Lovelace Neighbourhood Plan - 2019-2034 A PLAN FOR RIPLEY, OCKHAM AND WISLEY
6 September 2018
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CONTENTS
1. ------INTRODUCTION 8 1.1. Neighbourhood Plans 8 1.2. Why Lovelace? 8 1.3. Legislative Backing 9 1.4. The Plan Document 9 1.5. The Future 9
2. ------LOVELACE PROFILE 11 2.1. Housing 13 2.2. Environment 15 2.2.1 Rural Environment and Open Spaces 15 2.2.2 Natural Habitats 16 2.2.3 Flooding 16 2.2.4 Air Quality and Traffic 17 2.3. Infrastructure 19 2.3.1 Utilities 19 2.3.2 High Speed Broadband 19 2.3.3 Public Transport 19 2.3.4 Cycling and Walking 19 2.3.5 Parking 20 2.3.6 Community Facilities and Activities 20 2.3.7 Healthcare 22 2.3.8 Schools in Lovelace 22 2.4. Business and Employment 23 2.4.1 Local Employment Characteristics 23 2.4.2 Working from Home 24
3. ------CONSTRAINTS AND CHALLENGES 25 3.1. Green Belt 25 3.2. Introduction - The Perfect Storm 25 3.2.1 Already Approved 25 3.2.2 Pending 25 3.2.3 In the Emerging GBC 2017 LP 26 3.3. RHS Wisley Expansion 27 3.4. The Drift Golf Club 27 Page 2 of 142
3.5. M25 / A3 – Junction 10 Improvements 29 3.6. Proposed Sites - GBC 2017 Emerging Local Plan 30 3.6.1 Three Farms Meadows (Site A35, GBC 2017 LP) 31 3.6.2 Garlicks Arch (Site 43, GBC 2017 LP) 33 3.6.3 Other Housing Sites 33 3.6.4 Burnt Common Slip Roads 34 3.7. Summary 34
4. ------LOVELACE VISION AND OBJECTIVES 35 4.1. Housing 35 4.2. Environment 35 4.3. Infrastructure 35 4.4. Business and Employment 36
5. ------LOVELACE OBJECTIVES AND POLICIES 37
6. ------HOUSING POLICIES 40 96.1 Introduction 40 6.2 Housing Sites 42 6.3 Housing for All 44 6.4 Design and Density 47 7.1 Introduction 50 7.2 Protecting Local Green Spaces (LGS) 52 7.3 Biodiversity and Natural Habitats 55 7.4 Flooding 58 7.5 Light Pollution 60 7.6 Air Quality and Traffic 62
8. INFRASTRUCTURE 67 8.1 Introduction 67 8.3 Public Transport and Green Travel 70 8.4 Cycling and Walking 72 8.5 Parking 74 8.6 Community Facilities 78 8.7 Healthcare and Educational Provision 79
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9. BUSINESS AND EMPLOYMENT 81 9.1 Introduction 81 9.2 Preserve and Develop Business & Employment 83 9.3 Rural and Agricultural 86
APPENDIX 1. MAPS 87
APPENDIX 2 SUMMARIES OF SURVEYS 92 2.1 The 2015 Summer Survey Summary 92 2.1.1 What's Good, What's Bad? 92 2.1.2 What Is Missing? 92 2.1.3 What Else Is Needed? 93 2.1.4 What Sort of Place Should Ripley Be? 93 2.1.5 Other Issues 93 2.2 Summer 2015 Survey Analysis 95 2.3 The Lovelace Housing Development Survey 2016 97 2.4 Ockham Housing Survey 98 2.5 The 016 Summer Survey 98 2.6 The 2016 Facilities Survey 99 2.7 The 2016 Business and Employment Survey 100 2.8 The 2018 Summer Survey 101 3.1 Population Growth and Households - 2011 and 2016 103 3.2 Housing Stock 103 3.3 Lovelace Property Purchase and Rental Prices 104 3.4 Additions to Housing Stock in Ripley over Last 5 Years 105 3.5 Ripley Village Businesses Commercial Conversions 105 3.6 Three Farms Meadows/Wisley Airfield – Land and Building 107
APPENDIX 4. ENVIRONMENT 110 2.1 Air Quality 110 4.2 Lovelace Local Green Spaces 113 4.2.1 Ripley Local Green Spaces 113 4.2.2 Ockham Green Spaces 114 4.2.3 Wisley Green Spaces 115 4.3 Local Views 115
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4.4. Biodiversity – Ockham and Wisley Commons 123
APPENDIX 5 INFRASTRUCTURE 126 1.1 Public Transport – Three Farms Meadows 126
APPENDIX 6 GLOSSARY 127
REFERENCES 136
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Map 1 - Lovelace – Green Belt and Surrounding Conurbations Map 2 - Environmental Designated Areas Map 3 - Woodland and Grassland Map 4 - SSSI Impact Zones Map 5 - Local Green Spaces Map 6 - Flood Risk Map 7 - Bus Stops and Schools Map 8 - Public Rights of Way Map 9 - Footpaths Map 10 - Road Noise
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Acronyms
AONB Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty BOA Biodiversity Opportunity Area BOATs Byways Open to All Traffic CAA Conservation Area Appraisal CIL Community Infrastructure Levy CPRE Council for the Protection of Rural England DEFRA Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs GA Garlicks Arch GBC Guildford Borough Council GBC 2003 LP Guildford Borough Council 2003 Local Plan GBC 2017 LP Guildford Borough Council 2017 Local Plan HE Highways England LAA Land Availability Assessment LAQMA Local Air Quality Management Area LGS Local Green Spaces LNP Lovelace Neighbourhood Plan LNPG Lovelace Neighbourhood Plan Group LNR Local Nature Reserves LRN Local Roads Network NPPF National Planning Policy Framework REH Rural Exception Homes RHS Royal Horticultural Society RSPB Royal Society for the Protection of Birds SLGA (p33) L.H.5 ?????????? SCC Surrey County Council SCREF Surrey Countryside and Rural Enterprise Forum SNCI Site of Nature Conservation Interest SPA Special Protection Area SRN Strategic Roads Network SSSI Site of Special Scientific Interest SWT Surrey Wildlife Trust THBSPA Thames Heath Basin Special Protection Area (also referred t as SPA) TFM Three Farms Meadows (former Wisley airfield)
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1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. Neighbourhood Plans
Lovelace comprises the villages of Ripley, Ockham and Wisley. To understand why Lovelace have chosen to have a Neighbourhood Plan, it is helpful to know a little of the process of deciding planning applications and land use in England. The highest level is the countrywide Town and Country Planning Act 1990, from which Councils prepare a Development Plan for their county. In Surrey, Local boroughs, e.g. Guildford Borough Council (GBC), then prepare a Local Plan (LP) for their district. All plans cover housing needs and infrastructure requirements and Local Plans allocate sustainable sites in the borough for housing, both strategic and non-strategic.
The Localism Act 2011 introduced a further planning level, the Neighbourhood Plan (NP), designed to help Councils, e.g. Guildford Borough Council, to make planning decisions informed by more local level policies shaped by the communities most likely to be affected by them. The Lovelace Neighbourhood Plan (LNP) must be in general conformity with the strategic policies of the adopted GBC 2003 Local Plan (GBC 2003 LP), but it is sensible also to give regard to the GBC Emerging 2017 Local Plan (GBC 2017 LP) which was submitted for examination in December 2017.
All Plans must conform to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) guidelines, which offer guidance on suitability of locations, and other matters.
1.2. Why Lovelace?
In 2014 Ripley Parish Council resolved to take advantage of this new opportunity by preparing a Neighbourhood Plan for the area. After consultation with adjacent parishes, it was decided that the most appropriate area for such a plan would be the Lovelace Ward of Guildford Borough, which includes the villages and civil parishes of Ripley, Ockham and Wisley.
As all three civil parishes will be similarly affected by major development proposals, major road network changes and other factors over the next decade or so, it is sensible for the Lovelace Neighbourhood Plan to cover the whole Ward.
The first step was Guildford Borough Council designating Lovelace as a Neighbourhood Plan Area in February 2015. Ripley and Ockham Parish Councils agreed to a working party of volunteers setting up the Lovelace Neighbourhood Plan Group (LNPG) with the aim of providing a draft neighbourhood plan for consideration by the people of Lovelace Ward.
The makeup of the LNPG is defined in the LNPG Constitution, which is available on our website at http://lovelaceplan.co.uk/get-involved/the-constitution-of-the-group.
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1.3. Legislative Backing
The Lovelace Neighbourhood Plan (LNP) has been drawn up in accordance with the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), the Planning Policy Guidance, (PPG), the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, the Localism Act 2011 and the Neighbourhood Planning Regulations 2012 (amended 2016). It is in general conformity with the strategic policies in the adopted Guildford Borough Council 2003 Local Plan and has regard to the Emerging GBC 2017 Local Plan. Once accepted, the LNP will be in force for 15 years, i.e. between 2019-2034, unless superseded by a later version, and will inform all planning decisions in the area.
The regulations emphasise the importance of the policies contained within it accurately reflecting the views of the stakeholders in the area, including the residents, local businesses, community groups and frequent visitors. The LNPG has carried out public and targeted surveys which have formed the objectives and policies of this plan. (Appendix 2).
1.4. The Plan Document
The purpose of the LNP is to:
1. Define how and where development takes place during the next fifteen years, whilst accepting that it cannot interfere with the selection process of major strategic local sites.
2. Provide guidance for developers and planning authorities as to the character, density and other parameters which all future developments must meet.
The most important part of our plan is the list of policies contained in Section 6 and set out in detail in the following pages. Each of these covers a different aspect of the development framework for the area. It is these policies, and their supporting documents, against which planning applications will be assessed. (Each policy is highlighted in a box). The background against which the policies have been drafted is summarised in Lovelace Profile (section 3), which is further supported by evidence contained in the Appendices. When considering applications, decision makers should take into account the whole policy, including sections referred to by the policies in the boxes.
1.5. The Future
The LNP is prepared for the Lovelace residents and stakeholders to read and comment onduring a six-week Public Consultation, known as Regulation 14 Consultation. The Plan will be amended accordingly and submitted for independent examination. The Examiner may require amendments and, when made, a Public Referendum will be held for Lovelace to accept, or reject, the LNP. Once accepted, the GBC decision makers must take into consideration the policies within this Plan when considering planning applications.
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The audience for this document is: The independent Examiner, Guildford Borough Council planning decision makers, Ripley and Ockham Parish Councils, local residents and stakeholders.
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2. LOVELACE PROFILE Lovelace is located within the Green countryside that surround the conurbations of Woking to the west, Weybridge to the north west, Cobham to the north east and Guildford to the south. The whole of Lovelace is within the London Metropolitan Green Belt, which prevents the merging of these conurbations.
