Hart District Council Local Plan Site Assessment: Stage 2 – High Level Site Assessment – SHL020 – Land at Reading road, Confidential Draft - 1.1 – April 2015

High Level Site Assessment Proforma

Site Reference SHL020 Site Name Land at Reading Road Parish Yateley Site Address Land at Reading Road, Yateley

Capacity Assessment and Categorisation Site Size (ha) 1.2ha Estimated Capacity 24 Comments on capacity The capacity was calculated using a dph figure of 24 (in accordance with gross-to-net ratio of 80%). A deduction of 15% has been made to allow for the presence of Flood Zone 1 within the north of the site.

Housing Strategy Category(s) Strategy 2 (dispersal strategy) Land Supply Category Category B: Small sites adjoining existing urban areas

Key to Site Assessments: No overriding constraint to development of the site

Constraint requiring further detailed assessment

Major constraint undermining suitability of site

Site Assessment Assessment Criteria Assessment comments Coloured assessment Accessibility to o Bus Stop – (Potley Hill Roundabout) 0.13km Employment and o Railway Station – (Sandhurst) 2.33km services o Employment Centre – (Lakeside Business Park, Sandhurst) 2km o Public Open Space – (Yateley Common Country Park) 1.04km o Health Facility – (Yateley Medical Centre) 1.2km o – (Potley Hill Primary School) 0.72km o - (Yateley School) 2.09km o Supermarket – (Coop, Yateley) 0.71km

Infrastructure • Schools: There is a pressure for places at Primary education level. Although there are no identified deficits in provision capacity at Primary, Junior or Infant Schools within the Yateley/Frogmore area they are full or close to full. Additional housing will exacerbate this situation. There are no planned expansions of any of the schools in the area, if there is any significant development that is not forecast will cause increased pressures on the local primary, junior and infant schools. There are no planned expansions to the Yateley Secondary School however in nearby Fleet has a planned expansion.

• Retail: Yateley has a small number of specialist and convenience shops, however it is acknowledged that local residents would go to Farnborough for comparative shops. A number of supermarkets within the Hart District

Adams Hendry Consulting Ltd 1 Hart District Council Local Plan Site Assessment: Stage 2 – High Level Site Assessment – SHL020 – Land at Reading road, Yateley Confidential Draft - 1.1 – April 2015

area are overtrading including the Yateley Waitrose, evidence also suggests that the comparative shops within Yateley is constrained with higher levels of trading per square foot of floorspace, however this could be due to smaller shop sizes and the specialist nature drawing in custom from further afield.

• Health: There are no planned expansions of health facilities in the Yateley area, but it is likely that any significant level of development will require additional provision. There are a series of expansions planned at the Frimley Park Hospital, Frimley (outside of Hart) including a new emergency department and regional cardiology centre which will improve the current level of access to these services for the eastern areas of the Hart District area.

• Transport (road): There are several road improvement projects that will affect the Yateley area including the A30 stretch between the A327 and A331 at Blackwater where a new roundabout and a left only priority will help traffic accessing the A30 from the Yateley. There will also be improved access to junction 4a of the M3 which is the closest motorway junction to Yateley. Additionally there will be improvements to several busy junctions within Yateley to ease traffic congestion and improve safety.

• Transport (other): There are a number of proposals to improve alternative transport links to Yateley including improvements to the Bus service between Yateley, Blackwater and Farnborough Main. The main bus route accessible to this site is the no. 3 service between Aldershot, Camberley and Yateley. Pedestrian access improvements to the Reading Road including crossings at Mill Lane and Plough Lane. A new cycle route along Reading road and cycle parking has been planned along with a proposal for a 2.5km cycle link to Eversley with some traffic-free sections. Improvements to the Blackwater railway station waiting facilities are being made along with improvements to the bus/rail interchange timetable, additionally a new platform footbridge is to be installed.

• Green Infrastructure: The Hart SANG catchment area map shows that this site is located within the Hawley Meadows and Blackwater Park SANG Catchment area.

There is a lack of provision in certain types of infrastructure in the area and development on the site will only increase the pressure on existing services. It is unlikely that the site is of sufficient size to provide the supporting infrastructure onsite.

Current Use and This site is currently used for agricultural/equestrian uses, although muck of it is wooded. There is one pre- Relevant Planning application advice case attached to this siteʼs planning history (14/03085/PREAPP) relating to a proposal for 40 History dwellings.

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Nature Conservation Site is within the 5km Thames Basin Heaths SPA Zone of Influence. A site of this scale may be within the capacity of the Hawley and Blackwater Park SANG to mitigate its potential impact on the TBH SPA. If this proves not to be the case, financial contributions towards the provision of off-site SANGs should be required.

This site does not form part of or contain any nature conservation areas or protected trees. However, immediately adjacent to the north of the site is a large area-based TPO.

Minerals Resources The Minerals and Waste Plan Policies Map indicates that there are no areas within the site that are subject to minerals safeguarding.

Landscape HCC Integrated LCA (2012) Landscape type: River Valley Floor Landscape character: Northeast Hampshire Plantations and Heath

Hart District LCA 1997: Landscape type: Flood plain and fringing farmland Landscape Character Area: Blackwater Valley

Main features of the Blackwater Valley LCA: A distinctively riparian character of the flat, low-lying valley floor with riverside pastures. The LCA features gentle valley sides with a woodland backdrop. There is a varying character from the pastoral, rural and generally unspoilt character of the western valley, open water and wetlands in the centre and urban development, roads and railways along the east side. The LCA has a sparse pattern of settlement to the west with roads and buildings located on higher ground avoiding the wet valley floor.

