Falmouth Neighbourhood Development Plan 2021 – 2030
Falmouth's future in your hands...
All the information on this page, along with the associated links, has been transferred from the original Falmouth Neighbourhood Development Plan website (www.planforfalmouth.info), which was created and administered by the Falmouth Neighbourhood Plan Stakeholder Group – a community-based group commissioned and supported by Falmouth Town Council to develop the NDP in 2015. To reduce the costs of maintaining a separate website, Falmouth Town Council has now brought this content onto our own website, where it will continue to be available as a reference resource.
Falmouth Neighbourhood Development Plan Referendum Result is ‘Yes’.
Falmouth Neighbourhood Plan Referendum result: 3,471 ‘yes’ votes (93.6%) 228 ‘no’ votes (6.1%), 6 votes rejected. Turnout 21.08%. The Plan is now is part of the development plan and carries full weight in Planning decisions.
The Plan was created by local people and organisations through the Town Council, and was endorsed by the local community in a local Referendum held on 19th August 2021. It will now be used by Cornwall Council to guide future Planning decisions.
You can view an explanatory leaflet about the Plan here: NDP Leaflet
More information about the Falmouth Neighbourhood Development Plan, and the evicence base that justifies the policies within it, can be found on the left of this page, or on a mobile device by scrolling down to the bottom.
If you have a query or require any information or documents linked to this page please email to admin@falmouthtowncouncil.com or call the Town Council offices on 01326 315559.
Falmouth is recognised as a beautiful coastal town, but for those of us that live and work here its much more than that.
Over the years Falmouth has developed into an exciting and diverse place. Growing tourism, dock and property development, new maritime activities and growth in higher education bring huge opportunities for our town, but they create big challenges too.
We need to make the most of those opportunities and tackle the challenges so that the needs of the community are met without harming our options for the future.
The Neighbourhood Plan is an opportunity for everyone in Falmouth to influence the decisions that will affect our town.
The Localism Act 2011 gave people the democratic right to be involved in drawing up a plan for their local area, which means they were able to create a Falmouth Neighbourhood Plan that truly reflects local views.
What’s more, it was agreed through a local referendum, so everyone on the electoral roll had a say.
As the vote was in its favour, the Neighbourhood Plan is ‘made’ in law and can’t be ignored when planning applications are decided by Cornwall Council, Planning Inspectors, or the Government.
It helps control the way that land is used for housing, business, shops and leisure. It also helps to protect green spaces and influence the design of buildings, tackle some difficult issues and support the things that make Falmouth an exceptional place to live, work and visit.
Sustainable development means making sure we grow and develop in a way that’s safe and fair for future generations.
To get the best long-term outcome for Falmouth, Planning should meet the needs of our community in a way that supports sustainable development.
The guiding principles of sustainable development that our Neighbourhood Plan follows are to:
- Live within the planet’s environmental limits – we’ll protect and enhance our natural and man-made environment, and respond to climate change.
- Ensure a strong, healthy and just society – we’ll meet present and future needs for the housing, work and services that support the wellbeing of all our community.
- Achieve a sustainable economy – we’ll support actions that build prosperity for all and use resources wisely.
- Promote good governance – we’ll make sure that we are all involved in creating the Falmouth Neighbourhood Plan
Having a Neighbourhood Development Plan helps to make sure that many important Planning decisions are made in accordance with local opinions, rather than relying only on the National Planning Policy Framework and the Cornwall Local Plan and its Development Planning Document.
What happens in our town affects us all – it can change our quality of life and the opportunities we have. So the how Planning decsions on new development are made is really important
Without a Neighbourhood Plan, all the important planning decisions made by Cornwall Council would be based only on the National Planning Guidance and the county-wide plan. That would ensure that development was sustainable and achieved Government objectives but it could also mean that important local factors might be ignored and that decisions would not necessarily be made by people who know and understand Falmouth’s needs.
The Neighbourhood Development Plan process, by harnessing our community’s knowledge, creativity, energy and diversity, has helped make a plan that is fair, inclusive and well-balanced, that will help to shape a positive future for Falmouth, and have a real impact.
Lots of great ideas came out of community participation in the Neighbourhood Plan
To begin this involved community and business surveys, exhibitions, Stakeholder Group meetings and the community Working Groups, and a ‘Community Feedback Workshop’ during the preparation of the Falmouth NDP.
