Ridgewood Farm January 2015 the SITE
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INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND OUTLINE PLANNING APPLICATION INFORMATION PANELS Wealden District Council’s Core Strategy, adopted in February 2013, identifies land to the west of Uckfield for New Town These information panels have been made available a mixed-use neighbourhood comprising up to 1,000 new to view on the ridgewoodfarm.co.uk website and in homes, a new primary school and approximately hard copy at the Wealden Civic Centre to allow the 13,500 sq m of employment space. local community to view the proposals relating to the Initial proposals for the site were displayed at a public submission of an Outline Planning Application in exhibition in February 2014. Community feedback from January 2015. this event has been very useful in shaping the masterplan. Over the past eight months we have also consulted with Wealden District Council, Uckfield Town Council, Natural England, the Highways Agency, the Environment Agency, Southern Water, the Primary Care Group, and a number of other organisations. A22 The proposals are being promoted by Welbeck Strategic Site Land, who have appointed the following consultant team to draw up a masterplan: John Thompson & Partners (JTP) - masterplanners; Montagu Evans - planning consultants; Lewes Road WSP - environmental consultants; i-Transport - transport consultants; Ecology Solutions - ecological consultants; and SCARP - landscape consultants. Aerial photograph showing the application boundary in red Aerial photograph of the site from the west showing the application boundary in red JTP schemes: ABOUT WELBECK STRATEGIC LAND ABOUT JOHN THOMPSON & PARTNERS Welbeck Strategic Land forms partnerships with John Thompson & Partners (JTP) is a practice of landowners, throughout the UK, to enable sustainable masterplanners and architects. We are passionate about residential development to take place. It works with good buildings and the spaces in between. But we know landowners, communities and local authorities to help that unless they answer the real needs of those who use meet the objective of sustainable development, while them every day, they become inert, unloved and engage helping to plug the housing gap. no one. It is only when buildings and spaces truly respond to people’s needs that they can really be called ‘a place’. Whether brownfield or greenfield, land is the raw material without which the need for families and individuals to have And this is what we really care about creating - great Boxgrove Gardens, Guildford Queen Elizabeth Park, Guildford their own homes cannot be met. places. Our unique approach has received high praise: John Thompson & Partners is the only architecture practice To address these issues, and to help get the future housing in the UK to have won 8 Building for Life Awards, the ‘mix’ right, Welbeck Strategic Land provides specialist national standard for excellence in neighbourhood design expertise, based on many years of experience and success, and the building of community. on behalf of landowners. Edenbrook, Fleet Watercolour, Redhill Ridgewood Farm January 2015 THE SITE EXISTING FEATURES 1 2 Ridgewood Stream View north-east across the south of the site 7 3 4 9 4 5 10 3 Ridgewood Farm access to Lewes Road Right of way through Boothland ancient woodland 5 6 8 1 2 6 Right of way across A22 View north towards farmstead from Lewes Road roundabout Location of photographs Application Boundary 7 8 10 Existing housing View east towards Ridgewood Farm and Boothland Wood 9 4 Existing pond Existing farmhouse buildings Ridgewood Farm January 2015 SITE CONTEXT THE SURROUNDING AREA 1 2 7 8 9 Victoria pleasure gardens Existing skate park 1 3 2 6 5 3 Ridgewood Hall 4 4 5 Ridgewood House Post Office and local shop Location of photographs Application Boundary 6 7 8 The High Street 9 A22 Example of a converted Oast house in the local area Employment area Ridgewood Farm January 2015 VISION & PRINCIPLES Ridgewood Farm will be a new high- It will be well connected by sustainable quality residential neighbourhood for transport to Uckfield town centre and key Uckfield with a new primary school, a local destinations and include a variety of variety of homes, local play facilities and leisure walks through natural woodland an attractive network of green spaces. and wetland habitats. The vision is underpinned by nine guiding principles for the Ridgewood Farm masterplan. As such, they constitute a brief for the creation of the new community: 1. NEW HOMES 4. LOCAL FACILITIES AND SERVICES 7. VEHICULAR CONNECTIONS • Provide a variety of sizes and types of homes; • Provide a new primary school to serve the new • Provide main residential access from the A22; • Include a high proportion of family homes; community; • Provide secondary