Page Header Graphic
Back to Contents - Back to Introduction
   
Introduction
 
Page i
   
UNLOCKING THE POTENTIAL
0.1 Canterbury District is already an exceptional place. This Local Plan sets out to achieve a vision for the future to make it even better.  The Local Plan is about ‘Unlocking the Potential’ that exists within our District, to make it amongst the best, if not the best, location for living, working and visiting in the South East of England.  To realise this vision, the City Council’s objectives for the District are focused on our core aim of providing a sustainable, diverse and thriving environment, which contributes to the economic, cultural and social well-being of the District.
0.2 Canterbury is a vibrant and cosmopolitan place. The name Canterbury is known worldwide. With its City, coastal towns, villages and countryside, the District celebrates its past, relishes the present and has a healthy appetite for the future. Writers, pilgrims, poets, scholars and historians have come here for hundreds of years to seek inspiration -others have found it when least expected. There are stories yet to be written and journeys yet to be taken. This Plan takes a journey with purpose and vision.
0.3 The District faces real challenges if it is to flourish and be a keystone of the East Kent economy. It could simply choose to say ‘no more development’, but such an approach is not realistic. It would, in the future, be eclipsed by other, faster developing areas. Investment would flow out of the District. The district would be in decline.
0.4 A word of warning. This Plan is not a green light for development at any price. The City Council is aiming to locate the maximum amount of new housing possible on previously developed land.  This is a bold move and shows our commitment to moving forward but with real respect for our heritage and green spaces whilst encouraging a renaissance of our urban areas.
0.5 Canterbury is a key location in East Kent and with links to London and mainland Europe it also has a strong role to play on the national and international stage. This Plan shows how we wish to unlock the District’s potential and is founded on several key objectives:
 
  • Action Areas – To identify, through the Community Strategy and with local partners, neighbourhoods for renewal, and to promote development that will assist in meeting these objectives.
 
  • Regeneration Zones – The Council has identified a number of key areas at the edge of the City Centre, which are suitable for particular kinds of mixed development, including housing, commercial uses, education, leisure and tourism. These sites are capable of helping the Council meet its corporate and planning objectives.
 
  • Economic Growth - Canterbury District is open for business. With the development of a knowledge-based economy, the renaissance of office areas and provision of new business facilities, such as the Business Innovation Centre development at the University of Kent at Canterbury, the District has the potential to offer a strong and diverse economic environment, and this will benefit both investors and employees.
 
  • Culture and Heritage - Canterbury District has a variety of cultural facilities. The challenge is to build on its strengths whilst encouraging the diversification of the cultural sector. The development at the Horsebridge in Whitstable and the need for the upgrading of our theatre facilities, combined with the potential growth of leisure, hotels and conferencing facilities all present excellent opportunities to further investment in our cultural facilities.

    Canterbury District is also rich in heritage, having a World Heritage Site and numerous conservation areas and listed buildings. Our challenge is to ensure that there is sensible development in historic areas, which does not compromise the need to ensure that the District's heritage is conserved for present and future generations.

    In view of the District’s rich and diverse culture and heritage within East Kent, the City Council will work with local partners by building upon existing relationships, to seek out opportunities that harness the potential of the District’s cultural and historical assets to help create a renaissance in East Kent.
   
footer Graphic
top
Page ii
   
 
  • The Natural Environment – a high quality natural environment is crucial to the economic, cultural and social well-being of the District.  It contributes towards the quality of life of residents and visitors.  This Plan seeks to preserve, and sensitively enhance, the rich and diverse features of the natural environment.  These features include the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Special Landscape Areas, Areas of High Landscape Value, Sites of Special Scientific Interest, Sites of Nature Conservation Interest, river corridors, developed and undeveloped coast, foreshore and beaches, wildlife habitats and the Seasalter and Graveney levels.  Parts of the District are covered by international designations such as Special Protection Areas (SPA), Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) and Ramsar.
 
  • Housing - Our District is an attractive place in which to live, and we must ensure that we continue to offer choice, quality and affordability in our provision of housing accommodation.
 
