Court Meadow, Letterston

Phase 2

DESIGN & ACCESS STATEMENT To accompany planning application 10/0924

Phase 2, Court Meadow, Letterston

Design & Access Statement to accompany planning application 10/0924

This development was commenced in 2004 further to the outline planning consent (98/0628/PA) and subsequent reserved matters consents. This statement therefore outlines the design and access strategy for the remaining 53 homes to be built, as well as showing how this integrates with that implemented to date.

The Site

The site is at the geographical and population density centre of Letterston. It is flat within about 4 metres and is well drained. Existing development borders the east side of the site and part of the west side. Land on the north side is included in the JUDP as residential development land. It therefore fulfils the test of sequential development from the centre of a settlement outwards.

Access

The site is flat without access problems. Access is from St David’s Rd using the existing entrance, 5.5 metres wide with 10 metre radius kerbs. Visibility is 44 metres in both directions measured according to guidelines in Manual for Streets and DB32 and meeting the visibility requirements for entrances for 100 houses onto a road with a 30mph speed limit within Manual for Streets.

The main access road has width of about 5 meters with two 1.8 meter pavements. Pavements or shared surfaces foot paths pass within 1.8 meters of the door of each house.

Entrance to Court Meadow. House based on form and scale and details of rural cottages in West Wales.cottage. Stone and turf retaining wall.

Suitable pavements and drop kerbs for wheelchair cycle and pram use exist and will be provided to enable movement about the development.

The development is well served by bus services to Fishguard and Haverfordwest which pass the entrance. A bus stop is 300m away by the Jubilee pub, but in practice busses stop on demand by the site entrance.

Disabled Access

The development will be a mixture of buildings for C3 use. Disabled access and facilities will be in accordance with the building regulations as determined by the building control body selected from time to time at the discretion of the developer.

The architectural design and access provisions will be diverse rather than following a rigid formula, thus providing opportunities for people of differing needs (to the limited extent that the building regulations provide for this).

The roads will be designed to keep traffic speeds very low to make the environment safe for pedestrians which is an inherently beneficial approach for the majority of disabled people. Shared surfaces will be used where possible which avoids the difficulty of kerbs.

Design

The development is under construction following the well established but seldom followed principles of New Urbanism. The existing buildings in Letterston are with a few exceptions indifferent, either modern or poor refurbishment of older buildings. Houses at Court Meadow respect the scale and mass of the rest of Letterston, but depart from the design of most in order to respect the better architectural traditions of the area.

Front of St Bride’s Barn

All houses are built close to the footpath or pavement, with a flower bed dividing the private and public realm. Gardens are behind the houses to provide privacy. Most have garages or car barns which are large enough to accommodate cycles and waste bins.

The site is bounded on the East side by Spring Gardens, consisting of architecturally unattractive bungalows. The dwellings on the East side of the site will respect this scale while building up towards the scale of the rest of the site. The houses bordering the North East corner are in poor repair but include at least one good example of an Edwardian three storey house. The scale of this is reflected in other proposed houses on the site as shown on the schedule of accommodation and sketch masterplan.

Back of St Bride’s Barn

As can be seen from the houses built to date, the architectural style across the site will closely follow the traditions and vernacular of the area, and avoid the common defect found in much recent construction elsewhere of paying lip service to tradition by incorporating a few token elements. Smaller dwellings will be influenced by the form of simple terraced houses found throughout West Wales and be in stone or rough render, with possible occasional intervention with brick carefully chosen to be as near Goodwick bricks as possible and never laid in stretcher bond. Doors and windows will be in painted timber. Windows will be sash or the characteristic flush casement found in the area. Sash windows on smaller houses have the frames exposed, while grander houses of later period tend to have more of the frame recessed in the masonry.

Larger houses will, as is the custom in West Wales, reflect less distinctly regional character, and will tend to Georgian influence.

All roofs will be in natural slate from a variety of quarries to avoid the development looking as if it was built all at once.

The development is built around a central green square which gives it a focal point and can be used for whatever reasonable use the residents choose. All communal facilities (roads, green space and shared drives) will be owned and managed by a not for profit management company owned by the residents. This is to enhance the sense of community and ownership of the development.

All houses are built close to the road or pavement to avoid a feeling of insularity and encourage community spirit. All houses have a door onto a public place, be it road or footpath.

Sustainability

The houses built before the current building regulations came into force included substantially greater thermal insulation than required. All future buildings will meet the insulation and other sustainability requirements of the building regulations at the time, as advised by the building control body chosen by the developer. Opportunities may be taken to build lower energy houses where this would not sacrifice the other design criteria.

All houses have indoor space associated with garages and car barns for the storage of bins. This is flexible enough for recycling bags to be stored in line with the local authority currrent single collection bag policy.

The development is well served by busses during working hours as recounted elsewhere.

