PLANNING, DESIGN AND ACCESS STATEMENT

FORMER EPPING MAGISTRATES COURT, STAR LANE, EPPING

DEMOLITION OF EPPING MAGISTRATES COURT AND REDEVELOPMENT TO PROVIDE 8 APARTMENTS WITH ASSOCIATED ACCESS, CAR PARKING AND HARD LANDSCAPING.

Prepared by Strutt & Parker LLP on behalf Marden Homes Limited

March 2015 CONTENTS

1. Introduction

2. Site Context

3. Description and Design of the Proposals

4. Planning Policy Context

5. Planning Assessment

6. Conclusion

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 This Planning, Design and Access Statement has been prepared by Strutt and Parker LLP on behalf of Marden Homes Ltd. (‘the applicant’) to accompany the submission of an application for full planning permission for the demolition of the existing redundant Magistrates Court building and the redevelopment of 8 new apartments on the site at Star Lane, Epping.

1.2 The purpose of this statement is to explain the proposed scheme in detail, to assist Officers, Committee members and members of the public in the determination of the application, as well as highlighting key findings of accompanying documents and reports.

1.3 The statement will include a written description and justification of the planning application. The report will include a detailed planning assessment of the site and the proposed development. The statement will also outline how the physical characteristics of the scheme have been informed, and ensure that all access issues have been considered.

1.4 The proposals are the result of extensive pre-application discussions with District Council.

1.5 The planning application comprises:

 Planning application form  Site Location Plan  Site Plan  Planning, Design & Access Statement prepared by Strutt & Parker  Plans prepared by Dovetail Architects: o 768-PL-01 Proposed Floor Plans (inc. Block Plan) o 768-PL-02 Proposed Sections and Elevations o 768-PL-03 Model Perspectives o CGI – High Street o CGI – Star Lane  Topographical Survey prepared by A&B Surveys  Heritage Statement prepared by CgMs Consulting  Flood Risk Assessment prepared by Richard Jackson Ltd.  Marketing Statement prepared by Michael Storrs (Bidwells)  Statement of Community Involvement prepared by Strutt & Parker

2. SITE CONTEXT

2.1 The site is located off Epping High Street, within the town centre. Epping is well situated to provide access to the cities of and London, approximately 25km and 30km away respectively.

2.2 Epping is a well-serviced town, offering a wide range of retail facilities and employment opportunities. The town offers a high number of pubs and restaurants in particular. Education requirements are also well met with several primary schools, and a large secondary school within the town.

2.3 The town is the eastern terminus of the Central Line which offers regular and efficient access to the city centre. Epping tube station is less than 1km from the proposed site at Star Lane. The neighbouring towns of Roydon, and Chingford provide mainline railway service access to London Liverpool Street, Cambridge and Stansted Airport.

2.4 Epping is close to Junction 7 of the M11 and Junction 26 of the M25 which offer high capacity road access to a large area of East Anglia.

2.5 The site itself covers an area of 0.046ha and is situated on the junction of Star Line and Hemnall Street, within the development boundary, and less than 100m from Epping High Street. It is within Epping Conservation Area.

2.6 The Magistrates Court was closed by the Ministry of Justice Department on 30th March 2012 with all services transferring to Harlow and Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court in Harlow. The site and building have therefore been vacant for 3 years now.

Planning History

2.7 There is no relevant planning history for the site.

3. DESCRIPTION AND DESIGN OF THE PROPOSALS

Use

3.1 The proposal involves the demolition of the existing Magistrates Court, and the use of the site to provide 8 new apartments on the site, external amenity space, and a secure off-road parking facility.

3.2 The development will see the use of a redundant brownfield site to provide housing to meet the needs of , in a highly sustainable location.

3.3 The apartments will be within easy walking distance of Epping High Street and the associated high-level of local amenities which include, shops, bars restaurants, banks and doctors.

3.4 The apartments will provide living spaces with a minimal need for car usage and with the provision of off-road parking are therefore unlikely to have a significant impact on local parking and highway capacity. Development in this location will encourage walking and cycling by residents, with easy access to London possible without the use of a car.

3.5 Hemnall Street, and further south of the High Street, is a predominantly residential area so the development will be in-keeping with the majority of surrounding land uses.

Amount

3.6 The development will provide 8 flats over the 3 storey building. This number is considered to be suitable to ensure the efficient and viable use of the town centre site, whilst still providing spacious, high quality living spaces.

