Agenda item

(Planning Policy Portfolio Holder) To consider the attached report (C-027-2014/15).

(Housing Portfolio Holder) To consider the attached background paper alongside the main report and appendices (C-027-2014/15).

(1)        That the completion of the North Weald Bassett Masterplan be noted; and

(2)        That the North Weald Bassett Masterplan be accepted into the Local Plan Evidence Base.

The Portfolio Holder for Planning Policy presented a report on the North Weald Bassett Masterplan Study.

The Portfolio Holder reminded the Cabinet that a more detailed Masterplan exercise was commissioned to consider the way that the Airfield related to the wider village; this followed the decision in August 2013 that a mixed use approach to North Weald Airfield should be adopted, which retained aviation activities at the site. As a result, Allies and Morrison Urban Practitioners were commissioned to undertake the Masterplan study, which would identify a vision for the village and provide a clear framework of options for future development and investment.

The Portfolio Holder reported that the Masterplan had considered transport and movement options, the provision of new homes, economic opportunities including the role of the Airfield, shops and community services for the village, and the role of open space including the identification of a long term defensible green belt boundary. Three options had been developed: option 1 envisaged up to 500 new dwellings being built in North Weald Bassett over the next 20 years; option 2 envisaged approximately 1,000 to 1,200 new dwellings; and option 3 envisaged up to 1,600 new dwellings. The study offered two broad spatial scenarios for new development. Scenario A introduced new dwellings to the south east of the existing settlement, covering land towards the Ongar Redoubt and including part of the existing Golf Course. Scenario B extended residential development closer to the Airfield, up to Merlin Way. Suitable locations were also identified for commercial development, such as retail and leisure uses to support residential growth, and other locations for employment use including those relating to the Airfield.

The Portfolio Holder added that delivery of the Masterplan was envisaged over a long period of time, and a number of phasing principles had been set out to ensure that new development integrated with the existing development to avoid disconnected and isolated pockets of residential development, and to ensure adequate services, facilities and infrastructure to support the new housing proposed for each phase. The Study would feed into the Local Plan process and it was proposed to accept the Sstudy as part of the Evidence Base to inform future planning decisions taken by the Council.

The local ward Members for North Weald Bassett welcomed the report and hailed the public participation with the Masterplan exercise via the workshops. It was noted that the village was short of health facilities, which resulted in some residents of North Weald Bassett being covered by the surgery in Epping. The Director of Neighbourhoods explained that the Consultants had simply presented the scenarios in the report in a different order to which they had been presented at the public workshops, and that there was no further motive involved in this. The Portfolio Holder confirmed that no firm decisions yet had been taken, and that the Study was presented for inclusion in the Local Plan Evidence Base at the current time.

Decision:

(1)        That the completion of the North Weald Bassett Masterplan be noted; and

(2)        That the North Weald Bassett Masterplan be accepted into the Local Plan Evidence Base.

Reasons for Decision:

To enable the Council to work towards a sound new Local Plan, which used robust information and would be more likely to be accepted by the Planning Inspector at the Examination in Public.

Other Options Considered and Rejected:

To not accept the Masterplan study into the Local Plan at the current time, or to ask for additional work to be undertaken.