Plan Strategy

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Core Statement of General Policies

2.1. Leicester continues to need more houses, jobs and other facilities. Unlike many other cities it does not have a plentiful supply of new land for buildings within its border. Nor does it have a legacy of major industrial dereliction from which it can draw substantial amounts of brownfield land. At the same time it is a City very conscious of the need to safeguard and improve its environment and, where there is industrial dereliction, to generate new jobs as well as homes.

2.2. In reconciling these often conflicting demands, the policies of this Plan will be framed against National, Regional and Sub Regional planning policies, embracing a number of strategic themes, which stem directly from the principles of sustainable development. These seek to emphasise the importance of quality solutions to urban problems, promote regeneration of parts of the City and protect and enhance features of the City’s environment. The adoption of a sequential approach to the location of development will be an important component of this.

The Community Plan

2.3. The Leicester Partnership’s Community Plan identified six priority areas:

Environment The promotion of a high quality environment, (both built and natural), is considered essential if the City is to remain an attractive place for residents, workers, investors and visitors.

Jobs and Regeneration Here the aim is to consolidate, strengthen and diversify the local economy, primarily to secure and create jobs and attract investment to the city.

Health and Social Care People in Leicester live in enormously varied circumstances. Improving access to facilities and services for all, but especially those suffering disadvantage, is a key corporate priority.

Diversity Prejudice and discrimination are anathema in Leicester. Addressing inequalities and celebrating cultural diversity must be essential components to regeneration activities.

Community Safety Crime and the fear of crime undermine the quality of life of all who come into contact with it. So improving safety and reducing crime must feature prominently in the plans of all members of the Leicester Partnership.

Education Raising school standards is the top priority for education in the city; securing and promoting learning environments for children and young people is fundamental to this.

2.4. These objectives interrelate and are not mutually exclusive. Planning powers will be used to influence development to bring tangible improvements. They will contribute to a City that is demonstrably better in these areas at the end of the plan period.

2.5. The City Council values a consistent and long-term approach to matters of function and design. But policies must retain sufficient flexibility to deal with emerging priorities and unforeseen circumstances.

A Rationale for the Plan Strategy

2.6. The substantial and growing body of evidence on physical regeneration shows that the benefits are greatest where resources are concentrated and, as a consequence, change is significant and visible.

2.7. Any land in Leicester is a resource to be used to advantage for the City as a whole. It follows that proposals for change in any one part of the City need to relate to notions about how the whole of the City is to develop and change (and, therefore, what land elsewhere is already contributing to the whole).

2.8. Derelict and under-used land clearly needs new purposes; these new purposes, however, need to be sustainable and complementary – meaning:

•  uses should be viable to the market both in the short and long term, but should not produce disproportionate environmental or social costs;

•  uses should create synergies with established uses, either on neighbouring land or elsewhere, so that there are greater benefits for the overall appeal or competitiveness of the City than there would be otherwise; 

•  uses do not create nuisance for neighbouring uses, diminishing the value of the new and the neighbouring uses to the City;

2.9. The Plan needs to stipulate the priorities for locating new development, directing it to where it will thrive and where, as a result, it will have the greatest impact; creating in the longer term, the self-sustaining, virtuous cycle of growth and renewal that is the objective of all regeneration. Leicester does not have a legacy of the kind of structural industrial decline commonly found in British cities, but it still has a stock of under-used and vacant land and out-dated and partly occupied premises. The challenge is making the choices necessary to concentrate change and create a sustainable impact.

2.10. Much of the central core of Leicester (the shopping core and most of the central commercial zone) is less successful than it needs to, or could, be. Retail and leisure markets tend to be finite (related to the size of the population) and businesses dealing in these markets require locations that offer a certain critical mass if they are to succeed. Thus dispersal of these activities can be counter-productive and the policies of the Plan will seek to focus such developments in appropriate centres.

2.11. Evidence concerning new economic purposes for our older manufacturing cities shows that city centres, with their capacity for a dense inter-mix of land uses, have a unique capability for producing valuable “economies of agglomeration.” 1  These advantages are sought by the activities that drive growth in the economy (traditionally office-based and consumer services, but also increasingly residential, cultural, health, educational and institutional). They are at the root of the revival of the city centre cores of many of our major regional cities. Given that Leicester too needs greater representation from the growth sectors of the economy, it follows that a prosperous future for Leicester requires a successful and competitive city centre core.

1 These economies are the beneficial externalities that arise from concentrating within an area a large number of activities that trade and compete with each other. Concentration makes the trade between businesses efficient and competing businesses learn from each other, improving each other’s competitiveness. The sheer levels of activity and inter-trading give an area vitality and buzz and this in turn enhances its appeal and attracts more activity.

2.12. Finally, it is critical that the Plan has a spatial rationale that makes sense strategically to the development of the City as a whole. Thus the City centre and the intervention areas within the Strategic Regeneration Area (SRA) need to relate well to each other as well as to the wider City. Isolated priority areas are less likely to be regenerated successfully. Success will be achieved through concentration rather then dispersal and sporadic, ad hoc development. These principles underpin the overall strategy of this plan which seeks to facilitate physical change in the City that would be of greatest value in reversing decline and stimulating, for the benefit of Leicester as a whole, a virtuous cycle of renewal and growth. The creation of the Leicester Regeneration Company in 2001 provides the public and private sector partners the opportunity to guide and implement theses changes through setting priorities and following an agreed Masterplan or Strategic Framework for the SRA.