  • Rural Areas - Canterbury District has extensive rural areas which contain more than 30 villages, as well as numerous hamlets, along with many outstanding habitats and landscapes. We aim to support sustainable communities in our rural areas by encouraging the diversification of the rural economy, the provision of village facilities and housing for local needs and the management and protection of the environment.
 
  • Transport - The development of sustainable modes of transport, road improvements, the new bus station at Whitefriars, the improvement of rural transport and a fourth Park and Ride site to serve Canterbury are all key ingredients in ensuring that the District can unlock its potential as an excellent location in which to live, work, invest and visit. The City Council is committed to lobbying strategic transport authorities to cut journey times by train from Canterbury, Herne Bay and Whitstable to London to enhance the attractiveness of the District, and the train operators have recently announced their intention to run a fast service to London from 2009.
   
THE ROLE AND PURPOSE OF THE CANTERBURY DISTRICT LOCAL PLAN
0.6 The Town and Country Planning Act 1990, as amended by the Planning and Compensation Act 1991, placed a statutory duty on local authorities to prepare a Local Plan. The Canterbury District Local Plan (this document) fulfils this requirement.
   
footer Graphic
top
Page iii
   
0.7 This Local Plan sets out a spatial strategy and vision for the District for the period to 2011, and in the longer term. It replaces the Canterbury District Local Plan adopted in 1998 which set out a strategy for the District until 2001. The Plan has several functions:
 
  • To set out a strategy for fulfilling the Government’s policy towards land use planning at a District level, including its objective of securing sustainable development;
  • To give an opportunity and invitation to participate in the planning process, through giving people the chance to express their views on local planning issues;
  • To set out objectives to ensure the District is an excellent location in which to live, invest, work, learn and visit;
  • To take into account the principal social, economic and environmental influences on the District in the Plan against which planning applications for development will be assessed; by identifying sites for particular purposes, by defining areas to which policies apply and by setting out details of these policies in terms of standards and criteria; and
  • To conform with the Kent and Medway Structure Plan (2006).
0.8 The Plan is in two parts:
 
  • A written statement (this document) explaining how the City Council sees the future of the various parts of the District and the policies which will be taken into account when determining planning applications: the written statement is divided into eight sections and includes seven Appendices, and
  • A Proposals Map with six insets which show proposals and where the Plan’s policies apply. The Ordnance Survey mapping included within this publication is provided by Canterbury City Council under licence from the Ordnance Survey in order to fulfil its public function to act as a planning authority and is protected by copyright. Persons wishing to use Ordnance Survey mapping for their own purposes should contact Ordnance Survey for advice on copyright and licencing.
   
THE CHAPTERS OF THE PLAN
0.9 The Plan has eight chapters which address the following issues. The chapters contain policies which aim to fulfil the objectives:
  1. Key Vision and Strategic Development Objectives - this chapter outlines how the Local Plan relates to other Council policies, with particular reference to the City Council’s Corporate Plan. It outlines proposals for improving the quality of life in the District, taking account of diversity, supporting and developing prosperity, and preserving and enhancing the built and natural environment.
  2. Providing Decent Housing - it is the City Council’s objective to provide a choice of good quality and affordable housing in the District with the aim to locate the maximum amount of new housing possible on previously developed land.
   
