Nick Tate, Esq., LDF Team, Strategy & Development, Sedgemoor District
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Nick Tate, Esq., Our Ref : 14/701 LDF Team, Your Ref : Strategy & Development, Computer Ref : 2017-03-16A.DOC Sedgemoor District Council, E-Mail : ‘[email protected]’ Bridgwater House, King Square, BRIDGWATER, Somerset. TA6 3AR 16 th March 2017 Dear Mr. Tate, PROPOSED SUBMISSION LOCAL PLAN 2011-2032 (REGULATION 19 CONSULTATION) INSET MAP 17 : BRENT KNOLL > SETTLEMENT BOUNDARY ALIGNMENT PLUS POLICY D10 : SELF-BUILD & CUSTOM-BUILD HOMES Land at Musk Farm, South-West of Brent Street, Brent Knoll, Somerset, TA9 4BB (Site Area of 0.91ha) I write as follows in relation to my clients’ land at Brent Knoll and the above public consultation period. Enclosures The following is enclosed in support of this submission : ● a colour-coded copy of Berry Associates’ 1-1250 scale Location Plan No.14/701/01A with the alignment of the currently proposed Settlement Boundary relating to Brent Knoll highlighted in green and my client’s land (with an area of 0.91ha) highlighted in red. Legal Compliancy of the Proposed Local Plan It is considered that the currently proposed Local Plan is legally compliant. Soundness of the Local Plan It is considered that the currently proposed Local Plan is sound, subject to the realignment of the intended Settlement Boundary to encompass the 0.91Ha of land and the fronting highway as outlined in red on the accompanying Location Plan No.14/701/01A and adoption of the proposed Policy D10 : Self-Build & Custom Build Homes in its current form. Current Planning Status of the Pertinent Land & Related SHLAA Allocation The land and fronting highway abuts on three boundaries the line of the proposed Settlement Boundary of Brent Knoll as illustrated within the Proposed Submission Local Plan 2011-2032 Inset Map 17 : Brent Knoll. continued over > - 1 - Current Planning Status of the Pertinent Land & Related SHLAA Allocation The land is bounded on the north-eastern side by Brent Street for the full length of the land’s boundary. The north-western boundary and the south-eastern boundary of the land abut the curtilages of existing dwellings. Within the Council’s current Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (published September 2016) the whole of the land area outlined in red within the enclosed Location Plan No.14/701/01A was allocated as an Opportunity Site Outside of Settlements (Allocation Site Reference H365). Contended Change to the Proposed Settlement Boundary of Brent Knoll It is contended that the currently proposed Settlement Boundary of Brent Knoll be revised to encompass the land within the red-lining on the accompanying Location Plan No.14/701/01A for the following logically sound planning reasons : 1. The inclusion of the land within the Settlement Boundary will align the proposed Local Plan 2011-2032 with the land’s allocation within the current Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment. 2. Inclusion of the land will provide sufficient surety and encouragement to the landowners to incur the not insignificant costs of preparing and lodging a Planning Application (together with all the required investigation work and supporting Reports, etc.) for residential development of the land in accordance with the current SHLAA status. 3. Inclusion of the land, and the consequential implied allocation as a residential development site, will provide surety to the Council that this SHLAA allocated land will come forward in a short period of time to contribute housing numbers to the Council’s required housing target. 4. There are no ownership or physical restrictions that could impede early development of the land for residential usage (as detailed later within this letter). 5. Development of the land will cause the existing long-standing, open-air storage of redundant construction plant and general agricultural equipment on the land to cease, which will represent an amenity improvement within Brent Knoll. Policy D34 > Countryside Around Settlements Policy D34 of the currently proposed Local Plan intends to provide specific protection to the existing nature of open countryside areas where such areas are evident within or abutting settlements. Inset Map 17 : Brent Knoll of the currently proposed Local Plan identifies two areas of land adjoining the intended Settlement Boundary of Brent Knoll where protective Policy D34 should be applied and where potential development will be consequentially limited or restricted. My client’s land, as outlined in red on the accompanying Location Plan No.14/701/01A, is not intended to be subject to Policy D34 restrictions. Planning Inspector’s Public Oral Examination of the Local Plan In relation to this consultation response, I wish register to make an oral representation direct to the Planning Inspector during the examination in public of the intended Local Plan. - 2 - Notification of Future Stages of the Emerging Local Plan I respectfully request that I am advised at the following