Torbay Local Plan Regulation 19 Publication Version and Consultation

Object

Representation ID: 3323

Received: 24/09/2026

Respondent: Vistry Homes

Agent: Savills

Legally compliant? Not specified

Sound? No

Duty to co-operate? Not specified

Policy CER1 requires residential development to achieve, as a minimum, a 75% reduction in carbon dioxide
emissions relative to Part L of the 2013 Building Regulations, and requires FGAs and all major greenfield sites to achieve net zero carbon emissions through solar PV or other measures, together with local energy network
assessments and other requirements. Whilst Vistry Homes Ltd is fully committed to delivering high-quality, energy efficient and climate-resilient homes, we object to Policy CER1 as currently drafted on the grounds that it is not justified and risks being inconsistent with national policy and the direction of the Future Homes Standard.
The policy sets local energy efficiency and carbon standards that go beyond the requirements of the Building
Regulations and the emerging Future Homes Standard. Any such standard must be robustly justified by evidence,
including a whole-plan viability assessment demonstrating that the cumulative requirements are deliverable without
undermining the delivery of market and affordable housing. There is also a risk of unnecessary duplication with, and potential conflict against, national Building Regulations and the Future Homes Standard, which are the Government’s established mechanism for reducing operational carbon.

Object

Representation ID: 3324

Received: 24/09/2026

Respondent: Vistry Homes

Agent: Savills

Legally compliant? Not specified

Sound? No

Duty to co-operate? Not specified

While the objective of reducing embodied carbon and committing to sustainable construction practices is broadly
supported, Policy CER2 should remain proportionate and should avoid duplicating national standards. The
requirement for major development to submit an embodied carbon assessment should use a recognised, nationally consistent methodology, and the policy should be clear that it introduces consideration and reduction of embodied carbon rather than setting a fixed numerical target for which no established national baseline yet exists. We welcome the acknowledgement in the supporting text (paragraph 8.39) that reducing embodied carbon is difficult to achieve and that no target is set through the policy.

Object

Representation ID: 3325

Received: 24/09/2026

Respondent: Vistry Homes

Agent: Savills

Legally compliant? Not specified

Sound? No

Duty to co-operate? Not specified

The broad objectives of Policy NC2 are supported, however the per-dwelling enhancement metrics in Policy NC2 (24 integrated bird boxes such as swift bricks, 1–2 bat boxes and 1 bee brick per dwelling or per 100 sq m of non residential floorspace) should be expressed as guidance and applied flexibly and proportionately at the reserved matters stage, having regard to the specific ecological context of the site and the overall Biodiversity Net Gain and Habitats Regulations mitigation strategy. This will ensure the policy is effective without being unduly prescriptive.

Object

Representation ID: 3326

Received: 24/09/2026

Respondent: Vistry Homes

Agent: Savills

Legally compliant? Not specified

Sound? No

Duty to co-operate? Not specified

The current wording of Policy ER2 is not considered effective. As written, the policy conflicts with itself by saying that development “must not discharge surface water in the combined sewer network”, but then immediately states that where it is “robustly demonstrated to be the only feasible option, appropriate mitigation must be secured to ensure no overall increase in the volume and rate of surface water discharge to the combined sewer network”. Clearly, therefore, there are scenarios in which it is acceptable for surface water to be discharged into the combined sewer, and having wording within the policy stating this “must not” happen is contradictory and confusing.

Object

Representation ID: 3327

Received: 24/09/2026

Respondent: Vistry Homes

Agent: Savills

Legally compliant? Not specified

Sound? No

Duty to co-operate? Not specified

Policy ER3 requires all new homes to achieve a water efficiency standard of no more than 100 litres per person per day (l/p/d). This is a tighter standard than the 110 l/p/d optional requirement in Part G of the Building Regulations
and, as such, requires exceptional justification in accordance with national Planning Practice Guidance. In order for the policy to be legally compliant, the council must robustly demonstrate the exceptional circumstances necessary to justify a standard more stringent than the Building Regulations optional standard.

