Spatial Strategy

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 settlement hierarchy underpins the spatial strategy: • The Principal Town, small towns (and large suburban settlements) and large villages (and suburban settlements) will accommodate the majority of housing and employment growth, reflecting their higher levels of accessibility, services and infrastructure capacity. • Washed-over Green Belt villages will play a limited and proportionate role, together accommodating only 1–2% of the district’s total housing growth. Development in these villages will be restricted to small-scale schemes that meet local needs and do not undermine Green Belt openness or village character. 4.6 This distribution ensures growth is directed away from the least sustainable locations and avoids incremental, unplanned erosion of the Green Belt. 4.7 Given the constraints on development within existing urban areas, the plan prioritises strategic edge -of-settlement locations adjoining the larger settlements. These locations are considered the most appropriate areas for Green Belt release as they: • Relate well to existing urban form and can be integrated with existing communities; • Offer opportunities for comprehensive masterplanning, including new infrastructure, green spaces and community facilities; • Enable the creation of sustainable neighbourhoods rather than piecemeal development; and • Minimise harm to the purposes of the Green Belt by avoiding isolated or fragmented development. 4.8 Green Belt releases will be limited to those sites necessary to meet identified development needs and will be accompanied by compensatory improvements to environmental quality and accessibility where appropriate. 4.9 To maximise the efficient use of land, particularly within the Green Belt, the Plan requires significantly increased housing densities on new development sites, especially those in accessible locations close to town centres, public transport corridors and key services. Higher-density development will: • Reduce overall land take; • Support viable public transport and local services; • Help deliver a broader mix of housing types and tenures; and • Ensure that Green Belt land is used responsibly and only where necessary. 4.10 Design quality will be paramount, with higher densities delivered through well - designed, place-led schemes that respond positively to local character. 4.11 The council has prioritised brownfield development within the urban area, including previously developed land and underused sites. While such sites make an important contribution to housing delivery and urban regeneration, they are insufficient in scale and num ber to meet the district’s full housing need. Brownfield development will therefore be pursued alongside, rather t