Regulation 18 Draft Local Plan

(18) Chapter 13 – Infrastructure and Developer Contributions

13.1 Sustainable growth in South Kesteven will need to be supported by the provision of appropriate new and upgraded infrastructure in order to ensure the best possible impact on the economic and environmental well-being of the District. The effectiveness of the growth strategy in this Local Plan is underpinned by the delivery of the necessary and relevant infrastructure in the right location and at the right time. The term "infrastructure" relates to both utilities and the services and facilities which support people's lifestyles. For example, utilities include energy, telecommunications, water and sewerage, whilst services and facilities would include both social and physical provision such as transport, education, health, open space and leisure centres, as well as those provided by the market such as shops and public houses.

13.2 The type and scale of infrastructure required to support the development proposed in this local plan will depend on how development is distributed, as well as how existing and future residents choose to live their lives in the future.

13.3 The capacity of existing infrastructure and ability of that infrastructure either with or without new or expanded facilities has formed a fundamental part of formulating the spatial strategy and distribution of development in this Local Plan. An Infrastructure Delivery Plan (IDP) is being prepared to identify what, where and how infrastructure will be provided to deliver the spatial strategy. This will be published alongside the Pre-Submission Local Plan. The main items of infrastructure considered will include:

• Transport – Highways, bus, cycle, rail and pedestrian facilities, parking, waterways and overall travel management;
• Education – nursery and pre-school, primary, secondary and further education provision;
• Health - hospitals, health centres, GPs and public health;
• Leisure and Green Infrastructure (GI) – sports facilities, open space, and community/leisure facilities;
• Communications – enhanced broadband coverage and provision;
• Water and drainage – water supply, waste water, flood risk management and water quality;
• Energy – electricity, gas and renewable energy.

13.4 Consultation with utility and service providers responsible for the delivery of infrastructure and other services is being undertaken through the preparation of the Local Plan.

13.5 It is not possible to identify the precise infrastructure requirements for the whole of the Local Plan period but critical infrastructure necessary to serve new development proposed during the plan period will be sought.

13.6 The Infrastructure Delivery Plan will be accompanied by an Infrastructure Delivery Schedule which will detail the position for each infrastructure project covering what, when, where and how/by whom, as well as costs and the funding position.

13.7 Where known, the infrastructure required in order to support the development of specific sites allocated in this Plan will be set out in the relevant site allocation.

13.8 The Council will monitor the provision of infrastructure, as set out in the Infrastructure Delivery Schedule, and report on the progress as appropriate.

13.9 The Infrastructure Delivery Schedule will provide the opportunity to appropriately align the work of partner organisations and service providers such as water and energy provision by utility companies, highways, education, and social services by Lincolnshire County Council and healthcare provision by local Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) alongside the National Health Service England (NHS). The Council and partners will work with Local Enterprise Partnerships and the Homes and Communities Agency to secure both direct funding and recoverable finance for infrastructure projects. The Council will also work with infrastructure and service providers to align their strategies and investment plans to the Local Plan.

13.10 The policy below sets out the overarching framework for delivering infrastructure to support growth. Whilst every effort will be made to ensure the appropriate and timely provision of infrastructure, the following policy will be used to restrict development from being commenced, or in certain cases, from being permitted, in the absence of proven essential infrastructure capacity or the appropriate means of mitigating a capacity issue.

13.11 The Council will work with partners to ensure that infrastructure will be in place at the right time to meet the needs of the District and to support the development strategy.

(8) Developer Contributions

13.12 Carefully considered and sensitive development offers substantial benefits to society. It provides homes, employment opportunities and the facilities and services required. It can also stimulate economic growth. However, development of all scale impacts on the environment and existing infrastructure and can place a burden on the community. The planning system exists to reconcile the benefits of a development against the costs it can impose.

13.13 The planning system currently provides for some of these burdens or costs to be addressed through planning obligations where the specific planning issues arising from a development proposal can be addressed on a site by site basis.

13.14 The provision of, or contribution to utilities is governed by the individual providers own statutory requirements and usually falls outside of the planning process. Much of this will form part of the normal costs of developments to allow the connection of a site to existing utilities. However, the scale of development proposed in this plan may result in the need for more strategic expansion of the utilities infrastructure. Where this is necessary these additional costs can be considered abnormal and may be taken into account in the assessment of viability for a scheme. Each of the utility providers has their own mechanism for securing contributions towards expansion of their network which is in itself governed by statute.

13.15 In addition to the cost of connection or expansion of the utilities network, developers will be expected to make up the necessary infrastructure provision required to support their development either through direct provision or by a proportionate contribution towards the overall cost of the provision of necessary infrastructure either alone or cumulatively with other developments. Various types of contribution will be used, including the following:

• In-kind contributions and financial payments;
• Phased payments and one-off payments;
• Maintenance payments;
• Pooled contributions; or
• A combination of the above.

