FULL PLANNING APPLICATION FOR THE ERECTION OF ONE AFFORDABLE DWELLING:

Adjoining The Wern, Turners Lane, , , SY10 8LL

PLANNING / DESIGN & ACCESS STATEMENT

January 2021

Application submitted on behalf of Thomas & Megan Housman

David Parker Planning Associates

Planning & Property Development

David Parker BA (Hons), Dip EP., MRTPI 4 Croeswylan Lane Oswestry SY10 9PN

01691-662943 07984-538002 [email protected]

Contents

Summary

1. Introduction

2. Site Location, Description & Surroundings

3. The Development Proposals

4. The Development Plan

6. Compliance with other Development Plan Policies

7. Conclusion

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Summary The proposed development is therefore environmentally and socially sustainable, and is in accordance with the development plan and relevant national planning policy. Planning permission should This application seeks full planning permission for the development of an affordable dwelling adjoining therefore be granted. The Wern, Llynclys, Oswestry.

The Applicants are Thomas and Megan Housman, who are the son and daughter-in-law of the current owner-occupiers of The Wern. Thomas, Megan, and their young child currently live at The Wern with Thomas’s parents. The proposed development will therefore directly meet the housing needs of a household with strong ties to the local area.

The proposed dwelling will be built on the site of an existing open-fronted barn, adjoining the other outbuildings to The Wern. As such, the site can be classified as ‘brownfield’.

The key consideration in determining the planning application will be its compliance with the Development Plan. The application is brought forward under the terms of the Council’s adopted “Type & Affordability of Housing” Supplementary Planning Document, which allows the development of ‘single plot exception sites’ to meet the affordable housing needs of local households (the “Build your Own” scheme).

LLanyblodwel Parish Council has confirmed in writing that the Applicants comprehensively meet the

SPD criteria and have a strong local connection with the Parish.

The Council’s Rural Housing Enabler has also confirmed that The Applicants are able to demonstrate affordable housing need and strong local connections to the area in which they propose to build their home, and that they meet the ‘need’ requirements of the ‘build your own’ affordable housing scheme. The dwelling will be ‘affordable’ in perpetuity, secured by a Section 106 Agreement. This will limit its future sale to no more than 60% of its open market value. Other restrictions will also limit future sales to other buyers in need of affordable housing, who meet the policy and have connections to the local area.

The proposed site is clearly within the village of Llynclys, and is a small-scale and contained addition to the built form of the settlement. It would not represent sporadic or obtrusive development in open countryside.

The proposed development can also be shown to comply with other relevant more detailed Local Plan policies. A high quality, sustainable, and appropriate design has been drawn up for the proposed dwelling, which is sympathetic to its local context, whilst subtly contrasting with the existing house.

The proposed dwelling has also been designed to Passivhaus low-energy standard (PH LES), focusing on simple form, optimised glazing apertures for solar gains, high-levels of insulation, high specification for the windows, and a heat recovery ventilation system (MVHR). It will be heated by means of an Air Source Heat Pump, powered by PV cells mounted on the roof.

Site investigations have revealed that there are no ecological constraints that preclude or limit the proposed development. A Tree Survey has also identified that no important trees will be harmed.

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1 Introduction rises up to Llynclys Hill

This Planning and Design & Access Statement is submitted in support of a full planning application for the The application site itself is situated to the southern end of Turner’s Lane, immediately adjoining the erection of an affordable dwelling adjoining The Wern, Llynclys, Oswestry. David Parker Planning existing detached cottage The Wern. Associates have prepared the application, on behalf of the Applicants (Thomas & Megan Housman) and The Application Site the Landowners (Bernadette and Alan Housman).

Mr. & Mrs. Housman senior have lived at The Wern for 33 years, and Thomas Housman has lived there for most of his life. He and his wife are in need of their own house. They rely on their parents for childcare, but also provide them with help on the smallholding. This Planning and Design & Access Statement describes the application site and its location and the proposals for residential development. It serves to demonstrate that the site is both suitable and capable of being developed for housing.

The site is considered and assessed against the policy context set by the Development Plan (the Shropshire Core Strategy) and the adopted ‘Type & Affordability of Housing’ SPD. It is concluded that the proposals are compliant with relevant policy, and that planning permission should therefore be granted. 2. Site Location, Description & Surroundings

Llynclys is a small settlement situated just under 4 miles due south of Oswestry. The settlement comprises a cluster of development around the A483 / A495 Llynclys Crossroads, and an area of more dispersed development in the hillside area off Turner’s Lane, rising up to Llynclys Hill, as shown below.

