SPECIAL PLANNING COMMITTEE Date: 18Th Nov 2008
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Agenda Item No: 3 Wolverhampton City Council OPEN DECISION ITEM Committee / Panel SPECIAL PLANNING COMMITTEE Date: 18th Nov 2008 Originating Service Group(s) REGENERATION AND ENVIRONMENT Contact Officer(s) Stephen Alexander (Head of Development Control) Telephone Number(s) (01902) 555610 Title/Subject Matter PLANNING APPLICATIONS Recommendation That Members determine the submitted applications according to the recommendation made in respect of each one. PLANNING COMMITTEE (18th November 2008) REFERENCE SITE ADDRESS PAGE NO 08/01248/DWO Highfields School Merry Hill Page 4 Boundary Way Merry Hill Wolverhampton West Midlands WV4 4NT Application Type Smallscale Major All Other Development 08/01249/DWO North Wolverhampton Oxley Page 14 Academy Marsh Lane Wolverhampton West Midlands WV10 6SE Application Type Smallscale Major All Other Development 08/01247/DWO Deansfield High School East Park Page 22 Deans Road Wolverhampton West Midlands WV1 2BH Application Type Smallscale Major All Other Development 08/01245/DWO Heath Park Business And Heath Town Page 28 Enterprise College Prestwood Road Wolverhampton West Midlands WV11 1RD Application Type Smallscale Major All Other Development 2 08/01246/DWO The Kings School Tettenhall Regis Page 35 Regis Road Wolverhampton West Midlands WV6 8XG Application Type Smallscale Major All Other Development 3 PLANNING COMMITTEE - 18-Nov-08 APP NO: 08/01248/DWO WARD: Merry Hill DATE: 02-Oct-08 TARGET DATE: 01-Jan-09 RECEIVED: 01.10.2008 APP TYPE: Outline Deemed Plan Permission WCC SITE: Highfields School, Boundary Way, Merry Hill, Wolverhampton PROPOSAL: Outline application. Demolition of existing Highfields secondary school and construction of a new secondary school co-located with a new build special school. APPLICANT: AGENT: Mr Richard Hill Mr Ian Naylor Director Or Customer And Shared Services Jacobs Engineering UK Ltd Wolverhampton City Council Sheldon Court Civic Centre Wagon Lane St Peters Square Coventry Road Wolverhampton Sheldon WV1 1SH Birmingham B1 1TT COMMITTEE REPORT: 1 Site Description 1.1 This is an established school site located in the south-west of the City with access from Boundary Way which is a narrow road with a footpath on one side and which forms part of a large residential housing estate to the east. Directly to the north are open fields, to the south are allotments and fields and to the west open fields and Hillcroft Farm, Drive Fields which is located within South Staffs. 1.2 The site comprises 8.1035 hectares and is a major developed site located within the Green Belt and across the north boundary of the site is a flood zone. 1.3 The site comprises a mix of buildings of varying age, style and height. The main buildings are towards the east and playing fields towards the west of the site. The main building fronts Boundary Way and is four storeys high constructed of yellow brick and flat roof. Other building blocks on site are three and two storey with parking for staff and visitors located in front of these buildings. The site is generally level towards the west and bounded on the west boundary by mature trees and shrubs. There is a change in levels rising north to south and the front boundary is defined by a mature hedgerow with 2 vehicular access points which are at presently shared with pedestrians. 2 Application details 2.1 The application is submitted as part of the Building for Schools initiative (BSF) which is a central government scheme providing funding to rebuild and refurbish all secondary schools in England over a 10-15 year period. 2.2 The application is in outline with all matters reserved. Indicative drawings have been submitted which propose the demolition of the existing school buildings and a new school building (maximum height four storeys in part) which would be positioned behind the existing school buildings. This would enable the existing school to function while the new school building is constructed. 4 2.3 The proposal would also include the co-location of Pennfields Special School on the site to create two schools with 18,350 sq metres gross internal floor space which would be physically connected but administered independently with entrances to the two schools separate and clearly defined. 2.4 The new building would be located further towards the west and would be outside the existing 'major developed site' boundary. 