Lovelace borders other Neighbourhood Plan areas, i.e. Send, West Clandon, East Clandon, West Horsley, East Horsley and Effingham in Guildford Borough; Woking town, Pyrford, Byfleet and West Byfleet in Woking Borough and Cobham in Elmbridge Borough.
The Lovelace Neighbourhood Plan area comprises three civil parishes, collectively known as Lovelace Ward, represented by one councillor at Guildford Borough Council. Lovelace Ward forms part of the Horsleys electoral division of Surrey County Council, along with East Clandon, East and West Horsley, and Effingham parishes, and lies in the north-western corner of Mole Valley parliamentary constituency. Lovelace is bisected by the London to Portsmouth A3 and the M25 on its northern side.
Lovelace Boundary
The three villages all have Conservation Areas and very different characteristics and history. They each have some built up areas, but also a great deal of moderate to good agricultural land (Grade 3a and 3b under the Agricultural land classifications), producing a range of high yield arable crops and grass for the grazing of cattle. Page 11 of 142
The area also has environmentally designated areas, i.e. Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area (TBHSPA/SPA), Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) and Sites of Nature Conservation Interest (SNCIs).
Ripley has much the largest population (approx. 80%) within the Lovelace Ward and is a thriving community located on the former London to Portsmouth road, bypassed since the 1970s by the new A3. The Ripley Conservation Area covers the central area of Ripley village and contains most of its 57 Grade II and one Grade I listed buildings, together with buildings of varied architectural style and of extensive historical interest, a range of housing types and styles and a variety of shops and small businesses.
It also boasts one of the largest village greens in England (67 acres) and a cricket club and clubhouse dating from the mid-eighteenth century.
Ockham is a diverse, low-density, area which has never been a traditional village comprising a single settlement. It is, and always has been, a community of small hamlets and dwellings scattered over 2000 acres with just 187 households (2011 CENSUS). Ockham has been in existence since the bronze age and is a rural area made up of eight small hamlets including Elm Corner, Hatchford End, Martyr's Green, Mays Green, Bridge End, Church Ockham, Alms Heath and Ockham Mill, and has a rural, picturesque, medieval and historic character.
Ockham has a number of listed buildings; 29 are Grade II listed and Ockham is notable for the Grade I listed 12th century All Saints’ Church. It has two Conservation Areas and large swathes of common land in the TBHSPA. It is the home of the Chatley Heath Semaphore Tower (grade II listed), which is open to the public and has views to the next Semaphore tower south towards Guildford, and overlooks Three Farms Meadows. Ockham is the birthplace of William of Ockham, the originator of Occam’s Razor, and home of Ada Lovelace, Lord Byron's daughter, known for her work on Charles Babbage's proposed mechanical general-purpose computer, the Analytical Engine.
Wisley is an ancient farming hamlet, occupied since the iron age, which changed in character after the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) opened their first garden there in the early 20th century, now their flagship garden. The Conservation Area in Wisley comprises two listed buildings, the Grade I church and the adjacent Grade II Elizabethan farmhouse,
Arts and Crafts style buildings are featured at the RHS with the main building listed Grade II and the Garden itself listed as Grade II* Historic Parks and Gardens. Most of the current inhabitants of Wisley work for the RHS, or comprise families of their employees.
The RHS Wisley borders Wisley Common and the TBHSPA and much of the northern part of Wisley is flood plain.
The Lovelace Neighbourhood Plan aims to conserve the character of the three villages by a combination of reliance on its Green Belt status, its conservation areas and the development management policies contained in this document.
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2.1. Housing
Lovelace has wide variety of housing stock which has seen a significant change over the last half century from a broad mix of social housing, tied housing, privately-owned and rented small cottages, farmhouses and large family homes to a predominantly privately-owned stock of housing of above average market value. There is now little social or affordable housing. The results of surveys carried out during the preparation of this plan have shown that there is significant need for genuinely affordable homes of all sizes and types to provide smaller new homes for first-time buyers, smaller family homes and properties for downsizing by an ageing population, plus a lesser need for additional market value properties.
The Lovelace villages offer a rare combination of visual appeal, rural aspect, village communities and proximity to London, reflected in its high house prices - approaching double those in the south of England generally, except in London. This means house building is very profitable and brings tremendous pressure from developers for permission to build in the area, which is in danger of losing its unique identity as a result.
In the last four years Lovelace has provided new housing at a rate which is proportionately seven times the average level for the borough as a whole. New houses, per head, built between 2012 and 2017 (for example) equates to: 3.8% for Lovelace, 0.5% for Guildford, 0.4% for the rest of the borough.
Ripley
Ripley is a parish of 910 homes (2016) with the largest population in Lovelace, approximately 2,000, (80%). There have been a number of new infill developments in the village in recent years and there are a number of additional planning applications being put forward. The village is a mainly a mix of small terraced and semi-detached properties and has a number of properties dating back to the 15th century.
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An aerial view of Ripley
The Green Belt and Countryside Study commissioned by Guildford Borough Council in 20131 found that Ripley does not have ‘an open character that contributes to the openness of the Green Belt’ in accordance with the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), para 86. The emerging GBC 2017 LP intends to inset (take out of the Green Belt) the village, facilitating the approval of further housing projects within the settlement boundary. GBC recently published a Conservation Area Character Appraisal for Ripley2.
Ockham
Ockham’s housing number in 2016 was 187 properties and a population of approximately 430, spread across the eight hamlets of Ockham parish. Most of the properties comprise single-family dwellings and there are an exceptionally high proportion of listed buildings. The village has a distinctive rural and peaceful character.
Ockham has a brownfield site where approximately 27 dwellings are proposed, proportionate to current resident numbers. However, a major challenge to the rural character of Ockham is the zoning in GBC’s 2017 LP of a new town of some 2,000+ dwellings at Three Farms Meadows, (Section 3.6), a site roughly in the centre of the necklace of eight hamlets, situated on a ridge overlooking the surrounding area and facing the AONB. The outline planning application includes five-storey blocks of flats, which would change the landscape and character of the village. This is a controversial site and was the subject of a five-week Inquiry in September-October 2017, brought about by the site owners, which upheld GBC’s Planning Committee decision to refuse planning permission. However, GBC had included this site as a site to be removed from the Green Belt in their 2017 draft Local Plan. .
Wisley
The housing situation here is not typical for Lovelace, or even Guildford as a whole. This community is unusual in that 90 of the 111 properties in the village belong to the RHS, with a total population of 168 (March 2018). The RHS has recently taken a strategic decision to refurbish and rent a number of its properties to non-employees and has a longer-term aspiration to build additional properties to rent, in order to allow Wisley to develop into a more genuine mixed community, with village facilities and a life beyond the RHS.
There is no current evidence of specific housing needs but the RHS’s recent experience in renting out properties formerly let to employees suggests that the village is attractive to incoming residents and could be successfully expanded, subject to infrastructure availability and regard to the constraints of falling within the Special Protection Area (SPA) and Flood Zones 2 and 3.b.
1 Invalid source specified. 2 (Guildford Borough Council - Ripley Conservation Area Appraisal, 2017) Page 14 of 142
2.2. Environment
2.2.1 Rural Environment and Open Spaces
Lovelace is currently 100% Metropolitan Green Belt, is predominantly rural and includes the TBHSPA, Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), Sites of Nature Conservation Interest (SNCIs), Local Nature Reserves (LNRs) and ancient woodlands. (Appendix 1, Map 2). These areas make up approximately 11% of Lovelace and include Ockham and Wisley Commons, Three Farms Meadows, Ripley Green, Papercourt Lake and the River Wey and Wey Navigation. Much of Lovelace is farmland.
The land is relatively flat in nature, with exceptions being the elevated ex-runway on the former Wisley airfield at Three Farms Meadows, (which has views to the AONB to the south) and Battleston Hill at the RHS Wisley.
To the eastern boundary is the River Wey and the Wey Navigation, a significant historic feature owned and managed by the National Trust.
Ripley
Ripley has one of the largest village greens in England (approximately 67 acres) and has a cricket club and clubhouse dating from the mid-eighteenth century. It is also home to the football club and is the site of the monthly Farmers Market, the famous Ripley Bonfire, annual fetes, etc.
The Green is in the centre of Ripley village, extending from Newark Lane to the boundary with Ockham Parish and virtually to the Royal Horticultural Society at Wisley. Now designated as an SNCI, it survived the Enclosure Acts of the early 1800s and remains as common land managed by Ripley Parish Council on behalf of Surrey County Council.
Papercourt Lake in Newark Lane is monitored by Natural England and, together with two areas alongside the River Wey, is designated SSSI. The three areas of open water at Papercourt Lake are all former gravel workings, and have become artificial lakes, the largest used by a sailing club and fishermen. The large meadow to the west of Papercourt Lock, the only one of its type in Surrey, supports a variety of plant life, some quite rare.
Ockham
Ockham Common comprises approximately 335 acres of Surrey heath land and is designated TBHSPA, SSSI and LRN. Ockham Common has two car parks, a café and many footpaths and bridleways, including those accessing Wisley Common via a bridge over the A3, and footpaths crossing the old airfield. Three Farms Meadows, the land around the former airfield, is designated SNCI. Ockham Common has access to Chatley Heath and its 1822 Semaphore Tower.
Ancient woodlands are situated at Hatchford End and alongside the A3, both In Ockham, and there is open farmland throughout the ward. Page 15 of 142
Wisley
Wisley Common, also part of the TBHSPA, comprises some 350 acres of heathland. There is adequate parking and the commons are used by walkers and riders. The commons in Wisley and Ockham are managed by Surrey Wildlife Trust, a charity. The RHS gardens at Wisley, approximately 175 acres, may be considered an open space although entry is not free. It does have fenced footpaths running through it, as well as the River Wey as a border. Much of Wisley is flood plain.
As Lovelace is wholly situated in the Green Belt it is considered important to conserve the open spaces and views from each of the villages and maintain the feeling of rural openness.
2.2.2 Natural Habitats
The farmland, commons and numerous open green spaces alongside the settlement areas, provide for a wealth of natural wildlife and habitats. Throughout Lovelace and surrounding areas there are well-established mature trees and ancient hedgerows. Rights of Way are bordered by ancient hedgerows and lines of trees providing important wildlife corridors and stepping-stones linking woodlands and fields, creating a network which sustains the ward’s biodiversity.
Ockham Common is designated LNR and Ripley opened a new nature reserve and pond in Spring 2017, on the formerly derelict land adjoining the churchyard, which abuts the current village settlement boundary.
Most roads are unlit which encourages nocturnal wildlife.
There is active management of the TBHSPA areas using cattle to graze and the removal of scrub / young trees.
2.2.3 Flooding
Flooding is an issue in parts of the ward, particularly surface flooding. The River Wey and various other watercourses pass through Lovelace and a large area within Wisley is flood plain. There have been numerous local flood events in the recent past, some caused by the management of river flows (using the weir system on the Wey Navigation) and some by inadequate and antiquated drainage systems throughout Lovelace. There was substantial disruptive, long-term, flooding throughout the ward in the winter of 2013/14, as was the case in much of the country.