Summary Assessment: Existing residential areas of Yateley bound this triangular-shaped site to the south and west. To the north is the wooded Blackwater Valley floodplain. The site is mostly wooded although clearings within the site are believed to be used for equestrian activities. Given the level of screening at the boundaries of the site, it is likely that development would not necessarily give rise to visual intrusion. If the wooded boundaries were maintained, development at the site could be in keeping with existing housing areas adjacent to the site.

Agricultural Land The site is comprised of non-Agricultural land.

Heritage Assets There no heritage designations within this site, although the Cricket Hill Conservation Area is just to the South of the site across the B3272 and the Grade II Listed Yateley Lodge is located 100 metres to the western boundary of the site.

Adams Hendry Consulting Ltd 3 Hart District Council Local Plan Site Assessment: Stage 2 – High Level Site Assessment – SHL020 – Land at Reading road, Yateley Confidential Draft - 1.1 – April 2015

Water resources and There are no Groundwater Source Protection Zones or licensed water abstraction points in close proximity to the quality site.

Air Quality There are not believed to be any Air Quality Management Areas in close proximity to this site. However Blackbushe Airport is approximately 2.2km away from the site, which could be a source of localised air pollution.

Flood risk The site is mostly located within Flood Zone 1, although the northern part of the site is within Flood Zone 2/3 and all of the land adjacent to the west of the site is also within these flood zones. In addition, there is a small area within the north of the site which is subject to surface water flooding associated with the natural drainage area to the west of the site.

Any development of the site would need to take full account of these flood risk constraints and ensure housing is developed outside of Flood Zone 3. In addition, assessments would be needed to ensure that developing the site did not risk increasing the level of flood risk within Lodge Grove to the west of the site.

Location and scale of This site believed to be greenfield land, but with some small agricultural buildings present confined to the east of development the site. The whole site is located in the Strategic Gap between Yateley and Sandhurst. However, given the small scale and the configuration of the site, effectively within the envelope of the existing built-up area, it is not considered likely that development at the site would cause coalescence of these settlements.

Although the site is in close proximity to other residential areas, the Reading road acts as a barrier isolating this site from the community to the south, and the natural screen of trees cuts the site off to the west. Nevertheless, development at a relatively low density, within the tree-screened boundaries of the site would be consistent with the character of residential areas within this part of Yateley.

Un-neighbourly Uses There are no evident un-neighbourly land uses in close proximity to this site.

Availability The site is believed to be available now and this is supported by the recent request for pre-application advice Assessment relating to residential development.

Site Access There is good access potential for this site from the Reading Road. Given the small size of this development it is likely that this road could cope with the extra traffic generated from the site, however a full analysis would still be required to determine the safety aspect of putting in a direct site access. Additional pedestrian and cycle access measures would need to be taken into account linking the site to the wider community.

Adams Hendry Consulting Ltd 4 Hart District Council Local Plan Site Assessment: Stage 2 – High Level Site Assessment – SHL020 – Land at Reading road, Yateley Confidential Draft - 1.1 – April 2015

Summary of • There are infrastructure deficits within this area that additional development would exacerbate; Constraints • A small part of the site is at significant risk of flooding; • The site is located within the Blackwater Valley Strategic Gap.

Summary of This is a relatively unconstrained site, with the exception of the northern part, which is subject to flooding risk. The site relates well Opportunities to the existing built-up area boundary of Yateley and it would have the potential to deliver additional dwellings as a small extension, similar in scale and character to that already developed at Lodge Grove to the west.

Focus of further • Consideration would need to be given to the flood risks present on site, including to determine whether development would assessment, should increase the risk of flooding to adjacent residential areas. the site be shortlisted by the Council

Site Assessment Name: PH Completed by Date: 05/05/2015

HDC Conclusion and Shortlist the site: Do not shortlist the site: recommendation HDC Comments:

Adams Hendry Consulting Ltd 5 ± SHLAA Site 020 - Constraints

Key SHLAA Site 020 Listed Buildings ! TPO - Individual SSSI SINC National Nature Reserve Local Nature Reserve Parish Boundaries Historic Parks and Gardens Conservation Areas Thames Basin Heaths SPA (5km zone of influence) Thames Basin Heaths SPA (400m exclusion zone) Thames Basin Heaths SPA Settlement Boundaries TPO - Groups Scheduled Ancient Monuments Strategic Gaps

1:10,000 0 50 100 200 300 400

Meters Contains Ordnance Survey Data Crown copyright and database right 2015 ± SHLAA Site 020 - Flood Risk

Key SHLAA Site 020 Flood Zone 3 Flood Zone 2 Reservoir Flood Outlines Surface Water Flooding (1 in 30 year AEP) Surface Water Flooding (1 in 100 year AEP) Groundwater Flooding (Limited) Groundwater Flooding (Potential flooding to basements) Groundwater Flooding (Potential flooding at surface)

1:10,000 0 50 100 200 300 400

Meters Contains Ordnance Survey Data Crown copyright and database right 2015