Hart District Council Local Plan Site Assessment: Stage 2 – High Level Site Assessment – SHL109 – Land at Holdshott House Confidential Draft - 1.1 – May 2015

High Level Site Assessment Proforma

Site Reference SHL109 Site Name Land at Holdshott House Parish Site Address Holdshott House, Reading Road Heckfield, Hook RG27 0JZ

Capacity Assessment and Categorisation Site Size (ha) 1.84ha Estimated Capacity 44 Comments on capacity The area was used to calculate the capacity using a dph figure of 24 (in accordance with gross-to-net ratio of 80%).

Housing Strategy Category(s) 6 - Other (small isolated site) Land Supply Category Category D: Sites not 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 – (Holdshott Farm, N-bound, service 72) 0.45km Employment and o Railway Station – (Hook) 9.3km services o Employment Centre – (Riseley Business Park) 3.99km o Public Open Space – (Riseley Recreation Ground) 3.51km o Health Facility – ( Surgery) 5.11km o Primary School – (Greenfields Junior School) 5.76km o Secondary School – (Calthorpe Park School) 10.26km o Supermarket – (Waitrose, Yateley) 9.14km

Infrastructure • Schools: There is a pressure for school places at primary level in the Hook/Odiham area where most schools provision are full or close to full although there are several expansions taking place in 4 schools of between 1 and 0.5 FE; similarly in the Yateley/Frogmore area all schools are running close to their capacity but with no planned expansions. Any development at this site would further increase the pressure on schools in both areas.

• Health: There is believed to be some available capacity at local doctor surgeries and dentists in the area. There are no planned expansions of health facilities in the Hook area, but it is likely that any significant level of development in the centre of the district will require additional provision.

Adams Hendry Consulting Ltd 1 Hart District Council Local Plan Site Assessment: Stage 2 – High Level Site Assessment – SHL109 – Land at Holdshott House Confidential Draft - 1.1 – May 2015

• Retail: Yateley or Hook are the most likely centres to service this site for convenience shopping with large Supermarkets in close proximity to each town, however like most of the larger supermarkets in Hart these are overtrading therefore any new development in the area will place demand on the region for more convenience floorspace. Consumers are more likely to travel further to Reading for comparative shopping due to a wider variety of shops and entertainment venues.

• Transport (road): Due to the remote location of this site, there are few road schemes in the immediate vicinity of the site due for improvement; Traffic calming and a new 40MPH speed limit will be introduced to . Additionally there will be traffic calming introduced along the A30 in Hartley Wintney. Junction improvements to the B3349 in Hook to improve visibility

• Transport (other): There are a number of improvements to cycle and pedestrian links within Hartley Wintney especially along the A30 with more, safer crossings at junctions and a cycle link to Hook running parallel with the road. The site is served by the nearby No. 72 bus service (Reading/Farnborough), which provides a regular service six days a week.

• Green Infrastructure: The Hart Infrastructure Delivery Schedule highlights the need for open space, SANGs and allotments provisions in the areas north of Hook I order to reduce the pressure on the Hitches Lane SANG.

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 on agricultural land. There is one relevant planning history case relating to this site for pre-application Relevant Planning advice for up to five dwellings or an exceptional country house. See separate sheet for details. History Nature Conservation Site is within the 5km SPA Zone of Influence. It is unlikely that a development on a site of this scale would be within the capacity of the Hitches Lane SANG to mitigate its potential impact on the TBH SPA. Therefore any development at the site would require either on-site SANGs provision or contributions for the provision of appropriate off-site SANGs.

There are no nature conservation designations on this site. However, the site is located adjacent to the Great Danmore Copse SINC.

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

Adams Hendry Consulting Ltd 2 Hart District Council Local Plan Site Assessment: Stage 2 – High Level Site Assessment – SHL109 – Land at Holdshott House Confidential Draft - 1.1 – May 2015

Landscape HCC Integrated LCA (2012) Landscape type: Lowland Mosaic heath associated Landscape character: Northeast Hampshire Plantations and Heath

Hart District LCA 1997: Landscape type: Farmland Landscape Character Area: Whitewater Valley

Main features of the Whitewater 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 and a sheltered, pastoral and rural character. The LCA has a sparse pattern of settlement with roads and buildings located on higher ground avoiding the wet valley floor.

