Chardstock Parish Neighbourhood Plan 2013–2031 Introduction to and associated planning issues Published by Chardstock Parish Council, c/o Chardstock Stores and Post Office, 8 Westcombes, Chardstock, EX13 7LF © Chardstock Parish Council 2016 Contents 1 Chardstock – map and statistical data 1 2 General description 1 3 Housing stock and needs 2 4 The local economy 3 5 Services and facilities 4 6 Chardstock and sustainability 5 8 The natural environment 7 9 Summary 7 1 Chardstock – map and statistical data 2 General description The rural parish of Chardstock lies between Chard in and Axminster in , with a population of fewer than 1,000. It is designated as unsustainable in planning terms and unsuitable for further growth in District Council’s adopted Local Plan 2013–2031. The village itself is 1 mile from the A358 on the south-eastern corner of the parish at 4 3 Tytherleigh. 9 1 7 The parish is rich in historical association, having been settled since the Stone Age. It is mainly in the valley of the River Kit, a tributary of the River Axe. Chardstock village has half 6 of the total number of houses in the parish. The remaining population lives in ten widely dispersed hamlets, mainly to the north-west and the south-east.

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Name of Parish: Chardstock OS Grid Reference: ST 30945 04481 (The George Inn) Approximate Size: c. 1560 hectares (3850 acres) Local Planning Authority (LPA): East Devon District Council (EDDC) East Devon District Council Ward: Yarty Population: 828 1 Number of Households: 3882 Main Settlement: Chardstock Village (total = 200 dwellings) Hamlets: 1) Brockfield, 2) Birchill, 3) Burridge, 4) Cotley Wash (Bewley Down), 5) Fordwater, 6) Holy City, 7) Hook, 8) Kitbridge, 9) Sycamore, 10) Tytherleigh (Total = 188 dwellings)

85 per cent of the parish is in the Blackdown Hills AONB. Chardstock Village has a Conservation Area. Much land in the parish comprises statutory or non-statutory sites of 3 biodiversity interest. Cotley Wash Hamlet Chardstock has a Parish Council with up to six politically non-aligned members. The Council published a Parish Plan in 2011, which was endorsed by the Local Planning Authority. Most of the parish is in the Blackdown Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), and

1 2011 Census. the local landscape is one of small, often historical settlements set in archetypal East Devon 2 Parish of Chardstock Housing Needs Report (Devon Communities Together/Devon Rural Housing Partnership), October countryside. Chardstock village has a fine Conservation Area with largely unspoilt medieval 2015, §4.3. 3 C. Martin Drake, Parish Biodiversity Audit for Chardstock, 2014. and Victorian buildings and well-preserved, historical street settings.

1 There are other important buildings and groups of buildings elsewhere in the village and Around 38 per cent of the population has lived in the parish for less than ten years,4 but new in the hamlets. The parish has 52 listed buildings (15 per cent of the total of dwellings). and older residents alike quickly integrate. Alongside these heritage assets are examples of many other styles of house design. The parish offers a high quality of life, mainly because of its manageable size and a long Historically, the community was largely agricultural, and farming remains important to the tradition of community involvement. When it is practical, local voluntary organisations provide local economy. But today there is also a broader range of economic activity, usually small, some limited services not available elsewhere.5 often home-based, enterprises. There is little employment other than self-employment. Overall, Chardstock is a flourishing and viable small community.

