MAIDSTONE BOROUGH COUNCIL

 

Planning, Transport and development overview and scrutiny committee

 

19 November 2013

 

REPORT OF The head of planning and development

 

Report prepared by Darren Bridgett  

 

1.                    Green and Blue Infrastructure Strategy

 

1.1                 Issue for consideration

 

1.1.1            To consider the draft Green and blue infrastructure strategy, attached as Appendix 1, as the strategic basis for green and blue infrastructure delivery. It is proposed that the strategy is approved for targeted stakeholder engagement. This will inform the production of the Maidstone Borough Local Plan (MBLP) and a supplementary planning document (SPD), which will add further detail in due course.

 

1.2                 Recommendation of the Head of Planning and Development

 

1.2.1            That the Planning, Transport and Development Overview and Scrutiny Committee (PTD OSC) recommends to Cabinet that the draft Green and blue infrastructure strategy, attached as Appendix 1, is approved for targeted stakeholder engagement.

 

1.3                 Reasons for recommendation

 

1.3.1            Terminology

               For the purposes of the report, open spaces, green spaces and green and blue infrastructure (GBI) are interchangeable terms.

 

1.3.2            The draft Green and blue infrastructure strategy

The draft GBI strategy is a strategic level document. The core content of the document deals with principles, but does not examine GBI with site specific detail. The document comprises:

 

·               Policy context – understanding how the existing international, national, regional and local policy structure already addresses GBI issues and how this affects what the council is aiming for with the GBI strategy.

·               Existing green and blue infrastructure resource – an overview of the resources already present in the borough and the key issues facing them.

·               Vision and objectives – a proposed vision and set of objectives for how the borough will address GBI issues in the next 20 years.

·               Opportunities and draft proposals – strategic proposals for GBI, taking on board best practice examples from relevant local schemes not necessarily located in the borough.

·               Next steps – further work that is necessary to give the strategy detail and make it measurable. This report discusses necessary next steps.

 

1.3.3            The purpose of the GBI strategy is to:

 

·               Bring increased certainty about the importance of this key part of the borough’s environment.

·               Maximise the number of overlapping benefits of green and blue infrastructure by looking holistically at each area to ensure it is delivering as many benefits as possible.

·               Co-ordinate a wide range of stakeholder interests and focus limited resources on a number of interlinked proposals to maximise the benefits for green and blue infrastructure.

·               Act as a basis for attracting resources including grant funding and the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) – where qualifying infrastructure projects are identified.

·               Form the basis for GBI delivery, through policies in the emerging Maidstone Borough Local Plan and an SPD, which will set quantitative and qualitative standards for different types of green [and blue] space and provide detailed guidance to developers, partners and decision makers on its future provision.

 

1.3.4            The draft strategy therefore works not only within the remit of planning – planning will be an equal partner, certainly with other sections in the council, e.g. Parks and open spaces, or Community and leisure.

 

1.3.5            Green and blue infrastructure in planning

               Development is considered sustainable if it is in line with the guidance found within the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). The three broad topic areas which the framework seeks to guide are the economy, society and the environment.

 

1.3.6            GBI relates specifically to the environmental aspect of these three topics. The infrastructure itself is the identified green space, water and ecological environment essential to maintaining the quality of people’s lives. This is covered in more detail at 1.3.8.

 

1.3.7            Types of green and blue infrastructure

               GBI is commonly considered to be:

 

·               Natural and semi-natural green spaces – including woodlands, scrub, grasslands (e.g. downlands, acid grasslands, commons and meadows), wetlands, open and running water and rock areas (e.g. quarries).

·               Green and blue corridors – including river corridors, river and canal banks, cycleways/bridleways and rights of way.

·               Outdoor sports space – (with natural or artificial surfaces and either publicly or privately owned) including pitches for football, cricket, rugby, tennis courts, bowling greens, golf courses, school and other institutional playing fields.

·               Parks and gardens – including urban parks, country parks and formal gardens.

·               Amenity green space – (most commonly, but not exclusively in housing areas) including informal recreation spaces, greenspaces in and around housing, domestic gardens and villages greens.

·               Provision for children and teenagers – including play areas, skateboard parks, outdoor basketball hoops and other more informal areas (e.g. ‘hanging out’ areas, teenage shelters).

·               Allotments and community gardens.

·               Cemeteries and churchyards.

·               Accessible countryside and nature reserves.

 

1.3.8            The benefits of green and blue infrastructure

The benefits that green and blue infrastructure can bring are:

 

·               Maintaining and enhancing biodiversity, water and air quality.

·               Promoting a distinctive townscape and landscape.

·               Achieving a quality environment for investment and development.

·               Providing opportunities for sport, recreation, quiet enjoyment and health.

·               Integrating sustainable movement and access for all.

·               Providing community involvement and opportunities for education.

·               Mitigating and adapting to climate change.

 

1.3.9            How the council currently delivers green and blue infrastructure

               The Green spaces for Maidstone strategy (GSS), adopted in 2005, sets the strategic green infrastructure direction for the council. For planning purposes, the GSS is interpreted by policy OS1 – Open space, adopted as the single policy of the Open space development plan document (DPD) in 2006. This policy requires the contribution of open space, based on standards defined in the GSS. The draft GBI strategy would replace the GSS and update many of its objectives.

