Torfaen Replacement Local Development Plan: Candidate Sites

The Council’s Call for Candidate Sites exercise was held for 8 weeks between 1^st August 2023 and 26^th September 2023 and has now closed. Officers are currently undertaking the Stage 1: High Level Assessment as set out in the published methodology - Candidate Sites Assessment and Register Methodology (May 2023) and Candidate Sites Assessment and Register Methodology (May 2023) - Executive Summary.

The Candidate Site Register and draft Stage 1 Assessment will be published for public consultation alongside the RLDP Preferred Strategy expected in November / December 2025. At the same time, the Council will open a Second Call for Candidate Sites and the opportunity for site proposers to submit Additional Supporting Information. You can register to be kept informed of updates, consultations and key stages in the Plan process, including the Call for Candidate Sites, here https://torfaen.oc2.uk/register/process/0

Additional supporting information for sites already submitted in September 2023

The draft Stage 1 Assessment will identify whether your site will progress to Stage 2 of the assessment process. All sites which proceed to the Stage 2 assessment will be required to submit appropriate Ecological Surveys and a financial viability assessment (see Guidance Notes and DVM below) to support their consideration. There may be additional surveys or reports required depending upon your site circumstances. These should have been raised through the reactive submission process in OpusConsult and the advice remains available to you as part of your submission details.

New sites for the second call for candidate sites

The Council will open a Second Call for Candidate Sites expected November / December 2025 to run alongside the public consultation on the Candidate Site Register and draft Stage 1 Assessment. All new candidate site submissions (unless for protection of the existing use) will need to be accompanied by ecological survey, financial viability assessment and any other site specific reports or surveys necessary to evidence that the site is capable of delivering the proposed development. Further information is available below.

What is a candidate site?

A candidate site is a site submitted to the Council by an interested party (e.g. developer or landowner) for potential inclusion as an allocation in the new RLDP.

What types of sites can be submitted?

Landowners/proposers are welcome to submit sites for the range of uses that the Plan makes provision for. This includes, but is not limited to, land for:

Housing (Market and Affordable); Employment; Retail; Community Facilities; Tourism and Recreation; Renewable Energy Generation; Gypsy and Traveller sites; Transport Infrastructure; Waste; Education; Health; Biodiversity; Green infrastructure; Minerals Extraction.

Submitting a candidate site

Torfaen Council has adopted OpusConsult (incorporating OpusMap) to undertake the Call for Candidate Sites which provides responsive forms, associated mapping and the ability to upload accompanying documents to support a Candidate Site submission. Further information on submitting a site will be provided nearer to the time.

Before submitting a candidate site, site proposers are advised to review the Candidate Site Submission Guidance Note (May 2023) and Candidate Site Submission Guidance Note (May 2023) - Executive Summary, which provides advice on the types of site that are likely to be acceptable and the information that will be required to support the submission of a candidate site.

Financial Viability is a key consideration in the candidate site assessment process. Planning Policy Wales (PPW) Edition 12 states that a viability assessment must be provided for candidate sites to demonstrate whether delivery of the site is viable or not. Please see the Call for Candidate Sites Financial Viability Guidance Note (May 2023) and Call for Candidate Sites Financial Viability Guidance Note (May 2023) - Executive Summary which sets out the Council’s requirements and provides useful supporting information in this respect.

In addition to the above, site proposers should also refer to the following:

• Ecology Survey Guidance Note (May 2023) and Ecology Survey Guidance Note (May 2023) - Executive Summary which details the baseline standards for ecological survey work required to support each Candidate Site that proceeds to Stage 2 of the Assessment.  We will need this work completed in time for the Second Call for Sites / Supporting Information exercise, expected in November/December 2025.  Therefore, site proposers are strongly advised to commence their ecological surveys asap, as at least 1 years’ worth of data is required to provide this assessment;
• LANDMAP Guidance Note (July 2023) which explains how NRW’s LANDMAP Characterisation mapping can be used to inform and support site assessment and design;
• Call for Candidate Sites Edition OpusMap which provides freely accessible mapping containing data sets relating to sustainability, constraints and opportunities to inform a Candidate Site submission. Please be advised that this information source represents the most up to date data that we have but should still be checked by any user to ensure its accuracy ‘on the ground’.
• Sustainable Settlement Assessment (August 2023) which sets out the county borough’s primary settlements in relation to their degree of self-containment and sustainability as assessed by the Council. An Executive Summary of the Sustainable Settlement Assessment is also available.
• Sustainability Appraisal Assessment Criteria for Candidate Sites (August 2023) which comprises a key section of the Integrated Sustainability Appraisal Scoping Report setting out the themes upon which the independent appraisal will be carried out.

Please note that some of these documents are likely to be updated before the 2nd Call for Sites / Supporting Information exercise, expected in November / December 2025; given the subsequent publication of Planning Policy Wales 12th Edition in February 2024 (mainly affecting the ‘Candidate Sites Assessment Methodology’ and ‘Ecology Survey Guidance Note’); the current update of the ‘OpusMap Candidate Sites GIS’ (i.e. the layers for bus stops/routes, active travel routes, Green Infrastructure, Local Services and Facilities, refined areas for wind & solar power generation, etc.); and future updates of the Integrated Sustainability Appraisal ‘Assessment Framework’ and ‘Financial Viability Guidance Note’.

GDPR

On 25th May 2018 the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force, placing new restrictions on how organisations can hold and use your personal data and defining your rights with regard to that data. Any personal information disclosed to us will be processed in accordance with our RLDP Privacy Notice.

Development Viability Model (DVM)

The Council has worked in partnership with other Councils across the region, alongside Town Planning and Development consultants Burrows-Hutchinson Ltd, to establish the assessment tool. The DVM has been created as a comprehensive, user-friendly model that can be used by site promoters and decision makers for the purpose of assessing the financial viability of a development proposal. Site promoters must submit a financial viability assessment using the DVM as part of the Stage 2 Candidate Site Assessment process. The fees for the provision of a copy of the DVM are as follows:

Residential Schemes

• 1 - 9 dwellings - £195 +VAT (£234)
• 10 - 50 dwellings - £345 +VAT (£414)
• 51 - 100 dwellings - £495 +VAT (£594)
• 101 - 150 dwellings - £595 +VAT (£714)
• 151 - 250 dwellings - £650 +VAT (£780)
• 251 - 350 dwellings - £750 +VAT (£900)
• 351 - 450 dwellings - £850 +VAT (£1,020)
• 451 - 550 dwellings - £950 +VAT (£1,140)
• 551 - 650 dwellings - £1,050 +VAT (£1,260)
• 651 - 750 dwellings - £1,150 +VAT (£1,380)
• 751 - 850 dwellings - £1,250 +VAT (£1,500)
• 851 - 950 dwellings - £1,350 +VAT (£1,620)
• Over 950 dwellings - £ to be agreed with Council depending on size / complexity of proposal

Commercial Schemes

• Less than 0.4ha - £195 +VAT (£234)
• 0.4ha to <2.0ha - £345 +VAT (£414)
• 2.0ha to <4.0ha - £495 +VAT (£594)
• Over 4ha - £ to be agreed with Council depending on size / complexity / type of proposal

To obtain a site-specific copy of the DVM, together with the user guide and videos, or to discuss any matters relating to the DVM, please contact us on ldp@torfaen.gov.uk.

Last Modified: 28/11/2024 Back to top