As all external joinery is timber, maintenance will be tedious and expensive compared to uPVC or aluminium fittings preferred by most developers. Likewise the communal space and flower beds in front of most houses will require regular and thorough upkeep.

All public space and car parking is overlooked by houses to improve security.

JUDP Policies

The development reflects the policies 44,45 and 46 of the JUDP as it is included as a site for the precise purpose for which it is being developed and is within the settlement boundary of Letterston.

SPG

The design of the site reflects almost all polices contained in the SPG Principles of Good Design in Residential Development and the only houses built at the time the SPG was written were included as an example to others of good design reflecting the policies contained in the said Design Guide.

Existing buildings. Note barn doors on garages, sash windows, rubble stone walls.

Density is about 16 houses per acre to make efficient use of land. Hedge banks and hedges around the site will remain in place and form the garden boundary where they are on a garden boundary.

Most houses will be terraced to maximize land use and reduce heat losses as well as being more appropriate for a densely developed village centre location.

Designs will not be repeated except within a terrace. Vents will wherever possible be in chimneys. Meter boxes vents and flues will wherever possible not be permitted on elevations visible from a public place.

Long-term Management Strategy

All purchasers of homes will become shareholders of a not for profit management company (Court Meadow Freeholders Ltd), into which they will be covenanted to make annual payments. The monies raised through the annual Court Meadow Freeholders Ltd charge will be used for maintenance of roads, communal areas, communal television aerial and drains.

Court Meadow Freeholders Ltd was formed prior to the sale of the first home. The developers will act as the directors of the management company at the outset and residents will be encouraged to put themselves forward as directors as the homes become occupied. The developers will withdraw from the management company once the last homes are built.

One additional role of the management company is to enforce scheme covenants and to ensure any alterations/additions to homes conform to those covenants. It is intended that all the homes will be covenanted to stop homeowners making alterations that will impact on the design quality. Examples of covenants that will be imposed on the owners are as follows:

 Home owners will not be permitted to change timber windows to plastic    Homeowners will not be permitted to erect satellite dishes or TV aerials on their homes.    All extensions and conservatories will require management company approval    Window colours and render colours will have to remain as built. 

 It will not be permitted to pave any grassed or planting areas.

Our experience is that these covenants add value to homes as opposed to deterring buyers, as the home owners can buy with the confidence that the development will retain its design quality over the years.

Unit no Description NIA (sqm) NIA (sqft)

2 3 bed 1bt semi 90.0 969 3 3 bed 1bt semi 90.0 969 4 2 bed 4p semi 89.5 963 5 2 bed 4p semi 75.0 807 12 3 bed 1bt end ter 88.0 947 13 3 bed 1bt ter 94.0 1,012 14 2 bed 4p ter 82.0 883 15 2 bed 4p ter 72.0 775 16 2 bed 4p ter 72.0 775 17 2 bed 4p ter 72.0 775 18 2 bed 4p ter 72.0 775 19 3 bed 2 bt end ter 114.0 1,227 23 1 bed coach A1 37.5 404 1 3 bed 2bt DET 105.0 1,130 6 2 bed 4p DET 75.0 807 7 2 bed 4p semi 75.0 807 8 2 bed 4p terr 75.0 807 9 3 bed 1bt end ter 92.6 997 10 2 bed 4p semi 75.0 807 11 3 bed 1bt end ter 90.0 969 20 2 bed 4p semi 75.0 807 21 2 bed 4p semi 75.0 807 22 1 bed coach A2 57.6 622 24 3 bed 1bt semi 90.0 969 25 3 bed 1bt semi 90.0 969 26 3 bed 1bt semi 90.0 969 27 2 bed 4p DET 75.0 807 28 3 bed 1bt semi 90.0 969 29 3 bed 1bt semi 90.0 969 30 2 bed 4p semi 75.0 807 31 2 bed 4p semi 75.0 807 32 2 bed 4p terr 75.0 807 33 2 bed 4p terr 75.0 807 34 2 bed 4p semi 75.0 807 35 3 bed D3 108.0 1,163 36 3 bed D3 110.0 1,184 37 3 bed 3 st 119.5 1,286 38 3 bed 3 st 119.5 1,286 39 3 bed 6p terr 105.0 1,130 40 3 bed 3 st 119.5 1,286 41 3 bed 3 st 119.5 1,286 41a 1 bed coach A1 37.5 404 42 3 bed 2 bt DET 108.0 1,163 43 1 bed coach A2 57.8 622 44 2 bed C 72.0 775 45 2 bed C 72.0 775 46 3 bed corner hs 101.0 1,087 47 2 bed end terr 78.0 840 48 2 bed C 72.0 775 49 2 bed C 72.0 775 50 3 bed 1bt DET 90.0 969 51 2 bed 4p semi 75.0 807 52 3 bed 2 bt semi 108.0 1,163 4,488 48,306