Llynclys (including Turner’s Lane)

To the east is the settlement of Brynmelyn, and to the west (opposite Turner’s Lane) is Dolgoch. The Turner’s Lane area contains a total of 18 dwellings, with properties becoming more dispersed as the lane

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The Wern is a detached traditional cottage with associated outbuildings and surrounding fields making up The application site is approached along a private access track from Turner’s Lane. the smallholding. The land and buildings in the ownership of the property are shown on the enlarged Approaches to the Site from Turner’s Lane plan and photographs below.

Existing Site Plan

Existing Parking & Garage The Wern

Farm Outbuildings to The Wern

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The Application site itself is the open-sided barn at the southern end of the property, along with land for The Application Site – from the east gardens and parking, to the south and the west.

The Application site – from the south-east

The Application Site – from the South The Application Site – looking North, showing proposed rear garden area

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Vehicular access to the site will be via the existing grass track which runs in front of The Wern, but at a Along Turner’s Lane, on the approaches to the site, are several existing properties. much lower level. Hasep – immediately to the north

Further north – Brynawel

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Further North - Bryntirion & Fernbank (to the left) & Sol Alewon (to the right)

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3. The Application Proposals Proposed Site Plan

The application proposes the development of a detached 3-bedroom dwelling, set into the hillside, on the site of the existing open-sided barn. The dwelling proposed will be no more than 100 sqm internal floorspace, in line with the SPD policy..

The footprint of the proposed dwelling will cover only slightly more than the original footprint of the barn, extending north-westward into the hillside, to increase the square meterage to the allowable 100 sqm. The house is two storeys and has the bedrooms on ground floor and living areas on the first floor, in order to make the most of the views towards the south-east. The ridge height of the proposed design is similar to that of the existing house. An external veranda/ balcony area has been provided to allow indoor/ outdoor living for a young family.

The design philosophy is to create a design which is sympathetic to its local context, whilst subtly contrasting and not dominating the existing house. The proposed design reflects the barn which it is replacing, and other local vernacular barns, through its simple form and design features. Appropriate materials will be used, including larch/cedar vertical cladding for the walls and bargeboards, a standing seam metal roof in an anthracite grey colour, and timber balconies.

Proposed Dwelling – 3D Perspectives

The proposed dwelling is positioned 23 metres from The Wern, and is separated from it by the other existing outbuildings which will be retained by The Wern. 9 | P a g e

Proposed Floor Plans

The proposed south-west elevation demonstrates that principal windows from the living room and master bedroom, along with a balcony, will overlook the open farmland to the south.

The proposed south-east elevation demonstrates that the height of the proposed dwelling will be similar to that of The Wern. Principle windows take advantage of the views to the south-east.

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The proposed north-east elevation, which overlooks the outbuildings to The Wern, has only a window to the stairway and an obscure-glazed window to the shower room, so as to avoid any loss of privacy.

Proposed Elevations (continued)

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4. The Development Plan The application site is further on, and is served by a track (F), rather than being on Turners Lane itself. The Principle of Development However, the track is another ‘gap’ in the settlement, like many of the others.

The adopted Shropshire Core Strategy Policies CS5 and CS11 permit the development of affordable At the beginning of the track, there is still existing development close by (Brynawel), and the property housing exception sites in the rural areas, to meet local needs. The adopted “Type & Affordability of Hasep (further along Turners Lane) is clearly visible further ahead. At this point therefore, it is clear that Housing” Supplementary Planning Document allows the development of ‘single plot exception sites’ to the settlement has not ‘ended’. meet the affordable housing needs of local households (the “Build your Own” scheme). In view of these various breaks in development along the entire length of Turners Lane, it is considered Parish Council has confirmed in writing that the Applicants comprehensively meet the SPD the application site is still very much part of the settlement. criteria and have a strong local connection with the Parish. The letter is included in the application documents. The track is also a public footpath, making the existing property (and the proposed) still visible to the public. The track is also a dead end, terminating at the application site. This provides a clear ‘end’ to the The Council’s Rural Housing Enabler has also confirmed that The Applicants are able to demonstrate built part of the settlement, beyond which the landscape changes dramatically, being a steeply rising, affordable housing need and strong local connections to the area in which you propose to build their open, and undeveloped hillside. home, and that they meet the ‘need’ requirements of the ‘build your own’ affordable housing scheme. It is considered therefore that the ‘boundary’ of the settlement is as shown by the black dotted line on The letter is included in the application documents. Plan A. That would be a defensible boundary against which to resist future development.

