Dorset CPRE response to BCP Council Reg 19 Consultation

BCP Council are consulting on the draft BCP Local Plan which closes on 3rd May. Our Planning Group worked hard on drafting the response to the Regulation 19 consultation. This consultation is on the version of the plan that BCP Council intends to submit to the Secretary of State for Inspection.

We commented on BCP policies and strategies covering: Natural Environment, Climate Change, Broad locations of development, Town Centres, Sustainable Construction, Nutrients Poole Harbour, Housing Delivery, Affordable Housing, Brownfield Sites, Employment supply, Transport and Viability Assessment. 

We support a good deal of this Local Plan which is potentially sound but believe that there are some important areas which need to be corrected by the Inspector to make it a document of sound and sustainable planning policy. The need for homes for social rent is clearly evidenced by the Housing Need Assessment but this has not been effectively targeted in the plan and we believe this policy omission is not sound. We fully endorse the policy of protecting the remaining Green Belt around the conurbation which is backed by the local communities of BCP and of using brownfield sites wherever possible, for example Poole Power Station which has been undeveloped for 30 years.

We agree with BCP’s assessment of the constraints which apply. We support BCP’s proposed target of 1200 homes pa for an initial period, which accurately reflects the constraints, and which may, in practice, be ambitious when compared to the circa 1000 pa delivered through normal supply and demand in recent years. We believe that in practical terms the adoption of “densification” of the existing urban areas, rather than further greenfield development, is a sound policy.