These were drawn together in the Consultation Draft NDP, written by the Stakeholder Group, and published in December 2016. Leaflets were circulated, more drop-in exhbitions were held and there were newspaper and radio reports. As a result lots more comment was received during the 8 weeks following, on the basis of which the NDP was redrafted to make it even more community focused. A revised ‘submission’ version of the NDP was ready in March 2018. This was sent to Cornwall Council for Strategic Environmental Assessment Screening in April 2018.
Further detailed changes were made to the NDP following comments made by Natural England and Historic England in the screening process. These involved improving the heritage and habitats impact assessments material and amending policies and text where necessary to ensure that there was no significant harmful environmental effects from the NDP. On 5th July Crnwall Council issued is ‘screening opinion’ that the Plan did not need to go through Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA).
On 15th July 2019 Falmouth Town Council submitted the revised draft Falmouth NDP to Cornwall Council. Cornwall Council then carried out legal checks and on 27th August 2019 found the NDP to be legally compliant to proceed to the next stage, which was a six week consultation period from 5th September to 17th October 2019.
Several more community, bsuiness and developer comments were recieved at this stage. These comments were passed to the Independant Examiner of the NDP on 18 October 2019 and the Examiner issued the final Examination Report to Cornwall Council on 19 December 2019. He recommended to Cornwall Council that suject to some modifications to ensure the Plan met the ‘basic conditions’ of being in line with national and Cornwall strategic planning policies, it could go forward to Referendum.
On 30th April 2020 Cornwall Council announced that the Falmouth Neighbourhood Development Plan was modified in accordance with the Examiner’s recommendations, allowing Cornwall Council to now proceed to the Referendum on the making of the Neighbourhood Development Plan.
The Referendum was held on Thursday 19th August 2021 with a resounding 93.6% in favour of adopting the Plan. It is now part of the official ‘Development Plan’ and carries full weight in Planning decisions.
Evidence Base
The Stakeholder Group held a Community Feedback Workshop in the Falmouth Town Council Chamber on Friday 7th October 23015, to consider the results of the survey carried out as part of the community engagement process for the Falmouth Neighbourhood Plan.
The aim was to define a draft ‘shared vision’ for Falmouth’s future. This was to be the basis of a broad set of aims, objectives and outline strategy for achieving sustainable development in the town. It was also the intention to agree on the topics around which ‘working groups’ would form and the main elements of a work-brief for each team.
The workshop was presented with a summary of the community engagement results, a copy of which can be found here: FNP Survey Presentation.
Following that, the workshop received a presentation on ‘can our Neighbourhood Plan achieve sustainable development?’, a copy of which can be found here: FNP Sustainability Presentation.
It was agreed that the explanation and illustration of a “narrative of place” for Falmouth (Refer to slides 8 and 9) expressed as…
- statements linking the social, economic and environmental aspects
- a narrative that captures the essential distinctiveness of Falmouth
- local design, traditional routes, cherished views and settings, variations in neighbourhood and community character, popular gathering places
- its culture, heritage, the role of the river and sea
- link the historic to the continuing evolution of the town
… provides the basis for a vision statement.
Participants agreed that it would be futile to attempt to capture a concise statement in the workshop but, with the above points in mind, a future meeting of the Steering Group will agree on a vision statement. This will have a maritime reference as the focus and include the town’s wider role as the centre for the surrounding parishes, encouraging them to turn towards Falmouth.
A set of objectives, on which to build strategy and policies were agreed to be:
- build a sustainable and balanced community
- integrate with the A4D and supporting policy
- direct development (new proposals, redevelopment, intensification) to specific locations
- support the maritime heritage, tourism and industry
- integrate infrastructure and strengthen connectivity
- give design guidance on achieving human scale, character and design
- high value employment
- tackling deprivation
- raising/delivering aspirations
- include the harbour within the boundary of the plan
- ensuring services are adequate for Falmouth and the surrounding area
It was agreed the four working groups would be
- Economy (lead by Candy Atherton)
- Environment & Open Spaces (lead by David Yelland)]
- Housing & Sustainability (lead by Grenville Chappel)
- Spatial Strategy, Integration & Design Guidance (lead by Mike Jenks)
A full report of the workshop may be found here: FNP Workshop 1 Result
KEY DATA FROM 2011 CENSUS
The community of Falmouth is made up of different groups and people in varying social and economic circumstances, well-illustrated in the 2011 Census. Although that census is now 3 years old, as a 100% count it gives the best picture of the make-up of the town’s population. The absolute numbers may have changed slightly, but the percentage proportions of each category and age cohort will not have changed significantly in this time.
