Planning Statement Proposed Residential Development, With
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Planning Statement Proposed Residential Development, with Associated Infrastructure and Access Blindwells Plot 11, East Lothian April 2021 Contents 1. Introduction 1 2. Planning Context 2 3. Proposed Development 7 4. Development Plan Assessment 10 5. Summary and Conclusions 25 Appendix 1: Site Location Plan 26 Kate Donald [email protected] Client Hargreaves Services (Blindwells) Limited Our reference HARE3046 April 2021 1. Introduction 1.1 This Planning Statement has been prepared on behalf of Hargreaves Services (Blindwells) Limited (‘the applicant’) in support of an application to East Lothian Council (‘the Council’) for planning permission for residential development, with associated infrastructure and access, on land referred to as ‘Plot 11’ at Blindwells, East Lothian. A site location plan identifying the land is provided at Appendix 1. 1.2 The purpose of this statement is to provide background details on the proposed development and set out key factors which should be taken into account in the determination of the application. The statement reviews the planning policy context and assesses the proposed development against the development plan. 1.3 This Planning Statement should be read in conjunction with the full suite of submitted drawings and documents which include: • Architectural Drawings, prepared by EMA Architects; • Landscape Drawings, prepared by OOBE; • Drainage and Road Infrastructure Drawings, prepared by Waterman; • Design and Access Statement, prepared by EMA Architects; • Landscape Design and Access Statement and Outline Specification, prepared by Oobe; • Landscape and Habitat Management Plan, prepared by Oobe; • Pre-Application Consultation Report, prepared by Turley; • Geo-Environmental Assessment, prepared by Waterman; • Drainage Strategy and Flood Risk Assessment, prepared by Waterman; and • Transport Statement, prepared by Tetra Tech. 1 2. Planning Context Planning History 2.1 Plot 11 is situated in the north west of the wider Blindwells site which benefits from planning permission in principle (PPiP) (ref. 20/01030/PM), granted on 18 February 2021 as a result of a Section 42 application to amend conditions on the original permission, for the following development: “Amend condition 30 of planning permission in principle 14/00768/PPM” 2.2 In May 2018, application 14/00768/PPM was approved on the site at Blindwells for: “Planning permission in principle for remediation of site and creation of new settlement comprising residential, employment, education and commercial uses with park and ride and rail halt facilities and associated works” 2.3 The application for PPiP was accompanied by a number of supporting documents including, amongst others, an Environmental Statement, Transport Assessment and Retail Assessment, which provided an assessment of the development on the basis of the following principal components: • Creation of up to 1,600 residential units and ancillary development; • Creation of access and egress points and road network through the site; • Creation of a new school campus; • Creation of employment land; • Creation of commercial uses; • Creation of a park and ride facility; and • Creation of a green network. 2.4 The PPiP is subject to a number of conditions several of which are pertinent to the current application for planning permission for residential development on Plot 11. Condition 3 of 20/01030/PM states “No more than 1600 residential units shall be erected on the site.” The stated reason for this condition is as follows: “To ensure that there is sufficient education capacity, to restrict the scale of development to that applied for and identified in the applicant's Transport Assessment and to minimise interference with the safety and free flow of traffic on the trunk road.” 2.5 As detailed further in later sections of this Planning Statement, the current planning application does not propose additional homes above the 1,600 units which are approved through the extant PPiP. The use of planning conditions can ensure that the number of homes on the wider site does not exceed the approved 1,600 units, as discussed with the Council. 2 2.6 The delivery of no less than 10 hectares of employment land across the masterplan site, as specified by Condition 1k of PPiP 20/01030/PM, is unaffected by the current proposals. 2.7 Condition 1 of PPiP 20/01030/PM requires the submission for approval of matters specified in conditions the “details of the siting, design and external appearance of all the dwellings and other buildings, the means of access to them, the means of any enclosure of the boundaries of the site and of gardens and other subdivisions of the site and the landscaping of the site”. 