3 Planning History 3.1 No relevant history 4 Constraints 4.1 Flood Zone Millennium Urban Forest Major Developed Site in the Green Belt 5 Relevant policies 5.1 National Policies PPS1 - Delivering Sustainable Development PPG2 - Green Belt PPS9 - Biodiversity and Geological Conservation PPG13 - Transport PPG17 - Planning for Open Space, Sport and Recreation 5.2 Regional Policy RSS11 – Regional Spatial Strategy for the West Midlands 5.3 Relevant UDP Policies AM1 - Access, Mobility and New Development AM7 - Travel Plans AM9 - Provision for Pedestrians AM10 - Provision for Cyclists AM12 - Parking and Servicing Provision AM15 - Road Safety and Personal Security C1 - Health, Education and Other Community Services C4 - Education Facilities D1 - Design Quality D3 - Urban Structure D4 - Urban Grain D5 - Public Realm Public Open Private Space D6 - Townscape and Landscape D7 - Scale - Height D8 - Scale - Massing D9 - Appearance D10 - Community Safety D12 - Nature Conservation and Natural Features D13 - Sustainable Development Natural Energy D14 - The Provision of Public Art EP4 - Light Pollution EP5 - Noise Pollution EP6 - Prot of Ground Water, Watercourses, Canals EP7 - Protection of Floodplains EP9 - Sustainable Drainage Arrangements for Development 5 G1 - Protection of the Green Belt G2 - Control of Development in the Green Belt G3 - Con. of Dev. Conspicuous from the Green Belt G4 - Major Developed Sites in the Green Belt N1 - Promotion of Nature Conservation N7 - The Urban Forest N9 - Protection of Wildlife Species R1 - Local Standards for Open Space, Sport R2 - Open Space, Sport and Recreation Priority Areas R3 - Protection of Open Space, Sport and Recreation R5 - Sports Grounds R8 - Dual-Use of Open Space, Sport and Recreation 6 Publicity 6.1 The application was advertised in the Express & Star newspaper and by site notices 6.2 Neighbour letters were sent and one letter of objection has been received which is concerned about increased traffic and parking. One letter has been received from the resident of Hillcroft Farm, Drive Fields, Lower Penn who has requested to speak to Planning Committee. 6.3 The consultation exercise undertaken by the BSF team produced comments from one resident concerned that the new school would be too close to the existing. 7 Internal consultees 7.1 Transportation - no transportation objection to this outline proposal as the combined traffic generation of the proposed development is minimal, however; there are significant errors within the TA that should be addressed in order to accurately inform the detailed design process and ensure appropriate mitigation is secured 7.2 Trees – No information contained within the application in respect of existing trees on site. 7.3 Planning Policy – The key issue is the extent to which the benefits of the proposals outweigh any conflict with UDP Policies concerned with Green Belt and playing field provision. 7.3.1 Background to the BSF programme (i) Improving educational attainment in Wolverhampton is central to the long term sustained regeneration of the City. The existing secondary educational infrastructure in the City is becoming increasingly outdated to meet modern needs, and unless the scale of investment set out in the BSF programme is realised, then the City will fall further behind. (ii) Whilst the adopted UDP recognises the importance of improved education facilities to the development of the City (policies C1 and C4 in particular), it pre-dates the BSF programme and does not anticipate the scale of investment in education infrastructure proposed. (iii) The supporting information submitted with the application points to more recent policy initiatives and specifically outlines the challenge outlined in the Black Country Study to improve the performance of young people at GCSE level and to increase the numbers continuing with post -16 education. The BSF programme has been closely linked to regeneration policies set out in the Black Country Joint Core Strategy Preferred options Report (March 2008). Core Policy Area 11 (Community and Sports Facilities) promotes the sustainable location of such facilities and promotes their development and protection. There is specific acknowledgment of the important role of secondary schools in the provision of sports and recreation facilities (paragraph 6.48) which is embodied in the BSF programme. The Outline Business Case for the Wolverhampton Building 6 Schools For the Future programme recently submitted to DCSF therefore indicates specifically that the BSF programme contributes to the wider regeneration proposals for the City. (iv) This vision is carried forward into the proposed development at Highfields Wolverhampton City Council’s commitment to the government’s vision for the education of children with special education needs and disabilities as detailed in the DCSF document “Removing Barriers to Achievement”. The document promotes the use of BSF programmes to bring special and mainstream schools together. The co-location of two special schools with two mainstream secondary schools in Wolverhampton as the sample schemes within the BSF programme therefore supports the realisation of this national ambition. (v) The proposals also