In using these figures when designing engagement activity, it’s important to look at both the absolute numbers as well as percentages, so that any special measures can be proportional and appropriate.
Approximately 3,670 (16.8%) of Falmouth’s usually resident population were under 18 years old, a much lower proportion than for all Cornwall (19.3%) and England (21.4%). Their views, as future adult residents and users of Falmouth, are important. In particular around 475 young people will be old enough to vote in the Falmouth Neighbourhood Plan referendum in 2016. This is a group that is usually quite hard to engage with as its attention is strongly drawn elsewhere – the ‘adventure’ of growing up, intensive school work etc. – and special effort will be necessary to get these youngsters involved. The use of school activities, events within attractive youth events, or ‘activist’ young people to capture views as agents, may be necessary.
The number of younger adults (16 to 30) was 5,775, about 26.5% of Falmouth’s usually resident population, which is a significantly higher proportion than for all Cornwall (16.1%) and England (20.2%). Notably in 2011 there was a bulge around a cohort made up of 18 to 23 year olds, such that they made up nearly 60% of all young adults present, and 16% of the town’s usually resident population. These proportions compare to 41.7% and 6.7% for all Cornwall.
It’s reasonable to assume that this included a substantial number of University students[1]. Assuming that many of these will have left the University to be replaced by fresh intakes of students, then it is likely that a similar enlarged cohort exists in 2015. This presents an issue for the Neighbourhood Plan engagement process: as temporary residents the students have only a short term ‘stake holding’ in the town which may be based on distinctly different interests than the permanently resident population, and indeed their presence may drive some of the issues that the Plan will need to tackle. The engagement and consultation strategy will need to provide for responses from students to be clearly identified so that they can be properly considered. Furthermore, the non-student younger adult residents, who are likely to be socially and economically very busy people, or have young and demanding families, rarely have time to engage with local government issues unless very directly affected. Consequently the engagement and consultation strategy will need to make particular effort to engage with non-student younger adult residents, (for example by providing engagement opportunities alongside other activities, for example when doing weekly food shop, or at local events), so as to produce a properly balanced response. The use of ‘satchel mail’, social media and website information are other useful channels for this group.
Allowing for the imbalance created by the ‘bulge’ of students, the number of more mature working age people at around 8,690 was a proportion fairly typical of Cornwall. This group are easier to engage with, having more time and wider interests than younger age groups, and is the likely source of volunteer effort and a great deal of experience to call upon. The upper end of the age range is likely to be more comfortable with traditional methods of engagement and consultation.
The figure of 4,129 older people (65+) was proportionally greater than the national figure. Likely to be very keen to become involved and often a strong source of volunteer effort. However, around 625 were 85+, likely to suffer mobility, access, and health issues that could restrict their ability to become involved in the Plan. Many of these will live in the Town’s care homes, which provide potential locations for engagement in age-appropriate ways.
The nationality, national origin, religion and ethnic group information from the Census illustrates that Falmouth is a community with little diversity. Some 94% of residents were born in the UK, compare to 86% nationally. Of the 6% of residents born abroad 41.7% came from Europe, 14.4% from Africa, 20.3% from the Middle East and Asia, 12% from the Americas and 4.2% from Oceania. There was a significantly greater proportion of white people compared to England (97.7% compared to 79.8%). This bias was reflected in the low proportions of mixed/multi ethnic people (300, or 1.4% compared to 2.3% nationally), Asian people (240, or 1.1% compared to 7.8%), and black people (47, or 0.2% compared to 3.5%). The proportions for religions such as Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim and Sikh was also very below average (205, 1% compared to 7.8%), although the proportion asserting other religions (0.8%) was higher than the national figure (0.4%). The significance of this lack of diversity is that it’s possible for minority groups to ‘disappear’ against the predominant background, and therefore to be un-engaged in the Plan process. For example in 2011 the proportion of people living in Falmouth with English as main language was 96.5% compared to 90.9% nationally. However some 1.47% of people lived in a household where no English was spoken as the main language. In absolute terms that is 140 people who may have difficulty dealing with Plan materials delivered in English. Consideration should be given to investigating this further to see if translated Plan engagement material is required.