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Regeneration

2.13. There are complex and diverse challenges facing Leicester in the future. For the regeneration of the City to happen successfully, initiatives across a broad range of disciplines need to work together, and achieve in concert what they cannot in isolation. Tackling social exclusion, education and training, employment schemes, reductions in crime and disorder, changes in transport and the physical environment and investment in the social infrastructure, are all elements of the regeneration whole.

2.14. This Plan will support the wider work of the City Council and its partners under its “Regeneration Strategy” by providing a framework in which to consider aspects of physical change in a comprehensive manner. The most dramatic spatial (land use and transportation) changes over the Plan period are expected to be within the Leicester Regeneration Area.  For the purposes of the Local Plan this area is called the Strategic Regeneration Area and is shown on the Proposals Map. With East Midlands Development Agency and English Partnerships, the City Council is a funding partner for the Leicester Regeneration Company (LRC) and recognises the special role that the LRC has in helping to deliver regeneration schemes.  The Council will work closely with the Company to achieve its objectives and help implement the Strategic Framework of the LRC Masterplan (hereafter referred to as the Masterplan). This was supported in principle by the City Council’s Cabinet on 23 September 2002.  The five main areas of intervention from the Masterplan are:

•  The creation of a prime central office core around the railway station;

•  The creation of a new science and technology based business park near the Space Centre at Abbey Meadows;

•  The creation of a strong retail circuit and heart within the Central Shopping Core;

•  The creation of a major new residential and working community in St. George’s North;

•  The creation of a new waterside development reuniting the City with its waterfront.

2.15. These intervention areas are shown on Map 02. Four of these areas involving the most extensive redevelopment proposals are shown on the Proposals Map. The fifth concerns the Central Shopping Core (CSC) which is also shown on the Proposals Map. The retail circuit within the CSC is shown diagrammatically on Map 02. Within the SRA, the Masterplan’s Strategic Framework contains proposals that aim to link the main five projects to the rest of the City. In particular these include;

•  an extension to New Walk,

•  linked public spaces on a route between the railway station and the Space Centre,

•  proposals to demolish Belgrave and Burleys flyovers (to assist linkages between the City centre and the communities beyond), and

•  opportunities to reduce the scale of the inner ring road to make it less of a barrier for pedestrians to cross.

2.16. Also underway within the SRA are regeneration schemes complementary to those that are the priority of the Leicester Regeneration Company and that have their own masterplans/delivery plans. These include;

•  an extension to the Shires Shopping Centre to include retail, leisure and residential elements. It is the subject of Supplementary Planning Guidance for the St Peters Lane area and entails an extension to the Central Shopping Core,

•  a Masterplan for De Montfort University campus,

•  an Old Town Masterplan being drawn up on behalf of the City Council,

•  St George’s South Cultural Quarter strategy, including a new performing arts venue, and

•  emerging plans for the Haymarket shopping centre.

2.17. Just outside, but with clear links to the SRA, there are also the University of Leicester Masterplan, and the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust Pathway project for the City’s three main hospitals. In addition, the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme will replace and/or refurbish 15 secondary schools in the City during the Local Plan period.

2.18. Other regeneration initiatives in the City include community based programmes such as “New Deal for Communities” (NDC) in Braunstone, “Single Regeneration Budget” (SRB) areas, and locally based initiatives designed to restore economic, social or environmental health, generally covered by the “Revitalising Neighbourhoods” initiative.

2.19. Regeneration is fundamental to the concept of a sustainable and economically competitive city and the policies of the Plan will contribute to the aims prescribed in the East Midlands Development Agency’s (EMDA) own Regeneration Strategy and subsequent Action Plans.

2.20. The previous Local Plan (1994) introduced the concept of the Potential Development Area (PDAs) in which regeneration was encouraged through a more flexible approach to the range of acceptable land uses. Many of these sites have now been successfully redeveloped. This Plan adopts a more selective use of PDAs, mainly within the Strategic Regeneration Area (SRA) (see Policy PS09a) and a smaller number of PDAs outside (see Policy PS09b). The intention is to make the LRC and SRA boundaries coterminous. The PDAs identify current regeneration opportunities and priorities within this wider SRA and reflect the LRC’s Masterplan. A comprehensive and co-ordinated approach is crucial to the delivery of quality, sustainable regeneration, in line with related policy and development guidance. The Council has worked closely with the LRC to produce, as appropriate, detailed development frameworks for each of the major regeneration projects. It is intended that these will be adopted by the City Council as supplementary planning guidance/documents and ensure that;

•  appropriate developer contributions are sought and are clear to developers at an early stage of the process;

•  the necessary framework is established for any Compulsory Purchase that becomes necessary;

•  public realm schemes and ongoing maintenance is ensured;

•  any necessary relocations are taken into account;

•  appropriate consultation is built into the process.

