abbotsbromleydevelopmentadvice

UPDATE: APRIL 2016

Before you read the original text, let me briefly explain what I have learnt about the current state of Abbots Bromley’s housing developments:

With the successful creation of a new Local Plan, Abbots Bromley’s village development boundary has been extended and fixed. With a few very limited exceptions, this means the local authority will refuse planning applications which fall outside the boundary. Any new development will have to take place within our development boundary. ** 18th May 2016: Cllr Greg Hall, chair of ESBC’s planning committee, expressed concern about a planning appeal in Wychavon which seems to have set a legal precedent by invalidating Local Plan settlement boundaries. On the back of this ruling, developers are again hoping to build off Ashbrook Lane and have brought about a public enquiry.

Several new applications for small developments are in the pipeline, such as the old R&D Motors sites in School House Lane and the Buttercross. The new-build off Swan Lane has begun. One of the parish council’s chosen sites – the Lichfield Road one – has been split into two applications by the two land-owners (to avoid each application’s number of units exceeding the 10 whereby the local authority could influence the nature of the units?) and both have been given Outline Planning Consent. The plot south of Thyme House has been sold to a developer who has submitted a Reserved Matters application which has yet to be heard by the Planning Committee but is for 7 executive-style homes The other site (off Uttoxeter Road) has not yet been submitted for OPP. A revised application for 2 units in a garden close to the junction in Ashbrook Lane is being considered by a planning officer.

The Ivy Manor developers have an application in the pipeline to extend their site by building more houses at the rear of the AB School swimming pool.

In addition, it seems increasingly likely that our Neighbourhood Plan committee will be encouraged to use its powers to extend the village development boundary again, in order to allow 2 houses to be built at the end of Bagots View (the pay-off for which will be the donation of the rest of the field to the trustees of the village hall, for use by the local community).

Finally, the possibility of the Ashbrook Lane development is stirring again. ESBC’s Local Plan (including development boundaries) is only valid if there is a demonstrable 5-year supply of development land. Developers have instigated a major public enquiry (to be held very soon) where they will challenge ESBC’s 5-year land-supply figures. If their challenge is successful, then planning decisions will perhaps have to be based once again on NPPF (see section “How Are Planning Applications Decided” below) – which will leave the door open to a renewed attempt to build off Ashbrook Lane (and anywhere else adjacent to our village development boundary!)

Keith Baker

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First published in April 2015, this website has been put together by locals Keith Baker and Peter Male to help the residents of Abbots Bromley to understand the planning process. We are not, by any means, planning experts (at best we could be described as keen amateurs) and this guide has been written in good faith. If you feel there are any inaccuracies, or that there is additional information you can add, or that your views have DSCI0495 been misrepresented, please contact us using the ‘LEAVE A COMMENT’ feature at the bottom of this page. We both accept that, in view of the housing shortage in East Staffordshire, Abbots Bromley must have its fair share of new houses; we are concerned, though, about the threat of over-development in this desirable village. Neighbouring villages have demonstrated that a proactive and organised approach can help limit the size of housing developments. We feel those opposed to possible over-development in Abbots Bromley need to get themselves organised now by gathering information and data. To sit back and wait is not an option.

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How are planning applications decided?

Firstly, you need to be aware there are two types of planning application: Outline Planning Permission (OPP), and Reserved Matters Permission (it used to be called Detailed Planning Permission). Anyone can apply for OPP for a piece of land – even if they don’t own it! The proposed development boundaries will be declared, an arbitrary number of units (dwellings) will be stated, and a few sketches of building designs will be included. Note: the number of units and the designs are pretty meaningless because the applicant will often sell the land on to a developer once OPP has been granted and the developer will submit a Reserved Matters application. The Reserved Matters application will show final lay-outs, elevations of buildings, the numbers and types of buildings etc and, if accepted by the planning department, will form a legally binding agreement (which can only be altered by the submission of an amended planning application and its acceptance by the planning department). Think of an OPP as a “statement of intent” which sets out the principal that land can be developed, and the Reserved Matters Application (Detailed Planning application) as being what the development will actually look like.