Object

Representation ID: 3328

Received: 24/09/2026

Respondent: Vistry Homes

Agent: Savills

Legally compliant? Not specified

Sound? No

Duty to co-operate? Not specified

Vistry supports the principle of promoting food growing opportunities as part of new developments.
However, in our view draft Policy SC4 should be amended, specifically with reference to the loss of BMV land. The policy should make it clear that the need to consider if there is an overriding need for the development should not apply to those sites already allocated in the plan. In such cases, the loss of agricultural land has already been considered and accepted as part of the strategy, and the policy should not therefore be applied so as to frustrate or delay the delivery of allocated housing. On-site food-growing provision should be proportionate to the scale of development and reflect site-specific circumstances in order to ensure the Local Plan is consistent.

Object

Representation ID: 3329

Received: 24/09/2026

Respondent: Vistry Homes

Agent: Savills

Legally compliant? Not specified

Sound? No

Duty to co-operate? Not specified

The objective of securing a good standard of amenity for future residents is supported. However, the amenity space
standards set out in Policy DE3 (a minimum of 10 sq m for apartments and 55 sq m for houses) should be expressed
as guidelines rather than rigid requirements, so as to retain design flexibility and enable land to be used efficiently.

This is consistent with the plan’s own emphasis (Policies H4 and DE1) on optimising densities and making the best
use of land. A degree of flexibility will allow high-quality, well-designed schemes to be brought forward that make
efficient use of land while still delivering good living conditions.

Object

Representation ID: 3330

Received: 24/09/2026

Respondent: Vistry Homes

Agent: Savills

Legally compliant? Not specified

Sound? No

Duty to co-operate? Not specified

(and INS) Vistry supports the principle of securing the infrastructure necessary to make development acceptable in planning terms and the priority order for planning obligations set out in Policy IN1. However, in order to ensure that the plan as a whole is sound, the cumulative burden of Section 106 and infrastructure requirements including affordable housing, Habitats Regulations mitigation, drainage and water infrastructure, education, healthcare, sustainable transport and the various contributions sought throughout the plan must be tested against, and be consistent with, the whole-plan viability evidence. The priority order in Policy IN1 should be applied pragmatically to ensure that the plan’s requirements do not, in combination, render development unviable and thereby undermine the delivery of housing, including affordable housing. We welcome the recognition in Policy IN1 that viability may justify a review of contributions, and the inclusion of deferred-calculation mechanisms.

Object

Representation ID: 3371

Received: 24/09/2026

Respondent: Vistry Homes

Agent: Rapleys

Legally compliant? No

Sound? No

Duty to co-operate? Not specified

Representation on Behalf of Vistry Partnership

We write on behalf of Vistry Partnership (‘Vistry’), in response to the Regulation 19 Publication Version of the Torbay Local Plan, which has been published for consultation by Torbay Council (‘the Council’).

Vistry owns land at the former Hollicombe Gas Works at Torbay Road, Torquay, which is identified as a ‘Proposed Housing Site’ under draft Strategic Policy H3 (Ref: H3T.6).

The former Hollicombe Gas Works site represents a highly sustainable, previously developed site adjacent to the built-up area. Whilst Vistry welcomes the allocation of the site for development, it proposes that the site should be allocated for mixed-use residential and retail development either under Strategic Policy H3, or under Strategic Policy H2, which identifies ‘Future Growth Areas’ comprising mixed-use development allocations.

Table 7: Proposed Housing Sites identifies Site Ref: H3T.6:

“Hollicombe (former gas works) – all of the site developed for housing or flood alleviation/open space/biodiversity.”

Notwithstanding that, as currently drafted, the reference to “flood alleviation / open space / biodiversity” in a list of ‘Proposed Housing Sites’ is unclear and confusing, the proposed allocation does not provide a clear development framework for a deliverable development opportunity at the site.

