WP/17/00271/OUT 7Th June 2017 Outline Application for Phased Development of up to 340No. Dwellings with Primary
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APPLICATION NO: WP/17/00271/OUT 7th June 2017 Outline application for phased development of up to 340no. dwellings with primary access from Nottington Lane & secondary access from Dorchester Road including ancillary off-site highways works, on-site open space & drainage works FIELD SOUTH OF NOTTINGTON LANE, NOTTINGTON LANE, WEYMOUTH CG Fry & Son Ltd Case Officer: David Hodges FOR DECISION 1. SUMMARY RECOMMENDATION 1.1. Delegate authority to the Head of Planning (Development Management and Building Control) for the issue of a conditional outline approval following an agreement under Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act to secure: 35% affordable housing; An area of public open space of not less than 5ha; 1,000 sqm of defined/equipped natural area for play and four smaller defined (non-equipped) play spaces totalling 1,600 sqm. 2. PROPOSAL 2.1. The applicant is seeking outline planning consent (with all matters of detail, except for access, reserved) for up to 340 dwellings, together with an area of open space. The development would have two access points off Nottington Lane, as well as an access off Dorchester Road. 2.2. Site Appraisal The site as a whole comprises 16.25 ha of agricultural land, which sits between Nottington village and the north western fringe of the built form of Weymouth, known as Broadwey. The application site relates to four connecting parcels of land, located to the rear of properties running along Dorchester Road, and along the southern edge of Nottington Lane. Nottington Court sits directly to the north west of the site. The site is designated in the West Dorset, Weymouth and Portland Local Plan as an allocated site for development, and sits within the defined development boundary. 2.3. The site also falls within the South Dorset Ridge and Vale landscape character area and is designated an area of Land of Local Landscape Importance. The area as a whole is characterised by its undulating landscape, but with the site itself falling within the lower vale and forming a sheltered pocket of land. In the immediate vicinity, the character of the area becomes influenced by the urban fringe of Broadwey, with the eastern part of the site comprising open agricultural land which is somewhat shaped by the suburban development to the north and east. Nottington Lane itself retains to some extent a rural feel by virtue of its narrow width and hedged boundaries, although this is compromised by the extensive traffic calming which has been put in place along its eastern section. The western part of the site exhibits a slightly different character and becomes dominated by small clusters of broadleaved trees, which adds texture and diversity to the landscape. This western part of the site is contained within a small ‘bowl’ of lower lying land, which historically formed the parkland setting of Nottington House, which was demolished in the 1960’s. This part of the site has an enclosed character, owing to the belt of trees that surround this portion of land. 2.4. The site is within a sensitive location, with a portion of the western part of site situated within the Nottington Conservation Area. A large number of the trees are protected by Tree Preservation Orders and there are a number of listed buildings to the north and west, off Nottington Lane. A footpath runs along the western boundary of the site, connecting with Nottington Lane to the north and Dorchester Road to the South. 2.5. The land is used for both arable and pastoral farming, and also used for hay and silage. Due to the soil wetness, it is not the best and most versatile agricultural land, falling within agricultural land classification 3b, being of moderate quality. Running parallel to the northern boundary of the site, within the adjacent agricultural field, is the River Wey. The land slopes down in a north western direction and is an area of known surface water flooding. 2.6. Within Broadwey are a number of facilities including Wey Valley School and Sports College, Wyverne School, and St. Nicholas and St. Laurence C.E. Primary School, together with Redlands Sports Hub and Upwey Railway Station. 2.7. Proposed development Part 3 of the of the Development Management Procedure Order (2015) states that an application for outline planning permission does not need to give details of any reserved matters, except for the area, or areas, where access points to the development proposed would be situated. Subsequently, very little information is before the Council in respect of scale, layout, appearance and landscaping. In this case, the agent is seeking approval of the access to the site, and full details of the accesses have been submitted. 2.8. That said, in order to demonstrate how the development could be provided on site, an illustrative masterplan has been submitted. Having regard to the proposal, the following details have been provided: 2.9. Use and amount of development This proposal is for residential development, comprising up to 340 houses (35% of which are to be affordable housing), together with an area of open space. The proposal as shown indicates an area of 5.36 ha or open space/landscape area, together with a pond. 2.10. Access The proposed housing would be served by a network of linking roads, which would connect with Nottington Lane at two separate points, with a further access proposed off Dorchester Road. The development would also incorporate a network of trails for walking and cycling, providing access across the parkland space and a dedicated route running parallel to Nottington Lane, providing connectivity between Broadwey and Nottington village. 2.11. Layout, scale and appearance An illustrative masterplan has been provided indicating a proposed layout of the scheme. As the application is in outline form, the layout shown is only provided for indicative purposes. It is nevertheless a helpful indicator as to how the scheme may work on site. The layout of the development has been amended during the course of the application to respond to issues raised. The indicative layout shows a network of roads with dwellings fronting the routes and spaces. A large portion of the housing would be provided in the eastern part of the site, adjacent to the existing built form of Broadwey, with a second cluster of dwellings provided within the lower western portion of the site. A large area of parkland and trees would sit between these two blocks of units, with a single road linking the two, and access provided to both blocks from Nottington Lane. The proposed scheme seeks to respond to the historic and natural environment and this has influenced the layout of the development. A central public parkland is shown at the heart of the development, which seeks to retain the historic shelterbelt of trees, and seeks to respond to the historic Manor House setting, that once existed prior to the demolition of Nottington House. A feature building is proposed to be positioned within the south western part of the site, which would seek to address the parkland setting and sit at the end of a tree lined avenue. Beyond the proposed illustrative layout, no clear details of scale and appearance have been provided at this outline stage. However, the supporting information indicates that a variety of house types and sizes would be provided, including apartments, terraces housing, semi- detached houses and larger detached dwellings, with a variety of tenure types. The supporting information indicates that larger villas would address the park, and lower scale cottages would overlook the woodland edges. A pair of ‘lodge’ dwellings and terrace cottages would frame the west and east entrances from Nottington Lane respectively, and it is intended that the village character would be reinforced by the landscaped arrival over the pond and the development presenting a lower scale with rooms in the roof. 2.12. Landscaping Some details of landscaping have been provided on the illustrative masterplan. As indicated above, a large area of parkland is to be provided within the heart of the development, and the protected copse of trees is shown to be retained. Street trees would also be provided within the development, and with the exception of the retention of the historic stone wall to the west of the site, most of the boundaries between the site and wider countryside would be delineated with hedgerows. 2.13. Notwithstanding the above details, this is an outline application with all matters - apart from points of access to the existing highway network - reserved for later approval. Approval of this application would grant permission for the principle of the development of the site for residential purposes whilst also granting the access details. 2.14. The application is essentially the same as the previous application for the development of the site (WP/15/00072/OUT), which was recommended for approval by officers and refused by the Planning Committee. 3. RELEVANT PLANNING HISTORY 3.1. This application follows the refusal of a previous outline application for the development of the site (App. No. WP/15/00072/OUT) by the Planning Committee on 12 July 2016. 3.2. This application was refused for the following reasons; 1. Insufficient information has been submitted to demonstrate that the proposed development would not, by virtue of the resultant increased volume of traffic using Nottington Lane by reason of the two accesses proposed, have a significant detrimental impact on highway safety. As such, the proposed development fails to comply with policy COM7 and WEY12 of the West Dorset, Weymouth and Portland Local Plan (adopted 2015). 2. The proposed development has the potential to result in additional surface water run-off, which would perpetuate and potentially worsen the existing flood risk within the area.