Unless it is a small extension to an existing property, nearly all new building has to be approved by East Staffordshire B.C.. Sometimes a Planning Officer will make a judgement, and sometimes a Planning Committee. The outcome is guided by a set of planning principles.

Normally, these principles are written by the district planning team who will “localise” national guidelines.

It may be helpful to think of planning policy in terms of a triangle, with the National Planning Policy framework at the base, a Local Plan fairly central, and a Neighbourhood Plan towards the top.

The national planning guidelines are contained in a document entitled “The National Planning Policy Framework” – NPPF – and underpin all national planning policies. The “localised” document, produced by each planning authority, is entitled “The Local Plan” and amongst other things it specifies where building will or won’t be allowed in an authority’s district. A Local Plan will only carry weight if that planning authority can prove it has a 5-year land supply upon which to base its policies. In addition, in order to further “localise” decisions from a regional to a local level, villages and towns can produce “Neighbourhood Plans” and “Village Design Statements”. A Neighbourhood Plan has to be based upon the principles of the local authority’s Local Plan. It carries as much weight as a Local Plan, if not more (because it can be used even in the absence of a 5-yr land supply, and can be far more specific about where development will be permitted – even extending a development boundary in order to facilitate this -, as well as about design features and materials). See Update 1

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Does ESBC’s Draft Local Plan (aka Pre-Submission Local Plan) support development in Abbots Bromley?

Yes it does. With a national housing shortage, the government has given each planning authority a quota of new homes to build. In response to this, ESBC has decided that the majority of new homes are to be built in Burton and Uttoxeter. However, the villages have also had to accept their share and, using a matrix to award points for amenities (see Appendix A ), Abbots Bromley was earmarked for 40 new units. DSCI0486 (Unfortunately, the list of amenities said to belong to Abbots Bromley was incorrect and we were given a higher points score than we should have been and finished towards the top of the Tier Two Village league table – which meant 40 homes instead of the 20 we would have been allocated had we finished a place lower down our league. Mind you, other villages also shouted “foul” but it was too late; ESBC would not recalculate. But that’s another story!) Note: irrespective of how many homes are built outside our development boundary (Ashbrook Lane, for example), the allocation of 40 homes inside the development boundary will still stand.

Who decides where these new homes are to be built?

The village was given a choice: build the 40 homes using “windfall” sites (ie in-fill), or using designated sites. Because there are relatively few windfall sites available, the parish chose to go the designated areas route. This means applications for homes other than on the designated sites should be refused.

ESBC submitted to the parish council a list of possible sites in Abbots Bromley. Because there was little opportunity to build within our village settlement boundary, the sites were all just outside it. The parish council chose two sites: Lichfield Road and Uttoxeter Road. These two sites would hopefully meet the 40-unit requirement. ESBC accepted the parish council’s choice. The village settlement boundary would be extended to include these sites.

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(See Appendix B for map of possible sites + Parish Council’s comments about them.) The Lichfield Road site has already had outline planning permission granted; the owner of the other site has not yet applied. (See Appendix L for links to recent planning applications.)

So why were developers hopeful of gaining planning permission for up to 80 new homes off Ashbrook Lane when have we already had something like 15 houses built or approved, two council-approved new development sites on Lichfield Road and Uttoxeter Road, not to mention rumours of further developments?

Therewas, in 2015, a major problem! ESBC’s Local Plan (see Appendix C) dated back to 2006 and was no longer current and Abbots Bromley has not got a Neighbourhood Plan. Not only that, but ESBC has failed to identify a 5-year supply of development land (Well, ESBC has identified possible sites but developers are not submitting planning applications for these sites – which is a bit unfair on ESBC because in rather puts a 5-year land supply beyond their control).

