belt. The council argues that exceptional circumstances justify changing Green Belt boundaries, citing the scale of housing need, limited brownfield land, acute affordable housing need and the extent of Green Belt cover.
An unofficial plain English summary. The official wording below is
what counts at examination; check it before you rely on anything here.
The text below is extracted automatically from the official PDF and may
contain artefacts; the PDF is authoritative.
4 Strategic Policies
Spatial Strategy
4.1 The spatial strategy directs growth to the most sustainable locations across the
district, balancing the need to meet objectively assessed housing needs with the
requirement to protect the Green Belt and the character of smaller settlements.
Development will be focused on the edges of the district’s larger settlements, where
access to services, employment, public transport and infrastructure is strongest, and
where development can be planned comprehensively and delivered at scale.
4.2 The strategy recognises that, despite a strong commitment to brownfield
development, such sites can only accommodate a limited proportion (fewer than 700
new homes) of the district’s housing requirement. As a result, the Local Plan makes
provision for circa 4,200 dwellings across the plan period within the Green Belt.
4.3 The council considers that exceptional circumstances exist to justify alterations to
Green Belt boundaries through this Local Plan, as required by national policy. These
exceptional circumstances arise from the cumulative impact of the following factors,
taken together:
• The scale of the district’s objectively assessed housing need, which
cannot be met within existing urban areas or on non-Green Belt land
alone;
• The limited availability and capacity of brownfield land within the urban
area, which, despite being prioritised, can only deliver a small proportion
of the required housing supply;
• The inability to meet the council’s acute needs for affordable housing and
specialist accommodation within the urban area alone;
• The extensive coverage of the district by Green Belt, which significantly
constrains alternative spatial options;
• The need to deliver development in locations that can support strategic
infrastructure provision, climate change mitigation and sustainable travel
patterns.
4.4 The council has undertaken a comprehensive assessment of all reasonable spatial
options and concluded that strategic, edge-of-settlement Green Belt release adjacent
to the larger settlements represents the most sustainable and least harmful approach.
4.5 A clear settl