Rural Settlement Study

Canterbury City Council is currently preparing a new Local Plan for the district. This study will form an important element of the evidence which can inform decisions as we prepare the new Local Plan.

Outside of the city of Canterbury, and the coastal towns of Herne Bay and Whitstable, a large proportion of the district is made up of the rural areas; home to many thriving villages and small hamlets of varying sizes and characters.

Services and facilities within the rural areas can enable rural communities to meet many of their day to day needs locally, and can be important to support the health and wellbeing of communities in the rural areas.

This study has examined the various services and facilities that currently exist in the built up area of each settlement to inform our understanding of the sustainability of individual settlements, and the role they play in their part of the district.

Not all settlements benefit from a wide range of services, and many of the smallest settlements have no services at all. Residents in the rural areas may need to travel to nearby settlements, such as larger villages, to access important facilities, such as schools and GP (doctor) surgeries.

These functional relationships between settlements within the rural areas suggest important networks; enabling our rural communities to access vital services and facilities within the wider local area, without needing to travel too far or into the urban areas.

This study therefore examines both the sustainability of individual settlements and the functional relationships which exist between settlements within networks, or clusters, across the District.

Assessing the sustainability of settlements

To assess the sustainability of settlements, the services and facilities located within built up area of each settlement were identified through a combination of physical surveys undertaken during August 2019, the Local Land Use Gazetteer (a database held by local authorities) and consultation with our Parish Councils in summer 2020. Services located within or just on the edge of settlements were recorded and their locations plotted. 

Some services and facilities can affect the role and function of a settlement more than others; a GP surgery or primary school within a settlement will serve the population living there, as well as those living in other nearby settlements.

To provide a more detailed understanding of each settlement the study considers five key services:  

• Primary school;
• Convenience store;
• Community hall;
• GP surgery; and
• Nursery or pre-school.

 The services and facilities classified as other services were: 

• Pharmacy;
• Dentist;
• Post office;
• Veterinary practice;
• Public house;
• Recreation ground;
• Play area;
• Hairdressers;
• Takeaway;
• Other retail; and
• Place of worship.

The study has also recorded if settlements offer a bus service although this information has not been included in the scoring of settlements. Instead, the services were classified as:

• Regular service - more than two buses per hour
• Occasional service - less than one service per hour

To develop a picture of the function of each settlement the following classifications were used:

 Rural Hub

• Full range of services, including all five of the key services.

Residents living there can meet most of their day to day needs within the settlement. The level of service provision within a Rural Hub means that the settlement plays a key role in the wider area, providing access to a wide range of services for residents living in smaller settlements nearby. 

 Rural Service Centre:

• All five of the key services, and may also have other services.

Residents living there can meet most of their day to day needs within the settlement. The level of service provision in a Rural Service Centre means that the settlement plays an important role in the wider area, providing access to key services for residents living in smaller settlements nearby.

 Local Service Centre: 

• At least two of the key services, and may also have other services.

Residents living there will need to travel outside of the settlement to access the full range of key services. The level of services within a Local Service Centre may mean that residents living in other settlements nearby use it for important services.  

Village: 

• At least one service; which could be either a key service or other service.

It may have a limited range of services which meet some day to day needs, but residents living in a village will need to travel outside of the settlement to access the range of services, including key services. Depending on the range of services in the village, the settlement may play a limited role for residents living in other settlements nearby.

 Hamlet:

• Has no services or facilities. 

Residents living in a hamlet will need to travel outside of the settlement to meet their day to day needs and to access the range of services, including key services. 

 To enable comparisons between settlements to be made, three points were attributed to each key service, (a primary school, convenience store, community hall, GP surgery, nursery or pre-school) and one point was attributed to each other service. 

 Understanding relationships between the rural settlements

To provide an understanding of the relationships between rural settlements, school catchment data was collected from the Local Education Authority (KCC) and the NHS Canterbury and Coastal Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) provided information on GP catchment areas. This was analysed together with travel time data for access to other key services by 15 minutes walking, 10 minutes cycling, up to 30 minutes public transport and 5 -10 minutes by car to identify settlements which function together as a group or cluster. These settlements, based around the Rural Hub or Rural Service Centre, can support each other.