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The Principle of Comprehensive Development

2.21. Comprehensive development is the best method to ensure that the full potential of each of the five key intervention areas is realised – thus the importance of land assembly. Each area offers the City a unique resource for the development of a competitive city; the aim of the comprehensive approach to development is to realise this unique value.

2.22. In Leicester the preferred method of securing comprehensive development is by producing overall development frameworks for the whole of each area. These will set out the broad mix and layout of uses, locate the principal access infrastructure, dictate the character of the public realm, guide the height and massing of buildings and set the standards of architecture to be achieved. They will also establish anapproach and level for developer contriburions towards infrastructure, affordable housing and support facilities including education and health.

2.23. The guidance will be produced for areas making up the SRA in order to look at the long-term opportunities and guide development. The objective is to guide, encourage and secure regeneration. Where necessary compulsory purchase will be pursued by the City Council acting in partnership with others.

Land Assembly

2.24. One of the biggest obstacles to the successful regeneration of certain parts of the City is the multiplicity of land ownership; as a consequence there is a shortage of sites that appeal to developers. One of the key aims of the Plan is to help to remove this obstacle – most particularly in areas which have very strong advantages in terms of location or assets, but which also suffer from large tracts of poorly used, under-used and vacant land in multiple ownership. A site can often be left undeveloped because the risk-taker cannot be certain of what will happen to neighbouring uses. Similarly, development can be impeded because the first developer is deterred from putting in the improvements – for example in utility capacity, access or public realm – that will enhance values for subsequent developers who would benefit without having to contribute to costs.

2.25. Appropriate development, regeneration and refurbishment will be encouraged throughout the SRA shown on the Proposals Map. This will be facilitated by the preparation of detailed site development guidance for the Potential Development Areas shown on the Proposals Map (most of which fall within the SRA) and for other sites where there are significant regeneration benefits including the five major areas of intervention of the LRC Masterplan as shown on the Proposals Map.

2.26. This guidance will be prepared in consultation with the local community and other agencies. It will set out a vision for the area, reflecting local characteristics and facilitating a range and mix of appropriate land uses. It is the City Council’s intention, ultimately, to encourage appropriate development, redevelopment and/or refurbishment within the whole of the SRA by permitting a range and mix of possible uses and by using its powers for land assembly if necessary. That is through the use of its own Compulsory Purchase procedures (and where appropriate encouraging their use by other agencies) and appropriate commercial arrangements with developers. It is anticipated that at least 60% of new housing and employment land requirements will be accommodated on previously developed land, the majority of which will be located within the SRA. The Council will also seek to ensure that timescales for providing necessary infrastructure are closely related to needs generated by the development and its occupants.

2.27. Site development guidance will be produced for areas making up the SRA in order to look at the long-term opportunities and guide development. The objective is to guide, encourage and secure regeneration. Further policy guidance pertaining to the City Centre and the Riverside is contained in the body of the Plan. The boundaries of the SRA and the development areas may be subject to some alteration when the development initiative begins or the guidelines are prepared.

2.28. The case for regeneration in more local areas is compelling. Economic prospects are enhanced and more jobs become accessible to local people. At its best it can secure the development of previously developed land and buildings, protect and improve the natural and built environments and remove contamination and dereliction.  In some cases it can also curb adverse traffic impacts, reduce crime and improve safety. Experience in Leicester shows that these outcomes are more likely to be achieved where there is extensive involvement of the local community and it is important therefore that effective local consultation is the cornerstone of supplementary planning document preparation. This Plan introduces some new PDAs. It also proposes extensions to some existing PDAs and sets out acceptable ranges of use within them. The priority given to particular uses and other factors affecting development prospects are spelled out in more detail in Policies PS09, PS09a and PS09b.

Integrating Planning and Transport

2.29. The appropriate location and juxtaposition of specific land uses, can mean that people’s needs are met in a more sustainable way; minimising the need to make unnecessary journeys, restricting the length of those journeys which are necessary and enabling alternative means of travel. To assist with this, the City and County Councils are seeking to establish accessibility profiles for public transport within their areas. It is anticipated that when this work is complete it will play an important role in guiding development to appropriate sites.

2.30. The integration of planning and transport policies is essential to achieve the most effective and efficient use of land. The promotion of walking, cycling and improvements to the public transport network are at the core of the first Local Transport Plan and are major themes in this Plan. The emerging second Local Transport Plan is focused around the priorities of tackling congestion, delivering accessibility, safer roads, better air quality and improving the condition of roads, pavements and cycle routes. The significant regeneration proposals in the plan that serve to strengthen the City Centre need to be served by appropriate transport links. This includes cycling, walking as well as vehicle access.

2.31. Development in locations which are accessible by a choice of these transport modes can reduce reliance on the private car, promoting sustainability, regeneration and social inclusion. Many people need to use their cars, but they must be used sensibly, with restraint and with a proper regard to the environmental consequences. Like other urban centres at certain times Leicester experiences very degraded air quality on many of its main radial routes and within parts of the City Centre. Also it has significant levels of congestion across much of its road network for much of the day. Improving movement within the City is a major task, which again requires a multi-agency approach if sustainable solutions are to be found. The Plan’s clear ambition is to see appropriate development focused on the City Centre and other centres in line with the philosophy of PPS6 and PPG13.

