The Inspector's report found that the Council's target to seek to deliver at least 12,000 new dwellings would be acceptable and a 35% affordable housing target was "the most reasonable starting point". The strategy lays down plans to provide up to 60 hectares of additional employment land in Exeter.
Exeter's CS sets out policies to guide future development and change in the city for the period up to 2026. It is the main document in the Local Development Framework (LDF), providing a broad strategy for the development of the city to which other documents will relate.
The Council had to amend its draft CS to confirm that it propoased the construction of more than 12,000 dwellings over the period of the plan. This has been agreed by the Inspector, despite it falling short of the 15,000 dwelling target set out in the Regional Strategy for the area.
The majority of the additional housing is due to be built on the eastern side of Exeter at Monkerton/Hill Barton and Newcourt. The building of another 500 new dwellings is proposed for the area to the south of Alphington.
The Inspector agreed the plan for housing provision because "it supports the underlying principle of maximising housing provision within the City’s boundaries" and the agreement to provide more that 12,000 homes would reinforce the intended approach and help align the plan more closely with the draft RS".
The Council has set a target of 35% affordable housing provision, subject to the viability of the development. It "will be challenging but, on the basis of the local evidence, it appears to be the most reasonable starting-point for affordable housing provision" the Inspector's report said.
The Inspector held public hearings on the plans earlier this year. Some debate at the hearings centred on proposed Gypsy and Traveller sites at Monkerton and Newcourt. The view was widely expressed at the hearings that the search for Gypsy and Traveller sites should be the subject of a further exercise involving additional public consultation and scrutiny to select the most appropriate sites, the Council said.
Other changes that the Inspector recommended concern the need to review the Core Strategy should housing land not be found quickly enough and the removal of a specific employment allocation at Ibstock Brickworks in Pinhoe, which the Inspector thought was too specific a location for such a strategic level plan.
"This report is very good news for the city. It reaffirms the Council's belief that the provisions of the Core Strategy represent a sound and practical basis for the planning of Exeter for the next fifteen years," said Councillor Rachel Sutton, Lead Councillor for Sustainable Development and Transport.
The Council intends to formally adopt the Core Strategy at its meeting in February.
