For Publication

FOR PUBLICATION AGENDA ITEM NED/13/00386/OL – Development Proposals at The Avenue site, Wingerworth by Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) MEETING: PLANNING COMMITTEE DATE: 15 th July 2013 REPORT BY: GROUP LEADER, DEVELOPMENT MANAGEMENT WARD: Affecting Hasland, St Leonards and Rother wards COMMUNITY Hasland & St Leonards and Holmebrook and FORUM: Rother 1.0 PURPOSE OF REPORT 1.1 To consider the application concerning the Avenue Works site south of Chesterfield and to respond to a consultation on the submitted planning application from North East Derbyshire District Council. 2.0 THE SITE AND PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT 2.1 The Avenue site comprises a total of 120 hectares and is located immediately to the south of the Borough of Chesterfield boundary. Part of the site was the former Avenue Coking Works which is currently under going significant remediation works to treat the seriously contaminated land resulting from its former Coking Works use. The remediation programme is due to be completed in 2015. 98 hectares of the site is owned by the HCA. The site is generally located between the mainline railway and River Rother to the east and the A61 to the west with Mill Lane and the Avenue Washland Local Wildlife site forming the southern boundary. 2.2 Part of the remediation work involves the construction of a development platform comprising of 28 hectares of land and which is to be made suitable for future development. The development platform was granted permission by Derbyshire County Council as part of the remediation proposals secured in 2011 (code CW4/0710/63). The HCA propose a development of this platform as a residential and employment site including providing land for education (a school) and public open space. An access road is proposed off a new roundabout on the A61 Derby Road with an emergency access proposed onto Mill Lane to the south. 2.3 The submitted application is an outline with all matters apart from access reserved for approval at a later date. Specifically the outline proposals include: • Up to 469 houses (including a minimum of 20% affordable houses) occupying 13.4 ha; • Provision of land to be available for a primary school and recreational play area occupying a total of 1.8 ha with 0.4ha within this site being allocated for community use; • Open space/play provision occupying 1.1ha with a further 0.6ha of landscaping; • An employment area (offices, research and development, workshop and light industry uses) occupying approximately 2.8ha; • 8.1ha of infrastructure including access roads; • Main access from A61 Derby Road via a new roundabout at the north west of the site and • Emergency access to the site from Mill Lane to the south of the site. 2.4 The proposal has been designed to accord with the over arching vision for the site described in the Avenue Area Strategic Development Framework (AASF) which has been adopted by North East Derbyshire District Council as interim policy. 2.5 Land to the west of the site adjacent to the A61 is separately owned by Taylor Wimpey and they are exploring development options on 11ha of this area. To the south but north of Mill Lane, Coal Products Ltd own an 11ha commercial site and North East Derbyshire has an undetermined planning application for redevelopment for residential and commercial uses (code NED/10/00044/OL). To the south of Mill Lane North East Derbyshire also has a further undetermined application for 200 dwellings (code NED/11/00344/EIA). 2.6 The outline application is accompanied by the following documents: • Planning Statement, drawings, form and certificates; • Design and Access Statement; • Flood Risk assessment; • Transport Assessment and Travel Plan; • Sustainability Statement; • Drainage Strategy and Assessment; • Draft S106 Heads of Terms • Environmental Statement 3.0 CONSIDERATIONS Principle of development 3.1 As these comments relate to a site outside of the borough, in North East Derbyshire, the Chesterfield Borough Local Plan is of no relevance in this case. The relevant development plan is the North East Derbyshire Local Plan 2001-2011; specifically policy E4, which seeks mixed use development but with the emphasis on employment generating uses. 3.2 The current application however proposes predominantly housing (469 units on 13.4 hectares) with a much smaller proportion of employment land (2.8hectares). NEDDC has an emerging Core Strategy (the North East Derbyshire Local Plan 2011-2031) but this has not yet reached publication stage and therefore little weight can be attached to it. Paragraph 4.4 of the Environmental Statement main text refers to the Avenue Area Strategic Framework (NEDDC 2012) as a Supplementary Planning Document. However it should be noted that the framework has not been prepared in accordance with relevant regulations and the SPD should therefore only be viewed as informal guidance at this stage. 