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Flooding in Newark Lane
The Ripley sewers are ‘combined sewers’ carrying both surface water and untreated sewage. Sewage overflows occur in Ripley at the sewage works and Ockham suffers from regular flooding of its roads by a combination of surface water and untreated sewage, a problem which Thames Water has been aware of for over 10 years. Sewage in an open ditch was reported on 2nd May 2018, and the various authorities are deciding who should take care of the problem.
The complex network of ancient drainage ditches throughout this part of Surrey has been poorly maintained in recent years so that much of the man-made drainage in the area is in danger of being permanently lost. A programme of drains clearance has been instituted in some areas, such as Pyrford (adjoining Wisley and Ripley), and by the RHS and The Wisley Golf Club (partly in Lovelace) with positive results, but much of the network remains severely obstructed by silting, tree roots and vegetation.
2.2.4 Air Quality and Traffic
Traffic flows on the Strategic Road Network (SRN) in Surrey are far higher than those experienced nationally. In 2008 traffic flows on A-roads in Surrey, including both trunk roads which form part of the SRN, and county-maintained roads which do not, averaged 21,400 vehicles per day, 64% higher than the national average of 13,079 vehicles per day., .
Lovelace is bisected by the A3 and contains A3/M25 junction 10 (Wisley Interchange), which runs approximately along its northern boundary. There is a strong relationship between traffic conditions on the A3 and those on the Local Roads Network (LRN). Motorists see Ripley as a route to by-pass the severe, high volume, rush hour congestion on the A3 and the M25.
Narrow rural lanes are used as rat-runs to and from Woking and surrounding villages particularly at rush hours. In Ripley village centre, this causes major problems on either side of the Newark Lane
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and Rose Lane junctions in the centre of the village. Ripley Is often used as a alternative route when there are problems on the A3.
Newark Lane in the centre of Ripley, used by buses, HGVs and traffic heading for Woking
The A3 Ockham and Burnt Common roundabouts, at either end of Lovelace, are both two-way junctions. Traffic from Ockham travelling south drives through Ripley to access the southbound A3 at Burnt Common. Traffic from Send and Sendmarsh travelling north uses Ripley to access the northbound A3 from the Ockham roundabout. Traffic from Ockham, Effingham, Horsley, etc., travelling to Woking or Byfleet drives through Ripley or Wisley.
Every Lovelace public survey highlighted traffic volumes as the number one concern for residents of the ward, followed by traffic speed and parking problems. (Appendix 2).
The feedback was so consistent that the LNPG and Ripley and Ockham Parish Councils commissioned air quality surveys for Ripley and Ockham, both of which found air pollution levels to be up to 50% more than legal limits.
Environmentally, the A3/M25 interchange is a major source of pollution for biodiversity in general and plant/animal life in particular. The recent air quality surveys carried out in the TBHSPA within the ward for the 2017 appeal for Three Farm Meadows also showed a number of sites clearly in excess of acceptable levels (Appendix 4.1).
The changes proposed for the A3/M25 junction 10 improvements, the expansion of the RHS facilities to substantially increase visitor numbers and two proposed significant housing developments at
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Three Farms Meadows and Garlicks Arch will add substantially to LRN and SRN traffic and air pollution levels.
2.3. Infrastructure
2.3.1 Utilities
Thames Water has confirmed that there is unlikely to be an adequate clean water supply in this area to accommodate the level of development proposed by the GBC 2017 LP. Gas is available in parts of Lovelace, but not in some rural area.
2.3.2 High Speed Broadband
Broadband access in Ripley is relatively good, but in Wisley and most of Ockham it is extremely poor. This is a problem for those who work from home and for private users.
2.3.3 Public Transport
Lovelace is badly served by public transport; it has no rail links. Woking is the most popular station with fast services to London Waterloo, followed by West Byfleet, Horsley and Effingham Junction. Guildford station is not popular, mainly because of access via the problematic Guildford gyratory system. All stations are reached by car and many people are dropped off, to be picked up later in the day.
The bus services are poor, or non-existent. The 715 Guildford and Kingston is approximately hourly, and ends by 8pm. The Woking buses (462/3) run twice a day and finish late afternoon.
Ripley village is served by the Guildford-Kingston route, whereas Wisley and Ockham have no direct bus service but can access the above from the A3.
For the foreseeable future, the main form of transport to and from work, schools and village or town facilities will remain the car.
2.3.4 Cycling and Walking
Cycling has been popular in and to the area since the late 19th century, with a noteable increase in ‘serious’ cycling since the 2012 Olympic cycling route passed through Ripley with much of the same route now being used for the annual Ride London event. Most of these ‘serious’ l cyclists are visitors to the area and their presence, especially at weekends, causes local traffic disruption as most of the LRN comprises very narrow lanes.
Apart from the 'serious' cyclists, local cyclists are rarely seen as the rural roads linking the villages are very narrow, unlit, generally have no pavements but do have traffic travelling at high speeds. The Dept of Transport ‘Manual for Streets’ (MfS) itself acknowledges “high speeds or high volumes Page 19 of 142
of traffic tend to discourage cycling”3. Although the MfS prefers cycle lanes to be on the carriageways, cycling within Lovelace could be encouraged by the provision of safe cycle paths with lighting on the verges between three villages. New cycle paths could generally run alongside Lovelace’s unlit roads, and although lighting would provide a sense of security at night, it would need to comply with Policy E.EN4, Light Pollution and not significantly disturb wildlife.
The RHS would like to see improved walking and cycling routes to the Gardens, in particular the change of Muddy Lane, Wisley, to a bridleway, to encourage cycle travel to and from Byfleet and Woking. The RHS would also support improvements to the A3 cycle route between Lovelace and Guildford.
Off-road, Lovelace has an extensive network of Public Rights of Way that include Footpaths, Bridleways and Byways Open to All Traffic (BOATs). In addition, there are a number of Permissive Footpaths and Bridleways in the ward.
2.3.5 Parking
People are attracted to Lovelace by the quality of life and environment and tourists and visitors enjoy Ripley village, the RHS Gardens, and the surrounding local countryside.
The rural areas have visitor car parks at Boulder Mere, Ockham Common, Chatley Heath and Wisley Common, which are well used by walkers, etc. SCC have, however, recently introduced parking charges, the consequences of which for visitor numbers are as yet unknown. Visitors to Ripley Green generally use the free car parks on the Green.
Ockham and Wisley have few parking problems but this is a very important issue for Ripley village residents, businesses and visitors. A combination of inadequate parking facilities, together with inappropriate parking, creates safety hazards on a daily basis.
The RHS will require further parking for additional visitor traffic after their expansion, but this will be accommodated within the RHS grounds.
The GBC 2017 LP proposes new housing which could add approximately 6,000 people in or adjacent to Lovelace, who will want to use local shops, pubs and restaurants, most of which are located in and around Ripley village. This will add to the severe parking problems currently experienced.
2.3.6 Community Facilities and Activities
Ripley
Ripley has many active clubs and societies, including the local history society, cricket, bowling, sailing and football clubs, an over-sixties club, The Shed Youth Club, a scout troop, the Royal British Legion, the Fuchsia Group, Ripley & District Horticultural Society, Probus Club and Rotary Club.
3 (Dept. for Transport, 2007, pp. 71, point 6.45) Page 20 of 142
The village hosts main events each year, including the huge annual bonfire, the Summer Event, Ripley Rocks music festival, the monthly Farmers Market and the annual Ride London event, which closes Ripley High Street for some hours. Combined, these events attract thousands of local and non-local people, providing direct benefits.
Ripley Village Hall is the main venue for indoor events, and utilised for amateur dramatics, antiques fairs, motor cycle clubs, musical performances, talks, yoga and keep-fit classes, toddler play groups and the Curzon Country Cinema. However, the Village Hall, owned by a charity, is in poor condition overall and funds are currently being raised to provide a replacement. The area around the Village Hall has been included as a Local Green Space, but it is understood that the hall may move location within its grounds without losing recreational space.
The outdoor events are held on Ripley Green or other locations around the village.
The local History Museum, next to the Village Hall, Ripley
The Parish Council owns allotments at the edge of the village which are over-subscribed.
The Parish church in Ripley is St Mary Magdalene (C of E) a 12th century foundation. The nearest Roman Catholic churches are St Edward’s, Sutton Place and St Dunstan’s in Woking and the nearest mosque is also in Woking.
Send & Ripley Matters (a printed quarterly booklet), the Ripley Grapevine (online), Ripley Parish Council’s website and the Ripley Village websites (www.ripleyvillage.co.uk and www.discoverripley.co.uk) all provide information about local activities and events or promote activities in Ripley.
The Ripley Grapevine is a free, privately run, email ‘noticeboard’ for those choosing to subscribe.
Ockham
Ockham has a Cricket Club, with football facilities. Its pavilion and the Parish Rooms are used for village social events. It has an active Ockham & Hatchford Residents Association. The Friends of All
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Saints’ Church take an interest in the historic affairs of the village. The Black Swan Public House is situated on the boundary of the village with Cobham, at the junction of Old Lane and Ockham Lane and is more of a gastro-pub since a major refurbishment. The former Hautboy Inn was converted to residential flats around 8 years ago.
Ockham has the ancient All Saints’ church (C of E) built between the 12th and 15th centuries and restored and extended in the late 19th century.
Wisley
Within Wisley there is a pavilion and cricket pitch which are available for hire to the local community. The RHS is providing allotments for people within the village and the wider ward. Although there are currently no shops or other amenities within the village the garden centre, shop and coffee shop at RHS Wisley are accessible without entering the Gardens. The Anchor pub at Pyrford Lock, is only some 500 yards beyond the end of the village.
Wisley has a small Norman church known only as Wisley Church (C of E).
2.3.7 Healthcare
The Lovelace Ward has no NHS GP surgeries but has one private doctor in Ripley. Residents use NHS surgeries at The Villages Medical Centre, in nearby Send, the Horsley Medical Practice, or further afield.
The nearest NHS hospitals are the Royal Surrey County Hospital in Guildford (six miles), Ashford St Peter’s in Chertsey (nine Miles) and Woking Community Hospital with a 12-hour Walk-in Centre (six miles).
There is one dentist in Ripley offering private and NHS services. Woking Community Hospital offers emergency dental services.
There is one small care home, Riversway, in Newark Lane and numerous others in the immediate area.
2.3.8 Schools in Lovelace
Lovelace had one state primary school, Ripley Primary School, (a Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School working in partnership with the Diocese of Guildford (DoG) and Surrey Local Authority (SLA) for children aged 4-11 and one private school, Ripley Court, for children aged 3-13.
