Draft Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA)
The facility to comment on the DRAFT SHLAA is now closed. However, the data is still available for viewing. Please click here to access the data. Processing of the evidence which has been submitted is underway.
In view of the large amount of evidence which has been submitted, and the need to source additional evidence, it is expected that the FINAL report will not be available until the end of August 2010 at the earliest.
Background Information
The draft Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA) is a technical site assessment which has been published to seek any further information or evidence about the sites that have been identified in the draft publication.
The SHLAA is NOT a plan for development, but simply a part of the technical evidence base required to inform the plan making process.
The purpose of the Assessment is to identify where and how many new housing sites could be developed over a 5, 10 and 15 year period. It will then be used to inform the preparation of the West Northamptonshire Local Development Framework (the plan making process) so the policy makers can assess the available land against all the other policy considerations which have to be taken into account.
The Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment cannot deal with issues for the plan making process, for example, where housing growth is located, infrastructure issues etc. It is very much a fact finding exercise aimed at people who are promoting sites.
The inclusion of a site in the Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment DOES NOT decide if it should be allocated for development. The Assessment has NOT taken into account, nor applied, any policy considerations; this will come later in the plan making process.
Frequently Asked Questions
We have prepared a set of Frequently Asked Questions which seek to answer the most common questions we have been asked. It is recommended that you click on the link below and read them before proceeding further. Please remember to click on the browser left arrow button (usually top left of your screen) to return to this page once you have finished with the FAQs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Using the SHLAA webpages
The website has been designed around five easy steps to accessing site information:
- Step 1 - Read the remainder of this page and download any context maps you may be interested in
- Step 2 - Click on the link at the bottom of this page to move through to the SHLAA pages
- Step 3 – click on the Borough / District of interest (Please Note that Grange Park is included with Northampton)
- Step 4 – click on the settlement (village / town or ward)
- Step 5 – click on the site of interest
How to view a site
The page displayed will contain site details, a potential development timetable and a site plan. There is also space to leave any additional information or evidence but please read the notes below on what can be accepted.
The map will normally load as you enter the page for an individual site, but if it does not, or if you wish to see the map in more detail, then there are two choices.
- Click the entry against Plan Reference “XX in PDF format”, and this should open a zoomable map in a new window.
- Right click on the map and select “save picture as” (in Windows Explorer) or (Save target as” (in Firefox), choose where you wish to save the map, and then open the map using a standard graphics package such as Windows Picture and Fax viewer.
Please Note: All the maps published are protected by copyright, and must not be re-used for any other purpose.
Please also note that there is some overlap between sites included within the Draft Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment and sites suggested within Strategic Employment Land Assessment. This may be because the same site has been put forward by potential developers for both employment and housing use or because the site has been suggested for mixed use. In the latter case the assessment has adjusted dwelling numbers accordingly.
Other Information available
Information relating to the Strategic Housing Land Assessment can be downloaded via the following links:
Context maps - Please note - these are large files and may take a while to download into a new window. Please go to the main page link below, and select the appropriate choices to see individual site details and make comments
To view individual sites and maps