Froyle Village Design Statement Xxxx 2014 Village Design Statement Introduction
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Froyle Village Design Statement xxxx 2014 Village Design Statement Introduction What is a Village Design Statement? How was the Froyle VDS produced? A Village Design Statement (VDS) is a Key elements of the VDS include: Consultation with village residents for the community document which captures the VDS was combined with that of the Parish local characteristics and qualities that the • Design related planning guidelines Plan, commencing with a meeting in the people of a village value. The VDS provides • A pictorial and descriptive record of the Village Hall on 3 February 2011. Out of the guidance to developers, councils, residents current state of the village. many volunteers attending the meeting, a and applicants seeking planning approval • Extraction of important planning related number of project groups were formed to for development within the parish views of inhabitants of the village. take forward various Community Planning boundary. activities, working alongside the Parish Given the recent changes and relaxations Council. These comprised an overall A VDS is not a statutory document, but is in national planning constraints, coupled Steering Group chaired by Michelle adopted by East Hampshire District Council with reductions in East Hampshire District Essenson, the Parish Plan (PP) Group, VDS as Non-Statutory Planning Guidance and Council planning department budgets, the Group and a group to focus on the will be considered alongside their Local importance of the VDS as a clear development of the Former Treloar School Development Framework. As such, it has a expression of Froyle residents views will site. (For a more complete record of the real influence. Development proposals must increase. consultation process, including village pay particular attention to the District meetings, statistics and key individuals, Council’s Countryside Design Summary and please refer to the Froyle Parish Plan, the VDS. This has been illustrated across Appendix II). the district, most significantly in Selborne where the Selborne VDS was instrumental The VDS Group met regularly during the in the rejection of a developer promoted comprehensive consultation period, which site at the Local Plan Inquiry. The Local ran from March 2011 to July 2012. During Planning Inspector stated “The VDS rightly this phase, the group focused on ensuring identifies the open spaces in the village as that there was VDS relevant consultation important…” and on researching and defining the form of the VDS itself. Following the completion The VDS however, is not about preventing of the consultation period and subsequent change, but managing it and initiating it in analysis of results, the VDS group turned the most constructive way for the to focus on document production, after a community. brief pause to allow for the Parish Plan to be published and adopted. Work to complete the document began again in earnest during the Autumn and Winter of 2013, with final drafting and village input being completed during Spring 2014. Froyle Village Design Statement date Contents - TBC Section 1: VILLAGE AND COMMUNITY Section 4: TRANSPORTATION LINKS Introduction Roads The Village of Upper and Lower Froyle Footpaths Upper Froyle Parking Lower Froyle Traffic Calming Street Lighting and Signage Section 2: LANDSCAPE SETTING Public Transport Overview Design Guidelines Topography and Watercourses Landmarks, Views and Open Spaces Biodiversity and Vegetation DESIGN GUIDELINES Design Guidelines Section 3: SETTLEMENT PATTERN, CHARACTER AND APPENDIX 1 - Consultation Process BUILDINGS Settlement Pattern APPENDIX 2 - Sustainability Development of Lower Froyle Development of UppertFroyle APPENDIX 3 - Local Plan Policies Potential Development Areas Building Form Size, Shape and Building Massing Materials and Building Components Design Guidelines Froyle Village Design Statement date SECTION 1 Village and Community Village and Community Introduction The parish of Froyle lies approximately four The area has been settled since the stone More recently 2003(?) saw the construction miles north-east of the market town of age. The archaeological record includes of six houses on the site of the old wood Alton and 6 miles south-west of the flint tools, a Bronze Age barrow, the yard in Upper Froyle and in 2010 several Georgian town of Farnham. It lies alongside remains of a Roman villa or homestead, houses in Westburn Fields were replaced the busy A31, the main road connecting Norman earthworks and a medieval cross. by Drum Housing Association as the first Guildford and Winchester. The parish has step in a renewal programme. two main settlements: Upper Froyle which The village is mentioned in the Domesday has grown up round the Church and the Book and there is evidence that the A feature of recent years has been the manor house and Lower Froyle which pilgrims way between Winchester and trend to enlarge properties thereby developed from a series of farms running Canterbury