CPRE Kent comments Binbury Park planning application MA/18/504836 CPRE Kent and the Maidstone Committee of CPRE Kent object to the application as it conflicts with the adopted local plan and there are no material or exceptional considerations why the plan should not be followed: The site is not allocated as a development site in the adopted Local Plan and the Council has sufficient housing and employment land supply; Its permission would undermine the Local Plan strategy; The site lies within the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty; The site lies in countryside; It will have an adverse effect on ancient woodlands and Local Wildlife Sites; Ecological impact; It will worsen air quality on the M20; It is not in a sustainable location; It will impact negatively on heritage assets; It could result in conflict with existing adjoining uses. The reasons above are enlarged upon below. Plan-led development The application should be refused as it is not in conformity with the recently adopted Local Plan. The 2018 National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) sets out that the planning system should be genuinely plan-led.1 The Maidstone Local Plan was adopted just a year ago (October 2017) and made provision for identified housing and employment needs to 2031. The site is not allocated, is a greenfield site and lies within the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The application should be refused as the Council has sufficient land supply: The proposed 1,750 houses are not needed as the Council has more than a five-year housing land supply. The Council’s monitoring sets out that at 1 April 2018 the Council had a 6.3 years land supply, and for the 20-year period from 1 April 2018 had a housing land supply of 17,906 – 246 more than required. Whilst the Council’s ‘hybrid’ method increases housing land supply to 6.5 years and for the 20-year period identifies a supply of 18,353 – 693 more than required. The proposed 46,000 sqm of commercial floorspace are not required. Outline planning permission has been granted for employment uses at Woodcut Farm for up to 45,295 sqm B1(a), (b) and (C), and B8 units. This is a site that is allocated in the Adopted Local Plan. Adverse impact on the adopted Local Plan strategy To allow another strategic scale development, as proposed at Binbury Park, would not only conflict with the local plan’s objective of protecting the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, but will also compete with and undermine the delivery of the strategic sites allocated in the local plan. The NPPF sets out that ‘Planning law requires that applications for planning permission should be determined in accordance with the development plan, unless 1 NPPF July2018 paragraph 15 1 material considerations indicate otherwise’2. It goes on to state that ‘the presumption in favour of sustainable development does not change the statutory status of the development plan as the starting point for decision making. Where a planning application conflicts with an up-to-date development plan permission should not usually be granted, but only if material considerations in a particular case indicate that the plan should not be followed.’3 The Local Plan adopted in October 2017 sets out the strategy for the Borough to 2031 in Policy SS1, namely that: An expanded Maidstone urban area will be the principal focus for development in the borough; Strategic locations to the north west and south east of the urban area provide for substantial residential development and junction 7 of the M20 motorway is identified as a strategic location for additional business provision in association with a new medical campus; A prestigious business park at Junction 8 (Woodcut Farm) of the M20 will provide for a range of job needs up to 2031; and The Kent Downs AONB will be conserved and enhanced. At 1 April 2018 the Council had a 6½ year land supply. Outline planning permission was granted for up to 45,295 square metres employment use at Woodcut Farm. Binbury Park was put forward as an alternative site for strategic economic development and rejected by the Local Plan Inspector. The Woodcut Farm site was preferred and included in the plan. In the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty The application should be refused because it is contrary to the NPPF, Maidstone Local Plan and the Kent Downs AONB Management Plan. The National Planning Policy Framework paragraph 172 states: ‘Great weight should be given to conserving and enhancing landscape and scenic beauty in Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty … The conservation and enhancement of wildlife .. (are) also important considerations … .’ It continues ‘The scale and extent of development within these designated areas should be limited. Planning permission should be refused for major development other than in exceptional circumstances, and where it can be demonstrated to be in the public interest. Consideration of such applications should include an assessment of: a) The need for the development … b) The cost of, and scope for, developing outside the designated area, or meeting the need for it in some other way; and c) Any detrimental effect on the environment, the landscape and recreational opportunities, and the extent to which it could be moderated.’ There are no ‘exceptional circumstances’ to justify the scheme: 2 NPPF July 2018 paragraph 2 3 NPP F July 2018 paragraph 12 2 The development covers an area of around 173.6 hectares and cannot be considered ‘limited’. A proposal of this scale represents major development in an AONB, with regard to the tests set out in the NPPF. The NPPF requires that consideration of the application should include an assessment of the need for the development. There is no need for the housing and employment floorspace. The proposed development will have a detrimental effect on the environment and landscape which cannot be moderated to reduce the adverse impact to an acceptable level (for example with regard to light pollution and impact of height of development which are considered below). The spatial vision for the Borough sets out that by 2031 the Kent Downs AONB ‘will be conserved and enhanced’. This is taken forward in the Plan’s spatial objectives which seek ‘to safeguard and maintain the character of the borough’s landscapes including the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty’. Adopted Local Plan policy SP17 ‘The Countryside’ at point 3 requires ‘Great weight should be given to the conservation and enhancement of the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty’, and that ‘Account should be taken of the Kent Downs AONB Management Plan and the Maidstone Borough Landscape Character Guidelines Supplementary Planning Document.’ The Maidstone Landscape Assessment Supplement 2012 on page 60 states that ‘within the AONB, landscape quality will be given the greatest possible protection, and this will be given priority over all other planning considerations. Development will be resisted and, where it is permitted, must be of the highest standard of design and siting.’ It also states that ‘This information will not be reviewed until the Landscape Character Guidelines Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) is published.’ Allowing development of this scale would not be consistent with the Council’s aim to conserve and safeguard the AONB. The Kent Downs AONB Management Plan Sustainable Development policies SD1, SD3, and SD7 are relevant. These seek to conserve and enhance the natural beauty of the AONB, resist development which disregards or runs counter to the primary purpose of the AONB (to conserve and enhance natural beauty), and retain and improve tranquillity, including the experience of dark skies at night. The proposed development will not achieve this and will in our view be contrary to the Management Plans’ Sustainable Development policies. Light pollution Planning permission should be refused because the development will have a major adverse effect on the AONB at night. The NPPF requires planning decisions to ‘ensure that new development is appropriate for its location taking into account the likely effects (including cumulative effects) of pollution on … and the natural environment.’ This includes 3 limiting ‘the impact of light pollution from artificial light on local amenity, intrinsically dark landscapes and nature conservation.’4 CPRE England’s Light Pollution and Dark Skies map 20165 maps light pollution in 9 bands from >32 NanoWatts/cm2/sr (brightest) to <0.25 NanoWatts/cm2/sr (darkest). This shows that the southern part of the site is in the fifth band 2-4 NanoWatts/ cm2/sr. Whilst the rest of the site is in the sixth band 1-2 NanoWatts/cm2/sr. The proposed development will introduce lighting into an area that benefits from generally darker night skies. This will have an adverse impact on wildlife both on site and in the ancient woodland and Local Wildlife Sites within and adjacent to the site. Impact of height of development The Parameter Plan: Development Heights sets out that the hotel (10m high) will be located at the highest end of the site. We have concerns that due to the slope of the land and its topography the taller residential and employment units are likely to be visible from locations well beyond the site, and especially at night, such as Stockbury, and land along the North Downs to the south-east and north-west. In the countryside The proposal conflicts with national and local planning policies for the protection of the countryside and should be refused for this reason. The NPPF requires that planning decisions should contribute to and enhance the natural environment by recognising the intrinsic character and beauty of the countryside, and the wider benefits from natural capital and ecosystem services.6 The site is within the countryside where Adopted Local Plan Policy SP17 resists development in the countryside unless it accords ‘with other polices in the plan and will not result in harm to the character and appearance of the area.’ The development covers approximately 173.6 hectares of greenfield land and adjoins and includes ancient woodland and Local Wildlife Sites.