In terms of health, 4,055 residents (18.6% compared to 17.6% nationally) said that their day-to-day activities were limited through ill-health. Of these 1,870 (8.6% compared to 8.3% nationally) of residents said that their day-to-day activities were limited a lot. Of these, 775, or 41.4% were of working age (compared to 43.7% nationally). Some 2,638 households (27.7% of total) had at least 1 person with long-term health problems or disability. These figures suggest that there is a sizeable proportion of residents who through ill health or disability may find it difficult to become engaged in the Plan unless measures are taken to respond, such as the use of accessible event space, larger print leaflets, or engagement through existing support groups.
Nearly 2,300 people were recorded as carers, 10.5% of the usually resident, with some 535 people (or 2.5%) providing more than 50 hours caring per week. All carers are busy people, but those providing extensive care will have little opportunity to engage in the Plan without assistance. Distributing material via GP Surgeries or support groups may be of use here.
No census data on sexual orientation and gender preference is available. The ONS Integrated Household Survey 2011 found 1.9% to be lesbian, gay or bisexual. However Stonewall says that the UK Government estimate, used for policy making, that 5% to 7% of the population is lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or questioning (LGBTQ), is reasonable. This implies that between 350 and 1,300 of the usually resident population over 16 may be LGBTQ. The engagement and consultation strategy should look at ways of communicating with this strand of the community, using local channels or county-wide representative organisations.
Data on hours worked shows that around 1,128 people worked for 49 hours or more, a significant number of residents that may not have time to engage easily into neighbourhood plan activity at traditional times. With economic recovery since 2011 this issue may recently have grown. Offering engagement opportunities via a variety of channels and at convenient times will assist.
In 2011 Falmouth had 4,515 people holding managerial, professional and administrative posts (47.2% of residents in employment compared to 52.6% nationally). In terms of qualifications some 3,174 (17.1%) were unqualified and the highest level qualification help by another 1,963 (10.6%) was Level 1, a lower proportion in both cases than is common in Cornwall and England. This was balanced by greater numbers holding Level 3 (3,760 or 20.2%) and Level 4 (5,299 or 28.5%). Although somewhat skewed by the presence of University students, the implication for engagement and consultation are that there is proportionally speaking, a greater pool of skills and experience to call upon compared to many other towns, and likely to be more active and informed participation in the engagement response.
No data from the 2011 Census on commuting in and out of Falmouth are not yet available. However, Falmouth has a longstanding employment inter-relationship with Truro and to a lesser extend with Camborne/Redruth, and clearly is a residential base for University staff as well as students. This means that there are probably a significant number of out-commuters that will have restricted time to be engaged in the Plan, and a significant number of in-commuters whose views are relevant as they have a stake in the future of Falmouth as they are users of it.
[1] The 2011 census records 3,384 full time students aged 16 to 64 in Falmouth (20.5% of all usual residents aged 16 to 64).
The Cornwall Local Plan has now been adopted. This, along with the Cornwall Local Plan Site Allocations Development Plan Document, provide the framework within which the Falmouth Neighbourhood Plan must operate.
The Local Plan may be found here: Cornwall Local Plan
The Local Plan proposed submission may be found here: Cornwall Local Plan Proposed Submission
The Network Area statements can be found here: CLP Network Area Statements
The draft Cornwall Site Allocation Development Plan Document, which emerged over 2015 to 2019, allocates sites for development in Falmouth, and is an important element in the context of the Falmouth NDP as the NDP has to be in conformity with it. Therefore the NDP has been adjusted to take into account the most recent version, which is due to be adopted by November 2019.
The various iterations of the DPD may be found below:
Options Consultation Stage – Site Allocations DPD 2016
Submission Version – Site Allocations DPD 2017
Proposed Adoption Version – Site Allocations DPD 2019
The evidence base for the DPD may be found here: DPD Evidence Base
A paper which relates national, regional and local cultural policy into land use provisions for Falmouth is given below.
Falmouth NDP Culture, Leisure, Health and Well-Being Background Paper
This area contains links to the work of the Environment and Open Spaces Working Group
ENVIRONMENT AND OPEN SPACES WORKING GROUP REPORT 2019
Spreadsheets
FOS.S01a- Cornwall Council listed open spaces in the Falmouth neighbourhood plan area.