Table 7 states that the anticipated number of dwellings to come forward at the site is 185 dwellings. It is understood that this quantum of proposed development reflects the extant planning permission at the site; however, it is important to note that planning permission for the 185-unit scheme was granted in October 2012 and that the permission is no longer deemed deliverable (Ref: P/2008/0114).

The aforementioned planning permission was prepared in 2007, submitted in early 2008, and approved by the Council in 2012, following over four years of determination. The approved scheme was designed to meet housing demand in the period before the 2008 financial crisis. Since then, the characteristics of the housing market have changed significantly. Despite making a start on site, residential development at the site has stalled.

In a response prepared by LRM Planning on behalf of Vistry to the Council’s Regulation 18 Growth Options Consultation in February 2022, the Council was advised that the previously permissioned 185-unit residential scheme is no longer deliverable (see Annex A).

In the 2022 representation, the Council was advised that a different and more viable form of development would be required, which better reflects prevailing market conditions and can realistically be brought forward on the site. The response affirmed that a flexible approach to stalled sites, including at the former Hollicombe Gas Works, is essential.

In order to be found sound, national planning policy requires Local Plans to be positively prepared and effective over the plan period. This requires there to be a reasonable prospect that site allocations are capable of being deliverable at the time envisioned. Reliance on historic allocations that are no longer viable or deliverable risks undermining the soundness of the emerging Torbay Local Plan.

On Table 5 (page 81) of the Regulation 18 version of the Torbay Local Plan, which was published for consultation between 28 November 2025 and 2 February 2026, the former Hollicombe Gas Works site was identified as a proposed housing site with a lower indicative capacity of up to 50 dwellings (Ref: H3T.29).

It is unclear why, despite the previous representations submitted four years prior to the publication of the Regulation 19 document, advising that the permissioned scheme is not deliverable, the Council anticipates a greater number of dwellings (185) to come forward at the former Hollicombe Gas Works site, as referenced in Table 7 of the latest Regulation 19 version of the consultation document.

Given that the residential scheme has not been built out in accordance with the planning permission which was granted in 2012, i.e. 14 years ago, it is evident that the approved scheme is no longer viable. Simply, the extant planning permission does not represent a deliverable scheme.

Market conditions have shifted, viability constraints have intensified, and the residential scheme previously envisaged at the former Hollicombe Gas Works site cannot realistically be delivered. A more adaptable policy framework is therefore required, enabling alternative, market-responsive forms of development to come forward.

In light of the above, Vistry proposes that the former Hollicombe Gas Works site is allocated for mixed-use development, comprising residential and food retail development. The delivery of a new foodstore alongside residential development would enable a viable and deliverable scheme to come forward on this site. This combined approach would not only contribute positively to meeting local housing needs, but would also enhance consumer choice and strengthen the food retail offer within the surrounding area.

It is vital that appropriate provision is made within the emerging Local Plan so that food retail needs can be met in a way that is aligned with the wider development needs of the borough.

This may include locations which are outside of existing town centres, in locations which are easily accessible to existing or planned residential neighbourhoods, such as at the former Hollicombe Gas Works site.

Summary

In order to be considered sound, the emerging Local Plan should be modified to identify the former Hollicombe Gas Works site as a mixed-use allocation either under Strategic Policy H3, or under Strategic Policy H2.

This change is necessary to reflect the fact that the site has failed to come forward as a deliverable residential-only scheme by Vistry, a national housebuilder, despite planning permission for a solely residential development being granted 14 years ago.

The prolonged non-delivery clearly demonstrates that a residential-only approach is not viable, and that a mixed-use scheme, incorporating a foodstore alongside new housing, represents the most realistic and effective route to unlocking development at this site.

Rapleys hopes that the comments made in this representation are helpful as the Council progresses its emerging Local Plan. Please contact us should you have any queries or would like to discuss any of the matters raised in this representation.