RMBC-GP-Infrastructure Needs Assessment and Infrastructure Delivery Plan

Runnymede Borough Council is currently preparing the Runnymede 2035 Local Plan. The Local Plan will set out the level of development required in the Borough over the period 2015-2035 including for housing, employment and retail, and will include sites for allocation.

Runnymede has recently concluded public consultation its Issues, Options and Preferred Approaches document which sets out a number of options for the delivery of development within the Borough to 2035. The preferred approach in this document is to set a housing target of 7,200 over the plan period with a number of areas known as Resultant Land Parcels (RLPs) planned for removal from the Green Belt for development including a strategic allocation at the former DERA site in Longcross for a mixed use development including 1,500 dwellings.

The preferred approach to employment in this document is to maintain/regenerate existing employment sites and for retail the focus is on the three main centres of the Borough at Addlestone, Chertsey and Egham. Following the conclusion of this public consultation, Runnymede is seeking to engage a consultant to produce an Infrastructure Needs Assessment (INA) with the option to develop this into an Infrastructure Delivery Plan (IDP) at a later date (as such the pricing schedule asks the Infrastructure Delivery Plan to be priced as a provisional item).

The INA (stage 1) will consist of two parts (known as A and B) which will be expected to be brought together into a single report. Part A will seek to identify the existing baseline infrastructure capacity in Runnymede and whether there are any current deficits or surpluses including with the implementation of any existing or planned projects.

Part B will involve the assessment of future needs based on the population/household projections as a result of the Local Plan including for individually allocated sites. The Infrastructure Needs Assessment will refresh and build on existing infrastructure evidence and will inform the preparation of an Infrastructure Delivery Plan (IDP) (stage 2) at a later date.

It will also form the basis for the infrastructure ‘ask’ for each allocated site in the Local Plan. The IDP will also be used as evidence in drawing up a Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) charging schedule.