ROBERTSBRIDGE COMMUNITY COLLEGE Robertsbridge Community College Community Sports Hall Design Statement Access Statement Sensitivity within an area of outstanding natural beauty Identification of Need Robertsbridge Community College Page 1 ROBERTSBRIDGE COMMUNITY COLLEGE Contents 1. Design and Access Statement 3 2. Outline 3 3. Location 3 4. Playground and car parking / access 6 5. Size and scale of the building 6 6. Design and sympathy within an area of outstanding natural beauty 7 7. Landscaping 8 8. Visibility 8 9. Access 11 10. Sustainability 11 11. Shadow Analysis 15 12. Opening hours 17 13. Identification of need 17 14. Hastings and Rother Leisure Facility Strategy: Summary 17 15. Other Sources of data 18 16. Impact on Sport 19 17. Community involvement 20 Appendices Appendix 1 Extract from Hastings and Rother Leisure facility strategy 21 Appendix 2 College research and questionnaire results 34 Appendix 3 Public Consultation results 35 Robertsbridge Community College Page 2 Design and Access Statement Outline • Robertsbridge is an old settlement, dating back to around 1176. The village has a population of 2,588. • Lying in the county of East Sussex, the site sits within the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and this will be a key consideration in any design decisions. • Robertsbridge Community College (RCC) lies within the picturesque Rother Valley, situated on a hill overlooking Robertsbridge, and adjacent to the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. • RCC is sited to the north of Robertsbridge. The college is situated in a residential and rural area, with the south of the site being bounded by the existing school and local houses, and the north, by fields. • The College has 600 students of mixed gender from the age of 11 to 16, with approximately 120 in each year group. Robertsbridge Community College is the smallest community college in East Sussex. It is a specialist Mathematics and Computing College. • The College has seen a number of extensions since it was constructed in 1955. This latest proposed development will ensure that the Physical Education provision for the students meets current curriculum requirements as well as providing the only community sports facility in the area, the nearest existing being Battle Sports Centre, approximately 10 kilometres away • The Current sportshall is too small and outdated, as specified by the DfE – Building Bulletin 98 – which describes the minimum provision for School sports and hall space to meet the requirements of “ a main hall sufficient for assemblies of at least half the school at one time, examinations, public performances, parents’ evenings and community events” and a “‘four-court’ sports hall, which should be designed to Sport England’s specifications, including the critical minimum dimensions for four badminton courts of 18m x 33m x 7.6m high” This hall will meet both of these requirements. • The proposed hall will provide county standard facilities for a range of sports including cricket, badminton, soccer, stoolball, tennis, basketball and trampolining, and meets both Sport England and BB98 requirements. The College does not have a facility big enough to house the entire School for assembly, and this sports hall is large enough to provide this requirement • The first floor accommodation will provide additional facilities for the College and community by increasing the adult education provision from one managed centre. Location • Robertsbridge Community College is located at the end of Knelle Road, off Brightling Road, connecting the villages of Robertsbridge and Brightling. Good transport links are provided. By Road:- located just off the A21 Robertsbridge by pass Robertsbridge Community College Page 3 By Rail:- Located less than half a mile away – a 5 minute walk to Robertsbridge train station – on the Hastings to London line By Bus:- Access to these services is limited by bus - that is hourly at weekends and finishes by 5.00pm in the evening on weekdays. • The surrounding area is residential comprising of mostly well-spaced two storey housing. Local amenities can be found in the centre of Robertsbridge Village 1 mile away. • Locating it at the rear of the College site and with the provision of car parking adjacent to the new facility, the impact on the locality would be minimised keeping away noise and disturbance that might occur from neighbouring properties. • There is existing vehicular access and footpaths entering the College site. • The majority of the proposed sports hall will be built on an existing playground, minimising any loss of land, towards the rear of the College. The visual impact of the sports hall will be screened by the existing grass bank leading up to the playing fields. • The position and footprint of the proposed hall has been designed to work within the confines of the site, whilst maximising the use of available space. It will not impact on any existing playing fields, or run offs. The replacement playground has been carefully designed to fit in an area that is too small and of a shape that could not be marker out for sports usage. As can be seen on the Environment Agency Flood Risk Map, below, the site does not lie within a designated flood risk zone. Source: Environment Agency Flood Risk Plan Robertsbridge Community College Page 4 Planning considerations The Rother District Local Plan was adopted in July 2006. This sets out the vision and strategy for land use and development in the Rother District. The site of the college sits outside any areas designated for development in the Local Area Plan, however policy DS4 does allow for existing uses to remain outside policy DS3 – therefore the use as an educational establishment, as an existing School the facility needs to be located on this site. Planning policy criteria requires that the new facility: • meets the needs of future occupiers and provides appropriate provisions and means of access for disabled users • does not detract from the character and appearance of the locality We believe that the proposed sports hall meets these objectives and is identified in the Rother District Council’s - Hastings and Rother Leisure Facilities strategy (2009) Source: Rother District Council Local area plan map Robertsbridge Community College Page 5 Playground, car parking and access road A new playground will be built on an area of un utilised land, that is too small and the wrong shape to be used for any sporting facility. It was an old shot fan which is no longer used. Additional hard playground space is required for students to enjoy fresh air and sporting activity at morning break and lunch times, and ensure that there is enough play space, especially in the winter months when the fields may become inaccessible or waterlogged. The playground will be shaped in a triangular design on an area of land not currently used for sport, It has been carefully designed not to encroach onto existing pitches, allowing run offs for the grass grid pitches and existing long jump pit. The existing dirt track providing parking for the College will be tarmacked and marked out with parking bays. It is envisaged that the proposed playground area will provide outdoor play during College hours, and then opened up for car parking out of College hours, in addition to the new parking and access road provided to access the new playground. The existing long jump pit will be relocated to the west of its current location ensuring this sport provision is maintained. The current long jump area is beyond its expected life span, using a cinder track run up. The provision of a new pit and run up area will increase the sports use of this facility. The playground will be provided with two basketball goals for basketball practice. Size The proposed new sports hall will provide a country standard multi-purpose sports facility comprising the hall itself, ground floor changing room accommodation and storage and first floor resource centre, and classrooms with viewing galleries both internally to the sports hall, and externally to the grass soccer pitches. • Two changing rooms for 32 persons • 80m2 Equipment store • Disabled WC • Disable change, toilet and shower • Two offices • A classroom • An ICT suite • A Research and Resource centre The proposed sports hall has an external footprint of 980m2, with an eaves height of 6.050m (north),9,4m to the highest point in the centre of the curve and 7.7m (south)by the College buildings. The is not visible from the front of the College buildings. Author:- David Evans Thursday, 13 December 2012 Version 4 6 Design – sympathetic within the High Weald area of outstanding natural beauty It is considered that the appearance and location of the entrance to the building is vital if the building is to be a success and as such the entrance to the new facility has been located to the north - east of the building. It is located closest to the new car park with the particular aim of providing ‘extended use’ visitors with a very visible and easily accessible entrance point. Externally the first floor is clad in timber, giving it a visual difference to the rest of the building, covering all parts of theses elevations visible from the High Weald area of outstanding natural beauty. The provision of two canopied entrance for College and community use will focus the attention of visitors, who may be visiting the building for the first time. The roof structure is proposed to be a curved steel portal frame. This structure provides the opportunity for a curved roof and a more dramatic and contemporary architectural appearance than would a ‘flat roof’ solution. The visual impact internally of such a structure will also be more impressive than a more conventional steel portal frame approach and will align with Sport England guidance - i.e.