In the 2007 Sustainable Settlements Appraisal, St Nicholas, with Peterston super Ely and others was listed under 5.4: "There is another category of isolated groups of dwellings in the countryside where sensitive infilling of small gaps, or minor extensions to such groups, may be acceptable. Many of them include a primary school and a public house among the dwellings or other comparable services that make them more appealing in terms of sustainability, although further consideration of these areas would need to include a strategic environmental assessment." Bonvilston had been listed under 5.3: "In accordance with Planning Policy Wales (2002), in order to provide a choice of housing, whilst still safeguarding the character and appearance of the countryside, a small number of settlements, that have a reasonable number of community facilities and transport services, have been identified as capable of accommodating some additional growth . However, any new development would only be of benefit through the imposition of planning obligations to promote improvements in existing facilities, the provision of new community facilities and improvements to accessibility with a particular emphasis on public transport. They are generally the larger populated rural areas (as listed below) that have sufficient population to sustain the additional services and facilities required for them to grow." St. Nicholas' key attraction was not it's rurality, but the A48 link to Cardiff, etc. St Nicholas was given a population of 185 St. Nicholas was ranked 21st in terms of services and facilities 2013 Sustainable Settlements Assessment Objective 1: To assess the need for residents to commute beyond their settlement to access key employment, retail and community facilities (including education and health). Objective 2: To measure the general level of accessibility of settlements by sustainable transport. Objective 3: To measure the potential for residents everyday needs for services and facilities to be met within that settlement. The revised Sustainable Settlements Appraisal [SSA] seeks to "clarify the issues raised surrounding the original methodology and to recommend changes, where appropriate, to the settlement hierarchy in the Vale of Glamorgan LDP. As a result there have been some minor amendments to the weighting and scoring mechanisms used in order to make the study more robust and transparent. This has resulted in some changes to the initial ranking of settlements within the appraisal although there has been little change to the general position of settlements and the recommended settlement hierarchy." Planning Policy Wales 2.3 Planning Policy Wales [PPW] (5 th Edition, 2012) states that “development plans need to provide a framework to stimulate, guide and manage change towards sustainability…” and that local planning authorities should: Promote sustainable patterns of development, identifying previously developed land and buildings, and indicating locations for higher density development at transport hubs and interchanges and close to route corridors where accessibility by walking, cycling and public transport is good; Maintain and improve the vitality, attractiveness and viability of town, district, local and village centres; Foster development approaches that recognise the mutual dependence between town and country, thus improving linkages between urban areas and their rural surroundings; Locate development so that it can be well serviced by existing infrastructure; and Ensure that development encourages opportunities for commercial and residential uses to derive environmental benefit from co-location (paragraph 4.7.2 refers). 2.4 In preparing Development Plans, PPW advises settlement strategies should seek to minimise the need to travel, increase accessibility by sustainable modes and promote a broad balance between housing and employment opportunities to minimise significant commuting distances (paragraph 4.7.4 refers). 2.5 In this respect PPW states that “major generators of travel demand” should be located within existing urban areas or other locations which are or could be, well served by public transport, or could be reached by walking or cycling. These uses could include, for example: Housing, Employment, Retailing, Leisure and recreation, and Community facilities including libraries, schools and hospitals. 2.6 Planning Policy Wales also notes that “in planning for housing in rural areas it is important to recognise that development in the countryside should embody sustainability principles, benefiting the rural economy and local communities while maintaining and enhancing the environment… In order to safeguard the character and appearance of the countryside, to reduce the need to travel by car and to economise on the provision of services, new houses in the countryside away from existing settlements recognised by development plans, or from other areas allocated for development, must be strictly controlled” (PPW paragraph 9.2.22 refers). St Nicholas contains a primary school, is 2.5km's from the retail parks at Culverhouse Cross 3.6 Furthermore, the Department for Transport’s ‘Manual for Streets’ considers that sustainable ‘walking neighbourhoods’ are typically characterised as having a range of facilities within 10 minutes walking distance (around 800 metres). It also notes that the propensity to walk is influenced not only by distance, but also by the quality of the walking experience in terms of safe, accessible, attractive and stimulating walking environments. The general safety and nature of the walking environment in accessing these services, particularly relevant in the rural Vale, will therefore need to be considered in the final groupings of settlements. Under the new rating system, St Nicholas rises to from 21st to 15th in the Sustainable Settlements Appraisal. Dyffryn is ranked at 79, with 1 point. Nine anomaly results have been identified, including The Downs and St Hilary. St Nicholas scored 3 points for the school, 4 for the X2 bus, 2 for the church and chapel, 1 for the post box, 1 for the sports pitch and play area and 1 for the proximity to Cardiff. As a result, St Nicholas is one of twenty four ‘Sustainable Rural Settlements’ that have been identified. |
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