Strategic Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment

Strategic Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment (SHELAA)

As part of the Local Plan review process South Derbyshire District Council has carried out a Strategic Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment (SHELAA) based on the assessment of sites submitted for the ‘Call for Sites’. 

National guidance, specified through the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), sets out how land for both housing and economic development should be assessed, with the goal of identifying a future supply of land which is suitable, available and achievable. The SHELAA also serves as an important source of evidence to inform both plan-making and the determination of planning applications, in addition to assisting with the identification of a 5-year land supply.

This strategic policy-making process seeks to identify potential land for housing (including Gypsy and Traveller sites and affordable housing) and economic uses. The SHELAA is an evidence document only and does not in itself allocate land for any specific purposes; allocations will be determined through the Local Plan.

The District has prepared a SHELAA methodology ^{(pdf, 690kb)}, which is consistent with national guidance.

The SHELAA includes an assessment of potential sites for housing growth (with the potential for 5 or more dwellings) and for economic growth (0.25 ha of land or greater, or 500m2 of floorspace or greater) that have been promoted to the District council by landowners, agents or developers or have been identified by the council. The assessments have considered whether each site is suitable, available and achievable (as defined in the national guidance), taking into account any identified constraints to development, as well as identifying the potential number of dwellings and/or area of economic development that could be delivered on each site.

Interactive Site Assessments

An interactive webpage has been created to illustrate the location of South Derbyshire SHELAA sites and their assessments. The individual site assessments can be viewed by clicking on any site of interest, and then selecting the SHELAA reference number which will appear. The web page can be accessed by using a compatible web browser (e.g. Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge) in the link below:

In addition to the assessment of potential sites, the SHELAA also includes the assessment of some sites which have since received planning permission following their initial submission to the ‘Call for Sites’.

What the SHELAA does not include

The assessments of the potential sites in the SHELAA are based on the information available at the present time and provide a starting point to inform future decisions in relation to plan-making and the determination of planning applications.

The conclusions of the assessments in relation to the suitability, availability and achievability of potential sites do not indicate that any final decisions have been taken as to which sites will be identified for housing or economic development in the emerging Local Plan.

Additionally, the conclusions of the assessments for the potential sites do not indicate that the District has decided whether planning permission should be granted for housing or economic development on those sites. Any planning applications received for potential sites included in the SHELAA will be considered on its individual planning merits, taking into account any relevant policies in the Development Plan and further material planning considerations.

SHELAA Review

The District will review the SHELAA periodically. If you are a landowner, developer or other interested party that wishes to submit a site(s) for consideration as part of the next review, you can do so by completing the site submission form below. All sites should be accompanied by an up-to-date Ordnance Survey (OS) map clearly identifying the site boundaries.  

• SHELAA site suggestion form  ^{(docx, 93kb)}

Any completed forms and site plans should be emailed to: local.plan@southderbyshire.gov.uk, or by post to:

Planning Policy

South Derbyshire District Council

Civic Way, Swadlincote, Derbyshire, 

DE11 0AH 

SHELAA Summary

 A SHLEAA summary document and SHELAA Housing sites Trajectory can be found below. 

SHELAA Site Assessment Summary ^{(pdf, 703.1mb)}
Housing SHELAA sites Trajectory ^{(pdf, 119kb)}