Developing a vision for Colchester

Colchester City (Local Authority Area) is an Authority that is exceptionally well placed to deliver much needed new homes. Colchester has great physical connections and transport links (including by rail, in under an hour) to London and its environs making it an incredibly sustainable location. As well as being a focus for economic growth, Colchester is home to many thriving communities which are supported by good quality services, facilities and infrastructure. This makes Colchester a desirable place to live and work and new homes will be required to meet existing and future local needs.

1. Meeting Housing Needs in full The most important opportunity for Colchester to 2041 will be in providing homes for all, in accordance with identified need. This is in line with supporting the government’s objective to significantly boost the supply of homes, and to address the housing needs of all groups. In line with paragraph 60 of the NPPF (2023), “…the overall aim should be to meet as much of an area’s identified housing need as possible, including with an appropriate mix of housing types for the local community”. The Council is starting to fall short of its adopted housing target. The adopted Local Plan allocates an annualised housing supply of 920 dwellings per annum (18,400 during plan period). The current trajectory of 8,505 properties from 2023/24 to 2033/34 and current completions of 8,793 indicate a current shortfall of 111 new homes (per annum) against the local plan targets. It will be important for the new Local Plan to address any emerging shortfall in the new homes being delivered in the current Local Plan period. Allocating additional sites where new homes can be delivered will be important for the Council to avoid experience another shortfall early on in the new Local Plan period. The Council’s latest published objectively assessed housing need update (November 2016) shows that Colchester has the highest housing need (920 dpa) of the Braintree / Colchester / Chelmsford / Tendring HMA (totalling 2,991 dpa) – with an affordable housing need of 267 dpa for Colchester (again the highest percentage of the 814 dpa in total across the HMA). Clearly, the Council will need to identify a significant supply of land going forward to address ongoing housing need across the City, and it is understood that it is collating its assessment of submissions made to a ‘Call for Sites’ exercise from October 2023 to January 2024. 2. Maintaining Housing Supply and Delivery The Council currently has a marginal housing land supply of 5.17 years which could soon result in speculative planning application being submitted on sites that were not allocated in the adopted Local Plan. The new Local Plan creates an opportunity to allocate sufficient sites in order to maintain a 5-year supply of housing land throughout the new Local Plan period. Over the past 5 years, Colchester has scored highly in the Housing Delivery Test but the most recent score is significantly below the peak in 2021. The is a risk that the Council will not be able to meet its Housing Delivery Test requirements over the upcoming year given the emerging shortfall of 111 new homes per annum as set out above. Delivering the new homes required is an important opportunity for Colchester. This can be achieved by allocating sites in sustainable locations that are free from insurmountable constraints and are capable of being delivered. 3. Allocating Deliverable Sites The Local Plan provides an important opportunity for local residents to have a say on where new homes are to be located. Allocating new sites that can deliver much needed new homes early in the Local Plan period will be incredibly important to achieving this. A key risk is the failure to allocate sufficient sites to meet the Authority’s housing need, which will result in a housing land supply shortfall and an influx of speculative planning applications. Gleeson Land is promoting a site known as ‘Land north of Bromley Road, Colchester’ (Site ID ref: 10616 of the Council’s latest Call for Sites 2023 – as shown on the red-line plan below). This site extends to 11ha and can provide circa 250 new homes, alongside both community and green infrastructure (including well-designed public open space). This site (Site ID ref: 10616), is located adjacent to the existing settlement boundary and would represent an extremely logical extension to the existing settlement. The edge of settlement location results in a highly sustainable location within Colchester. New residents of this development would be within a 10-minute walk to local shops, schools and playgrounds. This site (Site ID Ref 10616) could be delivered early in the Local Plan period because there are no insurmountable constraints to development. The site benefits from being located within Flood Zone 1 (which has the lowest probability of flooding from rivers and the sea) and there are no designated heritage assets or environmental assets either on the site or within its setting. As well as the provision of circa 250 much needed new homes for local people, the allocation of this site has the potential to deliver additional benefits, including: • New and accessible green infrastructure; • New Play spaces LEAPs / LAPs; • Biodiversity net gain; • A range of new homes, including those which are affordable; • Local road improvements; • Investment in the local economy; • Job creation and skills training; • Improve bus, pedestrian and cycle links, and • Investment in existing local facilities. It would also be prudent to consider this site in the context of the Tendring Colchester Borders Garden Community – which it borders (immediate to the east) – the commitment to which is noted by virtue of the DPD at Examination this May 2024. New residents of Site ID Ref 10616 would be able to benefit from the new facilities within the Garden Community.

Colchester should be known (in 2041) for: 1. The delivery of outstanding new homes that local people can be proud of that meet the housing need in full and are located on sites allocated in the Local Plan. This should include the allocation Site ID Ref 10616 which can deliver circa 250 new homes on an exceptionally sustain-able site early in the Local Plan period along with: • New and accessible green infrastructure; • New Play spaces LEAPs / LAPs; • Biodiversity net gain; • A range of new homes, including those which are affordable; • Local road improvements; • Investment in the local economy; • Job creation and skills training; • Improve bus, pedestrian and cycle links, and • Investment in existing local facilities. 2. Colchester should be comprised of strong, vibrant and healthy communities (in line with the sustainable objectives of the NPPF 2023). 3. In particular, affordable provision should be made to address the identified need across the Colchester City Council administrative boundaries.