Clark blocks brownfield scheme over affordable home clustering

Ipswich Borough Council had proposed to build the homes to the west of the new Ravenswood community at the site of the former Ipswich Airport.

The application was called in for determination by the communities secretary in January 2015 and planning inspector Melissa Hall recommended that planning permission be granted. A decision letter (33-page / 326 KB PDF) issued last week on behalf of Clark said the communities secretary disagreed.

According to the letter, Clark found the proposal to be in conflict with a local planning policy which provided general guidance that clusters of more than 12 to 15 affordable homes should be avoided. Notwithstanding that local policies for the supply of housing were not up-to-date, Clark gave "significant weight" to the measure, which he said "makes an important contribution to the integration of affordable housing in residential development".

The communities secretary acknowledged that other existing clusters of affordable homes in Ravenswood exceeded the size guidelines and there was no evidence to suggest that the proposed development would attract anti-social behaviour. However, he noted that "none of the individual clusters elsewhere in Ravenswood are anywhere near the number of units now proposed" and said the scheme represented "an enormous deviation" from the suggested maximum cluster size.

Clark considered that "substantial harm would result from the proposal" because of the non-compliance with the local size guidelines. He also considered that such a large cluster would conflict with the aim of paragraph 50 of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) to create inclusive and mixed communities, which "in turn assists with achieving strong and vibrant communities".

The communities secretary accepted that the scheme was of a high quality in its design and layout, was sustainably located and would widen opportunities for home ownership. He gave "considerable weight" to the housing benefits of the scheme in an area with a short term housing land supply deficit and "moderate weight" to its economic benefits.

Overall, however, Clark considered that the adverse impact of the proposed scheme "significantly and demonstrably outweighs the benefits, when assessed against the policies of the [National Planning Policy] Framework as a whole".

Planning expert Ben Mansell of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said: "The refusal of this planning application demonstrates the importance of an up-to-date local plan which clearly outlines affordable housing policy. In the absence of an up-to-date local plan, reliance will be placed upon national policy and out-of-date local plans, which in many cases is not a solid basis for the planning application."

"Provision of sufficient affordable housing is a key element of the housing debate and must be encouraged to ensure diversity of future housing stock. However, a significant housing planning application containing only (or no) affordable housing will always be at risk of falling foul of relevant housing diversity policies," Mansell said.