A Rutland resident has got in touch with Oakham Nub News to share his thoughts on the Draft Local Plan as the deadline looms.

The Draft Local Plan contains the Vision, Objectives, Spatial Strategy and Planning Policy framework that will be used to shape the future of Rutland.

Every Planning Authority must have a Local Plan that sets out what can be built and where building should take place over a period of at least 15 years. 

Local Plans include important policies to support environmental protection, jobs and the economy. They also help to decide where future investment is needed for infrastructure like roads, schools and health services.

It is a legal requirement for councils to have an up-to-date Local Plan which has been developed in-line with national planning policy. A key part of the Plan is setting out how many new homes are needed and exactly where they should be built - something that remains a hot topic in Rutland, where development has been on the rise.

While the plan has been heavily criticised for being complex and difficult for the general public to understand in its entirety, the Council is accepting feedback until 8 January, giving residents plenty of time over the Christmas break to get to grips with the information - although the local MP and parish councils have appealed to RCC to extend this deadline.

Now, a Rutland resident has got in touch with us at Oakham Nub News to share his thoughts on the plan.

Alistair Parker said: "The Draft Local Plan sometimes seems complex, opaque and indecipherable. And it many ways, it is. A good example of that is the housing policy. Everyone knows there's a housing problem and this Plan proposes we build our way out of it."

Current building sites across Rutland will not be included in the number of builds proposed in the Draft Local Plan. Image credit: Nub News.

Mr Parker alleges that: "The last Plan (2018-2036), withdrawn at the 11th hour over the unviable St George's Barracks scheme, proposed that Rutland saw 3,592 new homes or 199 completions per year over the 18-year period. This included 1,000 homes at St George's Barracks (SGB) and 650 at Quarry Farm as part of Stamford North. At the time, the local housing need - as calculated by the Government's prescribed method and intended to encourage house building – was only 127 homes per year or 2,286 completions over the 18 years plan period. 

"This time round, the draft Plan (2021-2041) appears more rational but, behind the text, one can work out that the Plan proposes that Rutland should build 4,290 new homes or 214 completions per year over the extended plan period. The local housing need, calculated in the required manner, is 2,460 new homes or 123 per year.

"To meet that, the Council added a customary 10% buffer to ensure flexibility and market choice to make it 2,706 homes or 135 per year. Then they add 27% in the form of 'reserve housing sites' (657) plus a further 500 units at SGB and 650 at Quarry Farm. The figures ignore 'windfall housing', or unplanned development, which was previously set at 20 homes per year (add net 356) but these, in combination with existing planning permissions and recent completions (since 2021) cumulatively add up to 4,290 new homes in the County– a surplus over provision of 1,830 homes.

"It's quite clear that the development of more houses doesn't make them cheaper or even affordable. Rutland has been consistently building more houses than the local need: 165 more than planned in the last 5 years."

This comment from Alistair comes as Rutland house prices are recorded at £133k above average.

Mr Parker continued: "The over supply burden means that Oakham could see a further 1,253 homes, Uppingham 514 homes and the larger villages 867 new homes. Of those villages, Edith Weston could disproportionately see 764 new completions, taking its built-up village population from 582 (2021) to 2,270 – a massive 360% increase.

"This might be the right answer but the plan, strategically, does not seem to even pose the question."

Rutland's Draft Local Plan has been published in full online, together with supporting evidence. Anyone wishing to take part in the public consultation can read and comment on the Plan by visiting the Rutland County Council website.

This article is an opinion piece and does not reflect any views of Oakham Nub News, as an impartial online news outlet.

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