As a consequence, our planning decisions had, until the Local Plan was adopted on 15th Oct 2015,, to be based on a national strategy – the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). Effectively, ESBC had lost control of planning. Now, the guiding principal of NPPF is that there is a presumption planning consent will always be granted, as long as a developer can prove “sustainability”. In fact, it goes one step further and puts the onus on objectors to disprove sustainability. (If you want to look at the definition of “sustainability” you can go on-line and read paras 18-219 of the NPPF, but it is a very loose definition centred around “economic, social and environmental” dimensions). What this meant, of course, is that development boundaries counted for nothing. To be sustainable, a housing development simply had to be within safe walking distance of amenities.

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See Appendix C for Weblinks to the failed Local Plan, and Appendix D for responses from ESBC’s Planning Manager to questions about NPPF v Local Plan.

Why were developers so keen to make applications in 2015

Developers had been aware that the Draft Local Plan should be found sound by autumn 2015 and that it would then begin to influence where building was and where it wasn’t allowed in East Staffs. MAY 1st 2015 and July 10th 2015: New information available – see Update 2 & 3. Time was of the essence, and Abbots Bromley is an attractive area for developers. Of course, there are only so many developers, and they can’t be everywhere at once – so they were cherry-picking whilst they could. The Ashbrook Lane site, for example, met the requirements of NPPF. Had it not been for the government inspector signing-off ESBC’s Local Plan just a fortnight before the ESBC Planning Committee was due to hear the Ashbrook Lane application, then the application would almost certainly have had to be passed.

Note: Even though the Local Plan has now been adopted,(10th July 2015: New information available: Inspector is now satisfied with ESBC’s 5-year land supply calculations, the consultation period for the new Local Plan ends on 24th Aug 2015, and it is hoped the Local Plan will be found sound by mid September 2015. – see Update 9 October 2015: The new Local Plan was officially adopted on 15th October 2015) it is still based largely on the principles of NPPF, and of course there is a huge national housing shortage so even if ESBC refuse a planning application the developers may win if they appeal to the Sec of State.

Who might help limit the scale of development in Abbots Bromley?

ESBC Planning Dept: In an ideal world they probably wouldn’t want to see any development outside our development boundary. A government directive to address the national housing shortage has meant that ESBC has had to allocate sites for at least 12670 new homes (it tried to get away with 11648 in its Draft Local Plan). In order to spread the weight of developments, ESBC has had to allocate 40 units to the village. This is clearly set out in its Draft Local Plan (the one the government’s inspector refused to accept last autumn). However, whilst NPPF is the planning framework that ESBC has to use, developers have the upper hand. Working closely with ESBC to support its Local Plan proposals, then, is a given.
Highways: Highways should be impartial when considering housing developments. However, their judgement can only be based on the data they have at their disposal. Communicating with Staffordshire’s Highways team, and ensuring they are aware of things like traffic flow, parking, speeding, accidents/near misses, and hazardous areas, would do no harm. Highways needs hard facts, though, not opinions.
English Heritage: We have not spoken directly to English Heritage, but would imagine they would be concerned about possible impact on the local wildlife and on the conservation area. They have, after all, classified Abbots Bromley as a “Conservation Village”. English Heritage have to be consulted when a planning application is made. It would be advantageous if residents could supply them with data about wildlife and traffic problems.

It should always be remembered that these organisations are often over-worked and under-resourced. We cannot leave it to them to fight our corner. If we are concerned about proposed developments then we have to help these bodies by supplying them with facts and data. It is no good waiting until the last minute before waking up to the fact that nothing has been done. The planning process can work with remarkable speed at times, and it would be too easy to be caught out.

Can anything be done to stop development in the village?

This is just opinion, but we feel it more realistic to try to limit the scale of development than try to prevent it.

ESBC does not want any large-scale development in Abbots Bromley any more than the majority of residents do, and its Local Plan reflects this with its proposal for 40 homes. ESBC might consider dropping 106 Agreements in favour of a Community Infrastructure Levy (see below) and should this happen (it now seems most unlikely) then developments might stall. We think stalling tactics would fail to prevent development, though.

