Agenda item

Report attached.

The Leader of the Council submitted a report to notify Cabinet of the completion of a

key part of the evidence base for the new Local Plan, the Housing and Economic

Needs Assessment (HENA), and to inform Cabinet of the key findings of the study.

Approval of the report was not deemed a key decision.

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Reasons for Decision

The new Local Plan for Hyndburn was in preparation, and the Council was scheduled to commence a public consultation on it in February 2019. Separate papers would be brought to the February Cabinet meeting providing details of the proposed consultation material, and seeking approval to commence consultation.

The public consultation would include draft proposed planning policies recommending appropriate levels of housing growth and employment growth to plan for in the Borough to 2036. It will also consider the broad distribution of growth across settlements in the Borough. These policies will be detailed within the Core Strategy Review DPD. It will also present some initial site assessment information on a large pool of potential development sites referred to as the ‘long list of sites’. It is from these that the most suitable parcels of land will be taken forward in the Site Allocations DPD (part of the Local Plan) for formal allocation. Sufficient sites will need to be allocated to meet the growth for housing and employment set out in the Core Strategy Review DPD policies.

In support of development of the draft policies for the Core Strategy Review, in July 2018 the Council commissioned consultants GL Hearn to update the evidence base on housing and economic needs in the Borough over the plan period (2016-2036). This work has now been completed and is referred to as a Housing and Economic Needs Assessment (HENA). The study had been undertaken for the joint housing market area covering both Blackburn with Darwen and Hyndburn local authority areas, and builds on previous joint working undertaken through the Strategic Housing Market Assessment (in 2014).

The HENA study looked at housing need through analysis of demographics, market signals and economic forecasting. It looks at the need for general market housing, as well as affordable housing, older persons’ needs, and the appropriate housing mix to plan for by tenure. These are requirements set out by the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and matters that the Government expects to see addressed through local planning policies in development plans.

The HENA study also considered employment forecasts for the Borough. It begins by considering likely job growth under an economic baseline scenario derived from national economic forecasts. It goes on to set out what it considers and justifies as a local ‘economic growth scenario’ and provides forecast growth figures for that. The study concludes by considering the link between planning for future employment and housing growth, making recommendations for both in terms of the quantum of land required for allocation in the Local Plan.

Alternative Options Considered and Reasons for Rejection 

The HENA was part of the evidence base that the Council had prepared in support of its new Local Plan. The findings of the HENA, alongside other relevant considerations, will now be used to help draft Core Strategy policies for public consultation. The commission of the HENA was made to ensure that the emerging Hyndburn Local Plan was produced in accordance with Government Planning Practice Guidance, which requires plans to be based on up-to-date, robust evidence. The Local Plan would not be capable of passing the scrutiny of local communities and key stakeholders, nor successful Examination in Public, without robust and up-to-date evidence on the key matters of housing and economic growth.

Resolved                                  That Cabinet noted the findings of the HENA study and implications for planning policy in the emerging Local Plan.