How we did it ... Harrogate aims to ease examination pressures

Planning, 1 August 2008

Background: More than 2,000 objections were received in response to the submission draft.

Who is behind it? Harrogate Borough Council along with local stakeholders.

Project aims: Alongside many other objectives, the core strategy seeks a step-change in the provision of affordable housing, a sustainable pattern of development including broadly defined locations for growth and land for community sport and recreation.

Skills involved: Project management, communication, diplomacy, perseverance.

Following three weeks of hearings this spring and more to come in the autumn, this is a tense time for Harrogate planners. With 2,000 objections lodged, you could be forgiven for thinking that not many people support the borough's core strategy. Yet it received very positive public support at the preferred options consultation stage in 2006.

There is a pressing need for affordable housing in the district. Constraints on growth around Harrogate and Knaresborough, reflected in the regional spatial strategy's reduced level of housing, prevent the core strategy from meeting anywhere near the level required. Harrogate Borough Council's proposed approach is to maximise developer contributions from all residential proposals, including single homes.

The council argues that small residential sites form a significant part of the district's housing land supply. The economic position is viable and should not deter landowners from bringing forward proposals. It also maintains that in-house skills, resources and mechanisms are in place to operate at low thresholds. The approach has worked over the past four years, has received Housing Corporation support and is flexible to change and site circumstances.

Where cores strategies rely on bringing forward significant amounts of housing land through greenfield urban extensions, considerable detail is required on option choice and evaluation, sustainability appraisal, deliverability and infrastructure requirements. The council is currently consulting on further areas in its search for growth and will complete its examination in October on this controversial aspect.

The revised PPS12's call for core strategies to identify key sites is also relevant to the council's sport and recreation proposals. The frustrated aspirations of local sports clubs and a high level of demand for more pitches point to a need to set aside open land close to Harrogate town centre. The examination heard from one objector that this proposal is too site-specific for a core strategy.

Despite the council's view that the area is not suitable for housing, it is under pressure to be developed. Whether this is a matter for a core strategy or another development plan document has been much debated. The council is drawing up an area action plan to use this land for sport and recreation.

In preparing core strategies, planners should never underestimate the task of collating and completing the documentation for submission. Pre-submission consultation statements set a huge task in auditing and summarising community engagement. Soundness self-assessment is fundamental in maximising the chances of achieving a sound plan. Both are best completed as plans progress.

The pain for practitioners is much greater than under the local plan process. But we hope that there will be more gains in the shape of higher-quality, sustainable and locally distinctive development and a greater recognition of the role of planners in community planning.

Dave Sykes is planning policy manager at Harrogate Borough Council. The views expressed in this article are personal. This year's Planning Summer School is holding a series of workshops on current practice in forward planning and development management. For more details, please visit www.planningsummerschool.org.