2.32. Transport Assessments and Travel Plans will be required for large scale or travel intensive development proposals. These will help to clarify the optimum mix of land uses, design issues, the relationship with the built and natural environment, the suitability of alternative sites, appropriate developer contributions and transport consequences. Appraisals should also outline any necessary remedial measures. More detail is contained in Chapter 5.

2.33. Opportunities will be sought to reduce the impact of the ring road and improve pedestrian access across it. Proposals for the Office Core include measures to downgrade the ring road in front of the railway station and direct pedestrian access to the retail core and the Cultural Quarter. Proposals for Waterside include downgrading of Vaughan Way and an extension of New Walk across it.

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A Strategy for the City Centre

2.34. The preceding overall strategy set out in policy PS01 and the Rationale allude to the importance of the City centre for the future of the whole City. Improving the usability and appeal of the City centre is crucial. The LRC Masterplan identified three pre-requisites for change:

i)   improving the usability and appeal of the City centre to the consumer;

ii)   improving the usability and appeal of the City centre to knowledge based service businesses;

iii)   encouraging a new residential population in the City centre.

2.35. The retail core represented by the Central Shopping Core is the principal key. The focus of the retail core is on The Shires and the Haymarket shopping centres, which are in close proximity, with limited opportunity to feed off of them. The radial configuration of the shopping streets compounds the difficulty of concentrating and channeling flows outside these areas. These conditions have constrained the opportunities for new retailer representation. Consequently the diminished strength of the retail core has not encouraged a more diverse and appealing leisure market, which in turn affects the City centre and residential markets.

2.36. Greater representation in the office-based and consumer services growth sectors is essential for the City centre to succeed. The underlying reasons for this under representation are the lack of suitable property in the city centre to retain and attract office-based activity exacerbated by substantial competition from out of town office developments. The large stock of old and outmoded office buildings, degraded environments near the Central Ring Road, and no clear demarcated area for offices has deterred developer speculation in new office building in general, and the creation of a demarcated prime office area enjoying advantages of concentration and scale in particular.

2.37. The creation of a significant City centre residential population is essential to give the centre appeal, ambiance and vitality and to provide a customer base to support a diverse range of leisure, retail and cultural services. A good City centre residential offer will be capable of attracting and retaining high quality skills needed to attract and sustain investment from growth sectors of the economy.

2.38. The structure of the City centre is an important factor in its under performance. In addition to the flawed retail circuit the City centre core is cut off from the rest of the central area by the Central Ring Road. The road severs it from under utilised assets, such as the canal and river, the Old Town, New Walk and Castle Gardens, that might add interest and appeal to the centre. This issue is partially addressed by policy PS04 but opportunities to reduce the severance affect of the Central Ring Road must be taken into account in any large scale area based development or regeneration scheme within or bordering the central core.

2.39. Functionality is broken up so that the advantage of concentration is difficult to achieve. The lack of a unified centre prevents interaction between different parts of the City and the realisation of synergies between them. A compact and unified City centre is needed.

2.40. The essential elements comprising the strategy to improve the appeal of the City centre are:

•  Strengthen the retail core;

•  Create a prime office core;

•  Create a City centre housing market;

•  Ending the centre’s isolation;

•  Maintaining a compact central core and improving physical and functional linkages within it.

The Central Shopping Core

2.41. The Plan extends the Central Shopping Core in the vicinity of the Shires shopping centre/St Peter’s Lane and behind Belgrave Gate/Haymarket in the Mansfield Street area. It will enable the delivery of additional retail floor-space, the need for which was identified in the Central Leicestershire Retail Study (2003) and Leicester Regeneration Company retail study (2003) and a new retail circuit.

2.42. The Council supports the LRC Masterplan’s proposal to create a strong retail circuit and core that addresses the structural problems described above. The purpose of the new retail circuit is to direct and concentrate pedestrian flows across a wider area, that is, southwards of the two shopping centres. It will require a new retail anchor to create the circuit and pull flows to the south eastern area of the Central Shopping Core in the vicinity of Belvoir Street and the southern end of Market Street.

2.43. The envisaged circuit links the Shires shopping centre to the Haymarket and runs via a new link between Mansfield street and Belgrave Gate, south through to Humberstone Gate, along Gallowtree Gate and part of Granby Street, then along Belvoir Street, Market Street, through St Martins and back to the extended Shires. The western leg of the retail circuit is the extension of New Walk.

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The New Business Quarter

2.44. The City Council supports the LRC Masterplan’s proposal to create a prime office core, the New Business Quarter, integrated with the centre’s retail, leisure and cultural offer and capable of achieving a critical mass of employment and supporting activity. It will meet the future employment needs of the City as described in the Employment Chapter of the Plan and help overcome other structural problems in the City centre. The Central Office Core is shown on the Proposals Map.

2.45. The Masterplan proposals include at least 50,000 m² of prime, new office floor-space, supporting leisure and retail, a hotel/conference centre, a re-orientated station, a new car park, a new bus, rail interchange and a re-alignment of the ring road. Area Strategy Guidance: Office Core (New Business Quarter) was approved by the City Council in December 2004.