The dwelling will be ‘affordable’ in perpetuity, secured by a Section 106 Agreement. This will limit its Plan A future sale to no more than 60% of its open market value. Other restrictions will also limit future sales to other buyers in need of affordable housing, who meet the policy and have connections to the local area.

The application proposals – by virtue of their being for an affordable dwelling for a local young family - directly respond to and comply with the requirements of the policy. It is proposed that a Section 106 agreement will be attached to any planning permission granted on the application site to secure it as an affordable dwelling in perpetuity.

The SPD Locational Requirements

The Type & Affordability SPD paragraph 5.17 states :-

“Because a settlement is a relationship between different properties, the limits of the settlement are defined by where the relationship peters out. This varies from settlement to settlement, depending on a number of factors. For example, a site a short distance from a loose-knit settlement may be considered “adjoining” while a similar distance in a tightly clustered settlement would not be”.

The Applicants consider that the proposed site is within the settlement of Llynclys, and therefore meets the locational requirements in the adopted SPD.

There are several sections of Turner’s Lane where there is no development either side of the lane, or where development is limited to one side only. These are shown by the highlighted sections A to E on the Plan A below). As a result, there are significant ‘gaps’ in development throughout the entire length of Turners Lane.

A decision has already been made on Appeal that Location 1 (shown on plan A) is within the settlement of Overall therefore, the principle of the proposed development is consistent with the Type & Affordability Llynclys. It would be very difficult to argue that the settlement had already reached a clear ‘end’ at of Housing SPD, and complies with Policies CS5 and CS11 of the development plan. Locations 2, 3 or 4, because further development is still visible beyond these points. 12 | P a g e

5. Other Relevant Development Plan Policy Proposed Access Route

Core Strategy Policy CS6 sets out the Council’s detailed sustainable design and development principles, which are discussed below.

Scale & Design

The proposed dwelling will be limited to 2-storeys in height, and the design will complement the character of dwellings nearby. The ridge height is level with the existing dwelling.

Density & Pattern

The development density is in keeping with the immediate surrounding area.

Separation Distances / Impact on Amenity & Privacy

The proposed dwelling can be accommodated on the site, whilst retaining a good degree of separation from the adjoining dwelling (23 metres) and with other outbuildings in between forming screening. The development will therefore not adversely affect the amenity or privacy of the adjoining property.

Highway Access

The existing access to the site from Turner’s Lane will be shared with the proposed dwelling. Although Turner’s Lane is mostly single track, the levels of traffic are relatively low, and there are a The photographs below show the route of the proposed access to the dwelling. This runs along an number of informal passing places along the lane. existing grass track to the front of The Wern, which is a significantly lower level than the house itself. The impact of the new vehicular movements on the amenity of The Wern will therefore be limited. The grass Design / Appearance track is also a public footpath The proposed house has been designed to Passivhaus low-energy standard (PH LES), focusing on simple Proposed Access Route form, optimised glazing apertures for solar gains, high-levels of insulation, high specification for the windows, and a heat recovery ventilation system (MVHR). This will provide a very comfortable house for the owners, which is very cheap to run.

Form and Design Features The proposed design has a simple cuboid form with a pitched roof which reflects the design vernacular of local barns. The simple form also is more beneficial from an energy performance point of view as it has a more optimal form factor (The ratio between the useable floor area and heat loss areas), and helps reduce the need for complicated junctions which tend to lead to thermal bridging. The dual pitched roof has a catslide to create a covered veranda and overhanging eaves, which is often displayed on vernacular barns. The eaves and verge details will be simple to create an ‘unfussy’ appearance.

The proposal has large windows which are arranged to reflect the large openings of agricultural barns, which would have originally allowed for easy access for livestock and storing the harvest. The windows will be set back in the wall structure to visually provide the façade with more depth.

Materials Local timber is the principle material used on the facades and the overhang structure. The vertical timber cladding has simple detailing at connections to reflect that of an agricultural barn and will be left to silver. 13 | P a g e

A metal roof will be installed as the roof covering due to its common use on local barns and is very robust and easily dismountable at the end of life. The Passivhaus Low Energy Building Standard Requirements Passivhaus Design Passivhaus was developed in Germany as a low energy building standard which focused on creating buildings which required very little operating energy, which are comfortable and healthy environments to live, work and play in. Passivhaus achieves this through focusing on high levels of insulation, heat recovery ventilation, and balancing energy gains against energy losses.