3 Housing stock and needs 3.1 There are currently 388 houses in the parish.6 3.2 Historically an agricultural settlement, Chardstock underwent significant change after the Second World War with the building of council houses in the village. From the early 1960s to the 1980s, and largely as a consequence of increasing social mobility, a fair amount of new housing was constructed, much of it in the form of bungalows scattered around the village and surrounding hamlets. In the 1990s, the large mixed development at Henley Close and Woodcock Way (“the Redrow estate”) on the eastern side of the village increased the size of the village community by 60 per cent. 3.3 Although Chardstock’s allocation for new house building in the original draft of the EDDC Local Plan was for ten houses (just under 5 per cent), since 2013, 21 planning applications have been approved for house construction in the village and, at the time of writing, 13 of these have been built. All the new-builds approved in the last three years are either adjacent to, or in, the Conservation Area – this in a settlement later judged by the Government Planning Inspector to be unsustainable. 3.4 The price of the 23 properties sold in Chardstock during the last three years (2013– Burridge Hamlet 2016) has ranged from £125,000 to £600,000 and averaged £365,312.7 Property 8 The parish has few services and facilities and what it has are mostly in the village. There is no values in Chardstock are above the national average (which is £288,000). generally available public transport, so residents must rely on private cars for their daily lives 3.5 There are 62 properties (14 per cent of all dwellings)9 in Chardstock in the lower two and to access such outside services as a shopping centre, a doctor’s surgery or a hospital. council tax bandings. This reflects the number of smaller, more affordable houses in The Local Planning Authority (East Devon District Council) has designated Chardstock as the parish. unsustainable in its Local Plan, which will be current from 2013 until 2031. This limits further development. 3.6 In September 2015, the parish and district councils together commissioned an external housing consultancy, Devon Communities Together, to undertake an Housing has developed sporadically, with major changes in the 1950s (29 houses built independent survey of housing needs in Chardstock parish. between 1948 and 1955), the 1990s (58 houses and bungalows built between 1991 and 1999) and in 2013 – 14, when a further 21 houses were approved, most of which have now been built. 4 Chardstock Parish Neighbourhood Plan: A Summary of the Main Output from the Issues Questionnaire, October 2014, p. 2. Chardstock is demonstrably viable as a community, with a heterogeneous populace drawn 5 Chardstock Parish Plan, February 2011, section 5. from all walks of life. 6 Parish of Chardstock Housing Needs Report, §4.3. 7 Online house prices, zoopla.co.uk. 8 The Guardian, 16 February 2016. 9 Parish of Chardstock Housing Needs Report, §4.3.

2 3.7 The resulting Housing Needs Report10 showed conclusively that there is no current 3.11 But there is clear evidence that Chardstock parish has no shortage of the larger and housing shortage in the parish. more expensive houses (3+ bedrooms), with a high proportion of such dwellings usually available.12 3.8 Since construction on land of the extent available in Chardstock can rarely exceed ten houses, the provisions in the NPPF and the Local Plan for requiring a proportion or 3.12 There is a real danger that, by approving much larger developments in order to build “affordables” in larger developments are rarely, if ever, triggered. a handful of affordable houses, the parish would seriously compromise its ability (and specifically that of the village) to sustain all the consequences for infrastructure. 3.9 Developers are reluctant to build houses at the lower end of the price range, simply because they reduce the overall profitability of development. They are willing to build 3.13 Since the known future need is for only two small houses, it may be prudent to defer “affordables” only if they also get approval for a substantial number of higher-value construction until such time as they can be built at a lower environmental cost, if at dwellings to offset the theoretical loss. all.

4 The local economy 4.1 The parish still has many active farms, although dairy farming is in decline. Shrinkage in the industry and the mechanisation of farming practice means that far fewer people are employed in farming than was once the case. 4.2 A pub, a shop and Post Office, a manufacturer of window-blinds and a joinery business can all be found in Chardstock village. Tytherleigh (on the A358) has a restaurant, an antique shop, a bathroom supplier and a breeder of alpacas. 4.3 The parish is home to a number of small businesses, many centred upon “homeworkers”, who use their domestic premises as a base from which to operate.13 Many such businesses are technology driven and will flourish fully only when the communications infrastructure has been modernised to be competitive with that of larger 3.10 The Housing Needs Report, however, revealed no urgent need to build any new settlements elsewhere. However, where these enterprises are small and locally houses, although there is some evidence that a small supply of affordable/smaller suitable, they already help to bolster the local economy and do not significantly houses (probably no more than two) would be advantageous at some point in the increase the burden placed on the local environment and infrastructure. future: “The survey identified a need, in the near future, for two units of affordable 4.4 Several households offer bed and breakfast facilities or self-catering accommodation housing. Due to this low level of need, the Parish Council will need to decide how to during the tourist season. take this further and whether this need should be addressed at all.”11 12 Chardstock Historical Record Group, Chardstock Housing Survey and Analysis. 13 Chardstock Parish Plan, section 6. The expression “homeworker” refers to people who either run a small enterprise from home or are employed, directly or as subcontractors, and work mainly from home. Some of the latter may also have a 10 Ibid., §4.4. base in an organisation elsewhere. In both cases a part of a domestic residence or its outbuildings are in regular use for 11 Ibid., §8. work.