The scale of development could be restricted if the Highways Department and ESBC worked together. The regulations are that, for developments of between 50 and 80 units a Transport Statement is required from the developers. This is a bit like self-certification! Anything in excess of 80 units would require a Transport Assessment – where the developers would have to involve Highways in an assessment of traffic flow, speed, access, accidents/near misses etc. If ESBC and SCC Highways Department (based in Stafford) could prove – by using their own independent data – that the number of homes proposed for a development was unsuitable from a transport viewpoint, then the developers might be forced to rethink the scale of their proposal. (See Appendix I for how to calculate the number of additional vehicles)

Would an extension to the Conservation Area boundary help?

Not really. NPPF doesn’t restrict development in conservation areas. The only thing with a development being in a conservation area is that conservation area status might influence the visual aspect of new homes.

What about a Neighbourhood Plan?

Unlike a Village Design Statement, a Neighbourhood Plan can only be written by a Parish Council. Our Parish Council has only just (spring 2016) started to put together a Neighbourhood Plan. A Neighbourhood Plan carries the same weight as a Local Plan but has the advantage of being tailored to the needs of a specific parish. It would stipulate where development could take place, required design features, and what materials could be used – and it could even be as detailed as Rolleston’s in demanding a tree be planted in front of every new house!) Even more importantly, a Neighbourhood Plan could be used to stop over-development, even in the absence of a Local Plan and a 5-year land supply. ESBC has 2 officers dedicated to helping parish councils write Neighbourhood Plans, and it also has funding available. Our parish council was approached by ESBC about two years ago, offering support for the writing of a Neighbourhood Plan, but the parish council felt one was not necessary. (See Update 1 ) Sixteen other parishes accepted ESBC’s support. Yoxall’s will probably be used by ESBC to fight an application for 170 houses.

In the absence of a valid Local Plan, a Neighbourhood Plan could have been used to restrict building in the village. It would have made it less likely that the Ashbrook Lane proposal, for example, would ever have been submitted. It takes an average of 18 months to complete a Neighbourhood Plan – which would take us to autumn 2017. Update: In July 2015, our Parish Council finally decided to take the first steps towards producing a Neighbourhood Plan.

What about a Village Design Statement?

Some members of our community put one together in 2006 (see Appendix E for web link). However, without a current Local Plan to support it, the VDS has limited influence – and in any case a VDS is mainly only concerned with the visual aspects of new development, rather than where and how many.

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Will local services be able to support large-scale development?

Severn Trent does not foresee any problem.

The surgery does not foresee any problem (although parking may become even more of an issue, of course). See Appendix F .

The Richard Clarke School would probably cope. (3 additional children per year-group for every 100 new houses is the formula used. DSCI0468 R/Clarke School has a Pupil Admission Number (PAN) of 150 and a current roll of about 122.) See Appendix G .

Public Transport might be improved – but the majority of newcomers to the village will use cars rather than public transport.

What Can We Do?

Form an Action Group to gather data and facts about transport issues (see Department for Transport’s “Guidance on Transport Assessment”), and spend a day doing a traffic count – see Appendix M – (the developers will have done theirs!), taking photographs, finding out about accidents/near misses. Whilesoever NPPF is the guiding document, about the only grounds to oppose an application will be Highways related (although objections on ecological grounds might usefully delay the application, hopefully until ESBC’s new Local Plan has been found sound by the government inspector).

Be prepared! Gather information and make contact with relevant organisations. If you wait until a planning application is submitted, you will be too late to do much of value.

Lobby our MP ( Michael Fabricant. Mr Fabricant has stated in a letter; “I share your concern regarding over-development in Abbots Bromley”.)

Go to his website to send your message.

Become familiar with the documents which will be used by developers such as:
1. NPPF

2. ESBC Local Plan (Pre Submission Local Plan)

3 “Guidance on Transport Assessment” (Dept of Transport),

4 Staffordshire CC’s Local Transport Plan

Keep an eye out for yellow planning application notices tied to lamp posts.
Respond to a planning application by completing the online proforma on ESBC’c Planning Portal website, or by writing to ESBC (but do make sure your objections are valid. “It will spoil my view”, for example, is not a valid objection). Use the link above to ESBC’s Draft Local Plan, and base your objections to a planning application on the “Strategic Policies” which can be found on page 76 onwards.
Never return a planning objection as a group. Objections must be from individuals – even if what you write is the same as that written by others.
Request the attendance of the Safety Camera Team (details on ESBC website).
Familiarise yourself with the “endangered species” list and conduct an ecology survey. (See Appendix H)
Consider the effects of new development on the village’s conservation area, because it has to be considered by ESBC’s planners as it is part of NPPF.

