Prosperity local plan

Promoting a strong local economy that delivers its inclusive aspirations through effective partnerships, attracting investment, and increasing skills and employment opportunities.

Economy

We published an Economic Profile of the District in 2022 highlighting that the New Forest is the fourth largest economy in Hampshire. The leading business sectors include the marine, land-based activities, hospitality & leisure, manufacturing, and care sectors.

We will need to consider whether changes to retailing and the demand for floorspace mean that policies for retailing and town centres need updating. There are also policies related to tourism, and marine-related businesses (including protecting their waterfront access) in the 2014 Part 2 Local Plan, that the Council will need to consider updating. Evidence studies will also be carried out to understand the demand for new employment floorspace within other areas and not just town centres.

Why does it matter?

The NPPF sets out that local plans should set out a clear economic vision and strategy which positively and proactively encourages sustainable economic growth and that meets anticipated needs.

Encouraging a strong local economy and appropriately addressing economic/employment floorspace need is important because a strong local economy can create employment opportunities, bring inward investment, and contribute to creating sustainable and prosperous communities.

What are the issues?

a)   Need for employment land/floorspace

Ensuring we make provision for the delivery of an appropriate amount and type employment floorspace across the Plan Area to meet the need for local economic growth is something we need to address. The new Local Plan will need to set out the amount of floorspace or land to provide across the Plan Area, with the distribution based on the spatial strategy for the distribution of development. We will also need to consider the protection of existing employment land.

The Solent Freeport is a major economic intervention with expected significant future impact on the New Forest. Whilst planning applications for nationally significant development proposals would be likely to be determined by the government, there are likely to be implications for the local economy beyond the Freeport boundaries.

The Partnership for South Hampshire published an 'Economic,Employment and Commercial Needs (including logistics) Study' in 2021 which includes some information on future needs in the east of the Plan Area. We will also be commissioning our own needs study for the New Forest as part of our evidence base.

b)   Where can employment land or floorspace be delivered?

Potential locations for new employment allocations will need to be considered and these could form part of mixed-use new communities, providing local jobs near to where people live. Any new sites should relate to the scale and type of likely commercial demand for employment in these locations as identified by the economic needs evidence base. For example, this may include smaller scale office and industrial units.

c)   Solent Freeport

The Solent Freeport was officially designated in December 2022. Within the Plan Area there are four Freeport tax sites: Fawley Waterside, Fawley refinery complex, Marchwood Port and ABP Strategic Land Reserve. Marchwood Port is also a Freeport custom site. The Solent Freeport Full Business Case identifies that the initiative has the potential to unlock significant investment, create thousands of new jobs and enhance the region's credentials as a global gateway into the UK. The incentives to support investment on tax sites are now in place, including business rates relief and other incentives to support capital investment. At the same time, business rates growth which results from that investment will be pooled and reinvested in the area.

d)   Port employment

We will be commissioning a study to examine the indicative potential need for and the implications of the potential expansion on the Port of Southampton for land in the Plan Area. This will help to inform the policy approach and in particular the review of policies related to Marchwood Port, ABP Strategic Land Reserve and the former Fawley Power Station.

e)   Protection of Employment Land

Whilst there is considerable pressure to identify land for housing development, we will need to consider the degree to how we protect existing employment sites and whether there are any sites not suitable for continued employment use that should be allocated for housing. When considering this, it will be important to ensure the local economy is still able to function well and to grow and adapt to future requirements.

f)    Town and local centre uses

Town centre uses are defined within the NPPF, with retailing experiencing a decline in traditional 'high-street' shopping as consumers switch to on-line ordering and home deliveries, a trend which accelerated during the pandemic. Existing local centres, however, continue to provide a reasonably good range of services and facilities for the communities living within and around them.

Our current adopted Local Plan currently defines town centre boundaries and primary, and secondary shopping frontages, where different planning policies apply. Local shopping frontages are also defined for shopping parades elsewhere in most towns and in the large villages. We will need to consider whether the policy approach to these areas is still appropriate, with the objective of ensuring that they are/remain areas that are vibrant and resilient. We would also welcome your on whether the extent of the town centre and shopping frontage boundaries is still appropriate.

g)   Tourism

Tourism is an important part of the local economy. The National Park, whilst out of our Plan Area, is a major tourist attraction for day visitors and those who stay overnight in the many hotels and campsites. Businesses and residents from outside the National Park benefit from the economic and employment opportunities generated within it. There can be pressure for tourism related development that cannot be accommodated within the National Park. In addition, parts of the northwest of the Plan Area (for example, Fordingbridge and Cranborne Chase) and the coast (for example, Lymington) attract tourists.

Consultation questions:

43.  How can we make our high streets more vibrant?

44.  How can we ensure that the opportunities from the Solent Freeport designation are made available to all New Forest residents?

45.  Are there any existing business/employment sites that are no longer appropriate, or fit for purpose for that use and should be considered for alternative development?

46.  What should be our approach towards town centres and primary, secondary, and local shopping frontages? Do the boundaries that appear on our policies map need to be changed and if so, how?

47.  In relation to tourism, should we consider allocating new, or protecting existing, land or sites for new tourist attractions or accommodation?

Transport

Having sufficient and appropriate transport infrastructure is key as it is a vital way for how we move around the Plan Area, and wider New Forest, for both work and recreation.

