Southampton Voluntary Services

How can we work together to make sure that development in our city meets the needs of local people?

Here we talk about what we feel could be improved in Southampton, with specific reference to the drat Local Plan (also known as Southampton City Vision). For more context on this evolving document, please see details at the end of this blog.

Southampton City Council treads a careful path in terms of meeting all the competing needs in the city, as well as following Government policy approaches. We feel that more can be done to meet the needs of local residents through engagement with residents and the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector.

WHAT COULD BE IMPROVED

Working together (also known as coproduction)

As part of the evolving Southampton City Vision planning process, we would like to see members of the community (VCSE) sector sitting down with Southampton City Council to look at detailed policies, and working out the best way forward together. Nobody knows the communities better than those who are part of community organisations in the various wards in the city, alongside those people living in those areas. Our sector has a specialism in working with people and places that have been subject to social and health inequalities. Residents and the VCSE sector have a particular insight into inequality issues in our communities.

We already have some forums for these types of discussions. We regularly discuss community needs with local residents and the range of organisations that work in the neighbourhoods across the city, including in our So:Links groups.

We have recently been working on projects that involve communities in research in the city. People tell us they think there needs to be much more involvement by local people in decisions in issues such as transport and housing in the city and want to remove people’s barriers to accessing open space. The quality and availability of both housing and transport falls short in some areas, and people want more of a say in the improvements that take place. So, for example, with the recent decision that First Buses are withdrawing from the city, this is a good chance to talk to local people about local issues, to inform decisions on replacement services.

When it comes to involvement, we need to consider issues such as equity of involvement (to look at the barriers to getting people involved) and make sure that addressing equalities play a really important role in all decisions. We also need to make engagement positive and worthwhile. Let’s involve artists and creatives in making engagement more engaging.

Meeting local needs

The Southampton City Vision draft plan sets out targets for the number of homes and employment space to be provided in Southampton. But are we asking people what type of home or job you would like, now or in the future? As a sector, we hear many stories about unsatisfactory living or work conditions, and many organisations are having to work hard to support people who are subject to problems associated with poor quality housing and lack of decent jobs. The community sector is struggling to keep up meet the demand associated with housing and employment problems.

Historically, urban planning has been very much about providing buildings and bricks and mortar. But we also know that physical infrastructure fails if it is not designed with people in mind.  This means understanding the social elements of our buildings, streets and spaces. Not just what is provided, but how those places will be used.

We believe that local people need to be asked questions about the needs and the gaps in their communities, such as (1) what type of job opportunities would you like and where would you like jobs to be located? (2) what type of housing will your household need over the next 5,10, 20 years and how can this be provided in a way that enhances quality of life and addresses social inequalities? (3) what type of community services does your neighbourhood need? Within all of these, people need to hear more about what the opportunities could be and learn from good initiatives in other cities. This could involve the provision of large scale community buildings, to the detail such as having safe places to sit, noticeboards with local community information and good quality “community use agreements” built into plans for schools and other education campuses.

Identifying local needs is about planning for the future. Too often, people have to move to a different geographic community, when their housing needs change over the course of their life. What can we do to ensure people have the choice to stay in the same community for life, should they wish. With an ageing population, where loneliness is rife, where young people and many others are struggling with the costs of housing, we need a development plan that takes these into account. We want people to live in housing and areas where they feel safe, secure and have access to the services and support the need.

We also think there could be better connections with other initiatives that are happening in the city. Southampton has a programme of activities with the aim of being a Child Friendly city, a Dementia Friendly, Mental Health Friendly as well as a National Park City. Let’s use the plan as a focus for achieving all of those and more. How many children have contributed to this draft plan? Why not have policies in there that are specially written by our city’s children?

Considering the economic model

Our sector, the voluntary community and social enterprise sector, is a really crucial part of the local economy. Our role, as a force for economic good, as well as social good, has great potential.

The plan very much focuses, as central Government requires, on the need for sustainable development. The thinking about what this means in terms of the decisions we take, is evolving fast.  It is accepted by many that we need to restructure our economy, and that means doing less of some activities that are harmful to the planet and communities. The circular economy, to eliminate waste and address pollution, is also an area that must significantly grow in Southampton.

People tell us they want to see more money in the city, with more of the money generated by local citizens staying in the city, benefitting local residents. In a globalised world, and as a port (including the development of the Solent Freeport) with strong global links, we need to have conversations about the type of development that meets the “keep it local” ambitions. The role the city plays in terms of importing goods from other parts of the world, needs also been reviewed through the lens of a circular economy. Our planet’s resources are under pressure and we have some big environmental challenges to face as a matter of urgency. This is an issue that members of the community sector often talk to us about.