3 There are around 15 second homes in the parish and a small number of houses used 5.1.4 The hamlets and the majority of the village have neither mains drainage nor mains as holiday-rental businesses. gas.17 4.5 Many residents of working age have to commute by private car to urban centres (e.g., 5.1.5 All residents now have access to mains water, electricity and telephone services. Chard, Axminster, Honiton, Yeovil and Exeter) to find employment. Some boreholes are still in use in outlying areas.

4.6 The parish has a relatively high proportion of retired residents (30.7%).14 The 5.1.6 Superfast broadband is available in the village, but those in outlying areas suffer from comparatively high cost of local housing, including that which has been built recently, very low speeds. Mobile phone reception is usually 2G, very patchy, and therefore means that often only those with properties to sell of equally high value can afford unreliable. to live here. This is a self-perpetuating cycle. However, retired people often bring pensions and other wealth created elsewhere with them into the local economy 5.2 Facilities and buy goods and services locally, thus stimulating demand and supporting local Local facilities are mostly sited at the south-eastern end of the village. businesses. The building services, landscape and garden-maintenance sectors in Community Hall The hall was built in 1974 and later extended. It is used for local events and particular benefit in this way. meetings, as well as for private functions. Users come both from within and from outside the parish. The hall is successful but in need of extensive updating and refurbishment. 5 Services and facilities Primary school St Andrew’s Primary School stands at the edge of the village on a site with The services and facilities available to people living in Chardstock parish are also discussed scope for expansion. It opened in 2009, when the Victorian school in the village was closed. 15 at some length in the Sustainability Report. The school is part of the Acorn Multi-Academy Trust, currently made up of five primary 5.1 Services schools, and, like many modern schools, it serves a wider catchment area than Chardstock. It can accommodate up to 120 pupils, and the number enrolled is close to capacity. Like most rural communities, Chardstock receives little beyond the statutory minima Because the school is successful, it has recently increased its number of staff and may, at in terms of public services, and those it does receive are being gradually eroded. The some future point, need to expand. key factors are as follows. Anglican church Chardstock has a historically important Anglican church in the least spoilt 5.1.1 Roads are mostly unlit, single-track, winding lanes, many with high banks and hedges part of the Conservation Area. It forms and, with one or two exceptions, usually consisting of a few inches of rubble with a an attractive and unique grouping with 16 thin layer of tarmac. Maintenance requirements are relatively high. Local authority the late fifteenth-century George Inn and cuts mean that, from the 2016/17 financial year, Devon County Council (DCC) will no surrounding houses – the group of Victorian longer clear the road from the A358 into the village after snow. terraced houses known as Five Bells, the 5.1.2 Chardstock village has a small range of services and facilities of its own but no Old School and the cluster of buildings that general public transport by which to access a wider range. There are no services in were associated with the Victorian vicarage. any of the hamlets other than Tytherleigh. Opposite is the old glebe land. St Andrew’s Church is fronted by a Victorian stone wall 5.1.3 The parish is mainly in the valley of the River Kit. It has several localised drainage which is in need of repair. As elsewhere, the and flooding problems. Sites particularly prone to road flooding are detailed in the church now attracts less regular support Sustainability Report. EDDC is to withdraw support for the lengthsman, whose tasks than in previous years. However, it remains included clearing roadside land drains and gullies and trimming verges on blind a valued centre for religious, ceremonial and corners, from the 2016/17 financial year. pastoral care, and the building and churchyard embody much of the history of the parish. Upkeep of the fabric is the responsibility of the parochial church council, actively supported by a local group of volunteers and fundraisers, who have already funded the refurbishment of 14 Rural Community Profile for the Parish of Chardstock (ACRE – Action with Communities in Rural ), October the church clock. Major repairs to the roof were completed in August 2016. 2013, p. 6. 15 Sustainability Report: Chardstock Village and Associated Hamlets, 2016. 16 Ibid., §3.2 and appendices 1–2. 17 Chardstock Parish Plan, §3.3.3.