Ripley Primary School spent 11 terms without a permanent head teacher. In May 2017 a letter was sent by the current temporary head teacher suggesting parents might like to consider other schools for the children. That head teacher has public denied writing the letter, only sending it out to parents. In September 2017 the number of children at the school had dropped from 144 to 70. The
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SCC and DoG decided the school would close because a) it had received a poor Ofsted review, Ofsted declared the school lacked “senior strategic management” and b) falling numbers.
Ripley Primary School closed in July 2018. The nearest State primary schools are in Send (4 miles away) and Pyrford (a similar distance). Neither is within walking distance of Ripley village.
On 30th August 2018 GBC agreed that Ripley Primary School become an Asset of Community Value (ACV). The ‘Friends of Ripley Primary School’ have taken legal advice and are considering a Judicial Review.
Both schools have a nursery and pre-school, either alongside or adjoining the school, or as part of the school itself. Ockham has a Montessori nursery, Wisley does not have any such facilities. The Ripley Pre-School will remain in its location adjoining the main Ripley Primary School building until July 2019.
There are 38 other primary schools within five miles (as the crow flies) from Ripley.
The nearest state secondary schools are located outside the ward in Burpham, Sheerwater, Kingfield, Effingham and Guildford. In total there are 17 secondary schools within five miles (as the crow flies) from Ripley.
2.4. Business and Employment
2.4.1 Local Employment Characteristics
Lovelace has an active business community split between Ripley village centre, Wisley village and the rural areas of Ripley, Wisley and Ockham.
The commercial centre is Ripley village and rural businesses include farms, smaller agricultural, horticultural and equine-related activities such as livery stables, nurseries, kennels, etc., and a few small light industrial areas.
Ripley is a character village in a conservation area, situated on the old A3 linking London and Portsmouth. Its early commercial activities included the provision of accommodation and social facilities for sailors and travellers and from the 1950s antique shops, pubs and service retailers dominated.
Today it is a thriving village, the compact High Street containing almost all the commercial activity, attracting tourists, diners and shoppers and providing local employment. The numerous social events throughout the year which bring visitors into the village provide a direct benefit to traders, as does internet marketing.
Permitted development for change of use from commercial to residential dwellings is reducing the number of business premises, thereby decreasing employment. It is unknown nowadays for residential properties to be converted to business premises, whereas the opposite is common.
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Ockham has no shops, offices or pub. The former post office, a small office complex and the Hautboy Inn (now 7 apartments) have all been converted to residential. Commercial activities are agricultural and horticultural.
The majority of Wisley village is owned by the largest employer in Lovelace, the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), whose world-famous flagship Wisley RHS Gardens is the second most-visited garden in the United Kingdom (Kew being the first). It currently attracts 1m visitors per annum (planned to rise to 1.4m), including 20,000 children who use the RHS education facilities. The RHS expansion plans include redeveloping the plant centre, gift shop and restaurant, relocating laboratories and adding a new science centre, at a cost of some £65 million.
Currently, a number of RHS employees walk to work, some cycle but the majority drive. The number of employees driving to work will undoubtedly increase as some RHS-owned properties in Wisley, currently used for employee accommodation, change to non-employee accommodation over the next few years.
2.4.2 Working from Home
The 2011 census shows that 16.6% of Lovelace residents work from home, a figure which is probably nearer 30% now.
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3. CONSTRAINTS AND CHALLENGES
3.1. Green Belt
The Metropolitan Green Belt was established in 1956 to protect the green space around London, but has nonetheless been progressively eaten into by local councils, planners and developers driven by housing demand and the potential for financial gain. Having squeezed the Green Belt as tightly as possible within the M25, attention is now turning to the areas just outside the motorway, including Lovelace. The area is particularly interesting to developers due to its proximity to the A3/M25, to both Heathrow and Gatwick, but primarily to London.
The Green Belt provisions have been sufficient to limit development outside the settlement boundaries. Guildford Borough Council's 2017 Local Plan seeks to remove two large areas in Lovelace overriding the Green Belt protections using the powers of a Local Plan. If approved, development will be allowed in these areas.
3.2. Introduction - The Perfect Storm
It is understood that strategic development sites are not within the remit of a Local Neighbourhood Plan “unless there is a specific local need to address them at Neighbourhood Plan level”. We believe that this applies to the Lovelace NP.
To provide a balanced view of the area, and evidence of why our policies have been created, this section looks at the unique major constraints and challenges facing Lovelace over the next decade, with particular regard to severely increased traffic and air pollution.
Lovelace faces ‘the perfect storm’ during the next 10 years due to a number of major projects either already approved or proposed and all of which will be happening at more or less the same time. Some are from government organisations such as Highways England (HE), SCC and GBC, others are private initiatives. These will impact all 2,200 Lovelace inhabitants and any newcomers.
3.2.1 Already Approved
• RHS expansion. Cost: £60 million. Start date: 2017. Finish date: 2021. Target date for increase to 1.4m annual visitors: 2024-25. (RHS Wisley)
• The Drift Golf Club. Approved redevelopment. Cost: unknown. Start date: TBC. Finish date: unknown. (The Drift Golf Club)
3.2.2 Pending
• M25/A3 - Junction 10 Wisley Interchange improvements (subject to final consultation). Page 25 of 142
Cost: £180 - £250 million. Start date: 2020-21. Finish date: To be confirmed, probably 2-3 years. (Highways England)
3.2.3 In the Emerging GBC 2017 LP
• Three Farm Meadows/former Wisley Airfield. (Site A35) Proposed 2,100 new homes. Commencement date: Likely 2020 if site agreed for housing. Completion date: 2032 approx. (Wisley Investment Properties Ltd/GBC)
• Garlicks Arch. (SITE A43) Proposed 400 new homes. Commencement Date: Likely 2019. Finish Date: 2021 (TBC).
• Garlicks Arch / Burnt Common New A3 slip roads. (SITE A43A) Commencement date: Likely 2019. Finish Date: 2 years approx. after commencement. (GBC/Wisley Investment Properties Ltd)
If all of these developments go ahead Lovelace will face 10 – 15 years of considerable traffic and infrastructure disruption together with the long-term permanent changes which will come from a quadrupling of the present population and major increase in vehicular traffic.
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3.3. RHS Wisley Expansion4
Due to the RHS plan to expand their visitor numbers from the current 1m to 1.4 m by 2024-25, with a subsequent huge increase in traffic on local roads. This will not affect parking in the villages, other than RHS visitors visiting the villages, but it will involve increased use at the Ockham roundabout and additional traffic on the LRN and SRN.
3.4. The Drift Golf Club5
The approved redevelopment of the Drift Golf Club course in Ockham is for a golf teaching academy, new maintenance building and irrigation lake. The work is expected to take nine months and involves the transport onto site of some 87,805 tonnes of inert waste materials along various local routes and 8,000 individual HGV movements along local roads, but work has not yet commenced.6 This movement of the inert waste materials required Surrey County Council (SCC) approval.7.
4 ( Guildford Borough Council - RHS Planning Application No 16/P/01080, 2016) 5 (Guildford Borough Council - The Drift Planning Application No. 14/P/01718, 2014) 6 (GBC Planning Applications - The Drift Routing Plan Map, pg 5, 2014) 7 (Surrey County Council - Planning No. 2014/0150, 2016) Page 27 of 142
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3.5. M25 / A3 – Junction 10 Improvements
Highways England (HE) plan to make significant changes at the M25/A3 Junction 10 to reduce congestion at the junction and improve access to the RHS Wisley Gardens. This will include adding an extra sliproad onto the M25 from the A3 and an extra lane between the Ockham roundabout and Painshill Roundabout, north of the M25.8 Two options were selected for public consultation in 2017 and in December HE decided their preferred option. HE believe these improvements will save an average of 2-5 minutes on travel time at the junction and reduce personal injury accidents by an average of 14 per year. HE acknowledge there will be changes to levels of air and noise pollution and loss of habitat for rare species due to SPA/SSSI land being commandeered for this purpose.
Currently, access to the RHS from all directions is generally via the Ockham roundabout. Traffic from the north and east access the gardens from the M25/southbound A3 leave the A3 at the Ockham roundabout, then double back onto the northbound A3 to access Wisley Lane and the RHS. Traffic from the south and west travels through Ripley or Ockham to access the Ockham roundabout. The exit for the majority of RHS/Wisley village traffic is via Wisley Lane and the slip road onto the A3 northbound. (The alternative is the narrow, windy, road to West Byfleet, generally used by locals). HE plan to close the entry from Wisley Lane onto the A3 and create a new two-way slip road from the Ockham roundabout for entering and exiting Wisley Lane. This will be a two-way road from the Ockham roundabout, alongside the east of the A3, with a bridge over the A3 to Wisley Lane, as
8 (Highways England - M25 Junction 10 / A3 Wisley Interchange, 2018) Page 29 of 142
shown in the HE map below. The RHS are discussing other options with HE, including south-facing slips at Ockham roundabout.
HE stated at the 2017 public consultations that under their new scheme for RHS visitors traffic coming from, and returning to, the south / west will be directed to the M25/A3 Wisley Interchange, and then travel south on the A3. This will add 6.5km to each journey for southbound traffic. No evidence has been provided that visitors with local knowledge or using satnavs will follow this longer route instead of leaving the A3 at Burnt Common and driving through Ripley to reach the new access road at the Ockham roundabout. For the same reason they will be likely to return to the south / westbound A3 via Ripley and the Burnt Common access.
HE stated at their 2017 public consultations that they have not taken the 2,000+ houses at Three Farm Meadows into consideration as there is currently no planning permission for this site.
3.6. Proposed Sites - GBC 2017 Emerging Local Plan
A Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA) for Guildford Borough was commissioned by the Borough Council as a foundation for the housing element of the new draft Local Plan and addressed the need for new dwellings at 654 per annum across the borough over a 15 year period, considerably higher than the figure for neighbouring boroughs of similar size. The SHMA draws upon population projections produced by the ONS and household projections produced by the
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Department for Communities and Local Government as a baseline, and includes an uplift as required by the National Planning Policy Framework.
This has been a controversial subject throughout the borough and considered by some not to be a verifiable or transparent calculation. The spreadsheet used to process the data and produce the figures has been released, but the formulae behind the spreadsheet have not, as the company who produced the data consider this proprietary data.
Much of the southern half of Guildford borough is designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and developments of more than 10 homes are prohibited except in certain circumstances. Therefore, larger housing developments are proposed around Guildford town and in a "ribbon" to the north east of the borough, alongside the A3 (see diagram below), rather than using brownfield sites, including surface car parks, in and around Guildford and encouraging small developments throughout the borough and the AONB.
Figure 1: Strategic Sites GBC Draft Local Plan
3.6.1 Three Farms Meadows (Site A35, GBC 2017 LP)9
Three Farms Meadows, (TFM) also known as the former Wisley Airfield is wholly in Lovelace, situated in the Green Belt and surrounded by the eight hamlets of Ockham.
