Colchester City Council Preferred Options Local Plan Regulation 18 Consultation 2025

We agree that development should be designed to help reduce health inequalities for people of ages. However, specific provision to meet the significant and increasing need for older people’s housing and care is a “health and wellbeing outcome” that should be embedded in the policies of the plan but unfortunately is not.

Proposed change(s):

The part of the policy that reads:

In addition, and where appropriate, new development should support the provision of healthcare infrastructure to accommodate needs, in accessible locations, in line with the requirements outlined in the Infrastructure Delivery Plan and set out in site allocation policies.

Should be amended to read:

In addition, and where appropriate, new development should:

• provide older people’s housing and/or care to meet the significant and increasing needs, in sustainable locations, for these specialist types of housing/accommodation; and
• support the provision of healthcare infrastructure to accommodate needs, in accessible locations, in line with the requirements outlined in the Infrastructure Delivery Plan and set out in site allocation policies.

The distribution of new housing to the settlements listed in the settlement hierarchy pays little regard to their position in the hierarchy. Within the Growth and Opportunity Areas category there is a broad range of housing numbers allocated. The same is true of the Large Settlements and Medium Settlements.

Paragraph 3.23 states that growth is allocated appropriate to the size of the settlement. This is clearly false otherwise all large settlements would have similar housing numbers allocated to them, or a similar order of housing numbers at least. This stated approach also needs to have regard to the true size of each settlement (as measured by population size), not just the size category in which each settlement is placed for the purposes of the settlement hierarchy. The same goes for Medium Settlements.

The distribution of housing numbers among the Large Settlements and among the Medium Settlements is therefore flawed. Particularly so in the case of the Medium Settlements, where:

• Langham has allocations for 900 dwellings despite having a population of only 1,000;
• Great Horkesley has allocations for 400 dwellings with a population of 2,700; and
• West Bergholt has allocations for only 250 dwellings with a population of 3,300.

The housing numbers allocated to each of the Medium Settlements should therefore be amended to ensure that they are:

1. of a similar order; AND
2. proportional to the actual size of the settlement (as measured by population size).

Proposed change(s):

The relevant part of the policy is:

Additionally, an appropriate level of growth is allocated within the large, medium and some small settlements, based on the opportunities and constraints of each settlement and informed by the wider evidence base. This can help support the long-term viability of services and facilities, which may otherwise be lost.

No changes are necessary to this part of the policy ASSUMING THAT the housing allocations in Table ST5.2 of Policy ST5 are amended to deliver a more even and proportional distribution of housing numbers across the Medium Settlements.