The Plan should create a framework for local business, entrepreneurship and the development of a high skilled, well-paid, locally-grown, healthy workforce. As the VCSE sector, we want to see a thriving social enterprise sector. We want to see the growth of businesses and public services that enhance economic, social and environmental wellbeing (known as “social value”). Social value is not well measured by market mechanisms such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Economic inclusion, which aims to make sure everyone is able to access employment and feel valued for their contribution to the local economy, should be a key way of measuring success in the plan and indeed in all city policies. The principles of social value and economic inclusion are included in the draft Local Plan. However, we feel that the way that these are assessed and addressed could be significant strengthened in detailed policies of the draft plan. How about looking at these with regard to the Doughnut Economics model, which is all about making sure people and planet thrives?

We would like to see much more engagement generally between businesses and VCSE organisations. We see the future in partnership work. We would like to see more working together, understanding each other, and working in areas where there is common ground. Any developer or business that wants to think about its triple bottom line (social, environmental as well as economic), can talk to us at Southampton Voluntary Sector about good ways to build positive links with the community, and the plan should encourage this sort of dialogue and progress. This should be an important element of future development and encouraged in the Local Plan.

A focus on neighbourhoods

The plan talks about “20min neighbourhoods”, which is a concept that we welcome. This sets a framework for ensuring that all residents can meet most of their everyday needs within a 20min walk, cycle or public transport trip.

For many whose mobility is restricted, 20mins is a long way to walk and we wonder if we should be more ambitions and talk about “10 minute neighbourhoods”  This are subjects for discussion within each neighbourhood, so they can identifying whether everyone has access to a range of services and job opportunities close to their home. Within this, close access to buses and other sustainable transport is crucial. Through more of a focus on Neighbourhood Plans, local communities can work together to address the challenges and needs. Neighbourhood planning approaches not only help address local needs, but also help with strengthening communities by bringing people together.

We also feel that local communities should be involved in making local decisions about issues such as how “community infrastructure levies[1]” are spent. The City Vision plan covers the whole of the city but recognises that different areas have different identities. We would like to understand more about who is currently identifying community infrastructure needs, and make sure these decisions involve the communities that they impact.

[1] Infrastructure which supports development is known as Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) (southampton.gov.uk)

Putting health at the heart

We think that health and wellbeing should be a central priority. The plan does include health as a metric of success, but we wonder if it is given sufficient priority in the plan?

We are inspired by the Healthy Streets Indicators, which help set out what makes a healthy street. Why can’t all developments be assessed against this type of criteria?

The Plan takes a “cities-first” approach, focusing on more dense development in the key corridors of the city. Should we not be talking about what makes a healthy street and community when deciding on priorities for the location of development? Rather than identifying specific density targets in particular areas (such as those close to main transport corridors, should we not start with an analysis of whether existing streets are healthy? It might be that some of the lower density areas have potential for an increase in density in order to meet local needs, whereas the high density central areas have reached their healthy streets limit.

Being green

In the first consultation on the Local Plan, the theme ‘environment and climate change’ was considered to be the most important by those who responded to the consultation. The plan includes some really good policies for promoting environmental enhancement and addressing climate change and biodiversity issues.

We would like to see the detail progressed in partnership with the green expertise in the community sector. We are inspired by the work of members of our Green Network, and also the Southampton Climate Action Network, Southampton’s Environment Centre and many other small organisations that have shown a commitment to carbon neutrality for many years. Again, we feel that the green policies in the plan need to be viewed through the lens of a coproduction approach.

Getting around and improving access

Finally, and by no means the least important, is working on the way we travel around the city. Getting around and access to frequent and reliable public transport has been identified as a key theme  by the public in the previous consultation.

By exploring issues mentioned above such as the community services that our neighbourhood needs, addressing inequalities, the need to go green, progressing healthy streets, then we will cover a lot of transport issues. A reminder that being active is a key need in terms of improving the health of the population, and building this into the way we travel, is a win win.  Turning the ambitions for improved transport needs some careful thought. If we don’t talk about these issues in a way that allows all residents to be heard and co-design to be progressed, they can become very dominated by a few strong voices.

IN CONCUSION

So in summary:

• Let’s get more discussions about policies and shared decision making, built into the Local Plan and planning decision, recognising that residents and the community sector play a key role in both identifying the issues but also implementing the solutions.
• Let’s have more of a focus on what our neighbourhoods and communities need to thrive – thinking about health and wellbeing as a central issue, economic and social inclusion, about 10 or 20 mins neighbourhoods, what makes healthier streets and what it really means to be “sustainable”.
• Lets make sure that the experiences of people who have been subjected to inequalities and struggle with issues around housing, jobs, health and more, are central to the Southampton’s vision and decisions.
• And finally, let’s see better working between the community sector and developers and businesses in the city.