9 (Guildford Borough Council - Policy A35, Infrastructure, point 6, 2018) Page 31 of 142
The 114 ha site has 17 ha of brownfield, of which 9 ha are the former hangars area and the remaining 8 ha is the former runway. The remainder of the site is high quality farmland which is actively farmed. Situated alongside the SPA and SSSI, TFM is itself an SNCI.
In the GBC 2014 draft Local Plan it was proposed to inset and designate the site strategic, for the development of a new town of 2,000+ homes. The Regulation 18 public consultation received more than 20,000 objections. The planning application was unanimously rejected by the GBC Planning Committee in March 2016 on grounds including inappropriate development of the Green Belt, potential for environmental harm and the impact on the SRNs (A3/M25)10. The GBC 2017 revised LP has expanded the site.
Situated mainly on a ridge, TFM is the only site in the emerging GBC 2017 LP totally surrounded by Green Belt and not adjacent to any urban development. The only other similar site, at Normandy and Flexford, which proposed 1,100 homes and with a railway station in one corner and bus services alongside, has been removed from the GBC 2017 LP due to its Green Belt status.
TFM has no railway stations within walking distance and one cycle lane alongside the A3 leading to Ripley Village. The local roads to all adjacent villages are windy and narrow with no footpaths or lighting and the nearest village is Ripley, the centre of which is approximately 1.5km from the closest point of the site. The owners had proposed providing bus services to local railway stations but the GBC 2017 LP shows the service to Woking, with its fast, non-stop, trains to London, has been removed.
The local average is two cars per household and it is inevitable that car usage would predominate with an additional 4,000 cars from this site. Construction traffic over the next 10 or more years must also be taken into account. Cars travelling to Woking station will continue to drive through the centre of Ripley Village, or the narrow Wisley Lane, as at present.
Both Ockham, near the A3, and Ripley village currently have proven air quality issues but no solution has been offered to mitigate the extra air pollution caused by the traffic associated with this development and its impact on Ripley.
Described as a ‘village’ by the developers and GBC, according to government documents the distinction between a village and a town is not based on the population size, or the number of homes, but the density. The density of this site would be well within the range categorised as a ‘town’.
The site would be developed over a period of at least 10 years; but could be much longer with the considerable infrastructure work required.
A 5-week Public Inquiry held in September-October 2017 resulted in a decision on 13th June 2018 to uphold the GBC
10 (Guildford Borough Council - 15/P/00012 Refusal , 2016) Page 32 of 142
planning refusal on this site.11 This was cited harm to the Green Belt (paras 20.32-20.38, and 22.1-22.2); severe impact on the SRN (paras 20.52-20.59 and 22.3); (para 23.5), and sustainability (para 23.9).
On 5th July 2018, the final day of the GBC Local Plan Examination (Reg. 22), the Inspector declared the GBC LP “sound”. This appears to approve the removal of the former Wisley Airfield from the Green Belt and the final report will be available later in 2018.12
3.6.2 Garlicks Arch (Site 43, GBC 2017 LP) 13
Garlicks Arch is at the southern end of Ripley Village, partly within Lovelace and partly within neighbouring Send. The GBC 2017 LP proposes the area for a development of a total of 400 dwellings with an adjacent new 7,000+ sq. m industrial site at Burnt Common roundabout.14 The timetable for these developments to start is also likely to be during the next 2/3 years, if approved.
3.6.3 Other Housing Sites
GBC have included other sites in their Land Availability Assessment (LAA) such as Send Prison, at the far end of Lovelace, close to Clandon, but have only included major sites included in the GBC 2017 LP. There are other brownfield sites in Lovelace which will inevitably become available in time.
In addition, there are several local developments currently going through planning applications. Six possible homes at the former Smith Pearman site in the centre of Ripley and Tyrrells brownfield site in Ockham for 26 homes, along with the 26 new homes on a greenfield site already approved in Ripley village.
The RHS Wisley would like to have part of their land inset and build new homes to deliver a revitalised, sustainable village. Given its commitment to sustainable development the Lovelace Plan supports this proposal. However, much of Wisley village settlement falls within 400 metres of the SPA, which prohibits new residential development, and any new homes would need to meet national policy on Green Belt and be limited by being in flood zones 2 and 3. Insetting Wisley Village is not included in the GBC 2017 LP.
Should the GBC 2017 LP be adopted in its current form, the local housing need within Lovelace would be met many times over and Lovelace would be delivering a disproportionate number of homes compared to the rest of the borough.
11 (Planning Inspectorate - 18-06-13 DL+IR Wisley Airfield 3159894.pdf, 2018) 12 (Guildford Borough Council - 2017 Local Plan Examination, 2018) 13 (Guildford Borough Council - Policy A43, Garlicks Arch, 2018) 14 (Guildford Borough Council - Policy A58, 2018) Page 33 of 142
3.6.4 Burnt Common Slip Roads15
Burnt Common is a two-way junction to the south of Ripley, in neighbouring Send. The GBC 2017 LP proposes two new on/off slip roads on the A3 at Garlicks Arch/Burnt Common to create a full four- way junction. At present this is subject to HE approval, but it has been put forward by Wisley Properties Investments Ltd as a traffic amelioration scheme relating to the TFM development. This would mean TFM traffic, as well as RHS traffic, travelling through Ripley High Street to Burnt Common. It is unlikely this could commence whilst the A3/M25 improvements were under construction, just two miles north on the A3, so this may commence around 2023 and take up to 2 years.
A further GBC strategic site is Gosden Hill Farm, just one mile to the south of Burnt Common where 1,700 dwellings are proposed and access to the A3 is also planned to be via the Burnt Common junction.
3.7. Summary
The six major developments above will affect Lovelace residents over the period of this plan. The most important adverse affect would be the increase in construction and future residential traffic exacerbating the effect on air quality in residential areas
15 (Guildford Borough Council - Policy A43a, 2018) Page 34 of 142
4. LOVELACE VISION AND OBJECTIVES The primary objective of the Lovelace Neighbourhood Plan is to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development within the borough by providing suitable housing in sustainable locations for all sectors of the local community, whilst respecting the local character and built-up density of the residential and rural landscape.
The vision is for the essential character of the area to be conserved and enhanced, in terms of the physical environment, local facilities and employment whilst seeking to overcome the challenges which extensive new housing will bring to the Ward.
The objectives below summarise the views of the residents and stakeholders in the area obtained through the public surveys and consultations.
4.1. Housing
• Provide at least a proportional share of the housing numbers required by the Guildford SHMA, with the probability of that figure being exceeded by a reasonable amount • Ensure development occurs in sustainable locations, avoiding overdevelopment • Ensure all developments provide a mix of housing size required for all local needs • Provide more affordable housing, especially for people with local connections • Provide housing density and design appropriate to the prevailing styles in the area • Ensure adequate off-street parking is included in all new housing applications
4.2. Environment
• Conserve the Green Belt and essential rural character of the area • Protect Local Green Spaces of community value and local views • Retain and increase the local biodiversity assets • Require developments to have lowest possible carbon footprint • Require potential flood issues to be addressed prior to development • Require light pollution to be addressed and minimized • Ensure footpaths and public rights of way are kept clear and well maintained
4.3. Infrastructure
• Require infrastructure to be in place before development occupation • Require major developments to provide good public transport facilities to local railway stations and towns • Ensure safe and well-lit cycle lanes and paved footpaths are provided to local facilities • Mitigate against increased traffic in areas where air quality pollution levels are already excessive
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• Support measures to provide adequate public parking in suitable locations • Support the increase in provision of community facilities, particularly those which provide for the young, less abled, and older members of the community • Support new developments providing community infrastructure including shops, community halls, open spaces, sports facilities and social infrastructure that supports healthy lifestyles and community cohesion. • Support good broadband facilities to all new developments
4.4. Business and Employment
• Retain commercial premises in Ripley and expand retail facilities, particularly in the village centre • Ensure existing commercial premises do not lose their current off-street parking facilities • Support new and existing business where it does not have an adverse effect on residents, (i.e. no significant extra traffic, HGVs, anti-social delivery times, on-street parking requirements, noise, fumes, litter, etc.) • Support change of use which provides employment if not adversely affecting neighbouring residents • Support rural industries and businesses, particularly if countryside related, which does not adversely affect neighbouring residents.
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5. LOVELACE OBJECTIVES AND POLICIES To retain and conserve the rural environment and character of Lovelace whilst providing homes in sustainable locations that meet the need of residents and those with a local connection. To minimise severe extra traffic in an area with proven air quality issues whilst acknowledging poor public transport. Encourage cycling and walking where possible and reduce the car usage. Maintain and expand social facilities for the young, disabled and old. Retain and expand business and employment facilities, particularly in Ripley Village, and resist the loss of employment.
Policies Objectives Housing
Policy LHI: Suitability of Development Sites Ensure development occurs in sustainable locations
Policy LH2: Housing Mix Provide a proportional share of the housing numbers required by the Guildford SHMA in
sustainable locations.
Ensure all developments provide a mix of housing size required for local needs
Provide maximum affordable housing for people with local connections
Policy LH3: Housing Design and Density Provide housing density and design appropriate to the surrounding styles in the
area
Environment
Policy LEN1: Protecting Local Green Spaces Retain the Greenbelt and rural character of (LGS) the area
Protection of Local Green Spaces of community value
Retain and increase views
Policy LEN2: Biodiversity and Natural Habitats Protect natural habitats and biodiversity
Policy LEN3: Flooding Require flood issues to be addressed
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Policy LEN4: Light Pollution Require light pollution to be addressed and minimized
Policy LEN5: Air Quality and Traffic Related Air quality. Pollution Traffic through Ripley and LRN Infrastructure and Facilities
Policy LI1: Infrastructure Require all infrastructure to be in place before development occupation
Policy LI2: Public Transport and Green Travel Require large developments to provide good public transport facilities to major railway
stations and towns
Policy LI3: Cycle Lanes and Public Footpaths Ensure safe and well-lit cycle lanes and footpaths are provided to nearby facilities
Policy LI4: Parking Support measures to provide adequate public parking
Ensure retail premises do not lose their current off-street parking facilities
Policy LI5: Provision of Community Facilities Support the increase in provision of community facilities, particularly those which
provide for the young, less abled, and older members of the community.
Support developments that provide community infrastructure including shops, community halls, open spaces, sports facilities and infrastructure that supports healthy lifestyles and community cohesion.
Policy LI6: Healthcare and Education Consider new healthcare, sports and education facilities on a case by case basis
Support good broadband facilities to all new developments Business and Employment
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Policy LBE1: Change of Use from Commercial Retain and extend commercial activities in to Non-Commercial Ripley Village, particularly in the Village centre.
Support new business where it does not have an adverse effect on residents, i.e. significant extra traffic, HGVs, anti-social delivery times, on-street parking requirements, noise, fumes, litter.