 

1.3.10         Interpretation of the Green and blue infrastructure strategy in the Maidstone Borough Local Plan

               For planning purposes, the draft strategy supports policies within the emerging MBLP – DM9 – Historic and natural environment and DM10 – Open space and recreation.

 

1.3.11         Supplementary planning document

               A Green and blue infrastructure SPD will be produced that expands on the proposed MBLP planning policies – the SPD will:

 

·                Take forward the aspirations for green spaces and the water environment set out in the local plan and GBI Strategy and provide detailed guidance to developers, partners and decision makers on future provision

·                Promote the provision of quality green space and water environments which are readily accessible to all

·                Set quantitative and qualitative standards for different types of green space provision

·                Explain whether the green space/ water environment should be provided on site – critical thresholds of the scale of development for on-site provision and the relationship with CIL when developer contributions may be appropriate instead of on-site provision, and the appropriate financial contributions sought, including for longer term maintenance, and

·                Establish at what stage of a development green space and water environments should be provided (trigger points on large scale developments).

 

To inform the SPD, the GBI strategy will develop an action plan, with a timeframe for action. Necessary further work, detailed below, will provide the basis for the action plan and the SPD.

 

1.3.12         The continuity of strategy and planning policy

For comparison, the equivalent strategies and planning policies are:

 

	Current	Proposed replacement
Strategic level	Green spaces strategy, 2005.	Green and blue infrastructure strategy, 2013/14. (Proposed adoption 2014).
Planning policy level	OS1 – Open space, 2006.	DM9 – Historic and natural environment. DM10 – Open space and recreation. (To be adopted as part of the Maidstone Borough Local Plan).
Supplementary guidance level	None.	Green and blue infrastructure SPD. (To be adopted following in due course following adoption of the Maidstone Borough Local Plan).

 

1.3.13         Next steps – further evidence work

               The council is commissioning an audit of existing open spaces, this is due to be completed in April 2014. The purpose of the audit is to update the baseline knowledge of open space resource in the borough and to refine it with knowledge gained since 2005 and 2007.

 

1.3.14         Next steps – refining open space types

               Officers are proposing that for the audit of open spaces, the eight categories of open space outlined in the GSS, for which provision is currently sought by policy OS1, should be examined to understand their ongoing relevance in terms of provision requirement. There is an issue to address between the relevance of open space types in their everyday usage/function and what is realistic to seek provision for through development. Specifically, three categories are proposed to be reviewed:

 

Open space type	Reason for review
Green (and blue) corridors	These serve an important function, linking in particular the centre of Maidstone with the surrounding countryside and providing routes for sustainable travel. However, it is difficult to measure the corridors in terms of provision standards, they are a more conceptual feature of GBI than physical, and as such it is questionable if development can provide new corridors. Corridors should continue to be recognised as such but their value is qualitative rather than quantitative.
Parks and gardens	There is a question of whether the true value of parks and gardens is being recorded. In Mote Park a significant portion of the park could be recorded as natural and semi-natural green space, which provides a significant resource to the local community, yet if the parks and gardens categorisation remains, this and other resources might not be adequately recorded. Outside of the urban area, parks and gardens are already assessed in terms of provision by their component green space types.
Cemeteries and churchyards	Cemeteries and churchyards provide an important resource, not least for bereaved relatives. The issue, however, is how these are planned for and whether their provision is truly a matter for an open space policy. It is proposed that cemeteries and churchyards be recorded as amenity green space.

 

1.3.15         Next steps – defining standards

               The results of the open space audit will inform an iterative process where officers will be able to determine new provision standards. When these standards have been developed and agreed with members, they will be subject to a topic specific public consultation, which would need to take place before being included in policy DM10 – Open space and recreation, in the emerging MBLP. This inclusion will be at the regulation 19 stage consultation of the local plan.

 

1.3.16         Next steps – stakeholder engagement

               While the audit of open spaces is being undertaken, the GBI strategy will need to be refined through targeted stakeholder engagement. The proposed list of stakeholders is detailed below, this has been determined through topic expertise/local knowledge.

 

Key stakeholders

Maidstone Borough Council (cross-departmental)

Kent County Council

Kent Downs AONB unit

Environment Agency

Medway Valley Countryside Partnership

Mid Kent Downs Partnership

Kent Wildlife Trust

Maidstone Borough parish council representatives

Neighbouring authorities

Friends of parks and Allotment Association representatives

 

1.3.17         It is proposed that the stakeholder engagement would take place over a six week period prior to regulation 18 MBLP consultation. This would take the form of a stakeholder event, followed by dialogue to refine and agree amendments to the strategy.

 

1.3.18         The general public and local businesses will be invited to comment on the strategy for the duration of this period.

 

1.3.19         The results of the stakeholder engagement and public consultation will provide the basis for proposed amendments. These will be reported back to members in February 2014. When the results of the open space audit are available, they will be integrated into the strategy.

