I believe that not enough attention has been considered to the town centre and it's immediate outer areas, especially brownfield sites, for redevelopment into housing. The town is a scruffy disgrace and there are huge area's that should be considered first. eg. the Lever brothers site, the huge warehouses around the area to the west of the Tesco store and many, many others.
The buildings in the town centre following the demise of traditional shops should be considered for conversion into accommodation as is being carried out in our larger cities. All of this before tearing up our countryside.
It is questionable as to whether you are compliant but one thing is for sure, this council and it's planners are reckless in their approach to it's Residents.