DRAFT March 2016 BLYTHE VALLEY PARK Design & Access Statement Barton Willmore / 101 Victoria Street Bristol BS1 6PU / tel: 0117 929 9677 email: [email protected] Desk Top Publishing and Graphic Design by Barton Willmore Graphic Design This artwork was printed on paper using fibre sourced from sustainable plantation wood from suppliers who practice sustainable management of forests in line with strict international standards. Pulp used in its manufacture is also Elemental Chlorine Free (ECF). J:\25000 - 25999\25300 - 25399\25365 - Blythe Valley Park\A5 - Reports & Graphics\Graphics\InDesign\Document\25365 Blythe Valley Park Design and Access Statement 04 © The contents of this document must not be copied or reproduced in whole or in part without the written consent of The Barton Willmore Partnership. All plans are reproduced from the Ordnance Survey Map with the permission of the Controller of HMSO. Crown Copyright Reserved. License No. 100019279. Date: 18.3.16 / Status: Draft / Rev: 04 Author: CDB / Checked by: JDH Contents 1. THE VISION 5 6. EVALUATION 73 1.1 The Vision for Blythe Valley Park 6 6.1 Summary of Community & Stakeholder Engagement 74 1.2 Document Structure & Process 8 6.2 Evaluation 76 1.3 The Site 10 6.3 Design Evolution 78 1.4 Proposal Overview 14 6.4 Design Principles 82 6.5 Design Concept 84 2. OUTLINE PLANNING APPLICATION PROPOSALS 17 2.1 Summary & Status of the Proposals 18 7. ILLUSTRATING THE QUALITY OF DESIGN: SUPPORTING STRATEGIES 87 2.2 Parameter Plan 1: Land Use 20 7.1 Sustainability & Energy 88 2.3 Parameter Plan 2: Access & Movement 22 7.2 Access & Movement 90 2.4 Parameter Plan 3: Building Heights 24 7.3 Street Hierarchy & Car Parking 92 2.5 Parameter Plan 4: Green Infrastructure 26 7.4 Landscape 100 7.5 Green Infrastructure 102 3. ASSESSING THE CONTEXT: STRATEGIC 29 7.6 Play Strategy 114 3.1 Planning Context 30 7.7 Drainage 116 3.2 Access & Movement 32 7.8 Phasing 118 3.3 Local Facilities 36 3.4 Landscape Planning 38 8. ILLUSTRATING THE QUALITY OF DESIGN: DEVELOPMENT FORM 121 8.1 Approach to Character 122 4. ASSESSING THE CONTEXT: LOCAL 41 8.2 Character Area 1: Blended Core 126 4.1 Historic Context 42 8.3 Character Area 2: Blythe View 128 4.2 Local Character 44 8.4 Character Area 3: Kineton Green 130 4.3 Summary of Local Design Drivers 56 8.5 Character Area 4: Oaks Walk 132 8.6 Character Area 5: Blythe Valley Business Park 134 5. ASSESSING THE CONTEXT: SITE 59 5.1 Access & Movement 60 9. CONCLUSIONS 143 5.2 Flooding & Drainage 62 9.1 Summary 144 5.3 Landscape 64 5.4 Topography 66 5.5 Ecology 68 5.6 Summary of Constraints & Opportunities 70 THE 01VISION 6 1.1 The Vision for Blythe Valley Park *BVP already delivers a quality place in popular VISION OBJECTIVES demand. The Phase 1 development area has established the sense of ‘working in the Park’, 1 Living in the valley combining the best of location and design quality. Blythe Valley Park will deliver quality new homes for 1.1.1 But, the context is changing and BVP needs to Solihull and provide housing choice. Nestled within a evolve. As people continue to demand more from their tranquil riverside setting, the housing will provide a working environments, so the Park needs to offer more. sense of community and village character within the Greater diversity. Greater choice. Greater sense of Solihull landscape. community. 2 Working in the Park 1.1.2 The opportunity is to deliver something special within the Phase 2 land - not something detached or Combining the best of strategic location and quality isolated from Phase 1, but something that engages with buildings, the Phase 1 development area has laid solid it, evolves it, enhances it. This is about creating the foundations for ‘working in the Park’. New development sense of ‘living in the valley’ - not a new housing estate, in this area will complement and complete this but a healthy and interactive environment offering a established offer. high quality of life, a distinctive sense of place and the opportunity to work and play on the doorstep. 3 A healthy environment 1.1.3 BVP will be a unique place. Sustainable forms Places to relax, play and enjoy. A series of green spaces of transport will be encouraged through design. High will be connected by a comprehensive footpath network. quality green spaces and meaningful recreational links They will be the link between homes and places of work. will promote walking, running and cycling, whether it be Physical health and activity will be encouraged through an employee on their lunch break or a family traveling all aspects of everyday life. to the local play area. 4 The blended core 1.1.4 The Park will be characterised by high quality buildings, streets and spaces. A high quality public This is where the three elements meet, the focus for the realm will create continuity through the development, most intensive mixing of