Passivhaus throughout the design process utilises a software called ‘The Passive house Planning Package’ (PHPP) to more accurately calculate the energy consumption of the building. All Passivhaus’ are certified on completion and the building requires rigorous on-site quality control to ensure the building is constructed as closely as possible to the designs to minimise the performance gap.

The primary features which are fundamental in achieving the Passive house buildings are demonstrated in Preliminary energy modelling has been undertaken on the proposed design using the Passivhaus Planning the image below. Package (PHPP) and demonstrates is compliance with the standard.

The proposed dwelling has been designed to the PH LES, focusing on a simple form, optimised window sizes, high levels of insulation and high spec windows and MVHR system.

The form factor of the building is 3.55, which is efficient for the limited useable floor area allowed for affordable housing. This makes the house more energy efficient.

The orientation of the building is reasonably optimal (Direct South being optimal) with the principle façade, and best views, orientated Southwest. As a result, the design has positioned large windows to the Southwest elevation to benefit from solar gains and make the most of the views down the valley.

The large overhang provides shading to the large first floor windows to reduce the risk of overheating during the summer but allow the necessary solar gains in during the winter when the sun is lower in the

sky.

The design has allowed for 350mm of insulation in the walls and roof and will use high spec triple glazed windows. To avoid heat loss via ventilation and uncomfortable draughts, the house will incorporate an MVHR which will recover up to 90% of the extracted heat and supply it back into the dwelling via the 14 | P a g e incoming fresh air. The house will be heated by means of an Air Source Heat Pump, which will be powered by roof-mounted PV cells on the south-facing front elevation. On the basis of the above evidence, it can be concluded that the proposals comply with the detailed requirements of Core Strategy policy CS6.

Ecology

In terms of Core Strategy Policy CS17, a Phase 1 Environmental Survey was carried out on the site by Pearce Environmental Ltd. Their report is included in the application documents, and draws the following conclusions :- a Preliminary Ecological Appraisal (PEA) undertaken in July 2020 at The Wern, Turners Lane, Llynclys, Shropshire, SY10 8LL. The findings of this report have been used to inform a planning application for the No further evidence of, or potential for, other protected/ notable species was noted during the survey proposed demolition of an existing barn and subsequent erection of a new ‘low-impact’ dwelling. and no adverse impacts upon species or habitats of ecological importance are envisaged, provided the The PEA comprised a desk study and field survey – including a Preliminary Roost assessment (PRA). The provisions and/or further survey recommendations detailed within the report are adhered to. site visit was carried out on 23rd July 2020 by J Molesworth BSc (Hons) ACIEEM. The site (SJ 27587 Trees 23667), set within a rural environment, comprises an existing barn (B1) and surrounding land. Key ecological constraints and recommendations are summarised in the table In view of the presence of trees, Arbserv were commissioned to carry out an Arboricultural Survey of the site.

Their report is included with the application documents, and the findings are summarised below :-

 The survey was carried out on 23/08/20 by Matthew Owen

 Tree 341 (Category C) is a tree of poor quality proposed for removal. The Arboricultural Impact for the proposed removal of 1 category C trees of low quality is moderate, compared to number of trees retained and protected on site.

 Hedge 1 requires the excavation of service trenches and pipes to facilitate drainage and waste. The impact on this young hedge under 75mm diameter will be and low and would recover quickly.

 The proposed building and parking area fall out-side the RPA’S of all other trees and hedges in the site parameter. (see figure 1 Tree Protection Plan)

 The Arboricultural impact on these trees can be mitigated by following the Arboricultural Method statement out-side RPA.

 The effects of shading represent no impact to the proposed residential development as retained large trees are located to the North of the build.

 A detailed arboricultural method statement is provided.

The Category C tree to be removed is shown on the tree plan below.

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Tree Protection Plan Proposed Drainage Plan

The site is not subject to flooding from rivers or from surface water. The flood maps are reproduced below.

Flood Risk Map – Rivers and Sea

On the basis of evidence in the Ecology and Tree reports, the proposals are compliant with Policy CS17.

Drainage & Flood Risk

In terms of Core Strategy policy CS18, sufficient land is available to provide for sustainable drainage of foul and surface water.

The new dwelling will connect into a new foul treatment plant, situated in the field opposite the site. Surface water will drain to the existing system serving The Wern.

Drainage proposals are shown on the proposed block plan reproduced below.

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Flood Risk Map – Surface Water

The proposals are therefore compliant with policy CS18. Conclusion

For the reasons set out above, the proposed development is fully compliant with relevant policies in the development plan.

Planning permission should therefore be granted.

David Parker Planning Associates, on behalf of Thomas & Megan Housman

January 2021

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