13.16 Contributions will be in the form of planning obligations secured in line with national statute and policy. Initially, these will be secured through Section 106 (S106) developer contributions, although the Council retains the option to consider the introduction of a Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) or any replacement tariff once the outcome of the national review of CIL is known. Contributions payable by S106 or CIL will be in addition to any normally required from a developer to any utility company, internal drainage board or other statutory organisation.

13.17 Where it is likely that infrastructure will be funded via contributions from development, the Council will need to check that the contribution would meet the following tests for planning obligations, i.e., that they are:

• Necessary to make the development acceptable in planning terms;
• Directly related to the development and;
• Fairly and reasonably related in scale and kind to the development.

13.18 New development cannot be used to fund an existing lack of infrastructure or address current short falls in provision. Contributions are solely required to address the needs arising from new development.

13.19 Contributions payable by S106 will be in addition to any normally required from a developer to any utility company, internal drainage board or other statutory organisation.

(3) Transport

13.20 The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) sets out the importance of sustainability in relation to transport, in particular the need to ensure developments that generate significant movements are located where the need for travel will be minimised and the use of sustainable travel can be maximised.

13.21 As South Kesteven is a predominantly rural area it is not surprising that there is still, and inevitably will continue to be, a heavy reliance on private car use. This does however mean that those without access to a private car can be isolated and have significant issues accessing employment, education and training as well as other services and facilities.

13.22 The 5^th Local Transport Plan (LTP) for Lincolnshire covering the period of 2022 to 2026 sets out the overall strategy and delivery arrangements for transport across the whole of Lincolnshire. The LTP aims to support economic growth, be future ready, promote thriving environments, support safety, security and a healthy lifestyle, promote high aspirations, and improve quality of life. The LTP and the Local Plan are aligned with each other's objectives. The Local Plan aims to support the development of a sustainable, efficient and safe transport system, increase sustainable methods of travel, protect the environment and improve access to key services.

13.23 In 2022, LCC published the Grantham Transport Strategy. The aim of the study is to ensure that Grantham has the infrastructure it needs to meet travel demands over the coming decades. The Strategy includes the following four priorities:

• Influencing travel behaviours: helping to provide greater choice in meeting daily activities from home without the need to travel (i.e. hybrid working). When people do need to make journeys, influencing where these are from and to, so that distance travelled is reduced;

• Prioritising active modes: making cycling and walking the preferred options for shorter journeys by considerably improving infrastructure;

• Promote shared and public transport: encouraging existing and new forms of public and shared transport for longer distance journeys by providing priority measures and increasing frequency and level of service; and

• Mitigate residual impacts of traffic: where there is no realistic alternative, longer journeys will still need to be made by car. Where this is the case, the impact of the resulting traffic and pollution will be mitigated.

13.24 To demonstrate how accessibility, mobility and transport related matters have been considered and taken into account in the development of proposals, one or more of the following should be submitted with planning applications, with the precise need dependent on the scale and nature of development:

1. a parking or design and access statement (all proposals); and/ or
2. a transport statement (typically required for developments of 50 - 80 dwellings); and/ or
3. a transport assessment and travel plan (typically required for developments over 80 dwellings).

13.25 Advice on the level of detail required should be confirmed through early discussion with the local planning or highway authority.

(1) Communications

13.26 Access to broadband is a vital component of infrastructure in today's world. It is key to growing a sustainable local economy, vital for education and home working and an increasingly central part of community cohesion and resilience, particularly in rural areas.

13.27 Developers can 'future-proof' their developments by installing superfast broadband infrastructure. In addition to the reputational and wider economic benefits of ensuring that residents are able to access superfast broadband when they move into new developments, there is also the issue of avoiding the costs and frustrations to occupiers of future retrofitting, if the infrastructure is not fit for purpose.

13.28 The Government recognises that reliable broadband internet access is essential for homes throughout the country if they are to benefit from online services and for UK businesses to compete globally.

13.29 The 2023 NPPF recognises the importance of infrastructure in delivering sustainable economic growth, and states that 'Planning policies and decisions should support the expansion of electronic communications networks, including next generation mobile technology (such as 5G) and full fibre broadband connections"

13.30 In order to guarantee a fixed fibre solution (which is more reliable than wireless) for superfast broadband of at least 30 Mbps, new developments must be served by either:

1. Fixed fibre to premises technology (FTTP); or
2. Fixed fibre to cabinet technology (FTTC) which provides speeds of up to 80 megabits per second.