2.46. Other policies within the Local Plan which will facilitate the development of the prime office core include E05 (Major Office Development) which sets out the sequential approach for locating new major office development. All new office development over 1,000 square metres will be required to look for suitable sites within the Central Office Core as the first area of search.

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St. George’s Residential And Working Community

2.47. The St George’s area is widely regarded as incoherent and unattractive, characterised by low-value uses with extensive under-use of buildings and relatively high vacancy levels. In common with the other regeneration areas St George’s is currently contributing to the underperformance of the central area of Leicester. The Central Ring Road has a significant influence on the character and function of the area. The road has a blighting effect far wider than the carriageway itself; this has been exacerbated by development that followed the highway’s construction that has turned its back on the road because of the noise and visual impact. Similarly the construction of Charles Street and development that followed (notably the Bus Station and Haymarket Centre) has resulted in the severance of the area from the City centre. This has left the St George’s area isolated from both the City centre and surrounding residential areas, areas where interaction could have significant regenerative benefit.

2.48. The LRC Masterplan set out aspirations for the regeneration of the area based around the creation of a new ‘walkable neighbourhood’ comprising a mix of housing, workspace, accessible community facilities and complementary retail and leisure. These proposals were refined in the LRC’s Development Framework document that was published for public consultation in 2004. This framework informed supplementary planning guidance (SPG) for the whole of St George’s area which was adopted by the City Council in June 2005. The SPG highlights the following elements as important to the area’s redevelopment:

•  Fostering new links with surrounding residential areas to overcome the severance effect and blighting of the Central Ring Road, and forging improved links with the city centre;

•  Creating improved links within the area; Wharf Street, a link between Belgrave Gate and Humberstone Gate and a link from the St George’s Churchyard area to the proposed Office Core in particular are key routes;

•  Introducing a varied mix of housing to the area, including the critical mass of family housing necessary to make community facilities viable and sustainable;

•  The provision of new community services in a compact, accessible and flexible form appropriate to the City centre context;

•  The provision of new business space and the retention of existing employment within the area where this is compatible with housing;

•  Provision of high quality public realm and new open spaces of varying size, type and function appropriate to the City centre grain to meet the wide needs of the new community;

•  Provision of complementary retail and leisure space, predominantly utilising the retail legacy of Belgrave Gate and Humberstone Gate;

•  Retaining existing buildings of architectural merit within the area and allowing these buildings to determine the scale of new development that occurs around them.

Overall, redevelopment proposals in St George’s must make a significant contribution to the attractiveness, dynamism and appeal of the City centre as a place to live. In addition, the City Council is leading a regeneration strategy for a new Cultural Quarter in St. George’s South. This will focus around the new Performing Arts and Conference Centre on Rutland St. Within St. George’s South, priority land uses are residential (C3), major leisure, including the Performing Arts and Conference Centre (D1, D2) and public open space. Subordinate land uses include Business (B1), shared residential/studio units (C3, B1) and  a local centre (A1, A2, A3, A4, A5).

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Waterside

2.49. Leicester’s river and canal are two of its strongest assets, but are lost to the City centre due to the severance of the ring road and a wide swathe of residual commercial and industrial development characterised by under-used land and buildings set in a degraded environment; the area is a legacy of the contraction of Leicester’s traditional economic base and a contributing factor to the underperformance of the central area of the City. Historic reasons for the lack of investment and renewal in Waterside are many, however a key theme is fragmented land ownership and the associated difficulties, highlighted at paragraph 2.24 above. This points to a need for comprehensive redevelopment.

2.50. However, Waterside offers a major regeneration opportunity for new residential, office and leisure development, all set within an environment of exceptional quality. Comprehensive redevelopment could provide the City centre with a clear, distinctive and attractive western edge, provide new water space and reconnect the city centre to the water through the careful control of routes and views, whilst revealing and framing the City’s special built heritage. Regeneration of Waterside in this way could have a significant positive impact on the economic performance of the City as a whole by providing a living environment of outstanding quality to complement the related employment-generating proposals of the Plan.

2.51. The strategy for the regeneration of the area is set out in a Development Framework commissioned by the Leicester Regeneration Company in partnership with the City Council and is based on the following principles:

•  A balanced and integrated mix of new residential neighbourhoods closely linked to existing communities;

•  High quality business accommodation space, well integrated with the residential property. Office space should be smaller ‘own front door’ units to complement the proposal for a New Business Quarter in the vicinity of the Railway Station;

•  New water space and moorings to bring the river, canal and associated activities closer to the City centre;

•  Ancillary leisure and retail space, focused around the new water space with limited provision elsewhere in the area;

•  Community facilities including a new school;

•  Improved access to allow better links from the City centre to the waterside; better access from surrounding housing areas back into the City centre and unnecessary through traffic to be diverted away from the area to facilitate creation of a more peaceful and clean residential quarter; and

• Provision of public car parking to serve both the Waterside and Central Shopping Core.

