Charnwood Local Plan 2021-37 - Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some frequently asked questions regarding Charnwood Local Plan 2021-37.

What is a local plan?

The Local Plan is a 15-year strategic document allocating land in Charnwood for homes, employment, retail and infrastructure such as roads and schools. It also maps out protected areas. The Local Plan is referred to when the Council considers whether or not to grant permission for individual developments. It also sets out broader policies relating to the environment, economic regeneration, preservation of heritage and more. All local planning authorities must have a Local Plan.

Preparing a Local Plan involves extensive consultation with stakeholders, including residents and businesses. Evidence is also gathered about the impact of development on the environment, roads and local services such as health and education. Local Plans are examined by independent Government-appointed planning inspectors before being adopted. They are complex pieces of work and often take several years to complete.

What strategy is Charnwood currently using?

The existing Charnwood Local Plan Core Strategy was adopted in November 2015 and provides a development strategy for the borough through to 2028.  The new Local Plan updates the strategy and contains new policies and allocations. It will run from 2021 to 2037. Once adopted, the Local Plan will replace the existing Core Strategy.

The key considerations that have influenced the development strategy for the new Local Plan are concentrating development in urban areas, supporting opportunities for providing homes within our town and local centres, creating the critical mass of development for infrastructure including new schools and protecting our environment including our sensitive landscapes.

How has the local plan been prepared and consulted on?

The preparation of the local plan has been informed by national policy and legislation, the Council’s evidence base, ongoing discussions with neighbouring authorities, statutory bodies and infrastructure providers, and public consultation. Public consultation has been undertaken in accordance with the Council’s Statement of Community Involvement.

The following rounds of consultation have been undertaken as summarised in the Council’s Statement of Consultation.

• Scoping and Issues (Regulation 18 Consultation) – July/August 2016
• Towards a Local Plan for Charnwood (Optional Consultation) – April/June 2018
• Draft Plan (Optional Consultation) - November/December 2019
• Pre-Submission (Regulation 19/20 Consultation) July/ August 2021

How have my comments from previous consultations been taken into account?

The Statement of Consultation sets out the comments received during the previous consultation stages, and the Council's responses to them. All comments made during each local plan consultation have been considered to inform the preparation of the Local Plan that has been submitted to the Government for examination.

When and what documents were submitted to the Government Planning Inspectorate?

The Council submitted the Local Plan for Examination on Friday December 3, 2021. More information about the Local Plan examination including the appointed Planning Inspectors, the Programme Officer, the Submission Documents and Evidence Base and more can be found on the examination section of the website.

What is a Local Plan examination, Hearing Session, Planning Inspector and Programme Officer?

Government appointed Planning Inspectors will undertake an independent examination into the soundness and legal compliance of Charnwood Borough Council’s Local Plan. The Inspectors will consider the representations submitted through the Regulation 19 Pre-Submission Draft Plan Consultation.

The Inspectors will hold public discussion, termed “Hearing Sessions”, whereby parties will be invited to make verbal representations about the Local Plan. Although the Hearing Sessions will be public events, the Inspectors will chair them and decide the topics for discussion and who is invited.  

The Programme Officer (see question below) acts as a point of contact between the Inspectors, the Council, the public and other organisations.

The examination webpage will be updated with information about the examination as it progresses, including dates and agendas for Hearing Sessions.

How do I get involved with the examination or contact the Planning Inspectors?

The Programme Officer is independent of the Examination and works on behalf of the Inspectors to organise and manage the administrative and procedural elements of the Examination process. Any matters that anyone wishes to raise with the Inspectors should be submitted via the Programme Officer.

What does ‘soundness’ mean?

The Planning Inspector’s role is to determine whether the Local Plan has been prepared in accordance with legal and procedural requirements and whether it is ‘sound’ in accordance with paragraph 35 of the NPPF. Local Plans are ‘sound’ if they are:

• Positively prepared. The Local Plan must meet the borough’s housing and employment requirements. In addition, it should be informed by agreements with other authorities, so that unmet need from neighbouring areas is accommodated where it is practical to do so and is consistent with achieving sustainable development.
• Justified. The Local Plan strategy must be appropriate and based on evidence. Reasonable alternative strategies should have been taken into account.
• Effective. The Local Plan should be deliverable. Joint working on cross-boundary matters with neighbouring authorities should be evident.
• Consistent with national policy. The Local Plan should be in accordance with the policies in the NPPF.

Who sets the number of homes to be built?

