5.15.1 The Borough of Castle Morpeth has experienced development pressure for house building over a number of years. The 1981 - 1991 house building rate (Table 5.4) was in excess of those envisaged in the Structure Plan Alteration No. 1 which designated housing land to accommodate approximately 2,500 dwellings up to 1996.

5.15.1 The Borough of Castle Morpeth has experienced development pressure for house building over a number of years. The 1981 - 1991 house building rate (Table 5.4) was in excess of those envisaged in the Structure Plan Alteration No. 1 which designated housing land to accommodate approximately 2,500 dwellings up to 1996.

5.15.2 The Local Plan allocates sites of differing character and scale to meet the requirements of a variety of housing types, ranging from social needs housing to sites appropriate for special executive housing.

5.15.3 The Structure Plan Alteration No.1 covering the period 1981-1996 estimated a requirement for 2,500 new dwellings throughout the Borough. The replacement Structure Plan, upon which this Local Plan is based, identifies a similar requirement covering the period 1991-2006. The Council accepts this allocation as being appropriate for its area to fulfil housing needs arising from declining household size, housing for the elderly and single persons, social needs and general market requirements throughout the range of private housing development.

5.15.4 The Local Plan is required to allocate housing land up to 2006; this will ensure a continuing supply of housing land to meet Government requirements and to complement the Structure Plan. It is also intended to review the Plan within the plan period and make any alterations which may be appropriate.



TABLE 5.6 - HOUSING SUPPLY POSITION AT 30 JUNE 2002.

5.15.5 The existing sites completed, with planning permission or allocated in previous planning documents amount in total to 2032.

5.15.6 Land for 424 new dwellings has been allocated using the following criteria:-

i) Whether or not they utilise previously developed land in sustainable locations
ii) Their contribution to the regeneration of the coastal area of the Borough
iii) Accessibility by a variety of modes of transport
iv) Impact on the landscape and existing urban form.
v) Environmental impact.
vi) Availability of services and social and commercial facilities.
vii) Contribution to the development potential of the area.

All sites which have been previously allocated in the Plan have been evaluated, along with all those arising out of the Inspector's recommendations, the Morpeth Integrated Land Use and Transport Study and the Council's Urban Capacity Study. As a result a major shift in the sites present in the plan has taken place. This is consistent with the latest Government Guidance (Planning Policy Guidance Note 3, Housing 2000).

5.15.7 Advice from the County Council on the allocation of land for new housing development is to identify sites for around 2,500 new dwellings between 1991 and 2006. The Council takes the view that this will allow for a degree of flexibility, enabling the Council to make adjustments both for sites allocated in the Plan and which are not taken up and to judge on their individual merits applications for sites which have not been allocated, but for which a sound and genuine planning case can be made. As the Council considers that its major site allocations are appropriate in both scale and location, such applications would normally constitute modest or minor departures from the overall thrust of its housing land allocation strategy.

5.15.8 The Local Plan runs for the period 1991-2006 but it is necessary to provide a five-year land bank towards the end of the Local Plan period, in accordance with the requirements of P.P.G.3. This will be done in the review of the Local Plan once it is adopted. The Council's Urban Capacity Study has identified developed sites which have the potential to contribute to housing supply in due course and the Study will be updated regularly to inform the review process.

5.15.9 The Council is advised to take account of the level of housing provision which it is reasonable to expect will be found by way of "windfall" sites. In Castle Morpeth these have generally occurred on small sites within settlement boundaries and in the conversion of farm buildings for residential purposes although with the revision to PPG3 and the need to look at the development of sustainable brownfield sites prior to the release of Greenfield land, more previously developed sites are now coming forward from within the settlements. Research to identify these sites has been carried out as part of the Council's Urban Capacity Study and where specifically identified, these have been named in Policy H2.. The Council considers that approximately another 10 new dwelling units per annum could be created in this way and this will more than compensate for the small shortfall of dwelling units in the formal allocation under Policy H2. This will include sources from Government Guidance in "Tapping the Potential - A Companion Guide to PPG3" which have not been numerically identified in Policy H2 but referred to in table 5.6, above.