Pendle Planning & Development.

[plaques]

OG readers may remember that some years ago Pendle raised a plan that would set the development plan up to 2030. This included housing development etc etc, a mammoth document where trying to read it you lost the will to live. Basically unless you made your objections to the plan at that time then it was game set and match to the developers. Continuing along this theme we have now got another consultative document to update the original plan ie: Pendle Local Plan part 2. Plan.part 2 This page only points to numerous links where if you have a few days to spare or perhaps a week you may be able to glean some idea to what its about. Death by a thousand words comes to mind but unfortunately buried inside may be plans that could affect individuals at a personal level.

I give this as an example of one item I was interested in. An area marked up for housing development that I'd never seen before. I contacted John Halton (planning) who responded immediately to my query and put my mind at rest.
Reply....
Thank you for your email. I will answer your question in a series of bullet points below:
· A planning application has not been submitted for development at Site P008 land at Great House Farm, Red Lane, Colne.
· Site P008 was submitted to Pendle Council as a potential allocation for future housing development in the Pendle Local Plan Part 2.
· Site P008 was fully assessed and scored during the preparation of Pendle Local Plan Part 2.
· Pendle Council has chosen NOT to allocate Site P008 in the Pendle Local Plan Part 2.

As I understand it someone made a request to build on this land but was not chosen for this plan. I may have possibly missed this point as I drifted into a semi comatose stupor.

The Council will be holding open briefings to explain the implications of this plan.

[plaques]

Understanding that obtaining and reading the full Plan Part 2 in one bite may be asking too much I have selected a number of staging points which may help to understand the basic plan. Starting with the Pendle Green Infrastructure Strategy (GI). The background compiled in 2019 paints a very poor outlook on Pendle .

2.11 The health of the population in Pendle is generally worse than the English average. The main health priorities for Pendle include encouraging healthy lifestyles, improving mental health and well-being, and improving health outcomes for children and young people (including reducing
infant deaths). The latest statistics show that the percentage of physically active adults in the Borough is 48.2%, which is lower than the English average of 57.0%15.

2.12 Pendle has a slightly higher proportion of obese children (20.2%) compared to the rest of England (19.8%), and a large percentage of overweight adults (69.0% in Pendle compared to 64.8% in England). The rate of early deaths from heart disease and stroke is 96.7 per 100,000 persons,
significantly higher than the national average of 74.6 per 100,000 persons. The rate of early deaths from cancer is 154.0 per 100,000 persons, lower than the national average of 138.8 per 100,000 persons15.

2.13 Life expectancy for both men and women in Pendle at 77.8 years for males and 81.5 years for females and are slightly lower than the comparable figures for England, which are 79.5 years for males and 83.1 years for females. However, there is significant disparity in life expectancy within the Borough, being 10.9 years lower for men and 7.2 years lower for women in the most deprived areas of Pendle compared to the least deprived areas15.

Economic context

2.14 The most recent statistics show that between October 2016 and September 2017, 76.7% of Pendle’s residents aged 16-64 were economically active; this is slightly above the North West average of 76.3%, but below the national average of 78.1%. Of this, 4.6% were unemployed,which is slightly below the North West average of 4.7%, but above the national average of 4.5%. The main employment sector in Pendle during that period was manufacturing (29.0%)4
.
2.15 The number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance as a percentage of the working age resident population was 2.2% in Pendle as of February 2018, which is lower than the regional average (2.7%), but slightly higher than the national average (2.1%)4
.
2.16 In 2017, the average gross weekly pay for residents of ages 16 and above in full time work in Pendle was £488.60. This figure is lower than both the regional average of £514.50 per week and the national average of £552.70 per week4
.
2.17 Of the 2,850 enterprises within Pendle in 2017, 87.9% were considered as ‘micro’ size (0-9 employees), 9.6% were considered to be ‘small’ (10-49 employees), 1.9% were considered to be ‘medium’ (50-249 employees) and 0.4% were considered to be ‘large’ (250+ employees)

Following this basic data are a number of maps and guides for land usage which helps to fill a few pages and probably means something to the professional planner. eg:...

