Merton Council
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PLANNING APPLICATIONS COMMITTEE 15 March 2012 Item No:08 UPRN APPLICATION NO. DATE VALID 10/P3119 18/11/2010 Address/Site: Raynes Park Playing Fields, Cannon Hill Lane, SW20 9EB. Ward: West Barnes Proposal: Application for outline planning permission for the residential development of part of the existing playing fields, with the erection of 53 new dwellings [comprising 12 two bedroom flats, 22 three bedroom and 19 four bedroom houses in two and three storey buildings] and the creation of new all- weather floodlit playing pitch. [Outline approval is sought for access only, with appearance, landscaping, layout and scale reserved for future consideration] Drawing No’s: 264 112 revision V; Planning Statement; Merton Playing Pitch Study Update; Design and Access Statement; Transport Assessment; Framework Travel Plan [residential and sports ground]; Habitat and Biodiversity Report; Tree Survey and Arboricultural Report; Site Investigation [Land Contamination]; Flood Risk Assessment; Letters from Consulting Engineers Laurence Rae Associates Ltd dated 14.01.2011, 1.8.2011; 27.06.2011 and two letters on the 22.02.2012; and Statement of Community Engagement. Contact Officer: Tony Ryan [020 8545 3114] RECOMMENDATION GRANT OUTLINE PLANNING PERMISSION subject to planning conditions and completion of a Section 106 legal agreement. CHECKLIST INFORMATION. S106 Heads of agreement: affordable housing, sustainable transport, off- site artificial grass pitch, education provision; standard of the service road; community uses; preparing, drafting and monitoring obligations. Is a screening opinion required: Yes Is an Environmental Statement required: No Has an Environmental Impact Assessment been submitted – No; 189 EIA Press notice – No; EIA Site notice – No; Design Review Panel consulted – No; Number of neighbours consulted – 226 original consultation letters [original consultees and 212 response addresses sent reconsultation letters]; Press notice – Yes; Site notice – Yes [x3]; External consultations: Sport England; Environment Agency; Raynes Park and West Barnes Residents Association; Sutton & Merton PCT, Greater London Authority and Natural England; Density – 183 habitable rooms per hectare [219 habitable rooms on a site area of 1.2 hectares]; Number of jobs created: N/A. 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 This case is brought before the planning committee due to the number of responses received as a result of public consultation; the need for member’s authority to enter into a S106 legal agreement and a request from Councillor Gilli Lewis-Lavender. 2. SITE AND SURROUNDINGS 2.1 The application site forms part of Raynes Park Playing Fields. The playing fields are surrounded by residential properties in Southway [to the north west]; Elm Walk [to the north east]; Cannon Hill Lane [to the south east] and Grand Drive [to the south west]. The character of the surrounding area is made up of two storey residential dwellings in small terraces along Grand Drive and Elm Walk and semi detached buildings in Canon Hill Lane providing maisonettes. Several buildings of three and four storeys in height are located at the junction of Cannon Hill Lane and Grand Drive. 2.2 The rear gardens of the residential properties at 272 to 340 Cannon Hill Lane are separated from the playing fields by a separate plot of land that has vehicular access between 318/320 and 322/324 Cannon Hill Lane. The rear gardens of the properties at 240 to 260 Cannon Hill Lane also do not extend to the boundary with the application site due to the building at 240a Cannon Hill Lane. 2.3 The application site is privately owned by the All England Lawn and Tennis Club [AELTC] with no general public access and managed for use by Kings College School. The site is currently used for a variety of sports, including football, tennis, cricket, rugby and athletics. 2.4 There are two existing vehicular entrances from Grand Drive, the main entrance is between the properties at 214 to 218 Grand Drive with a secondary vehicular access provided adjacent to 174 Grand Drive. The playing fields site also include tennis courts, ancillary buildings and car parking located to the south west of the site behind properties in Grand Drive. The Raynes Park Playing Fields site [including ancillary areas] 190 currently covers an area of 8.5 hectares and within this area there is a grassed area covering 8.1 hectares. 