Support change of use or new builds which provide employment if not affecting neighbouring residents
Policy LBE2: Agricultural and Horticultural Support rural commerce, particularly if Land Use countryside related, if unlikely to cause noise or disturbance to neighbouring residents
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6. HOUSING POLICIES
96.1 Introduction
This is the most important section of policies, addressing the requirement for suitable, sustainable sites for infill and small (up to 10 homes) developments and the two large sites proposed at either end of Lovelace, Three Farms Meadows (TFM), and Garlicks Arch (GA). It addresses the need for homes that are truly affordable for those on lower to medium incomes and proposes the type of housing required to meet those needs, as well as providing market value homes. It takes account of Guildford Borough Council requiring homes to be provided not just for local need, but to help meet the housing requirement for the borough and, to a certain extent, for Woking borough.
The policies included in this section are:
• Suitability of Development Sites (L.H1) • Housing Mix (L.H2) • Housing Design and Density (L.H3)
Homes in Lovelace command a high value (Appendix 3.3) and whilst recognizing that larger developments will provide significant profits for developers, they must also benefit the communities by including a proportion of truly affordable homes.
The Lovelace Neighbourhood Plan is in favour of sustainable development that is balanced against the ward’s very small population and limited infrastructure, without overwhelming, the local communities. Development which favours market value ‘homes in the country’, with minimal affordable homes, are not supported or considered to be addressing the local or borough-wide needs.
This plan sets guidelines for developments to have regard to the effects on local communities and the character and landscape of the rural areas adjacent to new settlements. The policies look to maximise any benefits and minimise the adverse impacts of any significant developments which would potentially change the character of the area. In so doing, seeks to avoid overwhelming Ripley village by severely increasing traffic and making greater demands on its facilities, or transforming the rural solitude and peacefulness of the hamlets within Ockham.
Nearly all of the Lovelace new-builds in recent years have been in Ripley village. Over the past five years or so, the village centre has added 109 new homes, including infill and office change of use through permitted development. They have generally improved the quality of housing stock in the area and have been accepted by the existing residents as sustainable, although they have had the cumulative effect of creating further traffic congestion in the High Street.
White Hart Meadows has a mix of 45 private and affordable flats and houses, including a Rural Exception Site in its midst. A further 26 dwellings behind the Talbot Inn have received planning permission and there are other applications in the offing. This represents a cumulative 12.5% increase in the village’s housing stock, i.e. 1.75% growth p.a. during 2012-17. In the same period Page 40 of 142
Guildford Borough, as a whole, has built approximately 1,650 new homes, an increase cumulatively of less than 3%, or just over 0.5% growth p.a. This gives a true picture of Ripley’s willingness to welcome proportional expansion.
The eight Ockham hamlets have seen an increase by approximately 10% of new dwellings over the last five years. Wisley had not had any new residential development but the mix of residents in Wisley village is changing as the RHS moves from employee to private rental of its properties. The village could revitalise by the addition of some further housing and social facilities, as it had in the past, subject to current regulation restrictions. A number of previously unoccupied properties owned by the RHS have been refurbished and reoccupied by private renters.
The GBC 2017 Local Plan (LP) proposes removing the former Wisley airfield, (Three Farm Meadows/TFM) in Ockham from the Green Belt and making it a strategic site for 2,000+ homes. (Strategic sites are designated by GBC and the LNP cannot object to them, but can comment on them).
The Garlicks Arch site is in Green Belt at the southern end of Ripley, and partly in Send ward. This is a non-strategic site and proposed for 400 homes, of which some 150 will be in Ripley parish. The GBC LP also proposes insetting Ripley village, thus allowing further developments within the village boundaries. It is likely that the GBC proposal for changing the Ripley Green Belt boundaries will be disputed by the Parish Council and insetting is generally disapproved of by residents (Appendix 2.2).
The GBC LP includes only the larger Green Belt sites and a smaller site behind The Talbot in Ripley High Street. GBC have also safeguarded brownfield sites which are deemed suitable for “Permission in Principle”16 and will require delivery of these sites as shown in their Land Availability Assessment (LAA)17.
Should the very large, strategic and non-strategic sites go ahead, Lovelace would be providing approximately 18% of the GBC borough’s current stated needs (GBC 2017 Draft LP – 12,426 homes required18), a significantly inflated proportion of housing for a rural Green Belt area and disproportionate to the Lovelace current housing and population numbers (approximately 1,100 houses and 2,600 population).
As the future of the significant sites is undecided as yet (September 2018), the Government is reviewing its policies for where development should take place19 and the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) is planning to “introduce an expectation that Local Authorities (GBC) should provide a housing requirement figure for designated neighbourhood areas”20.
16 (Guildford Borough Council, n.d.) 17 (Guildford Borough Council, 2017) 18 (Guildford Borough Council, n.d.) 19 (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, 2018) 20 (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, 2018) Page 41 of 142
Lovelace consider future housing developments should be dealt with in a future review of the Neighbourhood Plan and that no further specific sites are considered necessary for Lovelace at this time.
6.2 Housing Sites
Policy L.H1: Suitability of Development Sites Developments within and adjacent to the Ripley, Ockham, and Wisley conservation areas should be sensitive to their surroundings, environment and to the character of the wider area. New development in Lovelace will be supported where:
1) Sites are located in a sustainable location as defined in the most recently adopted version of the NPPF 2) The development has no adverse significant impact on the openness of the Green Belt, does not cause harm to the purposes of the Green Belt and respects the intrinsic character of the area 3) Major and large scale major developments demonstrate sustainability in terms of infrastructure, environmental impact and social cohesion 4) It respects the historic environment, heritage assets and original local buildings and does not harm the historic open setting or architectural quality of buildings within the conservation areas 5) The proposal constitutes limited infilling within the settlements 6) It does not exacerbate existing ribbon development 7) Rural Exception Sites in Green Belt sites adjoining the settlements are approved by the relevant Parish Council to provide affordable housing in perpetuity for those with a local connection, i.e. family or work 8) It does not result in the loss of a viable existing employment site 9) It does not result in the loss of a Local Green Space or community facilities 10) It is within 500m of public transport options or an easy walk to facilities. 11) There is capacity within the existing infrastructure to accommodate future users, or provision is made for additional infrastructure 12) It would not cause irreversible harm to biodiversity 13) It would not have a detrimental impact on the amenity of existing residents by way of noise, smell, air quality or other environmental factors.
Reasoned Justification
The character of Lovelace is a major factor in its popularity. It contains numerous listed buildings as well as others of significant historical and architectural interest, which contribute to a much-valued
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built environment and enhanced sense of community. Ripley recently featured in The Sunday Times “Best Places to Live 2018”, despite the lack of public transport services.
Policy L.HI looks at the priority for developments in Lovelace to conserve the characteristics of the area21 with developments in sustainable locations providing safe and alternative means of transport22 (i.e. walking, cycling, public transport), to minimise car usage, encourage car sharing and the use of low emission vehicles.
Developers and builders are required to produce housing of varied and good quality, to the criteria expressed in the Surrey-Design guidelines, and incorporate maximum affordable housing, proportional to the overall numbers.
Infilling in this policy means development of a small gap in an otherwise built-up frontage, i.e. small-scale development and redevelopment with at least 3 sides of existing built development alongside.
Rural Exception Sites (RES) are small sites situated in the Green Belt, alongside the villages, providing affordable housing in perpetuity. They offer rental accommodation, or part rent/part buy accommodation for those with local or work connections and allow local people to remain in the locality.
Ripley is losing many of its light industrial sites and offices to residential developments, some under permitted development, resulting in business closure and loss of employment. Brownfield sites providing small scale ‘live/work’ units or start-up business space with shared office facilities for rent are supported to encourage start-up or growth of small businesses and help redress the current loss of employment. Covenants to encourage the retention of small commercial units and/or provide linked housing/business units would be in line with the national move towards sustainable small and home business working
To avoid overdevelopment, Previously Developed Land (PDL, i.e. brownfield sites) which are or were occupied by a permanent structure, together with any associated fixed surface infrastructure, need not have the whole of the curtilage developed and decision makers are required to balance development with the intrinsic character and beauty of the countryside.
Aspirational:
• The RHS Gardens and village to provide limited development, where possible, to resuscitate and grow the village of Wisley and provide an enhanced social environment and local facilities.
21 (Ministry of Housing, 2012) 22 (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, 2012) Page 43 of 142
6.3 Housing for All
Policy L.H2: Housing Mix Development proposals that meet the identified needs of the local community will be supported, including starter homes, homes in shared ownership, affordable homes and market housing. For major developments of 10+ dwellings the following mix of dwelling size is recommended.
1) Major sites (10+ homes) provide housing for all needs with a mix criteria for the affordable housing element as: a) A minimum of 25% will be three-bedroom dwellings b) A minimum of 25% will be two-bedroom dwellings c) A maximum of 25% will be one-bedroom dwellings
2) Developments in Lovelace of 5 or more dwellings comprise a mix of market value and affordable housing, with a minimum of 40% to be affordable.
3) Rural Exception Sites may include a limited proportion of market housing, at GBC’s discretion, to provide homes for residents and workers with a local connection, i.e. family, work.
Reasoned Justification
This policy supports the provision of truly affordable, sustainable, homes to meet the local needs for young people, key workers, families, downsizers and the disabled in our communities on a low or medium income, for whom general ‘affordable’ housing is beyond their financial reach. It also recognises the need to provide market value homes to enable the provision of the stated affordable homes in the policy.
The 2011 Census shows the number of bedrooms per household as:
Breakdown Ripley Parish Ockham Parish Wisley Parish Guildford Borough
One bedroom 9.4% 5.5% 21.7% 11.6% Two bedrooms 29.1% 11.6% 21.7% 24.2% Three + bedrooms 61.4% 82.9% 55.3% 64.2% Whilst Ripley Parish closely follows the overall Guildford Borough housing distribution across all three categories, Ockham and Wisley display extreme variations at either end of the spectrum.
Wisley village has a larger number of one- bedroom homes as it provides educational facilities and student accommodation. Ripley has had increases of all numbers with the addition of homes at Page 44 of 142
White Hart Court (64), Lutidine House, (18), The Courtyard (11), Walsham Mews (8), but most are not affordable. Within Ripley village smaller houses are being extended, either through permitted development or planning permission, thereby reducing the stock of smaller homes for sale and rent. The GBC LP 2017 states that affordable homes needed in the borough are 40% one bedroom homes, 30% two bedroom, 25% three bedroom and 5% four bedroom. Market-value homes need 10% one bedroom, 30% two bedroom, 40% three bedroom and 20% four bedroom.23
However, the Lovelace Housing Survey 2016 showed the top five greatest needs being small 2-3 bedroomed homes, followed by starter homes, affordable homes for rent, homes for single people and retirement properties. The highest proportion, 43%, wanted 2 bedrooms, 30% required 3 bedrooms, justifying the need for smaller properties. Reasons for moving included 26% requiring larger accommodation, 16% wanted smaller accommodation and 14% were retiring. 21% expect their new home to be an ‘affordable tenure’.24 The desire was for smaller scale developments of 12 homes or less and the majority of respondents, 58%, aged 60+, with 20% under 20, indicated these should be within or alongside the settlement areas and in easy walking distance of facilities.
