10 Settlement Envelopes and Settlement Hierarchy

10.1 Settlement Hierarchy

10.1.1 To help inform where new development should take place, it is helpful to set out a hierarchy of settlements. The hierarchy takes account of local sustainability credentials such as access to a variety of services and facilities (including schools, shops and public transport links) and is based on existing provision.

10.1.2 The hierarchy, set out on the following page helps to provide a framework for considering the levels of new development to be directed through the Development Management process. It will also help to set the context for decisions on individual planning applications, and should be read in conjunction with Policy SP6: Development within Settlement Envelopes.

10.1.3 There are four tiers included in the Settlement Hierarchy - Major Service Centres, Minor Service Centres, Large Villages, and Small Villages. The requirements for these tiers are set out in Policy SP6. A number of settlements within the hierarchy lie within the South Bedfordshire Green Belt. Settlements that are categorised within the hierarchy as being Major and Minor Service Centres or Large Villages have all been inset from the Green Belt where appropriate. The exceptions to this are Woburn and Aspley Guise which are washed over by the Green Belt and have defined infill only boundaries. A number of settlements that are categorised as being Small Villages have infill boundaries wherein some very limited development maybe acceptable.

Settlement Hierarchy

Major Service Centres

Major service centres provide a focus for employment, shopping and community facilities for the local community and surrounding rural communities.

Ampthill*

Biggleswade

Dunstable*

Flitwick*

Houghton Regis*

Leighton Linslade*

Sandy

Wixams

Minor Service Centres

Minor service centres are large villages or small towns with a good level of services, possibly including a school, doctor's surgery, a basic retail offer and frequent public transport links.

Arlesey

Barton le Clay*

Caddington*

Cranfield

Harlington*

Henlow

Potton

Shefford

Stotfold

Toddington*

Large Villages

Aspley Guise** (GB)

Blunham

Clifton

Clophill (including Hall End Maulden)

Eaton Bray* (GB)

Fairfield

Flitton, Greenfield and Wardhedges

Heath & Reach* (GB)

Hockliffe* (GB)

Houghton Conquest

Kensworth** (GB)

Langford

Lower Stondon

Marston Moretaine

Maulden

Shillington

Silsoe

Slip End* (GB)

Totternhoe (GB)

Upper Caldecote

Westoning* (GB)

Woburn** (GB)

Small Villages

Aspley Heath** (GB)

Billington (GB)

Brogborough

Broom

Campton

Chalton (nr.Toddington) ** (GB)

Dunton

East Hyde (GB)

Eggington (GB)

Eversholt (GB)

Everton

Haynes (main village)

Husborne Crawley (GB)

Ickwell

Lidlington

Meppershall

Millbrook

Milton Bryan (GB)

Moggerhanger

Northill

Old Warden

Pulloxhill

Ridgmont** (GB)

Salford

Southill

Stanbridge** (GB)

Stanford

Steppingley (GB)

Streatley (GB)

Studham  (GB)

Sutton

Tebworth (GB)

Tempsford (Church End)

Tilsworth (GB)

Upper Gravenhurst

Upper Sundon (GB)

Wharley End, Cranfield

Whipsnade (GB)

Wingfield (GB)

Wrestlingworth

Settlements not identified within the hierarchy are, due to their small size and rural character, considered to be part of the countryside.

• Settlements followed by (GB) are settlements which are washed over by the Green Belt

• * Settlements that are inset from the Green Belt

• ** Settlements that are washed over by the Green Belt and have infill only boundaries

10.2 Settlement Envelopes

10.2.1 To define the boundaries between settlements and surrounding countryside, where appropriate the Council will define Settlement Envelopes. Settlement Envelopes provide a distinction between the settlements and the open countryside, and in so doing enable the clear, unambiguous and consistent application of policies in the management of development within and outside settlements. It also encourages the efficient use of land within our towns and villages, including the re-use of previously developed land.

10.2.2 It is not the purpose of Settlement Envelopes to identify land for development, this will be achieved via the allocation of sites in this Local Plan, nor are they an attempt to define the extent of a particular town or village community. Thus the Envelopes are unrelated to the administrative boundaries of town and parish, which serve this particular function.

10.2.3 To inform this work the Council is currently undertaking a review of its existing Settlement Envelopes to ensure that they reflect current uses on the ground. They were last updated for the Core Strategy and it is therefore recognized that a large number of changes will need to be made. The updated Settlement Envelopes will be illustrated on the Proposals Map that will accompany the pre-submission version of the Plan.

10.2.4 In some instances, where there is ambiguity in defining that boundary, the Envelope will be used to reflect the character of the predominant land use, using the most appropriate and clear physical features on the ground. That land use must be settlement related, for example residential development, domestic gardens, playing fields and community facilities; and not related to agriculture or considered to be part of the countryside.