FOS.S04a- Falmouth open spaces general improvement plan by Ward
FOS.S05a – Policy FOS.1 Identification of Protected Green Spaces
Maps & Plans
FOS.M01a Principal open space sites
FOS.M02a Secondary open space sites
FOS.M03a Pendennis Improvement Plan
FOS.M04a Seafront Improvement Plan
FOS.M05a Falmouth Green Corridor
FOS.M06a Falmouth Garden Walks
FOS.M07.1a Falmouth Gardens General 1
FOS.M07.2a Falmouth Gardens General 2
FOS.M08 Site Location Grid Map
FOS.M08.01a Cornwall & Falmouth Area 1
FOS.M08.02a Cornwall & Falmouth Area 2
FOS.M08.03a Cornwall & Falmouth Area 3
FOS.M08.04a Cornwall & Falmouth Area 4
FOS.M08.05a Cornwall & Falmouth Area 5
FOS.M08.06a Cornwall & Falmouth Area 6
FOS.M08.07a Cornwall & Falmouth Area 7
FOS.M08.08a Cornwall & Falmouth Area 8
FOS.M08.09a Cornwall & Falmouth Area 9
FOS.M08.10a Cornwall & Falmouth Area 10
FOS.M08.11a Cornwall & Falmouth Area 11
FOS.M08.12a Cornwall & Falmouth Area 12
FOS.M08.13a Cornwall & Falmouth Area 13
FOS.M08.14a Cornwall & Falmouth Area 14
FOS.M08.15a Cornwall & Falmouth Area 15
FOS.M08.16a Cornwall & Falmouth Area 16
FOS.M08.17a Cornwall & Falmouth Area 17
FOS.M09a Designated Conservation Sites
Protected Green Spaces
This area contains links to the work of the Economy Working Group / Falmouth Area Coastal Community Team
The Economy Working Group joined with the Falmouth Area Coastal Community Team to prepare an Economic Plan in late 2015, which has been used to guide bids to the Coastal Revival Fund and Coastal Community Fund as well as providing evidence for the employment and business policies of the Neighbourhood Development Plan.
This is a link to the Economic Plan
Coastal Revival Fund Bids
A bid to assist in the development of plans for the revitalisation of the town centre area was made in 2015, but was unsuccessful.
Working with the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society FACCT made a bid to towards the development of a proposal and business plan for the revitalisation and modernisation of the Polytechnic building to meet 21st century standards of access, sound insulation, IT and performance technology and create additional activity space. In late 2015 a grant of £20,000 was awarded by the Government.
Bid no2 Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society
Coastal Community Fund Bids
EWG/FACCT made a bid July 2016 into the Government’s Coastal Community Fund for help build the Town’s capacity to bring forward new projects and make significant bids to the fund in later bidding rounds. ‘We have plenty of really great ideas for economic growth coming forward from organisations in Falmouth, but we need help to build them up into practical projects’ said Cllr Candy Atherton, who leads the EWG/FACCT team. ‘The idea is to help work up the projects so that they are ‘oven-ready’ for submission to grant-making bodies.’ The capacity building bid is for £75,000 towards a total project cost of £100,000.
An application was also submitted by Falmouth Town Council, with EWG/FACCT’s approval, for funding of the Kimberley Park Community Stage (£65,000), which should be in place in time for next summer season.
EWG/FACCT also supported a bid made by the Cornwall Marine Network for the ‘Marine and Offshore Renewable Collaboration’ project to help local firms take advantage of the new business opportunities flowing from the developers of marine and offshore renewable energy projects.
Also supported was a bid by Falmouth Oyster Festival CiC to secure grant that would help the Festival extend its media coverage, attract higher profile bands and chefs, obtain improved equipment, extend the involvement of local schools, and attract sponsorship packages, all of which would help sustain the Festival into the future.
The basis of the approach to parking in the town centre strategy of the Falmouth NDP originates with the Future Parking Strategy developed by Falmouth Civic Society in 2012. The strategy can be found by clicking here: Future Parking Strategy
The report below is a technical paper analysing the position with regard to HMOs in Falmouth. Also shown are heatmaps which illustrate the distribution of HMOs and student based Council Tax ‘disregards’. The information is based on published information such as HMO licensing records and accommodation listings.
HMO Notes for Stakeholder Group
Please see below for the Masterplan for Church Street Car Park as referred to in Policy TC2 of the Falmouth Neighbourhood Development Plan.
This area contains links to the work of the Strategy and Housing Working Group.