footer Graphic
top
Page iv
   
  3. Boosting Our Local Economy - the District’s economy has great potential for growth. This chapter sets out policies for diversification of the economy, providing primary and secondary employment areas, employment clusters and tourism.
  4. Improving the Quality of Life in Our City and Town Centres - this chapter reflects the overall vision behind national and regional policy guidance and the need to focus major investment and growth in our city and towns. It sets out policies for retailing, major employment issues, leisure, social inclusion, and urban renaissance, and identifies particular Regeneration Zones and urban specific objectives.
  5. Promoting Our Countryside - this chapter aims to promote a living, working, vibrant and protected countryside and to provide mixed and balanced communities.
  6. Preserving, Enhancing and Conserving Our Built and Natural Environments - the design and location of new development is crucial to preserving and enhancing our environments. This chapter addresses issues such as protected buildings, conservation areas, and designated and protected areas.
  7. Investing In Our Community Infrastructure - this chapter refers to community infrastructure, environmental protection, transportation and traffic management strategies, flood defences and drainage strategies.
  8. Ensuring Implementation, Monitoring and Review - the City Council aims to achieve its core objectives and implement its policies through working in partnership with the private sector. We may need legal mechanisms to enable the City Council to assist the private sector in achieving the core objectives. Examples of these mechanisms include Compulsory Purchase Orders and legal agreements.
0.10 The City Council will monitor the progress of all the Plan’s objectives on a regular basis and will review the Plan to take account of changing circumstances, in accordance with the various timescales set out in this chapter of the Plan.  A key contribution to the preparation and monitoring of the Plan is the sustainability appraisal, which influences the evolution and implementation of the Plan.  The aim of the sustainability appraisal process is to ensure that the policies of the Plan have a positive role to play both in the attainment of a sustainable pattern of growth in the District and in achieving sustainable places and communities.
   
REGIONAL PLANNING GUIDANCE
0.11 Regional Planning Guidance for the South East (RPG9) and the draft South East Plan set out key principles for development in the South East Region. Specifically, it identified Priority Areas for Economic Regeneration (PAERs) within the Canterbury District at Whitstable, Herne Bay and Hersden. It also designated Hersden as a ‘Rural Priority Area’. The Canterbury District is also covered by an Enterprise Grant Area which gives grant aid for certain capital investment projects.
   
footer Graphic
top
Page v
   
KENT AND MEDWAY STRUCTURE PLAN
0.12 The Kent and Medway Structure Plan (2006) covers the period until 2016. The Structure Plan sets out strategic planning policies for the whole area. It is also the County Council’s responsibility to draw up a Minerals Local Development Framework, which is currently being prepared, and a Waste Local Development Framework, which sets out policies for waste disposal.  The County Council proposes to review its Household Waste Strategy, which could have implications for Canterbury during this Plan period.
   
THE PLAN’S RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHER CITY COUNCIL PLANS, OBJECTIVES AND POLICIES
0.13 This Local Plan has a direct relationship with the Canterbury City Council Corporate Plan, Community Strategy and other corporate strategies. The following issues raised in these documents are of relevance to the Local Plan:
 
  • Building on the District’s reputation as an attractive location for residents, investors, workers and visitors;
  • Ensuring that the social, economic and environmental development of the District is carried out sustainably;
  • Providing a high quality environment and facilities for investors;
  • Ensuring provision to meet the housing needs of local people;
  • Ensuring that the District’s infrastructure needs are met;
  • Ensuring that the needs of local communities are well provided for, through the Community Strategy;
  • Ensuring that the District’s heritage is conserved and enhanced;
  • Encouraging and managing the revitalisation of the coastal towns;
  • Promoting the sustainability of rural communities.
   
THE PROCESS OF TRANSITION TO THE LOCAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK SYSTEM
0.14 The Local Development Regulations (2004) set out the requirements of the new Local Development Framework  (LDF) system.  The Council has published its Local Development Scheme (LDS), which sets out how the Council intends to make the transition to the new development plan system.
0.15 Essentially, in the first phase of LDF preparation, the Council is intending to prepare a Core Strategy Development Plan Document (DPD) and a Development Land allocations DPD (following preparation of the South East Plan), which should be adopted by early 2009.  The rest of the Local Plan is proposed to be saved for a period of six years, as it is progressively reviewed through the LDF process.
0.16 Future phases of LDF preparation, would include reviews of retail policy; countryside and landscape policy; and elements of community infrastructure policy (education, transport, open space, renewable energy and related issues).  This position will be kept under review over the next 2-3 years and further information is available on the Council’s website www.canterbury.gov.uk/planningpolicy
 
 
footer Graphic
top