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PLANNING APPLICATION REPORT Case Officer: Ian Sosnowski Parish: Brixton Ward: Wembury and Brixton Application No: 0825/18/VAR Agent/Applicant: Applicant: CMYK (Planning & Design) Sherford New Community Consortium 6 The Gavel Centre C/O Agent Porters Wood St Albans UK AL3 6PQ Site Address: Sherford New Community, Land south west of A38, Deep Lane and east of Haye Road, Elburton, Plymouth, PL9 8DD Development: Variation of conditions 3 (approved drawings), 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 18, 19, 20, 21, 26, 28, 35, 36, 45, 46, 52, 53, 54, 57, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 99, 100, 101, 102, 104, 106, 107 and 110 and Informatives of outline planning permission ref. 1593/17/VAR to accommodate proposed changes of the masterplan in respect of the 'Sherford New Community'. Reason item is being put before Committee: At the request of the Ward Members due to the significance of the amendments to the Sherford scheme (which had been originally considered by the Development Management Committee) Recommendation: To delegate authority to the COP Lead Development Management, in consultation with the Chairman of the Development Management Committee to grant conditional approval subject to a S106 with Plymouth City Council and Devon County Council, and to; 1. Make minor alterations to the planning conditions set out at the end of the report to ensure consistency and appropriate cross referencing to the S106; and 2. In the event that the S106 agreement remains unsigned six months after this resolution, that the application is reviewed by the COP Lead Development Management, in consultation with the Chairman of the Committee, and if no progress is being made delegated authority is given to the COP to refuse application in the absence of an agreed S106 agreement. Conditions 1. The original outline conditions as imposed upon 1593/17/VAR to be reiterated, but amended as necessary to reflect the proposed amendments (included in full at the end of the report). S106 Obligation A Deed of Variation is required to ensure the existing S106 obligations continue, except where changes are needed in accordance with this application which include: 1. Amend plans within the Appendices to reflect revised masterplan; 2. Provision of 3G artificial sports pitches where Dual Use at schools cannot be secured; 3. Removal of obligations to the Community Park to reflect additional planning conditions; and 4. Additional financial security provisions in respect of the Community Park. Key issues for consideration: The proposed masterplan subject of this application is different to the original masterplan as a result of introducing greater levels of green space and water attenuation within the built area. Therefore the main consideration is whether this alternative configuration and spatial distribution of land uses will deliver an acceptable form of development that meets the ambitions of achieving high quality urbanism and an exemplar development. The proposals have been necessitated by changing legalisation and best practice particularly in relation to the management of surface water, as well as an understanding of issues that have arisen during Phase 1 of the scheme. The alternative masterplan therefore offers an alternative configuration for the new town that seeks to address these challenges. The main considerations are; - the acceptability of a dispersed urban form integrated with large areas of public space, and the creation of an enlarged eastern neighbourhood that extends the developable footprint to the east; - the creation of a consolidated commercial area to concentrate the majority of B1-B8 floorspace close to the A38 Deep Lane junction that would improve opportunities and range of employment provision; - managing approximately two million cubic metres of surplus top and sub-soil arising throughout the construction process by means of appropriate re-profiling and phased release of the Community Park whilst managing ecological and landscape interests; - ensuring that the scheme delivers a sustainable surface water management system; - the suitability of the wildlife corridors to ensure connectivity for commuting species and achieving functional ‘dark corridors’; - achieving high quality public open spaces within multifunctional areas required for drainage, ecological and landscape needs; - provision on a 7m noise bund to attenuate noise from the A38; and - ensuring that the site is phased appropriately to deliver sustainable neighbourhoods that are created holistically. Sherford is a regionally significant project and will deliver a large proportion of the local authorities’ housing requirements over the next 20-25 years. Given the importance of the project to local objectives, the revised masterplan has been developed through a series of collaborative workshops involving all stakeholders concerned with the delivery and success of the project. The presented revisions to the masterplan are considered to overcome the current challenges to the site whilst ensuring the original aims and objectives are achieved, and fundamentally provides a deliverable scheme, secured in line with current best practice. The recommendation is therefore mindful of consistency with the development plan objectives and all the above considerations. Financial Implications (Potential New Homes Bonus for major applications): There are no direct financial implications of this application, but it is noted that the overall Sherford scheme will benefit from New Homes Bonus under the current arrangements. There is also a S106 obligation that ensures that the development is acceptable in planning terms which delivers in the region of £110m of infrastructure. Site Description: The application site covers 490ha of greenfield land to the south west of Deep Lane junction and to the north west of Elburton, within Plymouth. The site straddles the administrative boundary with Plymouth City Council and is bound by the A38 to the north, and Vinery Lane to the west. Brixton and the A379 lie approximately 3km to the South. Apart from some former nursery glass houses to the west, and existing farm buildings, the site is mainly agricultural land. Outline planning permission exists for the development of the “Sherford” new community and a full description of the site is set out in the officer’s report under reference 7_49/2426/06/OUT. Development at Sherford started in November 2014. There are currently 340 commenced dwellings within the site, of which there are over 140 of these occupied. The Proposal: The application seeks to amend the masterplan for the Sherford development, which consequently proposes an alternative structure and configuration of how the new community will be developed. The application is made by way of a S73 application which seeks to vary conditions of an existing approval, which in this instance is principally the ‘accord with plans’ condition, to enable the development to be carried out in accordance with the new configuration. Whilst the revised masterplan proposes an alternative layout of the site, the quantum of the overall development being permitted remains the same. The masterplan has been reviewed following the increased need to accommodate greater above ground water attenuation within the site to meet the challenges of climate change resilience, and because of third party land ownership constraints. This has necessitated an alternative approach to ensure that the quantum of development can be accommodated within the site. To accommodate the updated surface water management system, the proposed masterplan includes larger amounts of green space situated through the development. The ‘green fingers’ that bisect the site will serve as both public open space and amenity areas, bringing this green space closer to the residential units and offering improved connectivity to the Community Park. The spaces will also accommodate the above ground Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) as well as providing wildlife corridors, which ensure continued and enhanced connectivity through the site for commuting species. The quantum of developable land within the application site will remain the same, however as a result of the increase of green space within the urban areas the development will be laid out over a more dispersed area. To achieve the requisite amount of developable land, therefore, the eastern neighbourhood has been extended further to the south east of the site into an area which was previously part of the Community Park near Blackpool. The initial submission also proposed the development of 4ha of land north of Wiverton in the north east of the site. This has, however, been removed from the application following public consultation and will be retained as a new woodland area. The application includes a set of parameter plans that will also form part of the approved documents and sets out the key fixes and basic structure of the development. The key fixes and parameters establish the creation of; - a spine road running through the centre of the development linking a Park and Ride to the north east of the site by Deep Lane junction to the A379 via Stanborough Cross in Elburton; - a 1000 space Park and Ride; - two neighbourhood centres and a town centre/high street; - three primary schools (one of which has already been completed pursuant to the original permission) to be situated within the neighbourhood centres; - a secondary school within the western neighbourhood; - two outdoor playing field hubs to the east and west of the site; - over 200ha of land designated for a Community Park which will form the eastern extent of the development; and - Creation of a 13ha commercial area adjacent to the Park and Ride to accommodate approximately half of the proposed employment space. The revised masterplan includes two alternative alignments for the northern and southern avenues to better respond to topographical challenges, the creation of the new eastern neighbourhood, and to avoid land outside of the applicant’s control. The application also removes the southern neighbourhood ‘mini-centre’ that was a feature of the old masterplan proposals. The parameter plans limit the developable residential area to 121ha to deliver a range of housing across a range of densities from 30dph to 80dph.