stages of the emerging Local Plan : • upon submission of the Local Plan to the Secretary of State; • upon publication of the Planning Inspector’s recommendations to the Council; • upon publication of any Agenda to any formal meeting of Council Members where consideration of the Local Plan forms part of the proposed agenda; and, • upon formal Adoption of the Local Plan. The Land > Present Established Use For more than 20-years the land has been used, to a greater or lesser degree, for the open-air storage of redundant construction plant and general agricultural equipment by one of the three present joint owners. Whilst some items have been cannibalised for spares, most of the large and small plant and equipment has been simply left to degrade as scrap. It is estimated that about 40% of the area of the field has been occupied by the redundant plant and equipment, but it is generally spread over 60% of the available area. The remaining part of the field has been left to grass but cannot, realistically, be beneficially stocked with animals due to the randomly spread scrap materials and the potential danger this material would present to animals. The present use can be best illustrated by reference to the following photographs taken on the 1 st May 2014. Photograph 1 continued over > - 3 - The Land > Present Established Use (Cont) Photograph 2 Photograph 3 Photograph 4 continued over > - 4 - The Land > Present Established Use (Cont) Photograph 5 Photograph 6 Photograph 7 continued over > - 5 - The Land > Present Established Use (Cont) Photograph 8 Because this use has continuously existed for in excess of 20-years the established planning use can only be a sui generis mixed agricultural field and scrap-yard use (that is beyond the 10-year time limit for planning enforcement action to commence). The removal of the scrap-yard from the land due to residential development being permitted will, clearly, represent both a planning and environmental gain. The Land > Topography & Frontage Highway The land forms part of my clients’ land wider agricultural holding, it is flat and free from all physical obstructions that would impede development. The land also benefits from the directly accessible highway-frontage that is wholly within Brent Knoll’s existing 30MPH speed limit. The required safety related highway access/egress visibility splays could be accommodated wholly within my clients’ land and without the need to encompass any third-party’s land. The land is bounded on the north-eastern side by Brent Street for the full length of the land’s boundary. The north-western boundary partially abuts the curtilage of an existing domestic dwelling and partially a barton containing barns and agricultural paraphernalia, etc. The south-eastern boundary partially abuts the curtilage of an existing domestic dwelling and partially abuts a rhyne and field beyond separated by an established hedge and trees. The south-western boundary abuts a rhyne and field beyond separated by an established hedge and trees. Therefore, it represents cogent, road-fronted infill providing a stepped Settlement Boundary that reflects the stepped plan-form of the existing physical boundary applicable to the rest of Brent Knoll. Established Need for Affordable Housing within Brent Knoll Sedgemoor District Council have established that there is a clear local need for affordable homes within Brent Knoll to satisfy local need within the village and the immediate local. The inclusion of my client’s land within the Settlement Boundary will, within a short period of time, likely provide some affordable homes to assist with this identified local need. - 6 - Safe Vehicular Access To & From any Proposed Residential Development The whole of the land’s 92M long north-eastern boundary fronts Brent Street. A continuous existing highway-footpath already runs along the full-length of this boundary with a width, including the backing verge, of between 1.15M towards the centre of the land and between 1.42M and 1.30M at the ends of the land. The land is also located on the outside of a long, gradual bend in the highway, which always tends to provide good vehicular egress visibility along the highway. A preliminary highway assessment has shown that a new 5.0M wide shared surface roadway with 4.0M radii to Brent Street will readily provide a visibility splay of 43M in both directions measured from a point 2.4M from the edge of Brent Street (in accordance with Somerset County Council’s published requirements). There are no other highway features, such as the close proximity of a highway junction, that will impede safe access/egress being provided along the land’s frontage. Flood Risk > Environment Agencies Flood Map Status The proposed residential development land is shown to be within Flood Zone 3 within the Environment Agency’s current on-line flood map, as is most of the parish of Brent Knoll. The Environment Agency’s flood maps are accepted to be very broad-brush and tend not to provide specific development site guidance.