Regional North West Green Infrastructure Guide

2.35 The guide was produced in 2008 by the North West Green Infrastructure Think Tank and highlights the importance of green infrastructure in planning for objectives relating to, using, or drawing upon the natural environment, including urban renaissance, rural renewal, social
inclusion and community cohesion, health and well-being, and sustainable development.
2.36 The guide outlines how green infrastructure planning produces a comprehensive, interactive and highly flexible evidence base for a range of purposes, and defines five basic steps to green infrastructure planning.

I will break off at this point and look at other aspects later.

[Stanley]

I know this is all very important Ken for the future but I have to say that at my age all I think is "let them get on with it". I find it so dry and impenetrable.
Sorry, I know it's an interest of yours. Horses for courses!

[plaques]

Sorry Stanley I'm on a roll. The problem with ignoring these things is that they can come back to bite you. I know we are a bit long in the tooth for some of these things to affect us but we could say that about educating children. The section I quoted from (above) has 140 + pages and then there are other sections. Of course you could always collar your local councilor who no doubt have memorized all this and will be on the tip of his /her fingers and would be willing to explain it to anybody who asks. (Pigs might fly).

[plaques]

Continuing with the Pendle Green Infrastructure Strategy (GI) The remainder of the document around 100 pages carries numerous very detailed maps for different Green infrastructure features. These are very complex and would require lengthy explanations as to their content and the weight importance that they may carry if future development takes place. Unfortunately they are often described with words like.. initiatives, enhancing, consideration, opportunities, potential, which tends to lack the firmness of a definite action.
These comments should not deter the reader from viewing these maps not least because of the amount of work that as gone into them but for this forum they would require explanations that I'm not qualified to make.

[Stanley]

No need to apologise to me Ken, I admire your perseverance and yes, it would be nice if all the councillors were as assiduous as you are!

[plaques]

Here we go again on a different subject but all part of the plan make-up. Pendle_Housing_Needs_Assessment_Final__12.03.20_.pdf.

One would think that being a final assessment it would all be straight forward and clear. Far from it. The housing needs appear to be based on two factors. The population growth change and the job growth change. The original Pendle plan was from 2015 to 2030 but we now see that some of the best guess assessments run from 2019 to 2039, which hardly helps comparison. Typical is the one for population growth...

.

Population 1.jpg

.2016 to 2039. shows a decrease in all age groups except over 70s?? Accumulating this as a total gives an increase, therefore more dwellings.? The catch here is that these old people are in care homes, residential homes etc. Should these be part of the dwelling build requirement is debatable.

Next we turn to the future job prospects. ie: more jobs = more dwellings. Again different surveys give different results. A quick summery is shown...

[(1). -272], [(2), +1,], [(3). -340,] [(4). +1,408,] Average =+200. Past trends = -1,690.


Then by some mysterious mathematical alchemy four more estimates are produced [(A), +507,] [(B), +1,800] [(C), +2,875] [(D), +1,022]

The bottom line is using population and jobs, =... dpa = dwelling per year. (I have removed the reference to Burnley).

Based on this analysis but (in the case of Pendle) using more up-to-date Experian projections,
mirroring the approach that was found sound at their respective Local Plan EiP examinations,
generates an employment-led housing need of 240 dpa for Pendle This is lower than the cumulative adopted
Plan requirements of 492 dpa.


How you can have a reducing population and past reductions in jobs which somehow now morphs into pie in the sky aspirations is beyond my understanding. . After all said and done. Nothing will change.

[Stanley]

I don't see anything in what you are showing us that is any better than an old fashioned shrewd guess and at the moment that would indicate a lower demand for homes in the lower income brackets and the higher incomes can look out for themselves like they always have done.
The elephant strains and brings forth a mouse.
How much did this exercise cost Ken?

[plaques]

How much did this exercise cost Ken?

No idea, but its a government requirement to review the plan every 5 years. All nonsense because even the most mystic crystal ball gazers have no idea about the affect of Brexit and Covid-19 on population and jobs. But boxes have been ticked and the concrete set.

The first document was 140+ pages this latest one is a mere 90+ pages. Not to worry there's more to follow. good lockdown material.