4 Recreational facilities There is a modern, well-equipped children’s play area adjacent to the 6.3.2 Roads (see also section 5.1 above) Community Hall run by a voluntary local trust. Facilities for cricket and bowls lie just outside Other than the busy A358, which runs through Tytherleigh, the village and may be accessed on foot or by a short drive. and the roads in the Redrow estate in the village, roads in the All are well used and easily reached parish are mainly narrow winding lanes with high hedgerows. by residents of the village and parts Most are not constructed to meet the volume and type of of Tytherleigh. But they are some traffic currently using them and require relatively high levels of miles from most of the other hamlets, maintenance. At peak periods, in particular at the beginning none of which has any services of its and the end of the school day, the single-track lane that is the own. Residents of the hamlets make main access to the A358 becomes seriously congested.19 up about the half the total population 6.3.3 Services and facilities (see also sections 5.1 and 5.2 above) of the parish and can only reach the village by walking or by private There is a small selection of commercial and community services and facilities in the transport. village20 and in Tytherleigh. None of the other hamlets has any local services at all.

6.3.4 Utilities and drainage 6 Chardstock and sustainability About 45 per cent of the houses in the village (less than 25 per cent of those in the 6.1 In December 2014, East Devon District Council published a Small Towns and Villages parish) have access to mains foul-water drainage. The mains drainage system in Development Suitability Assessment (STVDSA), which assessed 42 smaller rural Chardstock serves the houses at Westcombes, the Redrow estate, Sopers Field, communities against a set of 12 balanced criteria in order to reach a consistent Chardstone Grove and part of the section from the George Inn down to Hoopers judgement about the sustainability of each settlement. It showed that Chardstock Farm. The remaining houses in the village and hamlets have only private drainage meets only five of the 12 criteria used to establish whether a settlement can be arrangements.21 regarded as sustainable. Chardstock is therefore defined as not sustainable and should not have a Built Up Area Boundary. Mains gas is also available to only about 45 per cent of the houses in the village (less This assessment formed part of the evidence submitted for the Local Plan inspection than 25 per cent of the parish). in 2015. After amendment, the Inspector found the New East Devon Local Plan to be All the houses in the parish have access to mains water (although some in outlying sound. The amended edition of the Local Plan was formally adopted by the District areas still choose to use private boreholes and hydraulic rams) and everyone has Council on 28th January 2016. access to mains electricity and telephone services. 6.2 In May 2015, the Chardstock Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group produced a more detailed Sustainability Report for Chardstock parish, which confirmed the findings of 6.3.5 Flooding the STVDSA. It too reported that Chardstock lacks the basic services and facilities Its position in the Kit Valley puts parts of needed for it to be regarded as a sustainable settlement and highlighted a number Chardstock parish at risk of regular localised of other issues arising from inadequate and outdated infrastructure which militate flooding. The Sustainability Report contains against the parish being suitable for further development. That report has been updated for purposes of Chardstock’s Neighbourhood Plan. details and evidence relating to the worst affected areas.22 6.3 The issues raised in these two documents include the following. 6.3.1 Transport (see also section 5.1 above) The parish does not have access to generally available public transport.18 Residents are dependent upon private cars for access to the general range of services and 19 Sustainability Report: Chardstock Village and Associated Hamlets, §3.2. facilities. 20 Chardstock Parish Plan, §§3.1.8, 3.3.4. 21 Chardstock Historical Record Group, Chardstock Housing Survey and Analysis. 22 Sustainability Report: Chardstock Village and Associated Hamlets, §3.5 and fig. 4. 18 EDDC, Small Towns and Villages Development Suitability Assessment, 2014; Chardstock Parish Plan, §3.3.3.

5 6.3.6 Telephone and broadband (see also section 5.1 above) 7.4 The parish is rich in surviving Georgian and Victorian farm and other buildings,27 which are almost always constructed from local flint. Some have been altered or extended All areas of the parish have access to telephone land-line services. The network over the years, but there are still a considerable number which retain most or all of consists almost entirely of above-ground, twisted-copper-pair lines, and is therefore their original outward appearance. at risk in high winds. Most of the parish is on the South Chard 2 sub-exchange at Tatworth (a few miles from Chardstock).23