Strategy and Housing Group Final Report 2019
Neighbourhoods workshop report
Strategy Map Development Possibilities
Strategy Map Community & Urban Extension
Fal Penryn Combined Development Framework 2005 Pt1
Fal Penryn Combined Development Framework 2005 Pt2
A Future for Falmouth’s Car Parking Suggested Strategic Approach
This document assess the habitat impacts of the major proposals in the Falmouth NDP. It also forms an annex to the Sustainability Check.
This document assess the heritage impacts of the major proposals in the Falmouth NDP. It also forms an annex to the Sustainability Check and is included in the Strategy and Housing Working Group Report.
If you have ever wondered where some of the planning policies that we all enjoy the benefit of come from, then refer to the Government’s National Planning Policy Framework, in planner-speak known as the NPPF.
You can view it here:
As well as the NPPF the Government has also published the National Planning Practice Guidance portal which provides guidance to Planners, Councillors, planning applicants, developers, and the public as to how the National Planning Policy Framework is to be used. The portal can be found here.
The NPPG includes a section specifically about neighbourhood planning. This provides advice on the neighbourhood planning system introduced by the Localism Act including key stages and decisions (e.g. deciding neighbourhood areas, the legal tests for neighbourhood plans, and the process of independent examination and referendum).
The SMP2 is a non-statutory policy document for coastal defence planning and sets out the recommended approach to managing the shoreline over the next 100 years. This is done by considering location, time and policy.
Those parts of the SMP relevant to Falmouth are given below. Please click on the title to open the file:
SMP2 1_Introduction_Final_Report
SMP2 3_BASISDEVELOPMENTPLAN_Final_Report
The documents presented here have all been assessed and considered in the preparation of the Falmouth Neighbourhood Plan, and provide background material that has influenced the Plan.
Falmouth Harbour Masterplan Executive Summary
Falmouth Conservation Area Appraisal-part-1
Falmouth Conservation Area Appraisal-part-2
Falmouth Conservation Area Appraisal-part-3
Falmouth Conservation Area Appraisal-part-4
Falmouth Conservation Area Appraisal-part-5
Falmouth Conservation Area Appraisal-part-6
Cornwall and Scilly Urban Survey Falmouth Report
Cornwall and Scilly Urban Survey Falmouth Report_figure7
Cornwall and Scilly Urban Survey Falmouth Report_ca6
Cornwall and Scilly Urban Survey Falmouth Report_ca5
Cornwall and Scilly Urban Survey Falmouth Report_ca4
Cornwall and Scilly Urban Survey Falmouth Report_ca3
Cornwall and Scilly Urban Survey Falmouth Report_ca2
Cornwall and Scilly Urban Survey Falmouth Report_ca1
Connecting Cornwall Implementation-Plan
Cornwall Green Infrastructure Strategy (Adopted)
Census 2011 – Coastal Communities Report
Neighbourhood Planning Advice Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Community Led Approach
Cornwall Renewable Energy Planning-Advice (March-2016)
Local Economic Strategy Document 2012-2020
Plymouth and SW Peninsula City Deal
Penryn River Study Economic Impact Assessment Final Report
Below is information which explains more behind the Article 4 Direction proposals.
Use Classes and Permitted Development
Planning law deals with different land and building uses through the system of ‘Use Classes’. Some changes from one ‘Use Class’ to another require planning permission from the local planning authority (i.e. Cornwall Council), whilst others do not. The ones that don’t are called “Permitted Development’ because they automatically get planning permission under the planning law.
An Article 4 Direction is a direction under Article 4 of the General Permitted Development Order under which the local planning authority can withdraw specific ‘Permitted Development’ across a defined area.
Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) are covered by Planning Use Class ‘C4 Houses in multiple occupation’ – small shared houses occupied by between three and six unrelated individuals, as their only or main residence, who share basic amenities such as a kitchen or bathroom.
Large HMOs, i.e. occupied by more than 6 residents, don’t fall into a specific use class, and they are called ‘sui generis’ in planning language, which means ‘Of its own kind; in a class by itself; unique’
Change of use from Use Class C3 (i.e. an ordinary dwelling house) to C4 (an HMO) is a ‘Permitted Development’, for which a planning application and formal planning permission is not required. Equally, change from C4 back to C3 is also ‘permitted development’.
If more than 6 occupants are involved, than as a ‘sui generis’ use a planning application and planning permission is always required.