The proposed figures in the Homes for All policy justifies the need to meet the local requirements as proven by the survey.
Lovelace comprises mainly privately owned or rented homes which are generally not within the price range of those on a low to medium income. The average private rent for the whole South East region is the second most expensive after Greater London25. The cost of purchasing is high, £300,000+ for a starter home, and rentals are between £910 - £2,500 per calendar month (Appendix 3.3).
Affordable housing means properties bought by housing associations and rented at up to 80% of the normal market rent. Council-owned social housing, inclusive of service charges, typically rents at between 40% and 60% of market rent, capped at Local Housing Allowance (LHA) level26.
The Lovelace Housing Survey 2016 showed there were 116 homes available for affordable rent; it showed that GBC own 82 properties, with a further 34 belonging to a housing association. Turnover on these properties is very low, with just 5 becoming available in 2015/16 yet there were 36 households on the affordable housing register requiring a mix of 1, 2 or 3 bed homes. This number excludes those who have registered an interest in shared ownership.
Starter homes are for those with maximum incomes of £80,000, who purchase a new home at a discount and keep it for at least 5 years before selling at market price. The NPPF 2018 is considering including a category of “discounted market sales housing” at a discount of 20% of local market value with eligibility determined with regard to local incomes and local house prices. However, ‘discounted market sales housing’ are offered in lieu of the ‘traditional’ on site affordable
23 (Guildford Borough Council - Local Plan 2017 - Homes for All, pg 31, 4.2.3, 2017) 24 (Lovelace NP H. S.-P.-2., 2016) 25 (Homelet, 2018) 26 (Guildford Borough Council, 2018) Page 45 of 142
housing, i.e. social rent, affordable rented and shared ownership. The evidence in our plan shows there is a need for ‘traditional’ affordable housing to continue to be the priority.
Rural Exception Sites (RES) are sites which would not normally be used for housing, and provide rented affordable housing in perpetuity. Small numbers of market homes may be allowed at the local authority’s discretion, for example where essential to enable the delivery of affordable units without grant funding. Ripley has one Rural Exception Site, which is fully occupied, and is interested in providing more. Wisley, which is currently changing its demographic by the RHS privately renting the former employee homes, could perhaps benefit from a RES for the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) employees. The requirement for an RES in Ockham is less clear.
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6.4 Design and Density
Policy : L.H3 - Housing Design and Density Developments which are well designed, enhance the special qualities of each area and are sympathetic to local character and history, will be supported if:
1) They follow the guidelines on design criteria from SLGA ‘Surrey Design’ 2002 or the most recently adopted design guidance produced by Surrey County Council, Policy D1 of the GBC 2018 draft Local Plan and the latest NPPF guidelines. 2) Conservation area proposals follow the Lovelace Design Standards and the GBC Ripley Conservation Area Appraisal guidelines. 3) The design uses high quality materials which are in keeping with the surrounding properties and character of the area 4) The height of the proposed development is in keeping with the surrounding buildings and area. 5) The roof form (including any dormer windows) are designed to avoid a sense of encroachment. 6) Buildings have a maximum height of three stories, including accommodation in the eaves, where this is in keeping with the streetscape and character of the settlement areas. 7) Developments are of a similar density to properties in the immediate surrounding and wider area the appearance of cramming. 8) Developments have a maximum density of 40 per hectare within the settlement boundaries and a maximum of 30 dwellings per hectare outside the settlement areas to reflect accessibility . 9) The building line and boundary treatment of the proposed development complements the street scene in the vicinity of the site. 10) Appropriate landscaping and surfacing is provided following consultation with the highways authorities to support sustainable choices. Major new developments in the settlement areas are required to provide pavements/footpaths linking to public walkways for the safety of children and pedestrians. 11) Provision is made for vehicle parking and cycle storage with sufficient turning space for service vehicles to service the development. 12) The proposed development does not reduce daylight to the primary sources of light to habitable rooms in neighbouring dwellings. 13) Sufficient private amenity space is provided for proposals and any existing dwellings impacted. (Parking spaces are not considered an amenity space) 14) Bin stores are provided at a reasonable distance to the dwelling. 15) Gated developments will not be permitted in the settlement areas
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Reasoned Justification
This policy addresses the need for developments to fit into and complement the character and scale of the of the surrounding area, both visually and by height. Compatibility in design is important to enhance the visual aspects of any new development. The requirement is to provide a strong sense of place and create attractive and comfortable places to live and a sense of social cohesion.
Developments which incorporate modern building techniques combined with traditional materials are acceptable if sensitively designed and positioned. Modern, energy-saving design and materials should enhance build quality and appearance to benefit the overall development and respond to the local character and history of the area.
Gardens provide valuable amenity space necessary for health benefits. Pavements are required within in developments for pedestrian safety. Gated developments in the villages are not appropriate for social cohesion in an area where ’community‘ featured as the number one positive point in the Summer Survey 2015. There is a low crime rate throughout Lovelace and security should be appropriate to the location. Parking is addressed in L.I4.
National guidelines require optimal use of land to meet the needs of housing but recognise that density should reflect the desirability of maintaining an area’s prevailing character. Setting out a range of densities to reflect the accessibility and potential of different areas is acknowledged.27
High-density housing can make a development feel cramped, oppressive and overcrowded. Equally, density that is too low leads to sprawl, feelings of isolation, and car dependency and can undermine the viability of public transport28. The fine line of density balance, while providing the necessary mix of market and affordable housing, should not just reflect the character, mass and landscape of the area but also the availability of public transport to promote sustainable travel modes that reduce future car use.
The Plan supports developments which meet the local need to provide starter homes, affordable homes and Rural Exception Sites where they avoid overdevelopment of a site but contribute to the numbers of affordable homes. The three villages have very different characteristics in overall design, however; rat-trap bond is widely used in Lovelace properties and essential for any addition or adjoining development to enhance the visual appearance of the development.
Ripley
The Ripley Conservation Area Appraisal (CA)29 references the various architectural styles and materials with particular features for four ‘distinct character areas’, i.e. Ripley Green, Newark Lane,
27 (NPPF, paras117, 122, 123, 2018) 28 (Surrey County Council, 2002) 29 (Guildford Borough Council, 2017) Page 48 of 142
High Street and Rose Lane. Many of the guidelines, in terms of design and material (roofing / fenestration / joinery / landscaping / boundary treatment) and density policy apply to Ripley, though the diversity of design in Ripley requires developments to more broadly reflect their direct surroundings. The CA makes reference to recent mixed-period buildings, especially around the Green, as being of poor style, which is to be avoided for the future.
Within Ripley many structures are of Ockham brick or in some cases earlier Tudor-type brick (thinner than Imperial and often showing signs of grass / straw where baked in the open). A recent development in White Hart Meadows reflects Arts and Crafts style, though this is not one of the many historical styles that predominate in the village. It does show that a development of a reasonable scale can achieve a level of harmony with differing surrounding styles.
Ockham
Ockham has no Conservation Area Appraisal as yet, and has a large number of early timber-framed buildings and several houses built in a distinct recognisable style, having been constructed by the 1st Earl Lovelace in the 19th century.
The significant strategic site proposed for Ockham is likely to feature buildings quite unlike those within the present built areas (5-storey blocks of flats are shown in the outline planning application). If the site is developed, it is a requirement, as part of this policy, that all structures should be sensitive to and complement the specific design characteristics of Ockham to ensure this strategic development fits harmoniously into the surrounding landscape by virtue of design, height and density, to avoid the development having a dominating effect on the surrounding landscape. (The development will be built on a ridge 10m above sea level at its highest point). See Appendix 3.7.)
Wisley
The conservation area in Wisley includes the Grade I church and the adjacent Grade II farmhouse, with further older buildings elsewhere in the village. The main building at the RHS is a Grade II listed building in Arts and Crafts style, with more modern and industrial design incorporated elsewhere in the Garden, itself listed GII* as Historic Parks and Gardens. Elsewhere in the village redbrick and hand-made tiles predominate and this should be reflected in any future development.
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7. ENVIRONMENT POLICIES
7.1 Introduction
The subjects covered in this section relate to the Lovelace rural features and biodiversity, including:
• Local Green Spaces and Views of value to the communities (L.EN1) • Biodiversity and Natural Habitats (L.EN2) • Flooding (L.EN3) • Light Pollution (L.EN4) • Air Quality and Traffic (L.EN5)
Other environmental subjects have been excluded as these are already covered by existing protection regulations. There is a hierarchy of international, national and local protection for sites30 with biodiversity of value, of which Lovelace has many. At a national level, the body for designating sites is Natural England, a government body under the Dept of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. (The environment is not to be confused with Green Belt, the purpose of the latter is to regulate the growth of settlements and preserve the openness of the countryside and prevent urban sprawl).
International and National Protection
The protected areas within Lovelace with international and national level protections include:
• Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Areas (TBHSPA/SPA) – Ockham and Wisley Commons • Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) – Ockham and Wisley Commons, Papercourt Lake and both sides of the River Wey in the Papercourt area, Ripley
(Appendix 1, Map 2)
The law is very strict in regard to internationally and nationally protected sites (SPAs and SSSIs) and developments which will adversely affect these sites are not permitted unless there are exceptional circumstances31. A proposal that would negatively impact on a SPA may be permitted, but only where there are no alternative solutions and the proposal is necessary for imperative reasons of overriding public interest. Where this is the case, compensatory measures are necessary. SPAs have a buffer zone of 400 metres from the perimeter to any development, with a further 5 km buffer zone in which development may be approved, but only if the impact on the SPA can be mitigated. Mitigation is the provision of a Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace (SANG), land suitable to reduce the potential impact of residential development on the SPA by preventing an increase in visitor pressure on the SPA.
30 (Surrey Nature Partnership, 2014) 31 (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, 2012) Page 50 of 142
Local Protection
Local level protection consists of the areas of biodiversity and natural habitats areas designated by Surrey County Council and Guildford Borough Council.
• Site of Nature Conservation Interest (SNCIs) - Ripley Green, the area around the former Wisley airfield • Local Nature Reserves (LNR) – Ockham and Wisley Commons, Ripley Nature Reserve • Ancient Woodlands – Lovelace contains many ancient woodlands, forming a crescent from north of the M25 through Ockham, through the south of Ripley to Burnt Common.