 

1.3.20         Next steps – action plan and adoption of GBI strategy

               The completion of the next steps elements (1.3.13 to 1.3.19) will provide the foundation for an action plan, which will be prepared and agreed with members and key partners. The important element of any action plan is for the actions within it to be measurable and realistic, with timescales, resources and key partners identified. When the action plan has been agreed, the next stage would be for the council to adopt the document as strategy.

 

1.3.21         Next steps – supplementary planning document

               Preparation of an SPD is reliant on an adopted policy (those outlined at 1.3.12) to add detail to. These policies will be adopted with the Maidstone Borough Local Plan. However, early engagement with stakeholders to set the foundations for the SPD will take place later in 2014.

 

1.4                 Alternative action and why not recommended

 

1.4.1            The alternative action is that the council continues to rely on the Green spaces strategy to set its strategic direction. This action is not recommended because the document is now almost nine years old. In the time since the GSS was adopted, there have been changes to the planning system, including the abolition of structure plans and regional plans, the reversion to local plans, and the publication of the NPPF, which presumes in favour of sustainable development.

 

1.4.2            There is a need therefore to understand what has changed in the national and local policy environment. The last audit of green spaces in the borough was in 2005 (updated in 2007) and since then, there has also been a significant amount of development. The council could choose to rely on the data which it has, allied with the local knowledge of members and officers to determine where changes have occurred. However, it is recommended that a comprehensive review is undertaken which builds on this information, rather than relying solely on it.

 

1.4.3            The GBI strategy [and SPD] will provide greater certainty to developers about which infrastructure is expected as part of their proposals.

 

1.5                 Impact on corporate objectives

 

1.5.1            For Maidstone to have a growing economy. Green and blue infrastructure plays an indirect but key role in the growth of the Maidstone economy. The infrastructure supports the character of the borough and the wellbeing of its residents, making it a more attractive place in which to work and live.

 

1.5.2            For Maidstone to be a decent place to live. Green and blue infrastructure plays a key role in the health and wellbeing of residents. The infrastructure gives residents the chance to take part in sport and leisure, to travel sustainably, it makes their home a distinctive place and in years to come will help mitigate the effects of climate change.

 

1.6                 Risk management

 

1.6.1            There is a risk that the audit of open space may take longer than expected. Until the audit is under way, there is the chance that there will be unforeseen circumstances that delay the survey. However, the results of the survey are not required for regulation 18 stage of the MBLP consultation, which will take place in March 2014. The results of the audit will be required in time to derive provision standards and hold a topic specific consultation prior to the regulation 19 stage of the MBLP consultation. These standards will then be included as part of the regulation 19 stage consultation. This risk will be mitigated by careful planning of the audit programme of work. Stakeholders key to the progression of the audit, such as parish councils, will be given advance notice.

 

1.6.2            The further risk is that standards are not determined in time to be included in policy. Open space contributions could still be delivered through the CIL. The developer would pay a flat CIL rate, of which the council would deliver open space. This is an alternative option to the delivery of open space through section 106 obligations. CIL could still be used for the delivery of larger GBI projects e.g. borough-wide, regardless of how the on site delivery of open space is achieved.

 

1.6.3            There is a risk that the stakeholder engagement may take longer than expected. This is a risk, however, the programme of engagement will be tailored to address a targeted range of issues. A six week engagement period will be set aside for stakeholder engagement and will be started in time to allow for necessary amendments coming from the engagement to be reported to members before the MBLP regulation 18 consultation begins.

 

1.7                 Other implications

 

1.7.1             

1.      Financial	X
2.           Staffing
3.           Legal
4.           Equality impact needs assessment
5.           Environmental/sustainable development	X
6.           Community safety
7.           Human Rights Act
8.           Procurement	X
9.           Asset management	X

 

 

1.7.2            Financial. There are potential financial implications resulting from the way that open space and future GBI requirements are delivered i.e. through section 106 obligations or through CIL, or a combination of both. There are also costs associated with public/stakeholder engagement [for the GBI strategy and for the proposed open space provision standards], for which the resource will need to be identified before this proceeds.

 

1.7.3            Environmental/sustainable development. Green and blue infrastructure is integral to providing the environmental balance necessary for development to be sustainable.

 

1.7.4            Procurement. This may lead in future years to procurement implications if the council is to invest CIL receipts into GBI.

 

1.7.5            Asset management. As with procurement, in future years there is the potential that the council may acquire GBI assets, so would need to consider how it manages these assets.

 

1.8                 Relevant documents

 

1.8.1            Green spaces for Maidstone strategy, 2005.

 

1.8.2            Open space DPD, 2006.

 

1.8.3            Appendices

 

1.8.4            Appendix 1 – Draft Green and blue infrastructure strategy.

 

1.8.5            Background documents

 

IS THIS A KEY DECISION REPORT?                  THIS BOX MUST BE COMPLETED   X     Yes                                                            No     If yes, this is a key decision because: It potentially affects all wards and parishes.     Wards/parishes affected: Potentially all.

1.8.6            None.