The Government has a national target of building 300,000 new homes each year. It has a standard methodology which contains a formula for distributing housing need across England. The formula states that Charnwood must build 17,776 homes by 2037. This is equivalent to 1,111 homes each year between 2021 and 2037. This is a slight increase to the 1,082 new homes required by Government at the time of the draft Local Plan. Existing planning permissions (as of 31 March 2021) will provide 2,248 of Charnwood’s required homes but are yet to be built. Once planning permission is granted there is nothing councils can do to force developers to build the agreed homes.

Thousands of house are already planned for the large Sustainable Urban Extension (SUE) developments west of Loughborough (Garendon Park), north of Birstall (Broadnook) and north east of Leicester (Thorpebury). In total there is space for 10,603 new homes already planned in the borough.

When also accounting for an additional 10% flexibility to support flow of site delivery (see below), the Local Plan 2021-37 has identified land allocations for 8,858 further homes to meet the Government target between now and 2037.

Why is the Council planning for more houses than it needs?

Each year the Council must demonstrate that it has planned or granted planning permission for enough houses to meet housing need for the coming five years. This is known as the five-year housing land supply. Failure to have such a supply of housing land reduces the Council’s control over where development is allowed. This exposes the borough to increased risk of development in unwanted areas. 

To ensure consistency of supply, the Council adds a buffer of 10% on top of the Government requirement. This equals 1,778 homes in Charnwood between 2021 and 2037. This additional supply offers flexibility in case of unforeseen blockages with supply. It means that, with the additional 10% included, the Local Plan 2021-37 must allocate space for 19,461 homes. However, this does not mean that more than 17,776 homes must be built to meet the Government target.

The below table shows a break down of where development in Charnwood is proposed to be located. ‘Housing supply’ refers to development that already has planning permission. ‘Distribution of new homes’ refers to the amount of homes proposed to be allocated by the draft Local Plan.

Settlement	Housing Supply	Distribution of New Homes	Total Homes
Leicester Urban Edge	5,254	2,104	7,358
Loughborough	3,831	2,242	6,073
Shepshed	453	1,878	2,331
Service Centres	928	1,819	2,747
Other Settlements	119	815	934
Small Villages/Hamlets	18	0	18
Total	10,603	8,858	19,461

Why must Charnwood build so many homes?

The borough’s population is increasing. People are living longer, birth rates are exceeding death rates and more people are moving into the borough than leaving it. Changes to how people live their lives are also affecting the need for homes.  For example, if more people live on their own, rather than as couples or families, this will change the number and types of homes that are needed.

Why are most houses being grouped in large developments?

The Local Plan strategy is to intensify and extend existing urban areas. As described above, the Local Plan includes three large existing SUEs. These were part of the previous Local Plan and are large sites which remain a key part of the new strategy for homes and jobs. 

There are further allocations for Shepshed to support its regeneration and role in the Leicestershire International Gateway corridor. This is a large-scale development, as set out in the Strategic Growth Plan for Leicester and Leicestershire, to serve East Midlands Airport, Loughborough University, several large industrial parks and the proposed HS2 rail hub at Toton. 

The Local Plan strategy is to extend and intensify existing urban areas to prevent new pockets of development emerging unplanned in open countryside. As such, it provides a range of development site sizes and locations. This will support delivery. It also provides thousands of homes which are accessible to employment areas.

Further development is planned for larger villages. By grouping 1,819 additional homes at Service Centres (larger villages such as Anstey, Barrow and Sileby), the Council is able to plan for the critical mass required to secure new infrastructure for existing large villages including new schools and roads.

Why do we have to have a Local Plan?

Local Plans are a key component of the planning system. Planning authorities use Local Plans as a strategic guide to show stakeholders what should be built and where. This supports local environmental considerations as well as sustainable investment in infrastructure such as schools and roads. It also balances the pattern of development in the borough. Without a Local Plan, local control would be lost over many individual planning applications. 

How does development fit with the Council’s objective of safeguarding the environment?

Concentration of new development will protect nearly 279 square kilometres of open countryside, including natural open spaces between settlements and green

wedges around the edge of Leicester. The Local Plan will also contain a raft of policies to preserve woodland areas, waterways, air quality and biodiversity. It also gives careful consideration to creating sustainable communities which mitigate risks associated with climate change, including flooding.

How will local schools, roads and health services cope with development?

Infrastructure is considered carefully as part of the Local Plan process. Development of new homes has been allocated to areas with expected high demand for school places. This supports collaboration with partners to build or extend schools. Larger developments will include accessible retail and community facilities. The Council continues to work closely with highways and clinical commissioning groups to assess how to meet strategic need on major road networks and in health services.

