"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."

"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." 

  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."

 

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).