Summary Assessment: The site is an agricultural field adjacent to the B3011. It is bounded to the south and west by Great Danmore Copse an there are further trees at the northern boundary which provide at least partial screening of the site. As the site is set in a characteristically wooded landscape, it is unlikely that significant visual harm would be caused were the site top be developed. However, given the largely undeveloped character of this part of the River Whitewater Valley, the introduction of a significant modern housing development is anticipated to give rise to herm to the overall landscape character.

Agricultural Land This site is in an area of Grade 4 agricultural land and non-agricultural land.

Heritage Assets There are no heritage assets on site, however Holdshott House is adjacent to the southeast of the site and is a Grade II Listed Building. Given the absence of screening between the house and the site, any development of the site would be expected to significantly impact on the setting of Holdshott House.

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 no believed to be any Air Quality Management Aras in close proximity to the site. On the basis of the evidence seen, none of the surrounding land uses would be likely to cause any air quality issues for the site.

Flood risk This site is located within Flood Zone 1 and has limited risk of groundwater flooding.

Adams Hendry Consulting Ltd 3 Hart District Council Local Plan Site Assessment: Stage 2 – High Level Site Assessment – SHL109 – Land at Holdshott House Confidential Draft - 1.1 – May 2015

Location and scale of This site is on greenfield land but is not located within a local or strategic gap. There are no nearby settlements, development and the only land uses in close proximity to the site are the small farm shop and a sparse scattering of agricultural buildings with a couple of large Country dwellings. The vast majority of the area is made up of fields and woodland and the site is considered to be isolated within the countryside and is not in a sustainable location. If the site were to be developed, a low-density small-scale development of family homes may be able to reflect the local character. Any more intensive development would be incongruous in this rural and isolated location.

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

Availability The site is believed to be available and this is supported by the fact that the site was submitted to HDC for Assessment inclusion in the SHLAA in late 2014. The landowner has indicated that the site would be available in the short term (0-5 years).

Site Access The site has access directly onto the B3011, although the site is on a significant bend in the road and an assessment of highway safety would be required to determine the best point of access and how this could be achieved. This is a remote site with no towns or villages near enough to reasonably be able to walk to for local services. Similarly, there are no safe cycle links in place either, and many of the roads in the local area are busy, fast flowing ʻAʼ and ʻBʼ roads, which present an high level of risk to cyclists.

Summary of • Accessibility to almost all services and facilities is poor, which will encourage car dependency; Constraints • Infrastructure deficiencies have been identified which would need to be addressed; • Development would affect the setting of a Grade II Listed Building; • Site is adjacent to a large area of woodland subject to a SINC designation; • Development may cause harm to landscape character by introducing significant development in a largely undeveloped area; • The site is isolated within the countryside and any significant or intensive development is likely to harm local character;

Summary of This is a relatively large site, although it is isolated and constrained and may not be appropriate for delivering more than a small Opportunities number of dwellings, assuming the various constraints can be overcome.

Focus of further • The potential impact of development on the surrounding trees (including the SINC) needs to be considered; assessment, should • An assessment of site capacity is needed in the context of the local rural character and the undeveloped landscape character; the site be shortlisted • Consideration needs to be given the impact development could have on the setting of a Grade II Listed Building; by the Council • Consideration should be given to how safe pedestrian access to the site could be achieved.

Site Assessment Name: PH Completed by Date: 19/05/2015

Adams Hendry Consulting Ltd 4 Hart District Council Local Plan Site Assessment: Stage 2 – High Level Site Assessment – SHL109 – Land at Holdshott House Confidential Draft - 1.1 – May 2015

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

Adams Hendry Consulting Ltd 5