Part One: Spatial Strategy and Policies (Regulation 19)

8.46. 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.

Justification

8.47. 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.

8.48. 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. Where appropriate, community use agreements will be sought to secure such community usage.   

8.49. 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.              

8.50. 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.