accesses for up to 250 homes • Provide a mix of private and affordable homes across • Explore opportunities for other small-scale mixed from Lewes Road; the development; uses e.g. a shop, meeting spaces, managed workspace; • Provide routes through residential areas suitable • Design homes to be ‘tenure blind’. • Co-locate school and mixed-use facilities in a central for a bus; location to create a community hub; • Provide separate access for employment from the 2. LANDSCAPE • Provide attractive play areas within walking distance A22; • Retain existing woodland, mature hedgerows, ponds of new homes. • Allow the Sewage Treatment Works to share this and watercourses; access and avoid the existing route through the • Provide an area of natural green space designed to 5. EMPLOYMENT existing residential area; attract dog-walkers; • Provide a mix of employment space to meet • Provide a regular bus service to the town centre and • Create new wetland habitat forming part of local needs; local destinations. Sustainable Urban Drainage System (SuDS) alongside • Locate employment space close to A22 with Ridgewood Stream flood plain; separate junction. 8. VIEWS • Link existing natural features/natural habitat areas • Design homes and open spaces to benefit from with new green space to encourage biodiversity; 6. PEDESTRIAN & CYCLE CONNECTIONS views to the countryside; • Design green space network to define new • Provide convenient routes for walking and cycling to • Soften views into the development by tree planting residential neighbourhoods; the town centre; within streets, on ridgelines and along the A22. • Design new streets to form an interconnected grid 3. DESIGN QUALITY & CHARACTER running along contours; 9. ORIENTATION • Design homes and public spaces to a high quality; • Provide safe and attractive routes to school; • Design streets to allow living spaces in homes to have • Vary the housing density across the development; • Design walking and cycling routes through natural a southerly orientation; • Use materials characteristic of the local area (e.g. green space within site including circular walks; • Design roofs to accommodate solar panels for predominantly brick and tile); • Provide convenient cycle and pedestrian link to new renewable energy. • Carefully design car parking to provide an employment area. appropriate amount but avoid dominating the street scene. High quality... Well connected... Green... Neighbourly... Employment opportunities... Environmentally sensitive... Walkable... Child friendly... Ridgewood Farm January 2015 ILLUSTRATIVE MASTERPLAN Ridgewood Farm Town Centre Illustrative Masterplan The new neighbourhood at Ridgewood Farm will include up to 1,000 new homes, employment space and a primary school. The site can accommodate either Uckfield Railway Station a one-form entry or a two-form entry primary school as required. The existing farmhouse and brick outbuildings will be converted and extended to accommodate a local convenience shop, health facilities and community meeting space. A separate mixed-use area suitable for a pub or restaurant is proposed near the A22. A new area of Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace (SANGS) will be created on land to the west of the A22. Since our last exhibition extensive consultation with Natural England and Wealden District Council has been undertaken concerning the provision of SANGS. Our previous scheme comprised SANGS within the main body of the site on land to the east of the A22; 12 however, this approach was not considered to be the optimum solution by key stakeholders. The development will now provide SANGS on land to the A22 west of the A22, separate from the main area of proposed built development. Residents of the development will be able to access the SANGS from 3 the existing track which runs beneath the A22. 10 As SANGS provision has been moved from the main site, less land to the east of the A22 is required to deliver the development in accordance with the Council’s policy objectives for the Uckfield strategic allocation. As a result, a field located south of the Victoria Pleasure Grounds, which measures approximately 4.66 hectares (around 11 acres), will no longer form part of the planning application boundary. This land is owned by a third party and is not under 9 the control of the applicant. However, this land continues to form part of the strategic allocation as set 11 6 out within the Strategic Sites DPD and the 8 6 development has been designed so as not to prejudice access to this land during construction or upon 10 2 completion of the development. KEY FEATURES OF THE REVISED MASTERPLAN A22 7 1 SANGS – Suitable Alternative Natural Green Space with footpaths and car parking 2 Main vehicular access to the neighbourhood from new roundabout on the A22 5 3 Access to employment area from A22 via