3.3 The applicant’s main argument is that the proposed mix of uses is necessary to enhance the viability of the site. The applicant acknowledges that the proposal will still need public support. It is reasonable to consider this issue as the National Planning Policy Framework Core Planning principles set out that Local Planning Authorities should have regard to market signals and land prices and that alternative uses of employment land should be treated “on their merits having regard to market signals and the relative need for different land uses to support sustainable local communities” (Para 22). Furthermore the NPPF encourages the reuse of commercial land for residential where there are no compelling economic reasons why this would not be appropriate (paragraph 51). 3.4 In this regard it is clear that the redevelopment of the site has been incredibly expensive in so far as its remediation presenting costs which could not be recovered through the redevelopment. It is accepted however that a substantial part of the ‘abnormal’ cost has been grant funded. The application could however be clearer as to whether the loss of potential employment land is likely to be problematic in ensuring a supply of employment land in NEDDC and the wider area, although it is noted that there are other significant employment allocations/proposals nearby (in the context of proposed developments at Markham Vale, Waterside, Coalite etc) and the alternative use would also meet housing need. Impacts 3.5 The key consideration for Chesterfield Borough will be the potential impact of the development on the borough and, in particular, the southern part of Chesterfield along the A61 corridor. Having considered the information submitted there are two areas of particular interest concerning transport impact and impact upon community infrastructure/ facilities. Transport 3.6 Detailed modelling work has been undertaken to establish the likely traffic impact of the proposed development, using the DCC North Derbyshire Traffic Model, which is welcomed. The Transport Assessment has assessed the following junctions which are forecast to operate near or above capacity in 2026. • A61/Nethermoor Road – Tupton • A617 Hornsbridge • B6038/B6039 Hasland • B6051/ Newbold Road/Highfield Lane • B6543 Brewery Street/Brimington Road • A61 Whittington Moor • Lordsmill Street roundabout • A61/Storforth Lane • A61/St Augustines Road As part of the assessment five key scenarios have been assessed: • 2012 Forecast year • Reference case 2026 without AASF • Design case 2026 including AASF • Design case 2026 HCA only • Design case 2026 HCA and Taylor Wimpey development 3.7 The submitted Transport Assessment models traffic from the development and assesses the capacity at each of the junctions referred to. It also uses the following increase in traffic using these routes using a 2012 based index (value of 100) and shows the relative increases in trips for an average working day as well as standard AM and PM peak hours. Scenario AAWT AM PM 2012 Forecast year 100 100 100 2016 reference case 110 126 122 2026 Reference case 158 167 166 2026 Design case 173 182 181 (HCA only) 2026 Design case 196 206 205 (AASF) 3.8 The Transport Assessment concludes that at all junctions apart from the A61/St Augustines Road and the A61/Storforth Lane junctions that the traffic difference is marginal and no mitigation is warranted. At the A61/St Augustines Road and the A61/Storforth Lane junctions traffic flows associated with the Avenue development contribute only a proportion of the overall change in performance of these junctions with the major component of change being the non AASF related development in Chesterfield and North East Derbyshire included in the 2026 forecasts. 3.9 However, the 2026 reference case for the transport model does not appear to include any consideration of the increase in base traffic levels that would result from the emerging Core Strategies of CBC, NEDDC or Bolsover District Councils. As data on this was provided to DCC as part of the creation of the North Derbyshire Traffic Model, and the CBC Core Strategy in particular is considerably advanced (due to be reported to CBC’s full council for approval and adoption on 24 th July) it is not clear why this has not been assessed. Inclusion of Core Strategy traffic is likely to result in higher overall trip rates on the network but a proportionally smaller share of impact from the Avenue Development alone (based on the same Trip rates from the proposed development). 3.10 It is also not clear why the study has assessed the impact of the development on the Horns Bridge and Whittington Moor roundabouts on the A61 but not the Lockoford Lane roundabout which is equally considered to be likely to operate near or above capacity in 2026. The study should also assess the impact on the Langer Lane junction which takes a significant amount of traffic through to Wingerworth and this will ensure a complete picture of the impact of the development on the highway network.

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