Thus it is possible for property owners to convert an entire property into accommodation for up to 6 individuals without the need for a Planning application and the scrutiny that goes with the planning process.
Using an Article 4 Direction to control HMOs
However, if a Local Planning Authority wishes to bring HMOs under local planning control, to positively manage the location of new HMOs in order to create sustainable, healthy and inclusive communities and to avoid further increases in concentrations in certain streets, it can use an Article 4 Direction, often referred to as an ‘A4D’, to withdraw ‘Permitted Development’ for them. This means that Planning Permission would be required for an HMO regardless of its size.
A4Ds have been used to bring HMOs under local Planning control by Exeter, Brighton and Hove, Leeds, Charnwood (Loughborough Uni), Nottingham, Oxford and Cheshire West and Chester Councils.
Why is the link with the Neighbourhood Plan important?
As Planning Permission will be required for new HMOs, there needs to be Planning criteria against which such planning applications can be assessed. Most councils have adopted policies in their Local Plans specifically focused on HMOs, with some adding Supplementary Planning Guidance, and in one example at Exeter St James, a Neighbourhood Plan has included policy on HMOs.
Its important to note that Planning can only be about ‘Land Use’ issues so can only control issues such as physical impacts on adjoining property (e.g. standards of daylighting, sunlight, outlook or privacy), highway and traffic impacts, appropriately located on site provision of amenity space, refuse storage and car and bicycle parking, etc. It can’t control matters of personal behaviour, noise, site cleanliness etc, which are controlled through other laws.
The use of A4Ds to control HMOs may have the unintended consequence of reducing the supply of lower cost accommodation for non-students, leading to increased rent levels and housing stress, more rough sleeping, ‘dossing’ or ‘sofa surfing’, squatting, and so on.
Therefore it is important that the specific planning policies riding with an A4D requiring planning permission for HMOs should be carefully balanced, to ensure that whist further HMOs in ‘saturated’ areas may be resisted, they will be permitted in other areas where there is the capacity for more, subject to appropriate planning conditions.
See also: Town and Country Planning (Use Classes) Order 1987 (as amended) and the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995 (as amended)
10 Thoughts on Article 4 Directions & Houses in Multiple Occupation
Please click on the link below to view a pdf document that contains 10 comments from the original Falmouth Neighbourhood Development Plan website relating to Article 4 Directions and Houses in Multiple Occupation.
10 Thoughts on Article & Directions & Houses in Multiple Occupation
For transparency, this pdf contains a full record of all comments that were submitted on the original Falmouth NDP website (www.planforfalmouth.info) in relation to this subject and appeared below the information above on the original website. The text of the comments has been copied directly from the old site. No changes have been made to the wording or substance of the comments.
In the May/June 2015 Community Engagement conducted by the Neighbourhood Plan Stakeholder Group information on the community views of HMO issues was collected. The initial questions were carefully drafted not to point specifically to student HMOs but to the identification of ‘any areas of Falmouth where the balance of the community or character of the area are at risk of being harmed by changes in accommodation and occupancy type’.
Respondents were asked to score what aspects did they think harm the character of the area? Choices were parking conflict, care and maintenance of buildings, conflicting hours of activity, refuse storage, care and maintenance of gardens and communal areas, and other issues.
Respondents were also asked whether they would support the principle of an Article 4 direction that would control the spread of houses of multiple occupation in Falmouth.
Those replying to the question on whether there are areas affected by HMOs was 696 (53.2%). Of those commenting on which aspects were affected, 91% said that community balance was harmed, and 81% said the character of the area had been harmed.
With regard to the main areas where the problems associated with student HMOs are most experienced, clear ‘hot-spots’ such as Marlborough Road, Trelawney Rd, Budock Terrace, Albany Road, Kiligrew Street, Trevethan Road, Wood Lane, Old Hill, New Street, and Lister Street came through. These correlated well with the known distribution from the January 2015 CC Survey.
Respondents also identified individual streets all across the town, and 25% said the whole town was affected. There would not seem to be any areas which are perceived as being immune to the pressure for subdivision into HMOs. The fact that 826 (63% of all respondents) expressed support the A4D also suggests it’s a fairly widely recognised issue, and that those so far not affected fear that the issue will spread to their areas.