3.7 This number of apartments will prevent the over-development of the site, whilst also enabling the provision of private external amenity space and secure off- road parking for new residents.

Layout

3.8 The existing layout of the building is unusual with its design and configuration having been implemented for the specific original use. This makes the building unsuitable for conversion to commercial premises given the existing floor to ceiling heights and their inability to provide space for required air conditioning units. The existing layout would also not be conducive to providing residential accommodation with small room sizes and an inefficient layout.

3.9 Following the demolition of the building, the site will be able to provide 8 2- bedroom apartments to meet local housing needs. The proposed apartment floor sizes are as follows:

Floor No. of apartments Floor size (sqft)

Ground Floor 1 863

First Floor 3 935, 845, 872

Second Floor 3 929, 845, 872

Third Floor 1 1,091

3.10 Each apartment comprises 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms (inc. 1 en-suite), as well as an open plan kitchen/living/dining area, storage space and an entrance hall.

3.11 The ground floor comprises one 2x bedroom apartment with a private courtyard area off the dining room. There is also a lift and a staircase to the first, second and third floors, with secure car parking, cycle storage and refuse storage provided.

3.12 The first floor includes three 2x bed apartments, each with a private terrace.

3.13 The second floor also includes three 2x bed apartments. Two apartments have private terraces whilst the third has a circular staircase providing access to a communal roof terrace.

3.14 The third floor comprises a 2x bed penthouse apartment with two private terraces.

Scale

3.15 The proposed building will be of the same height as the building to be demolished. This will ensure that the four-storey building will not see increased overbearing on any neighbouring properties.

3.16 The four-storey building will be in keeping with existing buildings on the High Street, and backing onto the site, such as the Police Station and the Post Office.

3.17 There are no residential properties immediately adjacent to the site.

Landscaping

3.18 Given the modern design of the scheme, and it’s siting in a largely urban area, the development is proposed to extend to the street frontages. The proposed scheme, however, will provide opportunities for hard landscaping particularly around the building entrances and as indicated on the submitted 3D CGI illustrations.

Appearance

3.19 The existing building, despite its reasonably prominent position close to Epping High Street and situation within the Epping Conservation Area demonstrates limited historical and architectural significance, as detailed in the Heritage Assessment submitted alongside this statement.

3.20 For this reason it is considered that a contemporary scheme which includes high quality design principles that will enhance local distinctiveness and mitigate any potential impacts on nearby heritage assets.

3.21 The proposed building has been designed to have a modern feel with clean lines. CGI images of the scheme have been produced and submitted as part of this planning application.

3.22 The building façade consists mostly of red facing brick with Flemish bond, echoing the appearance of the original building and remaining Police Station. Painted timber will front the building at third floor level, with plain tile hanging on the upper two thirds of the south eastern elevation of the building.

3.23 The building will see an increased number of windows and glazing, particularly on the third floor, to enhance the light provided to the spacious and modern apartments. This also adds interest to the elevation, and helps reduce the visual impact and competition on the Police Station.

Access

3.24 The parking area for the site will be accessed from Star Lane and is provided under the residential accommodation to maximise the potential of the site and minimise impacts on the street scene.

3.25 The small scale of the development means there will be limited impact on the surrounding highway network.

3.26 The development is well-located to provide access to extensive local amenities and Epping Underground Station on foot or by bicycle.

3.27 8 parking spaces are provided within the site, off-road, secured by a motorised shutter door. This parking area will be well-lit and overlooked by the apartments to ensure it remains a safe environment.

3.28 The ground floor apartment will be accessed at street level providing access for disabled people. The development also contains a lift which ensures access across all 3 floors of the building.

3.29 The schemes location close to the road will provide easy access for emergency services.

4. PLANNING POLICY CONTEXT

4.1 Section 38(6) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act (2004) states that if regard is to be had for the development plan for the purpose of determination to be made under the Planning Acts, determination must be made in accordance with the plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise.

4.2 This section sets out the planning policy context for the development and how the proposed development relates to the adopted development plan, and other important considerations such as those set out within national planning policy.

4.3 There are a number of local planning policies relevant to this application. These are listed below and described in more detail where required in section 5, which provides a full analysis of the policies in relation to the proposals.

Development Plan

Epping Forest District Council Local Plan 1998 - Adopted 2006 Local Plan

4.4 The adopted development plan in the area consists of the Epping Forest District Council Local Plan, originally adopted in 1998. Policies within the plan that have been saved for use are set out in the Council’s Local Plan Alterations document (2006).

