Part One: Spatial Strategy and Policies
Education Facilities
8.45 A variety of services are required to meet the needs of new residents, including education facilities. It is important that these facilities can be easily accessed by sustainable forms of transport and meet the variety of needs for different age groups and educational needs.
Policy DLP16 Education Facilities
- New nursery, school and further and higher education facilities should be:
- Well-designed and complement and enhance neighbourhood services and amenities,
- Well-served by public transport infrastructure, walking, and cycling facilities, particularly in centres, and located to minimise the number and length of journeys needed in relation to its intended catchment area,
- Wherever possible, located to address accessibility gaps in terms of the standards set out in Policy DLP11, particularly where a significant amount of new housing is proposed.
- New and improved facilities will be secured through a range of funding measures. Where a housing development of ten or more homes would increase the need for education facilities to the extent that new or improved facilities would be required to meet this need, planning obligations or Community Infrastructure Levy will be secured sufficient to meet the need, where this is financially viable. For strategic allocations, the likely requirement for on-site provision of new schools is set out in DLP Part Two. Where land is provided for a new school as part of a housing development, the financial contribution made by that development towards education facilities will be reduced accordingly.
- On sites where the education facility requirement is proven not to be viable, the maximum proportion of funding will be sought that will not undermine the viability of the development, subject to securing other planning obligations necessary for the development to gain planning permission. A financial viability assessment will be required to be submitted.
- New and redeveloped education facilities should include provision for wider community use of sports and other facilities where appropriate.
- The existing network of education facilities will be protected and enhanced. The physical enhancement and expansion of higher and further educational facilities and related business and research will be supported where it helps to realise the educational training and research potential of the Dudley Borough. Proposals involving the loss of an education facility will be permitted only where adequate provision is available to meet the needs of the community served by the facility.
Justification
8.46 Housing growth over the Plan period is likely to generate the need for further investment in education provision for all age groups, including nursery and further and higher education. National guidance sets out the presumption that housing developments will fund the provision of education facilities sufficient to meet their own needs, including the provision of land for the construction of new buildings where necessary. However, the Viability and Delivery Study indicates that depending on the extent of other planning obligations required, this may not be viable on some sites, particularly those located in lower value zones, as shown in Figure 8.1. Where it can be proven that it is not viable for a housing development to fund all its own education facility needs, the developer should work with the Local Education Authority to investigate available options and ensure that these needs can and will be met.
8.47 Improvements to existing educational settings should be explored to help address low educational attainment, which is a key priority. It is important that any investment in educational settings in focused to support centres, address accessibility gaps, generate maximum service improvements, and secure community benefits. Increasing community use of school sports facilities would make a major contribution towards meeting open space, sport and recreation standards and improving health through increased sports participation.
8.48 The preferred location for major education facilities, which generate a large number of trips, is the network of identified centres. However, there may be cases where a development is isolated from a centre or provision within a centre may not be possible. In such cases the priority, when selecting a location, should be addressing accessibility gaps in accordance with access standards set out in Policy DLP11, to maximise sustainable access to the facility.
8.49 Higher and further education institutions and research facilities play a major role in the economy and have a key role in helping deliver economic and social transformation. Attracting and retaining graduates in Dudley is also key to securing a knowledge-based economy. The higher and further education sector is a major driver of economic, social, and cultural regeneration and ongoing investment in the existing network of this sector is supported. Initiatives that strengthen linkages between the sector and wider economy will also be supported.
Evidence
- Dudley Viability and Delivery Study (2023)
Delivery
- Local Education Authority school expansion and improvement programmes
- National DfE Free School Programmes
- Use of planning obligations or other funding mechanisms to address the impact of development on the need for education facilities
