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DEVELOPMENT – HOUSING

Strategic Objective

To meet diverse local housing needs taking into account changing demographics and social requirements

Housing Needs, Development & Growth Projections

The settlement of Holwell is one of a group of 200+ populations identified in the Local Plan. Holwell is deemed not to have sufficient facilities to be considered a sustainable settlement where development should be focused, but as a settlement with no defined development boundary it may have some limited growth to meet its local needs. Away from the settlement, it is considered to be countryside where development will be strictly controlled, having particular regard to the need for the protection of the countryside and environmental constraints.

Although there have been different rates of growth historically, at the start of the 21st century (in the 15 years from 2000 - 2015) there was a very low rate of development due to the restrictive planning policies in place.  No new homes at all were built between 2006 and 2014. Following a prolonged period of little or no development, the pace of development within the parish will now accelerate significantly over the next few years, due in part to permitted development rights introduced in 2014 allowing barn conversions, and the fact that in 2016, with the absence of a 5 year housing land supply across West Dorset and perceived need for affordable housing for Holwell and the surrounding parishes, a major development of 14 new affordable dwellings was considered, and although initially refused, it was allowed on appeal in early 2017, with construction now underway. All six of the other dwellings for which planning permission had then been obtained have been constructed, and additional later planning permissions have since resulted in the conversion of two farm buildings (under permitted development rights), erection of a new annexed dwelling and siting of a temporary mobile home for an agricultural worker, to support that business and allow the case for a permanent new dwelling to be made.  Furthermore, one of the sites (Westbourne) which was allocated for development under the first iteration of this Neighbourhood Plan now has permission and construction work is underway

The Local Plan does not set specific housing need targets for areas such as Holwell. If the development strategy had simply been to distribute the projected housing need for the wider housing market area on a pro-rata basis (if all areas were equally sustainable to build in), the potential ‘target’ for the amount of development within Holwell parish for the plan period of April 2017 to March 2031 would have been about 26 dwellings. However Holwell is much less sustainable in terms of access to local facilities, services and employment opportunities – and since the withdrawal of the bus service in 2019, people are totally reliant on private cars for most trips. Although development may bring some limited benefits (helping sustain local services and facilities in Holwell and the nearby settlements of Bishops Caundle and Kings Stag), any housing needs assessment would suggest a much lower figure than this ‘pro-rata’ estimate.  The formula for calculating the housing target for Holwell proposed in the 2018 Local Plan Review (Preferred Options stage) would indicate a minimum target of 3 dwellings in the period 2016 to 2031.  The potential revised target that may be included in the new Dorset Plan is scheduled for consultation in early 2021, and is proposing a housing target for the Holwell Neighbourhood Plan Area of 35 new homes, for the 17 year period 2021 – 2038.  This figure is made up from the existing consents and current Neighbourhood Plan allocations (20 homes in total) and a windfall allocation of 15 homes (based on the past windfall development rates in the parish from 2014 - 2020).  The windfall development would be the barn conversions and rural workers dwellings that would comply with existing planning policies or permitted development rights, and as such there is no need to increase the amount of sites allocated for housing above that already included in the 2019 made plan.

In terms of identified housing need, 11 households responded to the Neighbourhood Plan Questionnaire in October 2016 stating that someone in their household would be requiring accommodation, the majority of who were children who would be wanting a place of their own on reaching adulthood. Of these, three would be looking to buy a property, three looking for social (affordable) housing, two looking to self-build, one looking for a starter home and two did not specify. The main need was for 2-bedroom homes. In July 2020, Dorset Council confirmed that there were 2 households with a local connection to Holwell on the Dorset Home Choice register, one requiring 1 bedroom home, and one requiring 2 bedroom home. 

As such, the existing consents (including the 14 affordable dwellings permitted at Crouch Lane) and the potential for agricultural barn conversions (that may continue to come forward through permitted development rights) already satisfy the predicted quantum of housing needed. If anything, any remaining need is very limited and would be for open market housing (custom or self-build).

Why we are allocating sites for housing

The clear message that local people have said from the start is that, if more housing is needed, the type of development that they would like to have would be small infill of perhaps 1 or 2 houses per plot, particularly for more affordable housing types such as small family homes, homes for single people and starter homes, providing some limited, incremental growth. Back land development (behind existing houses) and larger sized developments (e.g. 6 or more dwellings) are not wanted.
Despite on paper already having more than enough housing to meet any projections of local needs, or perhaps partly because of the focus on affordable housing at Crouch Lane, local residents still consider that there is scope for some new build open market housing within the village. Their responses indicated support for about 3 new dwellings (in addition to that which would come forward through existing policies i.e. conversions, affordable housing and rural workers dwellings). This was considered a reasonable level of growth by officers of the Local Planning Authority, and would mean that Holwell was certainly providing its ‘fair share’ of housing.

The site assessment and selection process is described in the Site Assessment and Selection Report that forms part of the supporting evidence to this Plan.  A summary of the submitted sites and main issues identified is   set out in Appendix P4 with a map showing the location of all sites submitted at Appendix P5.

Housing Policies

The first version of this plan made provision for 4 new sites to be allocated for housing (limited to 1 dwelling per site). One of those houses, at Westbourne, is now under construction and therefore no longer needs to be allocated.  The remaining three development plots will supplement the Local Plan policies that support affordable housing, rural workers dwellings and affordable housing rural exception sites. The sites are shown on the Policy Maps at Appendices P6 – Fosters Hill and P7 – The Borough.

The Local Planning Authority and Highways Authority have been consulted, and ecology surveys have been undertaken for two of the proposed sites, to ensure there are no obvious issues that might prevent the development of these sites. The main findings from these assessments are contained in Appendix P8 and the conclusions should be considered in the detailed design if a more recent ecology assessment is not made available. In August 2020 a planning application was submitted to Dorset Council for 1 dwelling on the site adjacent to Gunville House.  The landowner of the site between Roseacre & Newhaven, Fosters Hill is also likely to submit a planning application in the next 12 months, whilst the plot adjacent to The Rectory, Pulham Road is more likely to come forward in the latter part of the plan period.  The development of these sites will need to accord with the other policies in this Neighbourhood Plan.

The Local Plan allows the conversion of existing buildings to open market housing or built tourist accommodation adjoining settlements such as Holwell. Although this would be appropriate for sites fronting onto the highway, in Holwell it is not considered appropriate where it would result in back land development (such as in the fields to the rear of existing development, where development would have the potential to  create a separate plot to the rear (even if the proposal were to use the building in relation to the main house)), and the following policy has therefore been included in this plan. This does not impact on permitted development rights, which are set nationally, and include clearly defined clauses and conditions.

In 2020 there were 11 affordable homes in the parish, all of which are managed by Magna Housing Association.  A further 14 affordable homes are being constructed at Crouch Lane for Stonewater Housing Association, of which 10 will be for affordable rent, and the other four available for shared ownership.  These are expected to be completed in the summer of 2021.

Although the Magna Housing Association site was not selected within the top three sites for housing, local residents indicated that they would support its use for affordable housing should a need arise. At the time of writing this plan, the likely need for affordable housing was more than accommodated for on the Crouch Lane affordable housing site adjoining the Nursery School (ref. WD/D/15/002295). However this may not be sufficient for the whole plan period of April 2017 to March 2031, and it is important that any identified need arising from a local community can be met. As such, the Magna site has been included in  this plan.  If developed, future occupancy will also be prioritised for people with a local connection (for example those living or working in the local area, or with close family in the area).

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