4.5 As set out in paragraph 215 of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) “due weight should be given to relevant policies in existing plans according to their degree of consistency with this framework (the closer the policies in the plan to the policies in the framework, the greater the weight that may be given)”.

4.6 Notwithstanding this, however, as the current adopted Development Plan for the Epping Forest District, the Saved/Altered Policies are acknowledged to remain the starting point in decision making and do remain relevant considerations. The policies considered relevant to the proposals detailed within this statement are as follows:

 Policy CP8 – Sustainable Economic Development  Policy CP9 – Sustainable Transport  Policy H2A – Previously Developed Land  Policy H3A – Housing Density  Policy H4A – Dwelling Mix  Policy H6A – Site Thresholds for Affordable Housing  Policy E4A – Protection of Employment Sites  Policy DBE1 – Design of New Buildings  Policy DBE3 – Design in Urban Areas  Policy DBE6 – Car Parking in New Development  Policy DBE8 – Private Amenity Space  Policy ST1 – Location of Development  Policy ST2 – Accessibility of Development  Policy ST6 – Vehicle Parking  Policy I1A – Planning Obligations  Policy TC3 – Town Centre Function  Policy HC6 – Character, Appearance and setting of Conservation Areas  Policy HC7 – Development within Conservation Areas  Policy HC9 – Demolition in Conservation Areas  Policy U2B

Material Considerations

National Planning Policy Framework

4.7 Given the early state of the emerging Local Plan and the status and age of the adopted Local Plan, the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) is considered to be a significant material consideration in this case.

4.8 Paragraph 14 of the NPPF states that the presumption in favour of sustainable development is the golden thread running through both plan-making and decision-taking.

4.9 It is stated that for decision-making this means:

 Approving development that accords with the development plan without delay;

and

 Where the development plan is absent, silent or relevant policies are out of date, granting permission unless - Any adverse impacts of doing so would significantly and demonstrably outweigh benefits, when assessed against the policies in this Framework taken as a whole

4.10 In relation to the site and its location, the NPPF at paragraph 22 states that “Planning policies should avoid the long term protection of sites allocated for employment use where there is no reasonable prospect of a site being used for that purpose”. Paragraph 23 goes on to state that “Local planning authorities should allocate a range of suitable sites to meet the scale and type…residential development needed in town centres.

4.11 In terms of the proposed use, the NPPF requires the delivery of a wide choice of high quality homes with paragraph 49 requiring housing applications to be considered “in context of the presumption in favour of development”.

4.12 Paragraph 51 states that “Local planning authorities should identify and bring back into residential use empty houses and buildings” and that “they should normally approve planning applications for change to residential use and any associated development from commercial buildings”.

5. PLANNING ASSESSMENT

5.1 Principle of development

5.2 The proposed development makes use of previously developed land, in compliance with Policy H2A which seeks to deliver 70% of all new housing on brownfield sites. In addition, the site is sustainably located within the urban area of Epping where housing growth would be anticipated to encourage sustainable economic development, as supported in Policy CP8.

5.3 Policy E4A seeks the protection of employment sites within the district however the site is not designated as an employment site the Epping Forest District Local Plan Proposals Map. The building has been vacant for 3 years and the “existing premises are unsuitable in relation to the operational requirements of modern business” meeting the criteria within Policy E4A.

5.4 The proposal does not involve the loss of active retail frontage and therefore is not considered to conflict with the objectives of Policy TC3. The site at Star Lane is set back from the High Street and not accessed directly, or visible, from the main High Street thoroughfare and therefore this lack of footfall and key street frontage would not be conducive for retail uses. With regards to this, the ground floor elevation is broken up and set back in places, to improve the visual amenity of the building at this level. The proposal will increase the active use of the Star Lane frontage in particular when compared with the existing situation.

5.5 Professional advice has been obtained on potential commercial use of the existing building from Michael Storrs of Bidwells Business Space Department. As discussed through pre-application discussions the professional advice received concluded that the building is not suitable to market for commercial uses. The advice received is summarised in a Marketing Statement submitted as part of this planning application.

Heritage

5.6 The former magistrates court building is located within the conservation area. Given this, and the more unusual nature of the building, a heritage statement of the existing building and its context has been conducted.

