Land South of Branston Development Brief Contents Introduction 1 Purpose of the Brief 3 2 Location, Site Description and History 4 Context and Involvement 3 Planning Policy Context 6 4 Context Analysis 9 5 Site Constraints and Opportunities 10 6 Public Involvement 14 Vision and Concept 7 Vision 15 8 Concept 16 Development Principles 9 Use and Function 16 10 Structure and Movement 18 11 Urban Form and Built Character 21 12 Public Realm and Open Space 23 13 Landscape and Biodiversity 26 Land South of Branston Development Brief Contents 14 Drainage and Flood Attenuation 28 15 Sustainability Objectives 29 16 Phasing 30 17 Community Safety 31 Implementation 18 Next Steps 32 19 Contacts 34 Land South of Branston Development Brief 3 Purpose of the Brief 1 1.1 This Development Brief has been prepared by East Staffordshire Borough Council, with input from the landowners in respect of Land South of Branston. The Brief is intended to provide a series of Development Principles to shape and guide a high quality, sustainable redevelopment of the site. 1.2 The Brief sets out guidance from the Local Planning Authority, Highway Authority and other statutory and non-statutory consultees. It supplements existing saved Local Plan policies and provides specific planning and design principles to guide the preparation of a planning application. It includes guidance in respect of land use and the amount of development, structure and movement, public realm and open space, urban form and built character, biodiversity and ecology, flooding and drainage, climate change and phasing. 1.3 The Brief has also had regard to the Council’s document ‘Development Principles to Inform the Masterplanning of Potential Core Strategy Allocations’, which confirms the Council’s Cabinet resolution to delay progress on the Core Strategy until summer 2011 and to use the interim period to prepare masterplans for key strategic sites which will then be adopted by the Council as part of the evidence base for the Core Strategy. The Council will then use this evidence base to determine which sites are deliverable and should be put forward within the Options for the Core Strategy, before selecting its preferred Option. Land South of Branston is one such strategic site. If the site is allocated within the preferred Option (‘Publication’ stage) the Brief will be a material planning consideration when ESBC determines any future planning application(s) for the site. 1.4 The specific objectives of the Brief are set out below: To define the parameters for the development To define an appropriate range of uses To promote high quality, sustainable development To provide an appropriate level of flexibility to respond to changing market conditions To provide site specific guidance in respect of relevant Development Plan policies. 4 Land South of Branston Development Brief 2 Location, Site Description and History 2.1 The site comprises 97 hectares (240 acres) of land the majority of which is brownfield located to the south of Branston village, near Burton upon Trent. The site is bounded to the north by Main Street and the existing residential properties which front Main Street. To the east the site is bounded by the River Trent. The site is disected by the Derby-Birmingham railway line. To the south the site is bounded by agricultural land and the A38 bounds the site to the west. 2.2 The site was part of a larger area formerly used for gravel extraction. Some areas have subsequently been filled with pulverised fuel ash (PFA) from the nearby former Drakelow Power Station to the east of the site. 2.3 The site is low lying and generally flat with few features of note. A watercourse (Tatenhill Brook) crosses the site at the approximate mid point and turns north along the eastern boundary to flow parallel to the railway line. 2.4 Vegetation on the site is limited, the majority being cleared as part of the gravel extraction works, however a line of mature trees screen the site from the A38. There are also areas of trees along the watercourse and adjacent to the eastern boundary of the site with the railway line. 2.5 Two small areas of residential properties adjoin the site, one next to the southern boundary of the site and one at the approximate mid-point near to where the Tatenhill Brook enters the site. Both sets of properties are accessed directly off the A38. 