Council ‘falls behind’ in delivering new homes
MERTHYR Tydfil council has fallen behind on its delivery of housing in the local development plan (LDP).
The targets the council is and is not currently meeting on housing, employment, open spaces and renewable energy were discussed by the neighbourhood services, planning and countryside scrutiny committee this week.
The annual LDP monitoring report for 2022 assesses how the replacement 2016-31 plan’s strategy, policies and sites are being delivered.
It said most aspects of the plan and its strategy are working well, and the policies of the replacement LDP are being implemented effectively.
But the overall housing delivery has dropped below the level required at this point in the plan period, with completions 20% lower than they need to be.
It also found targets are not being met in relation to the delivery of allocated employment land and the number of jobs delivered and a target is not being met in relation to the improvement of priority open spaces using funding gained through the planning system.
The annual monitoring report said the target for heat generating renewable energy development across the county borough has not been met.
However, the majority of development (91.5%) has been permitted on previously developed land.
It also said affordable housing continues to be delivered in accordance with the target although there remains a high level of need for affordable housing, particularly in relation to single person accommodation.
And the annual monitoring report also said policies that seek to protect environmental and historic designations have been implemented effectively, with no development granted contrary to the relevant policies.
Overall housing delivery
As at April 2022, 561 houses have been completed across the county borough, which translates as 20% less than the target outcome of 705 completions but this is the first year that completion levels have been 20% less than target.
The committee report said this is an issue that will need to be closely monitored in future years with actions that aim to increase housing delivery included in this year’s annual monitoring report.
But the officer told committee that there’s a reasonable chance they can pick up the slack partly because of the size of the county borough and said the targets are achievable particularly with the larger sites that are coming forward.
Employment land and jobs
The monitoring report showed there has not been any development on allocated employment sites over this monitoring period of the replacement LDP.
It said that due to the nature of employment developments being relatively large in terms of area and floorspace this is likely to happen irregularly, and in sudden increases, rather than in smaller regular increments.
It also said these allocations are primarily large sites aimed at single, large employers, and with their associated infrastructure costs, may only prove to be more attractive when market conditions improve and/or when specialist users are found.
Discussions in relation to a significant development on the allocated Goatmill Road site are ongoing, with a planning application submitted during the monitoring period currently awaiting a decision.
No class B jobs were delivered over this monitoring period of the replacement LDP but there have been 118 jobs created since the adoption of the replacement LDP in 2016.
While a small number of class B developments were delivered during the monitoring period, they related to existing employment activities and did not provide any extra jobs.
However, as these developments result in expansions, they have the potential to increase the amount of jobs at these existing sites, the monitoring report said.
An application was approved during the monitoring period, which could provide an additional 12 class B jobs once it’s finished.
The number of jobs delivered per year will need to increase significantly to meet the target of 1,251 jobs by March 2026, the monitoring report said.
Priority open spaces
No priority open spaces benefited from section 106 or Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) funding during the monitoring period with two having benefited since the start of the plan period.
The monitoring report said the council has recently approved a significant capital programme to refurbish and/or replace existing playgrounds across the county borough in order to improve the quality and accessibility of play provision.
Four playgrounds were refurbished during the monitoring period (Twyncarmel; Well Street, Cefn Coed; Glantaf Road, Troedyrhiw and Lewis Street, Bedlinog) with another five playgrounds planned in 2022-23.
The council’s open spaces strategy is due to be reviewed, and a key component of the updated strategy will be to ensure a coordinated approach regarding spending funding from CIL/S106 and other sources on priority open spaces, the monitoring report said.
However, it said the majority of development (91.5%) has been permitted on previously developed land which is above the target of at least 75%.
The amount of development permitted during the period covered in this report covers 71 hectares and of this a total of 65 hectares was permitted on previously developed land.
Affordable housing completions have been delivered at levels in line with the target outcome up to and including 2021, the monitoring report said.
As at April 2022, 106 affordable houses have been completed across the county borough which translates as 8% below the target level but this is the first year that completions have been less than the target level.
During the monitoring period, three affordable homes were secured on-site as part of the housing allocation at Brondeg, which is 10% of the total number of houses on that development.
As at March 2022, 80 units have been secured through planning obligation, indicating that the policy is being effectively implemented, and the target of 118 units by 2026 remains achievable, the monitoring report said.
What the council is doing to increase housing supply
The committee report said: “It is encouraging that the strategy and many policies of the replacement LDP have been working effectively since adoption, whilst there are indications that housing delivery, and the delivery of employment land will require a particular focus over the next few years it is important to be mindful of the impact the Covid pandemic will have had on the ability to deliver these aspects of the plan.”
Actions the council is taking to increase the supply of housing include discussions between the planning department, the regeneration department and the landowner of the Hoover factory site to determine the most appropriate way to deliver the allocation there.
The planning department are also working closely with the housing strategy and corporate property teams and registered social landlords to bring forward several housing schemes to meet a variety of differing housing needs such as homelessness, supported accommodation, adapted properties, temporary accommodation and others.
The council is looking to use funding available from Development Bank Wales in order to bring forward several sites using the Self Build Wales model to diversify the housing offer in the county borough.
The housing department has also been closely involved with the registered social landlords that operate in the county borough to complete several sites that have stalled due to contractors going out of business which should result in schemes at East Street, Dowlais and north of Pant Industrial Estate being completed during the next monitoring period.
And an application for 121 houses in Twynyrodyn was approved at planning committee on October 19, which the committee report said will result in a “significant number of dwellings” being delivered over the next two to three years.
Councillor Clive Jones said he thinks the review period is very important and said they council has got to determine what they can do with the circumstances facing them at the time.