passed through the area diminishing the stock of smaller, less along ‘Froyle Street’. In addition there are avoiding more difficult terrain closer to the expensive homes. two hamlets: Yarnhams in the north of the valley bottom. parish and Mill Court on the south side of In 2012 Lord Mayor Treloar School which the A31 close to the River Wey. had occupied many of the buildings in Parts of the church date from the 14th Upper Froyle since 1956? moved out Upper and Lower Froyle lie at the foot of century and the manor house, Froyle launching a period of major change for the rolling chalk downland as it descends to Place, from the 16th century. The large village. A number of houses were sold to the Wey Valley. The 18th century traveller number of houses in both villages private owners. Froyle House is currently Arthur Young described the route through constructed in the 18th century suggests being converted to apartments. On the the valley, between Farnham and Alton as that this was a period of particular main campus site to the south of Ryebridge the fairest 10 miles in England. This is prosperity. These properties along with Lane and to the east of Hen and Chicken prime agricultural land. The concentration those of earlier and later periods Hill, Froyle Place/Gaston House is being of large houses in the area hints at the contribute significantly to the converted to a hotel/country club. Other wealth farming generated. In the middle character of Froyle. buildings are being converted to residential ages wool was the main industry but by use and 60 houses of varying sizes are the 17th century farmers had shifted to 20th century building has been largely being constructed for completion by 2016. cereal production. Wheat was the restricted to Lower Froyle. A row of It is anticipated that the population of the principal crop supplemented in the 19th Edwardian semi-detached houses were village will rise by approximately 200. This century by hops for the brewing trade. The built in the north west corner of the will more than double the size of Upper parish extends to about 4500 acres of village. Westburn Fields was constructed Froyle. which approximately half is owned by the after the war and a row of bungalows Froyle Settled Estate. The population is along the northern edge of the village in variously calculated at around 600. the 1950s. Bamber Close was constructed in the 1970s as part of a lowcost housing scheme. Village and Community Village Design Statement The Village of Upper and Lower Froyle Although Upper and Lower Froyle are physically distinct, separated by a tongue of downland, residents have always considered themselves to be a single community. This is symbolised by the decision to erect the war memorial at the Beeches midway between the two villages. Lower Froyle has the Village Hall and the Recreation Ground. Upper Froyle has the Church. Both villages have pubs: the Anchor in Lower Froyle and the Hen and Chicken in Upper Froyle. Both villages contain listed buildings. Upper Froyle is an archetypal ‘estate village’ while Lower Froyle has developed around a string of farms. Upper Froyle has a settlement boundary Lower Froyle does not. In neither village is there any active farming. Despite the differences, this feeling of oneness still exists as evidenced by the Parish Plan. The enlargement of Upper Froyle presents a number of challenges not least the degree to which it will be possible to integrate so many newcomers into the existing community always assuming they wish to be integrated. A central planning consideration should therefore be the need to make decisions which will help consolidate the community rather than allow it to separate into two or perhaps three parts. Village Design Statement Village and Community Village and Community Upper Froyle Upper Froyle was designated a Conservation Area in 1976 and includes most of the village. Upper Froyle is described as a dispersed linear settlement with an attractive mix of two storey 18th and 19th century buildings including small labourers’ cottages, barns, oast houses and substantial dwellings. These alternate with fields and meadows providing fine views into and out of the village. Walls of various heights are another important feature which provide a degree of unity to the village appearance. Approaching from the A31 the land rises gently to the north. The principle buildings include: Village and Community Village Design Statement Froyle Manor House: a large red brick St Mary’s Church: there has been a The old Treloar School site has been Queen Anne house with a well preserved church on this site for over a thousand renamed Froyle Park. The listed buildings interior containing many original features. years. The present Church was built and the original 1950s school building are between 1300 and 1350 for the nuns of St being converted for residential use. In Froyle House: a smoothly rendered three Mary’s Abbey in Winchester. The church addition a further 56 houses and flats are storey building dating from the 1820s contains a fine collection of historic under construction.