How will this infrastructure be funded?

Strategic infrastructure, such as major roads, schools and health centres, is funded through a combination of multi-agency investment and contributions from developers. When large-scale developments are given planning permission, developers are asked to either provide or make contributions towards local infrastructure and services. These provisions are set out in Section 106 legal agreements. Such contributions could add up to around £200m for additional infrastructure and services between 2021 and 2037.

Why does the Council not build the infrastructure first and then build the homes?

The provision of infrastructure, such as schools, major roads and health facilities, is built based upon need. It involves other partner agencies which often have their own strategic plans and needs to meet. Resource management means that the infrastructure will be provided once need is demonstrated. For example, to fund a new primary school a critical mass of at least 700 new homes is required to create the necessary number of students to support the new school. As described above, the Council issuing permission for planning does not always mean that developers will go on to build homes.

What does the Local Plan do about jobs?

Economic growth is a key objective of the Council. The Local Plan has a strategy to meet the need for employment land. This includes provision for 81 hectares of employment land for office and general industrial use. Eleven sites are proposed to be allocated for employment purposes, including sites linked to the three sustainable urban extensions, Dishley Grange, Watermead Business Park and others. The Local Plan allocates 73 hectares for the extension of Loughborough University Science and Enterprise Park. Rural economic development will be generally supported through a specific policy which will include support to enable farm diversification and the conversion of existing buildings.

Why do we need to allocate more sites when the big SUE developments are yet to be built?

The three sustainable urban extensions to the west of Loughborough (Garendon Park), north of Birstall (Broadnook) and north east of Leicester (Thorpebury) will provide 8,355 new homes between now and 2037.  These sites will meet a large proportion of the identified housing need. However, council data shows that the number of houses contained in the SUEs, even when added to planning commitments already made for 2,248 homes in other parts of the borough, will still not be sufficient to meet the housing need identified by the Government plus the additional 10%. Therefore, the Local Plan allocates further sites to provide the remaining 8,951 homes.

How were the further sites allocated?

Sites are primarily allocated in line with the urban intensification and extension strategy described above. It should also be remembered that land must be available for development. In addition to this are considerations relating to neighbourhood planning, need for infrastructure and environmental considerations.

Why can’t we build more on brownfield sites?

There are 22 brownfield sites identified for housing development in the Local Plan. The Development Strategy will support applications which make efficient use of brownfield sites and buildings. The Local Plan is focussed on limiting the need for greenfield development. However, evidence from a number of studies has shown that there are not enough brownfield sites to meet the identified housing need. This means that allocations on greenfield sites must also be found.

	Greenfield Sites	Brownfield Sites	Total
Leicester UA	8	6	14
Loughborough	5	10	15
Shepshed	10	3	13
Service Centres	14	2	16
Other Settlements	10	1	11
Total	47	22	69

Won’t building more houses increase the risk of flooding?

The Local Plan is designed to work with nature to manage risk, increase resilience and maintain a sustainable environment. Development has been directed to areas with lowest risk of flooding. Strict rules have been put in place to ensure all new developments do not cause flooding problems and, in some cases, lower risk. Natural counterbalances such as Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) will manage rainwater flows and provide benefits for wildlife. Wetlands and pond systems have been identified. New buildings will be required to be designed to adapt to future weather extremes which may result from climate change.

How is increased need for affordable housing being addressed?

The Local Plan recognises the borough’s pressing need for provision of affordable housing. This is particularly the case in rural areas. Policy states that 30% of homes should be affordable on major developments. The threshold will be 10% on brownfield sites to encourage regeneration. The Local Plan has a clear focus on the need for a range of types and tenures of homes. This will meet changing social need. Extra care housing will also be required to support the ageing population.

How does the Charnwood Local Plan take account of the City of Leicester’s growth plans?

We have been working closely with Leicester City Council to assess the cumulative impacts of both of our proposed plans for growth and to ensure that infrastructure is coordinated, for example the provision of new schools and healthcare. Leicester City Council consulted on their draft Local Plan in late 2020.

You can view the draft Local Plan, strategic sites and non-strategic sites for Leicester at https://consultations.leicester.gov.uk/sec/draft-local-plan/]. Scroll to the bottom of this weblink to download/view these documents.

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The draft plan sets out how the Council will balance future growth in the area while making sure the environment is looked after and communities have the infrastructure they need.