Our work here has been written based on many conversations we have had over the years[1]. Our full response to the Local Plan is here: SVS Southampton City Vision Local PLan response Jan2023.

We’d like to see the evolving vision for the city turned into a meaningful framework for the future that promotes the actions that will help our communities thrive.

Do you agree? We would love to hear your insights and ensure that local people’s needs are truly reflected in Southampton’s vision and plans.

[1] Southampton Voluntary Services did not have the resources to respond in the way that we would have really liked – by getting everyone together and agreeing a response that reflects all of our sector’s voices.

SOME BACKGROUND ON THE LOCAL PLAN

 

We have a major opportunity for meaningful change in the form of Southampton City Council’s draft Southampton City Vision.  This is the name given to the Local Plan, an important document which sets out how the city will change over the next 20 years. Once it is agreed[1], all developments that need planning permission will be judged against the policies and principles set out in the plan.

WHAT IS GOOD ABOUT SOUTHAMPTON’S CITY VISION?

We feel that there has been good progress in terms of engaging with local people about the content of the City Vision. It is not easy to do, because the Local Plan process has to combine national planning standards, with quite technical information, and come up with a  clear vision that balances a range of competing interests. There is an awful lot of guidance from Government about what MUST be in the plan[2]. This includes achieving sustainable development. Government guidance requires that the Council “shape places in ways that contribute to radical reductions in greenhouse gas emissions”[i] as well as delivering a target number of new homes and employment space. So the City Council treads a careful path.

We have welcomed officers from the City Vision team to several of our Friday Forums. These Forums are aimed at people involved in the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector in the city. We hope this has led to more responses submitted directly by members of community organisations as well as individual citizens. The Local Plan team has tried to think about different levels of engagement by local people, as some people will only be happy to engage briefly on some key principles, whereas others will want to give much more detailed input into the plan.

The previous first consultation draft led to some very clear priorities identified by local people. The key theme ‘environment and climate change’ was considered to be the most important, closely followed by ‘growth and investment’ and ‘getting around’.

Respondents were also asked to identify priorities both in their local area and for city centre. The same three came out as most important for each area. These were: • Parks, open spaces, nature, and conservation • Reducing air pollution and improving air quality • Access to frequent and reliable public transport

If you haven’t read the latest draft plan, it can’t easily be summarised, but here is a key paragraph of the document (and that’s before you read the other 300+ pages):

2.1 The aim of the Plan is to achieve sustainable development, as set out in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). This includes pursuing overarching economic, social and environmental objectives together. The city will continue to develop as a place in a way which mutually reinforces these objectives.

1. To deliver new high-quality homes.
2. To deliver the right mix of new homes, including affordable homes.
3. To support sustainable economic growth and innovation, the city as a global gateway, and the digital and physical infrastructure needed to support this growth.
4. To support key economic sectors, including the green economy, the Port, Freeport, maritime and logistics, creative and cultural industries.
5. To reduce the emissions which contribute to climate change, and to adapt to climate change.
6. To achieve social value from development, and ensure local residents benefit from economic growth and the creation of good quality jobs, reducing economic and social inequalities.
7. To support lifelong learning and skills.
8. To conserve and manage natural resources (e.g. water, building materials, waste recycling).
9. To make effective use of land.
10. To minimise air, water, light and noise pollution.
11. To support active travel (walking, cycling) and public transport, introduce a Southampton Mass Transit system, reduce and then manage remaining car use.
12. To conserve and enhance biodiversity, the ‘green grid’ and open spaces.
13. To conserve and enhance the city’s distinctive built, archaeological and cultural heritage.
14. To conserve and enhance the city’s distinctive townscape, promoting high quality placemaking, access to the waterfront, and places that are accessible and inclusive to everyone.
15. To support strong city, town, district and local centres as economic and community hubs and vibrant shopping, leisure, and cultural centres.
16. To enhance and regenerate the city’s housing estates and neighbourhoods.
17. To create healthy and safe places and communities for all, which promote healthy places and environments and reduces health inequalities for people of all ages.

2.2 These objectives are not listed in priority order. The Plan’s policies ensure that development will meet these objectives. The Plan’s Sustainability Appraisal reflects these objectives.

 

[1] The Southampton City Vision/Local Plan is subject to a long, multi-staged consultation, because of the importance of getting it right. The draft for consultation was issued in October 2022 and comments had to be submitted by 3 January 2023. There will be a further consultation stage later in 2023. It will later be analysed by a Planning Inspector and isn’t due to be adopted until 2025. More details here: Southampton City Vision

 

[2] For example National Planning Policy Framework – Guidance – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) sets out Government Planning Policies, which local authorities must adhere to.

[i] National Planning Policy Framework – 14. Meeting the challenge of climate change, flooding and coastal change – Guidance – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) para. 152

 

 

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