Residents living in the rural settlements, particularly at the edges of each cluster, may of course choose to access services and facilities outside of the local area, including within the urban areas of the district, in some cases outside of the district, for a wide variety of reasons. 

The analysis does however provide an indication of the functional relationships that exist between settlements in the rural areas, and how residents access important local services.

There are a number of rural settlements which are located on the edge of the urban areas of Canterbury, Whitstable or Herne Bay. Residents living in these settlements can access services and facilities within the adjacent urban areas. Therefore these settlements are not included within the cluster analysis and for the purposes of this study there are referred to as edge of urban boundary settlements. 

The analysis of the services and facilities lead to the hierarchy below.

• Rural Hub - Sturry
• Rural Service Centres - Blean, Bridge, Chartham, Hersden, Littlebourne
• Local Service Centres - Adisham, Barham, Broad Oak, Harbledown, Hoath, Lower Hardres, Petham, Rough Common, Thanington Without, Westbere, Wickhambreaux
• Village - Bossingham, Bekesbourne, Bishopsbourne, Boyden Gate, Bramling, Bullockstone, Chartham Hatch, Chislet, Fordwich, Ickham, Herne Common, Kingston, Maypole, Patrixbourne, Pett Bottom, Stodmarsh, Tyler Hill, Waltham, Womenswold, Woolage Green, Upper Harbledown, Upper Hardres, Upstreet
• Hamlet - Anvil Green, Blooden, Boyden Gate, Breach, Cooting, Garlinge Green, Highstead, IIeden, Marshside, Out Elmstead, Radfall, Woodlands, Woolage Village, Wraik Hill, Yorkletts

Rural Settlement Clusters

Examining the relationship between settlements, the study has identified that, broadly speaking, there are five functional settlement clusters located around the district, centred upon the Rural Service Centres, or Rural Hub in the case of Sturry. A cluster is a collection of settlements within close proximity of each other that can provide local services and facilities to support residents within the area.

The five clusters are:

1. Sturry cluster
2. Blean cluster
3. Chartham cluster
4. Littlebourne cluster
5. Bridge cluster

The map below shows the settlement clusters identified in the study

Although these settlement clusters provide a useful indication of the relationship between settlements, it is clearly the case that these relationships are fluid, and that residents may access services and facilities from other clusters, from the urban areas and in some cases from outside of the district.

This cluster focuses on Sturry as a Rural Hub with Hersden as a Rural Service Centre also providing a comprehensive range of facilities. Broad Oak, Hoath and Westbere are identified as Local Service Centres while Boyden Gate, Chislet, Fordwich, Maypole and Upstreet are identified as Villages with Highstead and Marshside as Hamlets.

This cluster focuses on Blean as the Rural Service Centre, with Harbledown and Rough Common as Local Service Centres. Tyler Hill and Upper Harbledown are identified as Villages.

This cluster centres on Chartham as the Rural Service Centre, with Lower Hardres and Petham as Local Service Centres. Bossingham, Chartham Hatch, Upper Hardres and Waltham are all identified as Villages while Anvil Green and Garlinge Green are shown as Hamlets.

This cluster centres on Littlebourne as the Rural Service Centre, with Wickhambreaux as a Local Service Centre. Bekesbourne, Bramling, Ickham, Stodmarsh and Patrixbourne are all identified as Villages.

This cluster focusses on Bridge as the Rural Service Centre, but there are also a number of Local Service Centres: Adisham & Barham. Bishopsbourne, Kingston, Pett Bottom, Womenswold & Woolage Green as all identified as Villages while Blodden, Breach, Cooting, IIeden, Out Elmstead, Woodlands and Woolage Village are shown as Hamlets.

There are several settlements located just outside of the urban areas at Canterbury, Whitstable and Herne Bay. These settlements do not form part of a cluster within the study. These settlements are Bullockstone, Herne Common, Radfall, Thanington Without, Wraik Hill and Yorkletts.

This document has been updated to reflect comments received through previous consultations, including with local Parish Councils. The data behind the study can be viewed in Appendix 1.

Appendix 1 -  Rural Settlements: Services and Facilities