Location of Development

3.11 Advice from the Government in PPG12 ‘Development Plans’ (1999), PPG13 ‘Transport’ (2001) and PPG3 ‘Housing’ (2000) and RPG12 (2002 and 2004) all stress the importance of promoting more sustainable locations for development. This involves maximising the use of the existing transport infrastructure and providing more high quality public transport opportunities to encourage people to travel by more sustainable modes where possible, reduce the need to travel and reduce associated pollution levels. The Plan also aims to achieve sustainable development objectives by promoting urban and rural regeneration and the strengthening of existing communities. Strategies to assist economic, social and environmental regeneration play a central role in making the District an attractive place in which to live and work.

3.12 An integrated approach to land use and transportation planning is essential if the Council’s aims of providing equality of opportunity for all, traffic growth reduction and the further development of sustainability are to be achieved. It is important that development does not exacerbate existing transport problems or create new ones and contributes to sustainable development objectives. In particular, travel opportunities for the disadvantaged (including people without access to a car, those with disabilities and those who are elderly) should be equally as good as for those who benefit from usage of a car, whilst opportunities to reduce the reliance upon the private car should be provided. It is therefore essential that the location of development is considered within a framework which takes into account public transport provision and general levels of accessibility for private cars. POLICY GP 2 ‘LOCATION OF DEVELOPMENT’ requires that development is located in sustainable locations and helps to define these by reference to transport corridors and previously developed land. For the purposes of the interpretation of the Policy Calderdale has three major transport corridors (a transport corridor is defined in POLICY GT 3 ‘STRATEGIC ROAD NETWORK’) -

  1. A58 East/A6036/A646/A58 West Corridor: Bradford-Shelf-Northowram-Halifax and Leeds-Hipperholme to Halifax continuing to Mytholmroyd, Hebden Bridge, Todmorden, Rochdale/Burnley and through Ripponden to Oldham, including the Caldervale Railway routes;
  2. A629 Huddersfield to Elland to Halifax to Illingworth (Keighley); and
  3. A641 Huddersfield to Brighouse to Bradford.

The sequence of preferred locations for development accords with those set out in RSS (2004) Policies P1 and H2.

Within rural areas, the Council will weigh the benefits of development in terms of the regeneration of the rural economy and social wellbeing, against any possible lack of public transport provision. The Council will not preclude development in rural areas just because of a lack of public transport provision. The following Part One Policies will therefore apply:-

POLICY GP 2

LOCATION OF DEVELOPMENT

IN ORDER TO PROMOTE DEVELOPMENT IN SUSTAINABLE LOCATIONS, REDUCE TRAVEL DEMAND AND TO PROTECT THE COUNTRYSIDE, ALL NEW DEVELOPMENT SHOULD BE SITED WITH REGARD TO THE FOLLOWING SEQUENCE OF LOCATIONAL PREFERENCES:-
  1. ON BROWNFIELD LAND WITHIN AN URBAN AREA WHICH IS WELL RELATED TO THE ROAD NETWORK, ACCESSIBLE BY GOOD QUALITY PUBLIC TRANSPORT, AND TO SERVICES/ FACILITIES WITHIN THE URBAN AREA;
  2. ON AN INFILL SITE WITHIN THE MAIN URBAN AREAS ACCESSIBLE BY GOOD QUALITY PUBLIC TRANSPORT, CLOSE TO SERVICES/FACILITIES AND SUBJECT TO ACHIEVING URBAN GREENSPACE AND CONSERVING OR ENHANCING THE CHARACTER OF THE AREA;
  3. ON A SITE WITHIN A TRANSPORT CORRIDOR FORMING AN EXTENSION TO THE URBAN AREAS OF HALIFAX, BRIGHOUSE OR ELLAND, SERVED BY GOOD QUALITY PUBLIC TRANSPORT, ACCESSIBLE TO JOB OPPORTUNITIES AND SERVICES/FACILITIES. PREFERENCE TO BE GIVEN TO A PREVIOUSLY DEVELOPED SITE BEFORE GREENFIELD LAND;
  4. WITHIN THE MARKET TOWNS OF TODMORDEN AND HEBDEN BRIDGE OR WITHIN THE SMALLER SETTLEMENTS OF MYTHOLMROYD, NORTHOWRAM, RIPPONDEN AND SHELF ON SITES ACCESSIBLE BY GOOD QUALITY PUBLIC TRANSPORT, WELL RELATED TO THE ROAD NETWORK, ACCESSIBLE TO JOB OPPORTUNITIES AND CLOSE TO SERVICES/FACILITIES. PREFERENCE TO BE GIVEN TO PREVIOUSLY DEVELOPED LAND BEFORE GREENFIELD SITES;
  5. ON A GREENFIELD SITE IN A TRANSPORT CORRIDOR, ACCESSIBLE BY GOOD QUALITY PUBLIC TRANSPORT, WELL RELATED TO THE ROAD NETWORK, ACCESSIBLE TO JOB OPPORTUNITIES AND CLOSE TO SERVICES/FACILITIES.

GREENFIELD SITES SHOULD BE AVOIDED AND ONLY REGARDED AS A LAST RESORT.

NOTE: This policy should be read in conjunction with the sequential approaches for shopping, leisure and housing development within the specific sections.

POLICY GP 3

DEVELOPMENT OUTSIDE URBAN AREAS

PROPOSALS ON ANY SITE OUTSIDE THE URBAN AREAS OR TRANSPORT CORRIDORS WILL BE EXPECTED TO DEMONSTRATE THAT THEY:-
  1. SUPPORT SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT PRINCIPLES;
  2. ARE ACCESSIBLE, OR CAN BE MADE ACCESSIBLE BY PUBLIC TRANSPORT;
  3. ARE EASILY ACCESSIBLE TO LOCAL FACILITIES, LOCAL POPULATION OR EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES;
  4. WILL SUPPORT RURAL DIVERSIFICATION OR REGENERATION.

THE INDIVIDUAL CIRCUMSTANCES OF EACH CASE WILL BE WEIGHED CAREFULLY TO ENSURE THAT SUITABLE SITES ARE NOT REJECTED.

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