Residential development policy in West
Lancashire
Have your say on new housing policy
From 18 February until 18 March 2010, we are seeking people's
views on a proposed new housing policy for West
Lancashire.
The new policy recognises the need to maintain a healthy
supply of housing land in the borough, as well as the need for
affordable housing, especially in the villages. It also
reflects recent changes in national and regional
policy.
The new policy - if adopted - would allow market housing in most
of West Lancashire’s settlements. However, other Local
Plan policies would remain in force, for example policies
protecting open space, employment land, and Green Belt.
The settlements where we propose to allow housing have been
chosen based on the number of services and
facilities they offer, as set out in our Sustainable
Settlement Study.
How to comment
Please complete a feedback form and either email or
post it to us at the address below.
- Post: Stephen Benge, Planning LDF Team, West Lancashire Borough
Council, 52 Derby Street, Ormskirk, L39 2DF
- Email: ldf@westlancs.gov.uk
We are particularly keen to hear your views on:
- What targets and thresholds for affordable housing should we
set?
- Is the list of settlements where we propose to allow housing
correct?
Deadline for comments is 5.00pm on Thursday 18
March 2010.
Latest housing land supply position
The 2009 Annual Monitoring Report (AMR), provides the
latest statement of housing land supply in West Lancashire. It
concentrates on the period 2010-15.
The 2009 AMR states that we have just over a five year supply of
housing land in the borough.
Background to West Lancashire housing
policy
Our current residential development policy is set out
in Policy
DE1 (35KB) of the
West Lancashire Replacement Local Plan. From 2002 until
now, housing policy in West Lancashire has been very
restrictive. This has been due to the fact that a significant
proportion of our housing targets (set in the Joint Lancashire
Structure Plan) had been developed or had received planning
permission relatively early in the Structure Plan period. Also, at
a regional level, the policy approach was to constrain development
in certain areas in order to "kick start" redevelopment in other
areas where the housing market had failed, e.g. inner city
areas.
More recently, national and regional policy has set out a new
approach to housing provision. A new regional plan was
published in September 2008 - the Regional
Spatial Strategy for the North West (external link). This
document contains higher housing requirements for West
Lancashire than the Structure Plan, which it replaces.
In January 2009, we published a housing policy guidance
note setting out how Policy DE1 would be treated in the light
of new regional and national policy. We also updated our
"Managing Housing Land Supply" supplementary planning guidance
(SPG) note, reflecting changes to policy documents since
2004. The 2009 policy guidance note and updated SPG should be
read together.
During January and February 2010, the Council’s Cabinet,
Executive Overview and Scrutiny Committee and Planning Committee
considered a report on housing land policy. This report
highlighted the need to secure more housing development in West
Lancashire, in order to maintain a five year supply of housing
land. It also looked at how we can procure more affordable
housing, given the low levels of affordable housing that have been
built in the borough in recent years. The report proposed a
draft new housing policy for consultation, with a view to the
policy, once adopted, lasting until the adoption of the forthcoming
LDF Core Strategy.
Contact us
For more information on the above, please contact:
Ian Gill, LDF Strategy and Environment Manager
Tel: 01695 585 192
Stephen Benge, Principal Planning Officer
Tel: 01695 585 274
Email: ldf@westlancs.gov.uk
Related information