Comment
Draft City Vision for Southampton approved for consultation
The Southampton City Vision Local Plan – ‘Draft Plan with Options’ has been approved by the council cabinet for consultation this autumn.
This is the second time Southampton City Council will have undertaken a Regulation 18 consultation on their replacement Local Plan. This revised draft Plan sets out the updated key priorities and issues for the city over the coming decade. Following a limited discussion during the cabinet meeting, all members subsequently resolved to accept these recommendations.
Key issues
City centre strategy
Unsurprisingly, there is an emphasis for Southampton City Centre to be the focus for major high-quality development to enhance the city’s regional status. The draft Plan identifies several development sites within the city centre, including Ocean Village, College Street, Debenhams, Bargate, Albion Place and Marlands. However, a number of these sites are subject to recently granted planning permissions or construction is underway, so these are not new opportunities. There are two key areas for change within the city centre and wider central area which are targeted as being the main focus: Mayflower Quarter and Itchen Riverside.
Extending 84 ha, the Mayflower Quarter will be delivered in phases over the short, medium and long term through to 2040. The aim is to transform the area with a series of high-density developments which capitalise on the high-quality waterfront and heritage assets and enhance the connection between the Central Station, waterfront, Old Town and shopping area.
The Itchen Riverside will be redeveloped with high density residential, leisure, sport, employment and marine uses to reflect and enhance the city’s maritime character and improve connections to the city centre and waterfront.
Housing numbers / strategies
Southampton has faced challenges for a number of years in delivering housing, partly reflecting its geographical constraints as a waterfront city and the uplift applied to the city through the 2020 Standard Method. From the draft Plan, it is clear that the council are supporting major growth through the provision of new homes and seeking to maximise the scale of this growth. The draft Plan identifies an overall need for approximately 26,500 new homes in the city over the plan period (2022-2040).
There has been debate in recent years about the need for further student accommodation in the city. The universities are an integral part of the city, and the draft Plan identifies that the provision of high quality and healthy student accommodation is one of the key components in attracting students in the city. The approach to student accommodation within the draft Plan largely mirrors that within the adopted Development Plan. Support is given to the development of Purpose-Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) in sustainable locations, with the city centre being the council’s preferred option to facilitate the creation of vibrant and balanced communities.
Build-to-Rent (BTR) and co-living
Like many other cities, the demand for BTR and co-living housing schemes is ever increasing within Southampton. Whilst the council are supportive of this, there is emphasis within the draft Plan that BTR units should not become the dominant house type in any one area in order to ensure balanced and mixed communities. These schemes will be expected to provide a minimum of 35% affordable housing delivered as affordable private rent.
Affordable housing policy
The affordability of housing within the city is a prominent issue. With the council returning to a Labour led administration in May 2022, it is an identified priority. The updated affordable housing approach seeks provision of 35% affordable housing on sites of ten or more dwellings (or 0.5 ha). This is not significantly different from the position within the adopted core strategy which already requires 35% affordable housing on sites where 15 or more net dwellings are proposed. With regards to tenure split sites, the draft policy will be seeking a minimum of 25% of all affordable housing provision to be First Homes. Student accommodation continues to be exempt from affordable housing.
Tall buildings
Despite the plan setting out a clear vision for Southampton to accommodate significant housing growth and for the city centre to enhance its regional role, the draft policy continues to define ‘tall buildings’ as comprising just five or more storeys. With a need for increased residential densities to accommodate growth requirements, this could be perceived as unambitious for a city wanting to develop as a distinctly recognisable location. Albeit, unlike the adopted Development Plan, the draft Plan does include an option for tall buildings to be permitted within a 400m buffer of the city’s key transport hubs and corridors to promote the most efficient use of land.
Health Impact Assessment
Recognising the impact of the built environment on our health and wellbeing, the draft Plan outlines a new requirement for “substantial” development to be accompanied by a robust Health Impact Assessment (HIA). The definition for substantial development is yet to be confirmed but options comprise residential development 50 or 100+ dwellings, and for non-residential development 5,000 or 10,000 sq m. This shows that the council are placing a stronger emphasis on the wider determinants of health and looking to make this a priority.
Nitrogen neutrality
Nitrogen neutrality remains an issue on the Solent. The council recently approved a Nitrogen Mitigation Position Statement to ensure there are no adverse effects on the Solent international designations. The requirement for mitigation is already acknowledged in the adopted core strategy and, as expected, the draft plan indicates that the council will continue to work in partnership to implement strategic schemes to address these issues.
Looking forward
Consultation on the draft Plan will commence later this month. After a few false starts, it is positive to see progress being made towards a new local plan for the city. We look forward to engaging with Southampton City Council to inform the preparation of the plan and ensure this opportunity to deliver a positive and ambitious vision is grasped.
Please contact Cat White or Amelia Harford to discuss the opportunities and implications of the draft Plan on your sites.
31 October 2022