While the village now has access to superfast broadband, the speed of the line drops the further a property lies from the digital cabinet opposite The George. Those who are more than 2.2 km from the cabinet will continue to endure speeds as low as 0.5 to 2 mbps. 7 The built environment 7.1 Architecturally, the built environment of the parish is of mixed heritage. 7.2 Between the designation of the Conservation Area in 197424 and the loosening of planning regulation in 2012, greater attention was paid to not damaging the overall sense of place that is important to communities like Chardstock and which is easily destroyed by adopting an approach to approving development that is too laissez-faire. With a 95.3 per cent approval rating, the results of Chardstock’s Neighbourhood Plan Issues Questionnaire of 201425 clearly show that conserving and valuing this among our heritage assets is a very high priority indeed. These buildings, particularly where they have survived in groups, contribute much to a 7.3 There are 52 listed buildings in the parish,26 of which local identity which is important to parishioners.28 three (St Andrew’s Church, the George Inn and Lower Ridge Farmhouse) are Grade II*. A large number of 7.5 In 2012, the Blackdown Hills AONB Partnership published a Design Guide for similar buildings have not been listed but are nonetheless Houses, which offers good advice for the conservation and modification of traditional architecturally important. Many of these date from the buildings in the AONB. The Chardstock Parish Neighbourhood Plan takes the Georgian and Victorian eras. principles expressed in that guide as a template for approving eligible development where historic buildings are directly or indirectly implicated. 7.6 There are also to be found examples of more modern design and building techniques, from the 1950s to the present day, including bungalows, social housing, the estate houses of the Redrow era, and the most recent buildings at Sopers Field and Chardstone Grove. The front part of the Old School has recently been sensitively refurbished to provide three apartments, and further work is to take place at the rear.

23 Ibid., §§3.4.1, 3.4.2. 27 Chardstock Historical Records Group. 24 John Fisher, Chardstock, East Devon District Council, 1999, §2.4. 28 Chardstock Parish Neighbourhood Plan: A Summary of the Main Output from the Issues Questionnaire, p. 5. 25 Chardstock Parish Neighbourhood Plan: A Summary of the Main Output from the Issues Questionnaire, p. 5. 26 www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/england/devon/chardstock; 23 of these are in the village, 29 elsewhere in the parish.

6 8.4 The Issues Questionnaire results show that the great majority of parishioners (97.3 per 8 The natural environment cent) recognise and value this natural heritage31 and wish to see the maintenance and protection of our landscape and ecology afforded a high priority. This is true both of the AONB and of the land immediately adjacent to it. 8.5 Animal species that have been reported in the parish within the last ten years include dormouse, otter, badger, fox, hare, deer, barn owl and bats. The River Kit, reflecting the purity of its waters, is home to brown trout, bullhead, lamprey, eels and Atlantic salmon.

9 Summary Chardstock is a historically and environmentally important parish. Its inability to absorb further development is a consequence of these factors and the resultant need to conserve heritage assets for posterity. The community is viable and vibrant, and its best interests will be served by encouraging appropriate local businesses, which contribute to its economy without putting further pressure on its infrastructure, services and facilities.

8.1 Apart from the village itself, Chardstock parish comprises open farm and uncultivated land interspersed with isolated farm and other buildings and hamlets consisting of only a handful of houses. 8.2 Some of the open land to the south-east between the village and Tytherleigh, which straddles the A358, and on down to the border with Hawkchurch lies just outside the AONB. The Issues Questionnaire results show, unequivocally, that parish residents believe that this land, and any historic buildings on it, should be treated with similar respect to that shown to the AONB in matters of development management.29

8.3 A local professional ecologist has conducted a thorough audit of Chardstock’s natural environment and ecology, which was published in 2014 as the Parish Biodiversity Audit for Chardstock. Summarising, the audit’s main conclusion was: “Chardstock parish is special in an East Devon context for a number of reasons. While it has no outstanding sites, and is barely touched by the River Axe SSSI and SAC, it has ten County Wildlife Sites covering a range of habitats, outstandingly clean water in the network of streams and seepages, relatively a large amount of wet alder and willow carr woodland, varied underlying geology giving rise to vegetation and insects assemblages that reflect the range from base-rich to acidic conditions, a dense network of hedgerows and relatively benign farming practices dominated by beef and dairy farms.”30

29 Ibid., p. 19. 30 C. Martin Drake, Parish Biodiversity Audit for Chardstock, p. 2. 31 Chardstock Parish Neighbourhood Plan: A Summary of the Main Output from the Issues Questionnaire, pp. 19–20.

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