2.6 The northern edge of the site is bounded by residential properties on Main Road and the site can be accessed from Main Road at Hollyhock Way. Branston is a village to the south of Burton upon Trent and adjoins the main built up area of the town. It comprises approximately 1,700 homes, together with a range of local facilities including doctors’ surgery, public house, local convenience stores and a post office. The village is served by Rykneld Primary School and Paget High School located on Main Street and Burton Road respectively. Location Plan Planning History 2.7 The site has been the subject of a number of planning applications and was essentially split into two parcels with the Tatenhill Brook forming the dividing line between the two. 2.8 Outline planning permission was granted for B1, B2, B8 and residential uses on the northern part of the site (reference OU/20679/001/PO) in March 1993. Reserved Matters for the residential element of this permission were agreed (reference RM/20679/005/PO and Land South of Branston Development Brief 5 Location, Site Description and History 2 RM/20679/008/PO) in 1997 and 1998 and the dwellings have since been built out and occupied. The balance of the outline planning permission has been subject to a number of renewals, the most recent of which was in 2004 (reference PC/20679/019/PO). The permission remains extant to 5th August 2011. 2.9 Outline planning permission (reference OU/20180/001) was granted in February 1991 on land south of the Tatenhill Brook for B1, B2 and B8 development. A further outline planning permission (reference OU/20180/004/PO) was granted in August 2004. This application covered 13.27 hecatres of land and included proposals for a grade separated junction off the A38, providing new separate access for the residential properties fronting the A38. A Reserved Matters submission pursuant to the 2004 outline approval was made in August 2007 and to date has not been determined by the Council. 6 Land South of Branston Development Brief 3 Planning Policy Context The Development Plan 3.1 The starting point for the consideration of any planning application on the site is the Development Plan. This currently comprises: The Regional Spatial Strategy for the West Midlands (2008); The Saved Policies of the Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent Structure Plan (2001); and The Saved Policies of the East Staffordshire Local Plan (2006) 3.2 The Coalition Government announced the revocation of Regional Strategies on 6th July and as such, Regional Spatial Strategies (RSS) were considered to no longer form part of the Development Plan. However, the recent successful Judicial Review by Cala Homes on the decision to revoke the RSSs on 10th November 2010 means that the RSSs have now been re-established and again form part of the Development Plan. 3.3 The Phase Two Revision of the Regional Spatial Strategy has reached an advanced stage, having been subject to an Examination in Public and the Panel report has been published. The emerging Review therefore carries significant weight and remains a key consideration in the determination of any planning application on the site until such time as the Localism Bill is enacted and RSSs are abolished. 3.4 Policy CF2 indicates that strategic housing development beyond the Main Urban Areas should be concentrated in and adjacent to towns which are capable of balanced and strategic growth. Burton upon Trent is identified as one such town. Policy CF3 indicates that the Council should provide 11,000 new homes at Burton upon Trent over the period to 2026. This level of housing growth was also supported in the Panel Report. 3.5 Policy PA6A indicates that EBSC should make provision for a rolling 5 year reservoir of 50 hectares of employment land, with indicative long term requirements of 150 hectares. 3.6 At the local level, Saved Policy E1 of the Adopted East Staffordshire Local Plan confirms that the Council will ensure an adequate supply of land for employment development throughout the plan period, particularly in areas where the potential of the A38 and A50 transport corridors can be maximised. Saved Policy E2 confirms that there were 91 hectares of committed employment land (April 2005) of which 40 hectares was provided at the site (paragraph 8 and Appendix 6). 3.7 Saved Policy IMR1 considers mixed use developments and confirms that the Council will support the total or partial redevelopment of existing derelict, vacant or underutilised sustainable sites providing the following criteria are satisfied: That there is an acceptable level of environmental impact; That employment opportunities are optimised and strategically important sites are safeguarded; That the proposed development would not adversely affect the balance of housing provision in the Borough in respect of its type and location; and, A Transport Assessment has been carried out for the proposal on a level commensurate with its scale, complexity and likely traffic generation. 3.8 Policy NE26 identified the site as being within a floodplain, however this policy has not been saved. Notwithstanding this, a Flood Risk Assessment will be required to assess the impact on the storage capacity of the flood plain, the potential for surface water run off, the drainage function of the natural watercourses and the integrity of existing flood defences.