Core Strategy Preferred Options document - Amazon Web Services

Strategies, Activities and Actions – Housing
The term ‘brownfield’
refers to an area of
land which has
previously been
developed, and may
be suitable for
alternative uses in the
future i.e.
redevelopment.
‘Greenfield’, however,
encapsulates land
which has not been
developed in the past.
Between April 2001
and March 2008 there
were a total of 1429
net dwelling
completions in
Rochford District,
equating to an average
of 204 per year.
The release of land for
housing provides an
opportunity to ensure
that infrastructure is
developed alongside it
that benefits residents
of both existing
dwellings and those
that will be developed.
General Locations
It is not the purpose of the Core Strategy to set out the precise locations
for new development – this is done through the Allocations Development
Plan Document. Instead, the Core Strategy will set out the general
approach for the Allocations document.
The concept of sustainable development is at the heart of any decisions
with regards to the location of housing. The primary factors in determining
the location of future housing include current infrastructure (along with
opportunities to deliver future infrastructure); access to services; facilities;
housing demand / need; deliverability; public transport / possibility of
reducing car dependency; opportunities to utilise brownfield land;
community needs and physical constraints.
As described in the Characteristics chapter of this document, the
District’s settlements can be divided into four tiers, with the settlements in
the higher tiers being generally more suitable to accommodate additional
housing development for the reasons described above. The settlement
hierarchy is as follows:
Tier Settlements
1 Rayleigh; Rochford / Ashingdon; Hockley / Hawkwell
2 Hullbridge; Great Wakering
3 Canewdon
4 All other settlements
Our strategy for the location of housing development is a balance
between focussing development on the higher tier settlements, whilst
allocating a proportion of the housing development to the lower tier
settlements (with the exception of the fourth tier, where additional
development is considered unsustainable) to ensure these established
communities can be sustained and that rural services continue to be
supported.
The strategy for the location of housing also involves a balance between
directing additional housing to areas with a close relationship to
Southend, and those with a closer relationship to Chelmsford and
Basildon.
In short, our approach to the location of housing development can be
described as a balanced strategy.
None of the preferred options within this document should be read in
isolation from one another and this is very much the case when looking at
the preferred distribution of housing. The preferred distribution is based
not simply on which areas are the most sustainable at present, but also
on how residential development can contribute to, and marry with, other
strategies – particularly in relation to town centre vitality, environmental
issues and employment – to ensure long term sustainable development
within the District.
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