PLANNING

Annex B -Extract from NFDC Core Strategy, 2008

Lymington and Pennington

9.27 Lymington is an historic town situated to the south of the New Forest in the southern coastal area. It is an important shopping and tourist destination, and an important centre for sailing. It is surrounded entirely with the Green Belt, and the National Park is in close proximity to the north, east and south, and part of the west. The main issues in the town are the maintenance of the attractive historic centre, traffic and parking, providing scope for continuing economic prosperity, and the affordability of housing for local people.

9.28 The spatial strategy defines Lymington and Pennington as a larger town and service centre, and a sustainable location for new development which is consistent with maintaining and enhancing the town’s character. The spatial strategy provides for up to 905 new dwellings in the town up to 2026. New housing schemes will provide additional affordable dwellings to address the housing needs of local people. Many of the existing commitments arise from the redevelopment of a number of large sites in

the town. The spatial strategy does not rely on continuing the recent trend, which has affected parts of Lymington in particular, of redeveloping large family homes with flatted developments. In addition, to further help address the local housing need, it is proposed that green field land for up to 150 new homes will be allocated for residential development which specifically addresses the local need for affordable housing. Given the constraints around the town, this is likely to involve a minor review of the green belt boundary adjacent to the existing settlement boundary to enable the release of suitable site/sites from the green belt for this purpose. (See Policies CS9, CS10, CS12)

9.29 Lymington will be the main comparison goods shopping centre in the Plan Area catering for the town, surrounding communities and visitors to the coast and New Forest, as well as providing bulk convenience shopping. The town centre will continue to provide a good range of cultural, entertainment, community and visitor facilities. The commercial role of the centre will be protected. The town centre will provide local employment opportunities, particularly in the service sector. Measures will be undertaken to ensure that car parking and coach tourist parking facilities are appropriate to maintaining the commercial and environmental attractiveness and accessibility of the town centre. (Policies CS20, CS24)

9.30 Lymington will also continue to be an important centre of employment, with a range of manufacturing, service and distribution, marine and tourism-related jobs. The remaining existing employment sites will be retained in employment use. (Policy CS17)

9.31 The historic character of the town will be protected and enhanced. Change will be managed to minimise any impact on the town’s historic character. The Quay and riverfront have been enhanced to provide quality facilities for visitors and marina users. Improvements will continue to be made to public access and enjoyment of the riverside where opportunities arise.