Is additional housing a bad thing for the village?

Some say it would support local businesses – but since the last major development (the Paget Rise area) the village has lost over 20 retailers, including 2 newsagents, 3 general stores, a butcher’s, a petrol station, a bookshop, a post office, an antiques shop, 3 vehicle repair workshops, a joinery, a timber yard, a baker’s, a printer’s, a dentist’s ….. DSCI0487

House prices are based on supply and demand. If there is a greater supply of houses…..

The village ambience, which many of us appreciate, would be lost if too many houses were built.

Traffic problems, especially along the main street, would be made worse.

There aren’t many local employers, but what local jobs there are are mainly linked to agriculture and farming. Every new housing development would be taking away agricultural land.

The village school’s future would be safeguarded – unless numbers outgrew the places that could be accommodated, and then the school might have to move because there is little room to expand the present site.

There would be increased demand on the surgery. Longer waiting times might, of course, be off-set by increasing the surgery hours.

The local pubs might see an increase in trade. DSCI0482

The parish share of the council tax would increase – but then there would be more maintenance needed.

Using “106 Agreements”, (see Appendix J) the village could benefit from additional amenities and improved appearance.(Note: Some councils are replacing 106 Agreements with a Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL). (see Appendix K). ESBC has decided to continue with 106 Agreements (June 2015) and not CIL.

Abbots Bromley might consider using 106 Agreements to secure: additional public parking, public toilets, a heritage trail, traffic speed controls, village gateways, cycle racks….

Useful Contacts:

ESBC Planning Manager Anna Miller Planning Manager East Staffordshire Borough Council. The Maltsters,Wetmore Road,Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire. DE14 1LS Tel: 01283 508630 www.eaststaffsbc.gov.uk (Anything to do with the Local Plan, or general planning procedures)
ESBC Planning Dept Email; dcteam@eaststaffsbc.gov.uk or call 01283 508605 (Planning officers – they deal with actual planning applications)
ESBC Planning Portal website:East Staffordshire Borough Council PO Box 8045 Burton upon Trent DE14 9JGTelephone: 01283 508 000, 9:00am – 5:00pm Monday to Friday. Go to http://www.eaststaffsbc.gov.uk/Northgate/PlanningExplorer/NewApplicationsSearch.aspx to view weekly list of planning applications.

Highways Department (Development Control) Tel: 01785 276644 email:john.derry@staffordshire.gov.uk www.staffordshire.gov.uk
Highways Department (Community Liaison Manager) Tel: 01785 354002 email: chris.mitchell@staffordshire.gov.uk – responsible for maintenance issues.
Conservation Area Consultation (ESBC) Ben Williscroft Tel: 01283 508238 www.eaststaffsbc.gov.uk
PCSO: Zoe Evans. Email: Zoe.Evans@staffordshire.pnn.police.uk – or Dial 101 then key Ext 3758 when prompted. Mobile: 07837 632232 (Zoe is allocated to Abbots Bromley, and would tackle issues to do with traffic)
PC Josie Shepherd. Email: Josephine.Shepherd@staffordshire.pnn.police.uk (Josie is a police officer with resp for several villages, including ours. She will respond to traffic issues such as parking and speed.)
PC Richard Boulter. Tel 0300 123 2345 04407
Local Policing Team Commander for Abbots Bromley is Insp.Rachel Joyce. Email:eaststaffspolice@staffordshire.pnn.police.uk
Community Speedwatch Co-ordinator = Ian Shaw CSW Coordinator, Safer Roads Partnership External – 01785 232702 Email: community.speedwatch@staffordshire.pnn.police.uk

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