2.52. Piecemeal development will not deliver the regeneration of Waterside. Comprehensive redevelopment is required to ensure the proper planning of the area and to ensure that a mechanism can be put in place to assist individual developments to meet their obligations to the overall costs of public realm and facilities required as a result of the development.

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2.53. Land within Waterside to the east of Northgate and north of Sanvey Gate is designated as a Primarily Employment area and Policy E03 will apply. In the interests of providing an appropriate quality of environment and public realm to the frontage of Northgate and Sanvey Gate, redevelopment proposals on sites directly fronting these streets for uses other than use classes B1, B2 or B8 will be considered in accordance with criterion (d) of Policy E03.

Science and Technology Based Business Park and Environs - Abbey Meadows

2.54. Analysis of Leicester underpinning the LRC Masterplan highlighted a number of areas where the City’s economy performs less well than it could. These included a failure of the City to retain an educated workforce, particularly graduates from the two universities that are needed by the higher-value end of the office and science and technology sectors that are key to the City’s future prosperity.

2.55. The City’s universities both enjoy world-class reputations in key science and technology areas, however there is little evidence of this in the City’s economy, for example in the form of spin-off businesses. This is due in large part to the lack of a suitable property offer for these specialist occupiers. The City needs within its property portfolio the high quality in-city campus style business park environment sought by these target businesses, if it is to compete for this investment against the very substantial competition from out of town developments.

2.56. The proposed science and technology park site shown on the Proposals Map was identified for this purpose both because it presented the best opportunity for delivering the quality of development required (significant areas of underused land in a potentially very attractive setting) and because of the benefits accruing from proximity to the existing iconic National Space Centre building.

2.57. A Development Framework for the area was prepared by LRC in partnership with the Council during 2004 and was subject to extensive public consultation. The proposals emerging from the framework will guide development on the site and form the basis for a Supplementary Planning Document for the area. Key elements of the framework are:

•  High quality in-city campus style business park targeted at science and technology businesses at all stages of their growth;

•  Mix of housing type/size and affordability on Wolsey Island and Ross Walk and off Abbey Lane with appropriate open space and ancillary retail and leisure;

•  New links to the Belgrave community to allow improved access to employment opportunities and amenities from which the area is blocked by the lack of bridges across the river and canal; and

•  For all development to positively address the water environment, to make the river and canal more accessible to existing and new residents and visitors and to encourage provision of additional moorings and other facilities for users of the river.

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Potential Development Areas

2.58. The previous City of Leicester Local Plan (1994) identified a number of areas where, in order to encourage regeneration or development, a range and mix of possible land uses would be considered. These were predominantly within the inner area of the City and included both areas where large-scale redevelopment was in the pipeline such as Bede Island North and areas where changes were being, or could be, achieved in a more piecemeal fashion such as the Albion Hill area. The current plan builds on the success of this approach, taking it forward to 2016.

2.59. The PDA locations reflect two of the major strands of the City’s physical regeneration strategy:

•  the regeneration of old and outdated industrial and commercial sites and properties on the fringes of the , City centre, , , p, , articularly along the Central Ring R, oad; and

•  the regeneration of Leicester’s waterways.

2.60. The PDAs are mainly located within the wider S, t, rategic Regeneration Area which is the focus for the Leicester Regeneration Company. It is the Council’s long-term aim that site development guidance will be produced to cover all of these areas. It will build on opportunities identified in this Loc, al Plan and the LRC Masterplan for the PDAs and ensure a comprehensive approach to area regeneration. Where necessary the City Council will use its powers with regard to Compulsory Purchase in conjunction with others in order to assemble sites for regeneration. This was an important element in the case of Bede Island North, a Potential Development Area in the previous Local Plan, where the successful regeneration scheme was enabled by the use of Compulsory Pur, chase powers under section 226 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. The Council will also support other agencies with these powers where it considers such an action is appropriate.

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2.61. This policy recognises that regeneration proposals which fall outside the Strategic Regeneration Areas may also require policy support. These areas are identified within the Local Plan as PDAs (Towers Hospital, Evington Valley Road, Beaumont Way and Keyham Lane). However during the Plan period it is likely that priorities for regeneration will change as will government funding initiatives. Local areas can experience poor levels of investment, symptoms of social stress and problems of congestion. These can be challenged through a range of statutory and non-statutory initiatives. Reusing land and converting buildings provide key opportunities for local people to respond to aspects of neglect within local communities.

Sustainable Development

2.62. Also underpinning this Plan are the principles of sustainable development. These are well rehearsed at the national level in PPGNs and PPSs. In the context of Leicester the following sets out its key elements.

PRINCIPLES OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Planning permission for development will be considered against the following criteria to help secure sustainable development:

a)     its contribution to meeting the needs of disadvantaged people especially in relation to housing and employment;

b)     the development of quality places through the application of the principles of good urban design: incorporating where possible, energy and water conservation, minimisation of waste and pollution and the use of secondary aggregates and recycled material in construction projects;

c)     its ability to improve personal security, reduce fear of crime and deter incidences of crime and anti social behaviour;

d)     the protection of residential amenity and pollution control; and

e)     its use, where appropriate, of previously developed land and densities to support local services and make efficient use of land.

