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Building the communities of the future

Terry WagstaffChief Executive, West of England Partnership

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Objectives for managing growth in homes and jobs

• Meeting the needs of existing & future residents• Securing development that discourages travel by car• Prioritising urban regeneration and intensification• Securing the infrastructure required to support growth• Reducing the impacts of climate change• Safeguarding/enhancing the natural & built

environment.

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Regional Spatial StrategyThe Partnership in contributing to RSS:• Supports the recognition given to the

economic potential of the West of England• Supports the commitment given to promoting

sustainable development• Objects to the higher level of dwellings in the

Proposed Changes

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Objections to theRSS Proposed Changes

• Lack of clear justification

• Scale of change and the implied delivery rates

• Inconsistencies with the spatial strategy and the priority given to brownfield development

• Doubts about securing the infrastructure needed

• Impacts on the Green Belt and Quality of Life

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The need for more homes

• House prices are unacceptably high• 18,000 households are unable to meet their housing

need• Population projections show that

– natural increases require another 3,000 dwelling pa.– falling household size, another 1,500 pa.– Migration flows another 1,000 - 3,000 pa. – Labour shortages arise without higher in-migration owing to the ageing population.

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Delivery & Investment Plan

• A practical, deliverable development trajectory• Prioritising brownfield over greenfield development.• The infrastructure and funding required to support the

development trajectory• The linkages between development progress and the

need for investment in new infrastructure• Strategic guidance to ensure the delivery of mixed

and sustainable communities.

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Challenges

• Meeting the current shortages and rising need for more homes.

• Maintaining and enhancing our natural and built environment

• Planning for further growth within a framework that ensures development is supported by investment in infrastructure and mixed & sustainable communities.