Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment
Purpose
One of the main recommendations of the Barker Review of housing supply (2004) was to increase the supply of housing. The governments response was the release of Planning Policy Statement 3 (PPS3) requiring all local planning authorities, such as North Dorset District to undertake a Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA). This assessment should identify specific deliverable sites to meet the housing requirement for subsequent five years as set out in the South West Regional Spatial Strategy. In addition the assessment should identify sites that are suitable for development for the 6 to 10 year period and, where possible for the 11 to 15 year period.
The primary role of the Assessment is to:
· Identify sites with the potential for housing
· Assess their housing potential
· Assess when they are likely to be developed,
The results of the SHLAA will therefore form an important part of the evidence base for planning documents forming part of the North Dorset District Local Development Framework. It does not constitute planning policy in itself but is purely a technical exercise to inform future planning policy.
The assessment in North Dorset has been carried out in accordance with national guidance produced by the government. This guidance is available by following the link to the right. The guidance recommends that Assessments be completed for whole Housing Market Areas (HMA); therefore all of the councils in the Bournemouth and Poole HMA (Bournemouth, Christchurch, East Dorset, North Dorset, Poole and Purbeck Councils), and Dorset County Council, have agreed to work together to produce an HMA-wide Assessment.
The first round of the assessment has now been completed. The results of this are currently being processed and a report is being prepared. Once the report is published it will be available from this page. The methodology used for this assessment is largely prescribed by government but has been refined locally, having been advised by a panel of representatives, who met and endorsed the methodology in December 2007. A copy of the methodology will be available as Appendix 1 of the SHLAA Report.
It is anticipated that the full report will be published in March 2009 at the latest.
Submission of Sites
In order to comprehensively assess all land that may have potential for housing development North Dorset District Council is asking anyone with land that they believe may be suitable for housing, and which would be anticipated to be brought forward in the short (1-5 years) and medium-term (6-15 years), to submit details to the council.
To be included in future assessments, sites must be within or adjacent to the settlements set out in the methodology although an exceptional case will be made to sites submitted solely for affordable housing to meet a locally identified need (rural exception sites).
In order to submit a new site for consideration in the SHLAA form SHLAA2 needs to be filled in and sent to the address below accompanied by a location map showing the boundaries of the site. Maps for this purpose can be downloaded from NordMap. A separate form should be completed for each site. It is generally anticipated that forms and their accompanying site maps will be returned by post to the council. If a site is to be submitted electronically, the completed SHLAA2 form and accompanying map should be emailed to planningpolicy@north-dorset.gov.uk
Any newly submitted sites will be assessed in accordance with the methodology detailed in Appendix 1 of the SHLAA Report. The results of the assessment of each newly submitted site will be reported in the subsequent North Dorset District Council Annual Monitoring Report.
It may be that at certain points the council will not be able to assess and report on new sites on an annual basis or in time to report in the subsequent Annual Monitoring Report. In this case the council will report on each site as soon as practical to do so.
Urban Capacity Study
The Assessment as set out above replaces the Urban Potential Study prepared by the Council. The Urban Potential Study for North Dorset was undertaken in 2005 and the associated report is available through the link on the right.
If you have any questions about the SHLAA the please send an email to planningpolicy@north-dorset.gov.uk or telephone 01258 484311
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