Equity

2.63. Many people take for granted their access to housing, employment and transport, as well as to a wide range of social, community and leisure facilities. It is crucial to their well being and quality of life. However, the needs of disadvantaged people are often greater and their access to these staples less. It is vital that this is acknowledged in the Plan if progress towards social equity is to be made and social exclusion reduced. Of course the needs of different groups vary considerably. They can be social or economic as well as physical. Specific policies, for example on disabled persons’ access, will be found in the body of the Plan.

Care of the Environment

2.65. Chapter 3 sets out the key urban design policies to be applied to all new development. These policies are amplified in supplementary planning guidance (SPG) and supplementary planning documents (SPD).

2.66. Achieving a higher quality urban environment will involve the City Council in providing guidance, setting standards and promoting innovation. However like many other ambitions of this Plan, it will only be achieved in partnership with others, notably those included in the development industry and local communities. PPS1 requires Local Planning Authorities to place the quality of design at the centre of its decision making and the City Council will expect developers to produce “Design Statements” to accompany all major planning applications. These should incorporate the principles described above and those of the Urban Design Chapter.

Crime and Disorder

2.67. No development should be allowed to proceed until the implications for the safety and security of those affected by the proposal have been considered. This is dealt with in more detail in Chapter 3 particularly with reference to the design of new buildings and the relationship of land uses. New uses within the existing fabric of the City can also have safety implications. The spread of evening leisure facilities needs to be considered both from the perspective of those using such a facility and those affected by its use.

Residential Amenity

2.68. With a move towards greater mixing of homes with other land uses, the issue of amenity is of particular relevance. It is important in providing residents with a quality living environment.

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Protection from Pollution

2.69. Most types of pollution that affect residential amenity are subject to legislation outside planning control, such as the Environmental Protection Act 1990. The impact of pollution, including that caused by traffic, on the amenity of neighbouring residents will be a material consideration when determining planning applications. These impacts may often be mitigated through location, design and the use of conditions, for example, restricting hours of operation or implementing a travel plan. Consideration will also be given to longer term gains, where relevant, achieved through reducing the need to travel. The Government provides guidance on the relationship between the planning system and pollution control in PPS23 (Planning and Pollution Control) and PPG24 (Planning and Noise).

2.70. Good design solutions should be used where necessary to mitigate problems such as impact on visual amenity, safety and security, overshadowing and privacy. Some aspects of amenity such as visual impact and safety affect other users of the area as well. The physical nature of residential areas can also affect their ability to assimilate another use as can the level of infrastructure - either already available or capable of appropriate provision.

2.71. The potential problems caused by insufficient parking will be considered with other factors listed in policies AM11 (Parking with non-residential development) and AM12 (Residential Parking). Potential impacts may, for instance, be reduced through the implementation of a Travel Plan.

2.72. Exactly what constitutes an acceptable level of amenity will depend partly on the existing circumstances and the characteristics of an area. For instance the level of noise, light or other disturbance that is acceptable in a City Centre location may be higher than that which is acceptable in a more suburban area. All development must, however, comply with relevant environmental legislation.

2.73. Protection from all forms of pollution should reduce health risks, protect the natural environment and prevent harm to amenity. Planning conditions and/or legal agreements may be used to exert control. Environmental Assessments may be required to help establish the precise nature of any risk along with remedial measures.

2.74. The City Council has monitored air quality for several years and is continually improving its understanding of the distribution of pollution over time and space. Areas where Statutory Air Quality Objectives will not be met have been identified and Air Quality Management Areas (AQMA) declared. Action Plans to improve air quality in them will be developed. Alongside ‘Low Emission Zones’, proposed under the government’s Clear Zones initiative, they will be important factors in the consideration of future development proposals. Potentially serious damage to air quality outside AQMA, for example due to emissions from fixed installations, will also be a material consideration when assessing development proposals.

2.75. Ideally houses, schools, hospitals and other developments sensitive to pollution should not be located where they would suffer detrimental effects from pollution. Efforts will be made to improve air quality through traffic reduction/management measures, since this is the most important component in pollution of the air.  Potential for pollution reduction resulting from better integration of transport and land use, through urban concentration and well-conceived mixed use developments will also be pursued. Regeneration of the City creating major social and economic benefits will sometimes produce potentially incompatible neighbours. But often these can co-exist when issues are addressed at the formative design stage and adequate safeguards built in. These could include the positioning, layout, orientation and internal arrangements of the different elements of the development. Additionally engineering protection for example by the installation of mechanical ventilation may also be necessary. The removal or reduction of existing polluters will often be a key consideration in the application of this policy including the capacity of development to generate, redistribute or suppress traffic levels.

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(Developers’ attention is drawn to Part IV of the Environment Act 1995, associated DETR Guidance and The Leicester City Council Air Quality Management Area Order 2000. Standard conditions may be imposed on planning consents for potentially polluting development.)

Energy Conservation and Waste Minimisation

2.76. Reducing the consumption of energy can make an important contribution to local, national and international air quality. It is consistent with principles of sustainable development, helping to reduce the use of non-renewable resources. Much can be achieved by thoughtful design, which need not add to development costs, or compromise designs in keeping with their surroundings. A supplementary planning document (SPD) concerning energy conservation and renewable energy was adopted by the City Council in November 2005. This SPD provides further practical advice. The functional aspects of waste treatment in line with the provisions of the waste hierarchy are also important when considering how to create a more sustainable City.