2.8 These matters should “generally accord” with the indicative masterplan (drawing no. 13055(PL)100 Rev. D), approved first under PPiP 14/00768/PPM and more recently via PPiP 20/01030/PM. Condition 1 specifies a number of requirements that subsequent approval of matters specified in conditions (AMSC) applications are to address (criteria a-p). Current Application 2.9 The approved indicative masterplan (drawing no. 13055(PL)100 Rev. D) shows retail warehousing and part of the consented large scale foodstore within the current application site boundary for Plot 11. Discussion with Council planning officers established that, because the proposed residential use of Plot 11 did not “generally accord” with the uses shown on the approved indicative masterplan, submission of an AMSC application would not be appropriate and that a separate, standalone application for residential development on Plot 11 would be required. 2.10 The proposed development meets the threshold of a major development as defined by the Town and Country Planning (Hierarchy of Developments) (Scotland) Regulations 2009. A Proposal of Application Notice was submitted in November 2020 (ref. 20/00009/PAN) and pre-application consultation was undertaken by the applicant prior to submission of the planning application. Further details can be found in the Pre- Application Consultation Report. 2.11 The current application is for detailed planning permission therefore it seeks to resolve the detail of the proposed development in the same way that an AMSC application would seek to do. As such, there are several criteria stated in Condition 1 of 20/01030/PM that are relevant to this proposal: (a) “The provision within the application site of recycling facilities. (b) Other than in exceptional circumstances where the layout or particular building type does not permit, houses and flats shall be orientated to face the street. (c) Notwithstanding that shown in the Indicative Master Plan docketed to this planning permission in principle there shall be no integral garages, unless it can be justified as an exceptional design feature, or where the house and garage would not be on a primary street frontage; (d) The detailed design of the layout shall accord with the principles set out in the Council's Design Standards for New Housing Areas and with Designing Streets; 3 (e) The external finishes of the residential units shall be in accordance with a coordinated scheme of materials and colours that shall respect the layout of the development and shall promote render as the predominant finish to the walls of the residential units. (f) Notwithstanding the details shown in the Indicative Site Master Plan referred to above, there shall be a separation distance of at least 9 metres between facing windows of a proposed new building and the garden boundaries of existing or proposed neighbouring residential properties; and a separation distance of at least 18 metres between directly facing windows of a proposed new building and the windows of existing or proposed neighbouring residential properties. (g) Parking for the residential, local centre and primary school components of the development hereby approved shall be provided at a rate as set out in the East Lothian Council's "Standards for Development Roads- Part 5 Parking Standards" For the local centre and school this shall include for cycle parking. Private parking spaces in the local centre and other private parking areas shall be a minimum of 2.5 metres by 5 metres and spaces on the public road shall be a minimum of 2.5 metres by 6 metres. Access to private parking areas other than driveways shall be via a reinforced footway crossing and have a minimum width of 5.5 metres over the first ten metres. Private driveways shall be a minimum of 6 metres by 2.5 metres, double driveways shall be 5 metres by 6 metres or 3 metres by 11 metres. (h) All access roads within the new settlement shall conform to East Lothian Council's "Standards for Development Roads" in relation to roads layout and construction, footways and footpaths, parking layout and number, street lighting and traffic calming measures. (i) Cycle parking shall be included at a rate of 1 space per flat. The parking shall be in the form of 1 locker per flat or communal provisions in the form of a lockable room or shed. (l) The provision within the application site of nature based elements such as woodlands, wetlands and SUDS, public open space and boulevard planting. (m) Vehicle access's to private parking areas (i.e. other than driveways) shall be via a reinforced footway crossing and have a minimum width of 5.5 metres over the first 10 metres to enable adequate two way movement of vehicles;” 2.12 As detailed in this Planning Statement, the Design and Access Statement and the application drawings, the proposed residential development has been designed to comply with these criteria. Forthcoming Masterplan Amendments 2.13 The proposal to develop land within Plot 11 for residential use, rather than retail use as shown on the approved indicative masterplan, is one of several amendments that the applicant must make to the masterplan in order to reflect changing circumstances since it was prepared to accompany the submission of the application for PPiP in 4 September 2014, and subsequently approved in May 2018.