Why it matters?

.The location of development can be critical to both the demand for travel and the way that demand is met. Residents of new homes will be significantly less reliant on the car-use if they are able to access other modes of travel. In the 2021 Census, across New Forest District. nearly 12% of people indicated that they did not have a car, this number increased in the towns of Totton (nearly 20%), and Ringwood, (nearly 17%).

.Lower density development, and poorly located development tends to be associated with increased car use due to the difficulty in providing viable public transport services at a frequency or cost that is a realistic alternative to the car. It is important to consider the issue of how to potentially increase densities close to services and facilities in accessible locations and along accessible transport corridors in order to improve accessibility.

The new Local Plan will identify future opportunities to achieve connectivity through sustainable modes of transport and active travel, a priority in the Hampshire Local Transport Plan 4. In terms of distance, many of the main towns in the Plan Area are located relatively close to one another, albeit around the edge of the National Park. Green Infrastructure and new walking and cycling routes provide opportunities to facilitate modal shift, acknowledging that public transport will be important, particularly for longer distances.

The approach to transport is also important in the context of designing and delivering high quality places and sustainable communities including a move towards Healthy Streets. Healthy Streets is a human-centred framework for embedding public health in transport, public realm, and planning. Focusing on the needs of people to use the environment can lead to more attractive communities with more space for landscaping and tree planting. Conversely insufficient road access or parking provision can lead to adverse environmental impacts.

What are the issues?

a)   Roads

Development inevitably leads to increased traffic on local roads, alongside background traffic growth. The NPPF makes it clear that development should only be prevented on highways grounds if there would be an unacceptable impact on highway safety, or the residual impacts on the road network would be severe. Where site specific development is being considered, plans should ensure that any significant impacts from development in terms of capacity and congestion or on highway safety should be cost effectively mitigated to an acceptable degree.

b)   Public transport

Although parts of our Plan Area have excellent local and regional rail links, there are large areas in the Avon Valley and the Waterside that do not have easy access to rail.

The towns and villages of the Plan Area, which surrounds the National Park, are currently relatively well served by bus with at least hourly frequencies connecting the local towns and providing access to Christchurch, Bournemouth, and Southampton. Some community transport provision is available across the Plan Area but is not an NFDC function. The viability of bus services in the future is unclear with current public subsidies subject to regular review.

Whilst the location and form of development are important to achieving modal shift, the provision of improved wider transport infrastructure is reliant on investment by the public sector (UK Government and County Council) and the private sector (for example, public transport operators). Higher density residential development should ideally be located close to existing public transport or be demonstrably capable of supporting new public transport routes.

c)   Travel by water

The Plan Area also has two ferry routes, the Hythe to Southampton ferry and the Lymington to Isle of Wight ferry. There may be potential opportunities to further support and encourage water-based travel in the area, notably on the Waterside.

d)   Active travel

Active travel comprises walking and cycling. This mode of travel offers health and wellbeing benefits as well as being zero carbon in operation.

The design and layout of development is important to encourage active travel choices. On larger sites the provision of attractive and convenient cycling and walking infrastructure is essential. Streets and public spaces can be designed so that the car does not dominate. All new buildings should have secure and accessible cycle parking.

The County Council has prepared a New Forest Waterside Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (2022). This identifies cycling and walking improvements required at the local level across the Waterside to encourage people to cycle or walk for local journeys. The County Council, NFDC, the National Park Authority and Forestry England have been working together to prepare a Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan for the remainder of the New Forest. This is expected to be finalised in 2025 and will identify an extensive network of cycle routes across the area, together with walking zones for the main residential settlements.

Consultation question:

48.  What are the key transport issues to be addressed to help new development come forward?

49.  How can our planning policies help make you, and our communities, travel by the sustainable modes of walking, cycling and public transport?

Viability

Many of the requirements that we place on development, including the percentage of affordable housing that we can realistically seek on housing development sites, will be based on viability evidence.

Why does it matter?

The principle of securing developer contributions towards infrastructure (including affordable housing) remains the same as before in the NPPF, in that both S106 and the Community Infrastructure Levy(CIL) are able to be collected. There are public benefits arising from the use of these contributions in providing infrastructure to support development. However, we will need to produce robust evidence to allow us to ensure that the development proposed creates sustainable development and incorporates many of the topics covered in this document.

What are the issues?

The value of a scheme is calculated through the 'residual valuation' method and is done at a plan level approach rather than on a case-by-case basis. This method establishes scheme value and then deducts the costs incurred to develop the scheme. These costs are comprised of build costs (materials and labour), developer's profit, finance costs, professional fees, land costs and Section 106 costs. If there is any surplus after these costs have been deducted from the scheme value, the scheme could accommodate additional affordable housing, CIL, or Section 106.

If scheme value is lower than total costs, then an adjustment needs to be made. One of the key variables on the cost side needs to fall (either land cost, profit, build costs or CIL) to ensure that the scheme is viable.

The last viability study was undertaken as part of our previous Local Plan review. As part of preparing our new Local Plan, we will need to undertake a new viability assessment which will also look to review our CIL Charging Schedule. Our previous study was undertaken prior to the imposition of nutrient neutrality issue which is known to have significantly impacted viability.