City of Derby Local Plan Review - Revised Deposit Autumn 2002

Chapter 2 STRATEGY

Introduction

2.1

The aim of this Chapter is to establish a clear and coherent strategy for the Local Plan Review. This strategy promotes the economic, social and environmental well being of the City within the context of sustainable development and regeneration. It includes an overall vision for Derby and a number of more specific objectives that support it. These are not land use based as such, and are therefore not expressed as policy. Nevertheless, they will be given weight as a statement of the main aims and objectives of the plan and the basis on which its policies have been established.

Planning Vision Statement

The City Council will seek to ensure that development promotes the economic, social and environmental well being of Derby and contributes to improving the quality of life for its citizens.

2.2

The Local Plan Review has been prepared within the context of an overall 10 year vision for Derby. This seeks to promote the City’s economic, social and environmental well being and to help improve people’s quality of life. However, a careful balance is needed between these sometimes competing aims. The Plan seeks to reconcile competing demands on land resources through the concept of sustainable development which seeks to meet current needs and improve our well being without damaging the environment or detracting from the present or future needs of others.

2.3

The vision has been prepared within the context of national and regional planning guidance as well as the Joint Structure Plan. It also reflects wider corporate goals and the priorities of Derby City Partnership’s 20:20 Vision. The Plan therefore aims to promote economic prosperity, encourage a more cohesive and inclusive society, increase the efficiency with which scarce resources are used and foster a high quality environment.

Statement of Key Planning Objectives

In considering development proposals, the City Council will seek to achieve the following objectives:
a.	Promoting sustainable patterns and mixes of land use which reduce the need to travel and exploiting opportunities to make the fullest use of alternatives to the car. New development should be well related to the urban area and not unnecessarily extend it into the countryside, green wedges or other important areas of open land.
b.	Promoting the economic, social and environmental regeneration of the urban area. In particular, the Council will seek to promote urban living and a renaissance of the City Centre. It will also seek to protect and enhance local services and create safe, accessible and attractive environments.
c.	Facilitating an integrated approach to transport which helps to achieve a more efficient, accessible and safe network. The Council will seek to ensure that development contributes to improving transport choice and accessibility to alternatives to the car. It will also seek to ensure that existing pedestrian or cycle routes are retained and, where possible, that additional links are provided into, through and out of development sites.
d.	Promoting social inclusion, meeting housing needs and reducing poverty, ill health and the effects of disability. In particular, the Council will give weight to proposals that offer advantages to young people, children in families on low income, lone parents, disabled people, older people on low incomes, long term unemployed people and people from minority ethnic communities.
e.	Making fullest use of previously used land and buildings and improving energy efficiency.
f.	Reducing waste and pollution, in particular air and water pollution. In considering development proposals, the Council will have full regard to its objectives of improving the health and well being of Derby residents.
g.	Assisting in creating a prosperous and economically vibrant city by encouraging inward investment, the establishment of new small and medium sized enterprises and the expansion or relocation of existing businesses.
h.	Improving the quality and design of the urban environment, making urban living more attractive, accessible, safe and secure.
i.	Ensuring the environmental well-being of the City, including the conservation and enhancement of its key natural and cultural resources, its heritage, local distinctiveness and community identity.
j.	Promoting lifelong learning and encouraging development that supports the educational objectives of the University, Derby College, secondary schools, primary schools and nurseries.
k.	Making use of best practice in land use planning for water management and flood protection.

2.4

The Council's planning vision is underpinned by these eleven key objectives. The Council will consider development proposals in terms of these overall objectives as well as the Plan's more specific planning policies.

A key task of the Local Plan Review is to promote sustainable forms of development that help reduce pollution and improve air quality by reducing the need to travel. This can be achieved by encouraging more mixed use development so that people need to travel less and by encouraging development in locations that have good access to public transport. It also means encouraging people to use their cars less and finding alternative, more environmentally friendly, ways to travel such as cycling, walking and using public transport. A strong emphasis on development being located within, or well related to, the existing urban area is an important policy of the Joint Structure Plan. This is intended to minimise the outward expansion of the City and to encourage urban regeneration in the interests of sustainability.

The Local Plan Review aims to achieve sustainable development objectives by promoting urban regeneration and strengthening existing urban communities. Strategies to help the economic, social and environmental regeneration of urban areas will play a central role in making City living more attractive and creating an 'Urban Renaissance'.

An integrated approach to transport will encourage people to choose more sustainable means of travel and to transfer more easily between different modes of transport. The intention is to encourage the use of alternatives to the car in order to reduce air and noise pollution and to improve road safety. For this reason, new development should be located and designed to encourage sustainable forms of transport.

Meeting housing needs as set out in the Joint Structure Plan and the Council's housing strategy is an essential task of the Local Plan. Promoting social inclusion and tackling poverty, ill health and disability are important corporate objectives.

Sustainable development means ensuring that key resources such as land, buildings and energy are used effectively and efficiently. This means giving priority to the redevelopment of previously developed, or brownfield, sites or the refurbishment of vacant or underused buildings, rather than the development of greenfield sites. It also means promoting forms of development that use energy as efficiently and effectively as possible.

The reduction of waste and pollution is crucial to creating more sustainable forms of living. Success in achieving this will help to improve the City's overall environmental quality and will contribute to global sustainability. It will also help to achieve the Council's wider aims of improving local people's health and promote social inclusion.

The Council places great weight on achieving a prosperous and economically vibrant City. This is an important objective in its own right as well as being essential to achieving other objectives such as reducing poverty. A range of new employment generating development will therefore be encouraged to meet the full range of business requirements provided it is in line with wider sustainability objectives.

This objective is vital in order to encourage an urban renaissance which will both revitalise Derby's urban areas and reduce pressures for developing on greenfield sites.

Conservation of our natural and built heritage is a key objective, both in its own right and as a means of contributing to an urban renaissance.

A well educated and highly skilled workforce is a vital component of a successful local economy and a key corporate objective. Encouraging development that will promote lifelong learning will also help achieve social inclusion and sustainability objectives by ensuring that everybody can reach their full potential and contribute effectively to society.

This objective establishes flood control as a key strategic priority.

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