5.7 Policy HC9 states that “the Council will only grant consent for the demolition of a building in a conservation area where the building does not make a significant contribution to the character and appearance of that area, or where the redevelopment proposal preserves or enhances that character or appearance”. The heritage assessment conducted concludes that Epping Magistrates Court has limited historical and architectural significance and no special interest to warrant objection to demolition. In addition to this, the proposed scheme includes high quality design principles which will enhance local distinctiveness and the character of the conservation area.

5.8 To further enforce the lack of justification for the retention of the building, listing was refused by English Heritage in June 2013 due to a lack of architectural interest and the standard quality of interior fixtures, fittings and plan-form.

5.9 In compliance with Policies HC6 and HC7, the design has been developed to be in keeping with the existing character of the Conservation Area through the use of high-quality materials and the implementation of a design that echoes the existing building, ensuring negligible increases to massing and scale. The façades have been designed to offer aesthetically pleasing elevations with visual intricacy that complements surrounding historical buildings.

Design

5.10 Policy DBE1 requires new buildings to be designed in a manner that respects their setting but to be significant within a streetscene. The proposed development is situated on the junction of Star Lane and Hemnall Street and it is anticipated that this will create a non-intrusive but prominent street frontage for this junction.

5.11 In accordance with Policy DBE3, spaces have been created to be functional, safe and discernible to their intended uses. In addition, the main entrance to the building faces outwards from the front elevation.

5.12 The building has been innovatively designed to create private amenity spaces for all residents within a dense urban area, as requested in Policy DBE8.

5.13 The design concept is illustrated on the 3D illustrations submitted as part of the application.

Sustainable Construction

5.14 The development will be designed to meet Code for Sustainable Homes Level 3.

Housing Mix and Density

5.15 The provision of 8 apartments on this 0.046ha site is considered a suitable density for this town centre location, complying with Policy H3A. The housing mix proposed anticipates meeting the need of the local area in this urban location, with demand reflecting the proximity of Epping to London and it’s siting on the London Underground Central Line. 5.16 The site falls under the threshold for Affordable Housing, detailed in Policy H6A and therefore all 8 apartments will be market housing.

Flood Risk/Drainage

5.17 Although the site is within the Environment Agency’s Flood Zone 1, given the site’s location within Epping Forest District’s flood risk assessment zone, Policy U2B requires a flood risk assessment for the proposed development. This has been conducted by Richard Jackson Engineering Consultants and has been submitted as part of this planning application. The report concludes that there are no flood related reasons why this application should not be granted approval.

Access and Transport

5.18 The site of the proposed developed is highly sustainable, within walking distance of extensive local amenities, and national transport infrastructure. Therefore, the site has a minimal need to provide additional input into local sustainable transport as requested in Policy CP9. The site will make use of existing infrastructure, and promote walking and cycling for residents.

5.19 The site fully accords with Policy ST1 as development in a location that encourages walking, cycling and the use of public transport. The development makes best use of land in the urban area which is highly accessible to public transport, as well being very close to services and employment opportunities. The development is considered accessible in accordance with Policy ST2 with vehicle parking provision which reflects the location in relation to public transport, secure and sheltered cycle parking, and safe access for pedestrians.

5.20 Epping Forest District Council adopted County Council’s Revised Vehicle Parking Standards (2009) in February 2010. These standards state that lower levels of parking provision may be appropriate in urban areas such as town centre locations. Accordingly, Epping Forest District Council considered the provision of 8 parking spaces acceptable at the pre-application stages of this proposal taking into regard the town centre location of the site and the public transport links.

5. PLANNING ASSESSMENT

6.1 The application seeks full planning permission for the demolition of the former Epping Magistrates Court building, and the redevelopment of the site to provide 8 apartments, car parking, access and hard landscaping.

6.2 The demolition of the former Epping Magistrates Court has been deemed suitable, given the low level of architectural and historical interest of the building at present, the unsuitability of the building for alternative uses, and the potential of the proposed scheme to improve the site and enhance the character of the Conservation Area.

6.3 The development represents an opportunity to redevelop a redundant brownfield site, in a highly sustainable location and therefore fully complies within national planning principles.

6.4 The scheme’s compliance with local policy has also been detailed within this Planning, Design and Access Statement.

6.5 The scheme will make an important contribution towards meeting housing needs in Epping Forest from a sustainable brownfield site.

6.6 The benefits of this scheme, in particular it’s highly sustainable location suited to residential use, are considered to weigh heavily in favour of the granting of permission and it is therefore requested that the Council support this proposal.