land uses, building typologies, so that the whole place reads as one. Best practice height and massing. It will be welcoming and appealing building design, technology and use of materials will be to residents, visitors and employees alike. The heart of encouraged. Blythe Valley it will be the focus for facilities and urban amenities, a place where people interact, relax and 1.1.5 An exemplar SUDs and water management scheme gather. already characterises the site. Expansion of these systems to weave through Phase 2 land, will characterise *As presented in the Vision document produced in the new green spaces and foster a ‘sense of place’. The August 2015 site’s relationship to the River Blythe and countryside park to the north will be key. These are important placemaking assets that will ground the development in the valley. 7 8 1.2 Document Structure & Process This Design and Access Statement (DAS) has been DAS STRUCTURE Design prepared by Barton Willmore on behalf of IM Properties PLC. It has been written in conjunction with The CABE document ‘Design and Access Statements • Illustrative strategy plans which help to further Turley, PBA, THDA, FPCR, Cundall, ULAS, Stephen – how to write, read and use them’ (2006) refers to an explain the proposals. George & Partners and Barton Willmore Landscape. ‘assessment-involvement-evaluation-design process’ This document supports a Hybrid Planning Application which it states, closely mirrors a good design process Access for mixed use development at Blythe Valley Park. and enables the final design proposals to be informed by a clear understanding of the site and the wider context. As per regulation 8(3) of the DMPO the DAS shall; AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE DAS The DAS is structured in accordance with this CABE (c) Explain the policy adopted as to access, and how guidance and sets out the following; policies relating to access in relevant local development The DAS sets out and justifies the design rationale documents have been taken in to account. for the proposals. It has been prepared in accordance Outline Planning Application with guidance and policy contained in the following (d) State what, if any, consultation has been undertaken documents; • Presentation of parameter plans and associated on issues relating to access to the development and wording that are to be ‘fixed’ as part of the outline what account has been taken of the outcomes of any • Guidance on Information Requirements and planning application. such consultation, and; Validation (CLG, March 2012). Assessment (e) Explain how any specific issues which might affect • Development Management Procedure Order (DMPO) access to the development have been addressed. (2015). • An analysis of the wider context. • Streamlining the Planning Application Process: • Key design influences within the wider area. Consultation (CLG, 2013). • Site assessment. • Planning Practice Guidance (2014). Involvement and Evaluation The document is part of a comprehensive package of information submitted with the application and • A summary of stakeholder and community provides a detailed framework of guidance and involvement. specification to guide and control the elements of the development. It will explain the proposals in a concise • Evaluation based on assessment and involvement and structured way to ensure that those considering the stages to inform a design concept and strategies. application will understand the rationale that underpins it. 9 Red Line Boundary Plan 10 1.3 The Site SITE LOCATION SITE DESCRIPTION 1.3.6 There is existing drainage infrastructure in place. On the eastern part this includes three SUDS systems 1.3.1 Blythe Valley Park is located in the West Midlands, 1.3.3 The site at Blythe Valley Park lies within the Arden incorporating a variety of swales, attenuations ponds, approximately 14km south-east of Birmingham town regional character area, a historic region of former reed beds and polishing ponds. centre, and approximately 4km south of Solihull wood pasture and heath, characterised by a dispersed town centre. It lies adjacent to Junction 4 of the M42, settlement pattern, ancient woodlands and mature 1.3.7 On the undeveloped area to the west, there are providing excellent links to all parts of the country. hedgerow trees. established hedgerows with some notable hedgerow oak trees, characteristic of the wider Arden landscape. 1.3.2 Birmingham International Airport, Birmingham 1.3.4 The site’s boundaries are defined by the M42 Existing habitats and areas of biodiversity interest International Rail Station, and the NEC are motorway to the east, by the River Blythe to the north, within the site provide the opportunity as focal points approximately 8km north of BVP, about a 15min by rural small-scale fields typical of the ‘Arden’ for a network of green infrastructure.