Then comes the public discussions later this month.

[Stanley]

Incredible. The wheels of bureaucracy roll on despite the pandemic. The public servants are like cockroaches and rats, they can survive anything.

[plaques]

This is the PDF download. It Looks big. if so I'll zap it.
Not too bad, At least people can decide whether they want the download or not.
This is a list of ALL the land that has been asked for for housing development. Just because its o this list doesn't mean that the council has approved development . you have to ask the council for that.


.

Index_V4.pdf

[PanBiker]

Not all that big Ken and it works fine, as it should.

[plaques]

Since enough of the Pendle Plan part 2. has been highlighted for those who have an interest in these things have probably by now have picked the plan up for their own interests. The following link is probably the easiest way of looking at planning applications that have already been submitted. Planning To find the area of interest use the mouse to expand and navigate to your point of interest. The menu on the right will allow the period of planning to be selected. Clicking into a selected area will pop up details of the planning application. Best of luck.

[plaques]

Pendle Plan part 2, starting to get a bit of media exposure. A plot of land on the south valley side of Colne (Lenches) appears to be undergoing some exploratory digging. Colne The eagle eyed amongst you will have seen that this land is not listed for housing but goes under a more general heading. (Local Plan Part 2 : Site Allocations and Development Policies).
In my opinion the real panic surrounding this issue is that should houses be built on this land then there will be a knock on effect for even more houses. Finally there will be the need for a new road to ease the already bottlenecked town centre, which could run past a well known councilors house. NIMBY come to mind.

[Stanley]

You're a hero Ken digging these juicy gobbets out!

[plaques]

I see that David Whipp has posted on his FaceBook site that Barlick council are objecting to the latest Pendle Plan. Link A bit of common sense creeping in although he has not published the exact wording of the objection its a step in the right direction. What it needs now is a coordinated attack by the other areas of Pendle but put a stop to this insane development plan.

[Stanley]

Could it be a matter for the May elections?

[plaques]

Could it be a matter for the May elections?

I don't think so. David Whipp is genuine in opposing many of the new building developments and has been consistent in his opposition. This new Plan part 2. is very complex and wide spreading in its affect on Pendle. The various downloads and survey references make it a document of 500+ pages. This looks like one of those Kafkaesque programmes where the nightmares are buried in mountains of technical verbiage.

[PanBiker]

You can watch the Town Council meetings which at the moment are streamed live on YouTube. Past meetings are up there as well if you want a few hours of watching paint dry.

[Stanley]

Thank God there are dedicated people like you Ken. As for watching council meetings online I am excused politics for the foreseeable future. I have a note from me mother...

[plaques]

Actually I did watch it. Fortunately I only needed watch it to a point where it went tacky. The rest may have been riveting viewing but for some inexplicable reason I lost concentration and had to give up half way through.

[PanBiker]

We waited to see if they mentioned that another of the councillors elected on a Lib Dem ticket has resigned. It was confirmed and there will be another co-option at some point unless a bunch of naughty people request an election. The time limit on that has not expired yet.

[Tripps]

I watched a lot of it too. Didn't 'get' most of it and found myself wondering what drove people to 'serve' so enthusiastically - especially the Whipp clan. Wondered if they all had jobs away from the various councils they are on.

The time limit on that has not expired yet.

As the lady on the St Agur advert says - "just get on with it".

[PanBiker]

David Whipp hasn't worked for years. I think her retired in his early 50's, mind you he still claims he is only 54! Council committees on County, Borough and Town took up too much time and expenses would cover income no doubt. I think Tom is at college but I could be wrong, not sure what Emma does.

[plaques]

David Whipp hasn't worked for years. I think he retired in his early 50's, mind you he still claims he is only 54!

I retired in my very late 50's and still have more retirement years than he has. On the other hand some people would argue that I've never worked in all my life.

I've now downloaded the very latest Pendle Part 2 plan. When you analyse it carefully and look how the current housing adjustments came about it becomes clear that it is all government driven with Pendle council being nothing more than a vehicle for carrying the bad news. In my opinion we could huff and puff and object as much as we like but can't change the content of the plan one iota. Blame Boris Johnson.