Cornwall SDS and Local Plan Making Support

Tender description

• Provide ongoing specialist support to ‘Where’s It Going’ cluster, continuing to refine and apply the emerging settlement cell creation and assessment methodology; develop and apply the enhanced HELAA and site-sifting approach and candidate allocation process; evolve the Cornwall Planning and Housing Decision Wheel approach and impact dashboard; and support the identification, definition and testing of automated and accelerated assessment workflows throughout as the work moves from initial methodology development into consultation, review and candidate allocation testing. • Support the ongoing settlement cell creation, assessment and refinement work, including review of the initial settlement cell outputs; development and application of the settlement cell assessment ‘hexagon’ approach, RAG scoring and criteria weighting; identification of clear cell strengths, constraints and opportunities from mapped data; exploration of how WSP hexagon and related data outputs relate to the cells and potential aligned workflows; support the consolidation of internal and external consultee comments; development of templates for consulting stakeholders on settlement cells; and preparation of outputs to inform broad settlement growth directions and cell-level priorities, indicative capacity testing and any potential gaps where further sites may need to be sought. • Assist with the finalisation and iteration of the SDS and Local Plan allocations methodology as a live working document, including clear written methodology content, officer-facing assessment processes, consultee review templates, stakeholder consultation templates for both cells and sites, audit trails, scoring logic, assumptions, data sources and supporting material for internal stakeholder and external/public consultation on the methodology, cells and emerging site assessment approach. • Support the transition from settlement cell analysis into HELAA-related site assessment and Candidate Allocation work, including site clustering analysis; categorisation and accessibility of planning application data; site categorisation in line with HELAA guidance; baseline GIS indicators for Candidate Allocation scoring; location, suitability and availability scoring; deliverability and developability considerations, and trajectory dashboards; site visit templates; templates for stakeholder consultation on sites; technical assessment briefs; and the process for identifying which sites should be advanced, kept under review or considered unlikely to be suitable for allocation. • Continue to support the development of GIS, Decision Wheel and LANDARNA-enabled workflows, including GIS approach and compatibility discussions with the Council team; WSP tool and hexagon methodology alignment where required; integration of relevant landscape, flood, coastal, heritage, planning history and HELAA datasets; testing of automated spatial assessment outputs; AI-assisted planning data querying and issue identification; and alignment of site/cell outputs with the Cornwall Decision Wheel, Sustainability Appraisal/ISA objectives and wider SDS and Local Plan evidence requirements. Keywords: Local Plan, SDS, Site Enabling, Plan Making, HENA