2.5 The site is not situated within a conservation area or an archaeological priority zone and there are no listed buildings in the locality. The Grand Drive end of the application site has a PTAL rating of 2 with the remainder of the site a rating of 1B [where 1a represents the least accessible areas and 6b the most accessible]. The site is not within a Controlled Parking Zone. 2.6 The playing fields are determined by the Environment Agency to be at in flood risk zones one and two. The land is designated as Urban Green Space within the adopted Unitary Development Plan. An adjacent neighbour recently requested that the Council assess all the trees within the playing fields for possible Tree Preservation Orders, after this assessment Tree Preservation Orders have been placed on five trees located to the rear of residential properties in Cannon Hill Lane. The application site is within the West Barnes ward however the Lower Morden ward boundary runs follows the southern boundary of the application site. 3. CURRENT PROPOSAL 3.1 The current planning application seeks outline planning permission for the residential development of part of the existing playing fields, the provision of a new all-weather floodlit playing pitch as part of the retained playing fields and works to alleviate current flooding and drainage issues on the site. 3.2 The current planning application is in outline form only with the applicant requesting that the principle of development is considered in terms of the proposed access arrangements. Should access be considered acceptable by the planning applications committee, matters relating to the appearance of the development, landscaping, layout and scale would be considered as part of a reserved matters application. In line with government circular guidance the applicant has provided indicative details of the likely development layout and stated that the development would be two to three storeys in height. 3.3 The application site is made up of two separate plots of land [enclosed by red lines on the submitted plan] within the larger Raynes Park Playing Fields site. The first plot of land covering 1.2 hectares is located in the eastern corner of the playing fields and behind the properties at 240 to 302 Cannon Hill Lane and 140 to 172 Elm Walk. This land has a road frontage in Cannon Hill Lane of 12 metres, located between the property at 240a Cannon Hill Lane and an electrical sub station building at the rear of 172 Elm Lane. The current application includes a new vehicular access for the proposed residential development within this existing Canon Hill Lane road frontage with the indicative drawing showing a circular road layout within the site. 191 3.4 The proposed residential development on this first plot of land includes the erection of 53 new residential dwellings, comprising 12 two bedroom flats, 22 three bedroom and 19 four bedroom houses in two and three storey buildings. The indicative drawing shows an area of public open space within the development of 560 square metres [0.056 hectares], other areas of incidental open space and 91 parking spaces. 3.5 The second plot of land [0.66 hectares] is located towards the western corner of the site behind properties in Grand Drive and will provide an all weather floodlit sports pitch with a synthetic surface. The remainder of the site will be laid out with four full size grass football pitches, a grass mini football pitch, a cricket pitch, a jogging track, a new play park with the retention of the existing tennis courts and athletics area. 3.6 The following supporting documents have been submitted with the current outline planning application: Planning Statement; 3.7 The statement considers that the proposal is in line with UDP policy L:7 and PPG17 as any negative impact from the development of a small part of the existing private playing fields will be outweighed by the positive benefits from the proposal. These positive benefits include improving the standard of the retained areas of the playing fields with improved drainage; securing greater community and public use of this facility, the provision of an on site floodlit all weather sports pitch; and the provision of a second off site all weather sports pitch. Merton Playing Pitch Study Update 3.8 This applicant’s study concludes that whilst there is a predicted potential shortage of football pitches [specifically junior pitches] across the borough in 2025 it has been indentified that there will be a considerable surplus of pitches in the Raynes Park area. This situation is largely due to an uneven distribution of pitches, with greater provision in the north and west of the Borough. 3.9 The current application would result in the loss of one football pitch, which could be considered surplus to requirements within the Raynes Park sub-area. The proposals include converting one of the existing retained grass pitches to a synthetic turf pitch. This change would increase the number of playing hours available in the Raynes Park area. The applicant also intends to provide a financial contribution through a S106 agreement to fund a similar Synthetic Turf Pitch which would increase capacity elsewhere in the Borough. 3.10 The report concludes that provision of either an additional pitch, or improvements to the quality or accessibility of existing sports facilities, in either Morden [where significant potential capacity issues have been identified] or in Mitcham [where there are significant issues of deprivation] would offset the loss of the pitch as a result of the development and provide supply where it is needed more urgently.