Some 659 respondents (50.4%) answered the question on the issues involved, scoring each (on a Likert scale where 1 is low level of harm and 5 is high level). The result is a weighted average for each issue as follows:
- Care and maintenance of gardens etc: 4.2
- Care and maintenance of buildings: 4.1
- Conflicting hours of activity: 3.9
- Refuse storage 3.9
- Parking conflict 3.8
Comments added to these responses add some further detail, referring to the seagull problem from unmanaged refuse areas, damaged or missing curtains which add a sense of dereliction, general littering, and proliferation of letting boards.
Some 1069 (81.7%) respondents answered the question ‘would you support an A4D?’ Of these 77.3% were in favour of the A4D.
When the A4D comes into full effect, the Falmouth Neighbourhood Plan’s policies can help assess the planning applications that result from the effect of the Direction.
They will for example,
- prevent further changes of use to HMO in the areas already significantly affected by HMOs if they would cause harm to amenity or community balance;
- set positive criteria for planning permissions for changes of use to HMO in other areas, subject to an upper limit.
The Neighbourhood Plan could also be the basis of ‘Good Practice Guidance’ relating to HMOs, focusing essentially on design issues but bringing attention to licensing and regulations issues also.
As part of a broader strategy to manage the distribution of student bedspaces, the Neighbourhood Plan also introduces a policy that complements those in the Cornwall Local Plan an d the Allocations Development Plan Document, by setting more detailed criteria for development of purpose built student accommodation aimed at ensuring that they have minimal impact whilst bringing positive additional benefits to the town.
In 2014 Cornwall Council agreed to follow up Falmouth Town Council’s request to make an Article 4 Direction to control HMO development in Falmouth. It was agreed that this would occur alongside the development of a Neighbourhood Plan to contain policies to help implement the Article 4.
Since then a considerable amount of work has been done by Cornwall Council in preparation, including obtaining the necessary permissions to proceed, legal assessments, legal drafting, evidence gathering, policy discussions etc. Falmouth Town Council and the Neighbourhood Plan team have been assisting this process throughout, for example by affixing the necessary legal notices to more than 100 locations around the town during May 2016.
The process has now come to a conclusion and the Article 4 Direction has been made.
The following steps were involved in the Article 4 Direction.
Step 1 – CC ‘made’ the A4D.
Step 2 – the making of the A4D was advertised through a newspaper advert and by display of notices throughout the area affected by the A4D for a period of not less than six weeks.
The notice —
- Described the A4D and the area it relates to
- Said where a copy of the A4D could be inspected
- Gave a period of at least 21 days, stating the date on which that period began, for representations to be made to the Local Planning Authority and
- Gave the date on which the A4D will come into force, which must be at least 28 days but no longer than 2 years after the date given above.
Step 3 – A copy of the A4D and the notice was be sent to the Secretary of State on the same day that notice of the A4D was first published.
Step 4 – The local planning authority (Cornwall Council) took into account any representations received and decided to confirm the Direction on 16th June 2016.
Step 5 – After the Direction was confirmed the local planning authority gave notice of the confirmation and the date on which the Direction will come into force; and sent a copy of the Direction as confirmed to the Secretary of State.
The Article 4 Direction was made and advertised in May 2016. It was confirmed on 16th June 2016, and will come into full effect on 16 June 2017.
More details can be found on Cornwall Council’s website here: CC Website on A4D
This statement explains how the Falmouth NDP meets the Basic Conditions for Neighbourhood Development Plans.
This statement explains how the Falmouth NDP meets the Basic Conditions for Neighbourhood Development Plans.
The Falmouth NDP has been assessed for it impact on groups who have one or more of the ‘Protected Characteristics’ under the Equalities Act 2010.
The Sustainability Check for the Falmouth Neighbourhood Development Plan is here: Falmouth NDP Sustainability Check
Note that this is a ‘live’ document that will evolve as the Neighbourhood Plan goes forward.
One Friday 5th July 2019 Cornwall Council issued its ‘Screening Opinion’ on whether or not the Falmouth NDP needs to go through Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA).
The Screening Opinion also incorporates an Appropriate Assessment under Habitats Regulations. The report concludes that assessment does not reveal any significant effects in the environment resulting from the policies of the Falmouth NDP.
The ‘Screening Opinion’ is that ‘Cornwall Council is of the opinion that SEA is not required for the Falmouth NDP.’
SEA & HRA Screening opinion report Falmouth NDP July 2019 Updated Final