2.77. The consumption of energy and water, the production of waste and pollution should be minimised by:

•  the use of methods and materials with maximum possible positive environmental impact;

•  landscaping;

•  access and transport linkages; and

•  the siting, design, layout and orientation of buildings.

The Strategic Green Network

2.78. Throughout Leicester there is a network of open spaces, parks, wildlife areas, nature reserves and greenways that connect the heart of the urban area to the wider countryside. This green network is multi-functional. It provides walkways, leisure routes and cycleways; places for formal and informal play and recreation; a place for people to see and experience wildlife and natural places on their doorsteps. It includes attractive natural landscapes and some rural character in the midst of the urban area. The network includes areas for flood defence and storm water retention; allotments; sports grounds; land for growing food and grazing livestock, and plays a key part in helping to absorb and reduce the effects of air and water-borne pollution. It consists of Green Wedges and Greenspace as shown on the Proposals Map.

2.79. Protection and enhancement of this green network is an important element of the environmental sustainability of Leicester.

Key Development Areas

2.80. As far as possible the Plan will make provision to meet the housing requirement and allocate sufficient land for industrial and commercial purposes.

2.81. The principles outlined in Policy PS02 will be incorporated in the approach to the development of the city’s remaining major development sites at Ashton Green and Hamilton. Whilst this Plan acknowledges the commitments given in previous plans to the long-term development of these sites, it suggests a more sustainable model for development in these urban extension locations. This will help to ensure that these sites make a full contribution to future housing and employment needs, and should help with the timely implementation of proposals: a key failing of previous plans.

Minerals Planning

2.82. In May 1995 Leicestershire County Council as Mineral Planning Authority adopted the Leicestershire Minerals Local Plan Review. This Plan contained policies and proposals which sought to balance the responsibility for ensuring a supply of minerals, against the need to limit the effects of mineral extraction through environmental safeguards. This Plan ran in parallel with the Structure Plan to 2006.

2.83. In 1997 Leicester City Council became a Unitary Council and assumed the responsibilities of a Minerals Planning Authority. The policy guidance set out in 2.82 above remains in place, but the City Council believes it is sensible and prudent to roll forward this policy advice to 2016 and incorporate it into the Replacement City of Leicester Local Plan.

2.84. The Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland Structure Plan provides new strategic guidance in relation to minerals, for the whole of the Plan Area. In Leicester itself there are currently no mineral workings. Furthermore no workable deposits of igneous rock, coal, limestone, brickclay, fireclay, ironstone, gypsum, oil, gas or other minerals are known to exist. 

2.85. A small area within the city boundary, adjacent to the River Soar South in Aylestone was allocated for sand and gravel extraction in the previous Leicestershire Minerals Local Plan (1986). At the time the County Council acknowledged that it had identified more land for sand and gravel extraction than was strictly necessary in order to allow operators some flexibility. The site was part of a much larger allocation mainly situated within Blaby District. Planning permission was granted in 1990 to Pioneer Aggregates (UK) Ltd. for extraction of sand and gravel as identified in the Plan, but this consent was confined to an area totally outside the city boundary. Extraction took place in 1991-92. Planning permission for the site expired on 3rd December 2002. Potential operators have given no indication of recommencing extraction and it seems very unlikely that any remaining reserves will be worked, especially as the site now adjoins the Fosse Park Shopping Centre which has grown up over the last 10 years. Moreover new sites for sand and gravel extraction were identified in a 1995 review.

2.86. In the circumstance therefore the City Council believes that it is unnecessary to include any further policies in relation to the winning or working of minerals within its boundary.

2.87. The City Council further believes that there are no sites within its boundary suitable for the disposal of material extracted elsewhere. Any proposal for such development will be judged against the policies of this Plan, the Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland Waste Local Plan, the Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland Structure Plan and appropriate national guidance especially that contained in MPG6.

2.88. As far as the City’s need for minerals and aggregates is concerned, it is clear from the above that all must be imported. No estimates of need are available at the City level but this is unlikely to be a critical factor. The move to a plan, monitor, manage model - signalled in the consultation draft of MPG6 - means that the previously complex, unclear and inaccurate “bottom up” approach to forecasting demand is no longer appropriate. Instead national and regional figures tied to appropriate economic forecasts seem to offer a simpler, more transparent and more flexible method. The development requirements set out in this Plan strongly suggest that Leicester is most unlikely to experience excessive development pressure and its consumption of minerals and aggregates will be consistent with average national and regional rates.

2.89. However Leicester is keen to advance the case of resource conservation and the City Council believes that the use of secondary aggregates and recycled material is an important element of sustainable development. In 1992, along with the County Council and Leicester Environment City Trust it published “Building for the Environment”, an environmental good practice checklist for the construction and development industries. This advocated action to reduce or substitute material use whilst maximising the use of recycled and secondary materials. At the time 0.5 million tonnes of construction/demolition waste went to landfill.

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