SNCIs and Ancient Woodlands do not receive legal protection but are protected through the Local Authority’s planning system. SNCIs are areas of substantive nature conservation value (BIODIVERSITY AND PLANNING IN SURREY – VERSION 2 (MAY 2014, PG 17), but their boundaries can be amended by the Local Authorities, i.e. GBC. Local Authorities are required to apply the follow principles: “planning permission should be refused for development resulting in the loss of or deterioration of irreplaceable habitats, including ancient woodland ...unless development clearly outweigh the loss” (NPPF, Para 118). In such cases, mitigation is through a SANG,
Landscape-scale Conservation
• Landscape-scale conservation - part of a Dept of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs national strategy, Biodiversity 202032, to formally select areas as significant sites for nature conservation • Biodiversity Opportunity Areas (BOAs)33 – areas of targeted maintenance, restoration and creation of priority habitats. Lovelace is covered by the Thames Basin Heaths (TBH06)34, Rivers, Streams and Ponds (R04) (Waite, BOAs - Appendix 9: River Biodiversity Opportunity Area Policy Statements, 2015)35, Thames Basin Lowlands (TBL02). These do not have legal protection, but are government and local initiatives to conserve and enhance priority habitats and biodiversity on a landscape scale.
Note: The Lovelace policies below aim to conserve and enhance the biodiversity and environment and contribute towards the Government’s commitment for ours to be the first generation to leave the environment in a better state than we found it.
32 (Department for Environment, Food and RuralAffairs, 2011) 33 (Mike Waite, 2015) 34 (Waite, BOAs - Appendix 4: Thames Basin Heaths Biodiversity Opportunity Area Policy Statements, 2015) 35 (Waite, BOAs - Appendix 5: Thames Basin Lowlands , 2015) Page 51 of 142
7.2 Protecting Local Green Spaces (LGS)
Policy L.EN 1: Local Green Spaces and Local Views Sustainable development will be supported within the settlement areas where it can have a positive environmental impact. Policies for managing development within the Local Green Spaces listed in Appendix 4.2 should be consistent with policy for Green Belts. Development which does not have a significant adverse effect on the local views shown in Appendix 4.3 will be supported.
In particular, developments are required to:
1) Respect the rural and landscape character and the setting of each of the three villages in Lovelace, as defined in the Guildford Borough Council Landscape Character Assessment, and the settlement areas as shown in Appendix 3.7 2) Be designed to minimise the effect on the existing landscape character and long distance views across the Plan Area, or on attractive outlooks from within the built area. 3) To maintain the sense of place and rural character of the area, developments must not link existing settlement areas or housing clusters which have green space between them.
Reasoned Justification
The Guildford Character Assessment36 shows Lovelace to be in Thames Basin Heath and Lowlands
and the 2015 public survey confirms that the local characteristic most valued by residents and other stakeholders is its rural character.
The three villages in Lovelace are surrounded by countryside with no development other than hamlets, individual dwellings, farms and non-residential sites (i.e. RHS Wisley, Send Prison, two Thames Water sewage plants). Each settlement has numerous views which reflect the rural nature of Lovelace and the three villages all have Local Green Spaces (LGS) of recreational value close to the settlements.
Green areas can be designated Local Green Spaces if they are reasonably close to the community they serve, are demonstrably special to local communities, hold a particular local significance, for example because of their beauty, historic significance, recreational value (including as a playing field), tranquillity or richness of wildlife, and are local in character and not an extensive tract of land.37
A view does not have to be scenic in order to be valued; it may be valued for its contribution to the nature, setting and historical significance of the area.
Lovelace includes a number of LGS, as shown in the list below, but this list excludes Ockham and Wisley Commons, which are designated SPA/SSSI, and Ripley Green and TFM, the former Wisley
36 (Guildford Borough Council, n.d.) 37 (NPPF - para 100, 2018) Page 52 of 142
airfield, which are designated SNCI areas. A full list, with description and ownership of proposed LGSs, together with a map, are shown in Appendix 4.2.
Ripley
• Allotments • Bowling Club • Ripley Court School Playing Fields • Field for Ripley Rocks • Nature Reserve • Village Hall Field Ripley Primary School Playing Fields Ockham
• Ockham Village Green, Elm Corner • Three Farm Meadows • Ockham Cricket Ground
Wisley
• Wisley Cricket Ground • Wisley Archery Field
Local Views
Ripley Nature Reserve Ockham Village Boundary
Lovelace is surrounded by Green Belt and almost all the views from the villages and settlement area are over countryside.
Various valued views and landscapes have been identified which have all, or most, of the following characteristics:
1) They can all be seen from public rights of way or areas where the public has access rights- legal or customary. 2) They provide a sense of tranquillity - including the absence of buildings and human presence 3) They sustain the distinctive character of the Conservation Areas and contribute to their setting Page 53 of 142
4) They demonstrate the openness of agricultural land and other land uses in and around the Conservation Areas
Views from many of the settlements are shown in Appendix 4.3.
Papercourt Lake
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7.3 Biodiversity and Natural Habitats
Policy L.EN2: Biodiversity and Natural Habitats All development proposals must encourage local biodiversity and demonstrate that developments will deliver net gains to wildlife, biodiversity and the landscape, as required by the NPPF.
Development proposals adjoining the SPA, SSSIs or LNRs, or on/adjoining SNCIs, will not be permitted unless:
1) The developer can demonstrate there be no loss of, or harm caused to the adjoining area of natural habitat, and: 2) Developments avoid impacts on protected species and, where relevant, provide a survey to determine the presence of protected species as part of the planning application 3) The provision of a SANG is included in the planning application
4) The developer demonstrates the delivery of net gains in biodiversity. Where feasible, all developments will be required to:
5) Provide an Environmental Impact Assessment and use the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs’ Biodiversity Offsetting Metric and/or the Environment Bank Biodiversity Impact Calculator. 6) Retain and enhance well-established species-rich features of the landscape, including mature trees, hedgerows, ponds, and existing waterways. 7) Demonstrate justification for loss of trees and shrubs as part of a development. 8) Any relocation of habitat must demonstrate that the scheme cannot be designed to accommodate the habitat in its existing location.
Reasoned Justification
Lovelace is a beautiful part of the Home Counties. It is the first essentially rural landscape encountered when heading south-west out of London towards Portsmouth and forms a large part of the green buffer between towns and suburbs of surrounding towns. It is therefore a hugely valuable green space in the national context, is historically important and fortunate not to have been visually destroyed by large-scale urban and suburban developments, as has happened in the nearby surrounding areas.
Lovelace is full of ‘Green Corridors’ between the settlement areas, which include well established mature trees, species-rich hedgerows, meadows, copses, bushes, orchards, woodlands, grass and rush pastures. The River Wey and the Wey Navigation form part of the local ‘Blue Corridors’, including rivers, floodplain, grazing marsh, ponds, wet woodland, watercourses, pools, canals, etc.
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The unlit roads encourage nocturnal wildlife including some endangered birds such as the Nightjar and Dartford Warbler, which are on the RSPB’s amber list. Wild deer are commonly seen and many species of bats abound. This environment supports many rare birds, invertebrates, reptiles, amphibians, mammals, heathland plants and fungi. Woodland birds include the great spotted woodpecker, woodcock and nuthatch, while skylarks, redshank and lapwing breed on the open grasslands. The area includes one of only three breeding sites left for snipe in Surrey and is important for wintering birds with over 90 species, including cormorant, black-necked grebe, Slavonian grebe, marsh harrier, and many wildfowl such as tufted duck, mallard, shoveller, goosander and large numbers of pochard. The lakes and streams support breeding kingfisher, great- crested and little grebes, as well as sand martins.
Ripley Parish Council were recently granted permission to establish a new Nature Reserve and pond at formerly derelict land adjoining West End Cottages and the burial ground. The site abuts the current village boundary and will be a valuable and unique environmental asset for decades to come. There are many benefits arising from the scheme, including an increase in biodiversity, alleviation of surface water flooding, outdoor recreational village amenity, an enhancement of the Green Belt and provision of an educational resource.
Key to development in Lovelace is the ability to harmonise with nature, return more to the environment and ‘make space for nature’, particularly for significant major sites such as A35, TFM former Wisley airfield and A43, Garlicks Arch. Well-designed developments will protect and enhance habitats and the movement patterns of animals and wildlife such that the development does not unnecessarily impact on them.
The Portsmouth Road at the southern end of Ripley provides a wildlife corridor towards Send Marsh / Burnt Common, but it is recognised that the proposal to extend Send Marsh /Burnt Common with new housing risks coelescencing with Guildford, as the landscape gap is set to be further eroded by the proposed major development at Gosden Hill, south of Ripley, together with Garlicks Arch. New Wildlife Corridors will be added to this Neighbourhood Plan as the need becomes apparent.
The government’s biodiversity strategy for England, Biodiversity 202038, sets out the strategic direction for biodiversity policy and Surrey Wildlife Trust’s vision for living landscapes, outlined in ‘A Living Landscape for Surrey’39 and ‘SWT Living Landscape Strategy40’ have regard to local landscapes .
To ensure net gains in biodiversity in Lovelace, in recognition of the Government’s commitment to halt the overall decline in biodiversity, the requirement of an Environmental Impact Assessment and the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs’ Biodiversity Offsetting Metric and/or the Environment Bank Biodiversity Impact Calculator should be utilised for all significant major developments. These would allow developers of these sites, e.g. TFM, former Wisley airfield, and
38 (Department for Environment, Food and RuralAffairs, 2011) 39 (Surrey Wildlife Trust) 40 (Surrey Wildlife Trust) Page 56 of 142
Garlicks Arch, to assess the biodiversity impacts and provide mitigation measures with their planning applications.
Natural England and Forestry Commission guidance (known as ‘standing advice’) should be followed to assist planning decision makers with planning applications affecting ancient woodland and veteran trees41.
Sir John Lawton’s recommendations in ‘Making Space for Nature’42 HM Government 2011 and quoted by Surrey Wildlife Trust “Planning reform is seen as a further key enricher to catalyse habitat protection, restoration and creation through strategic land use decision-making that delivers truly sustainable development, designed to return more than they take from the environment.”
41 (Forestry Commission and Natural England) 42 (Lawton, 2010) Page 57 of 142
7.4 Flooding
Policy L.EN3: Flooding All development proposals involving new buildings, extensions and additional areas of hard surfacing should ensure that adequate and appropriate consideration has been given to mitigating surface water flood risk.
Developers will be required to show that the development:
1) Will not increase the vulnerability of the site, or wider catchment area, to flooding from surface water run-off 2) Provides mitigation measures to deal with surface water arising from developments to meet GBC Surface Water Management Plan standards 3) Maximises the use of soft landscaping and permeable surfacing materials to increase infiltration capacity. 4) Incorporates Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) to manage surface water drainage and provide lifetime maintenance.
Reasoned Justification Lovelace includes several areas susceptible to frequent surface water flooding and occasionally extensive river flooding at times when the country experiences exceptional rainfall (Appendix 1, Map 6).
Local surface water flooding areas include:
• Ockham Road North at the junction with Ockham roundabout – frequently impassable after heavy rain • Ockham Road North at the junction with Guileshill Lane • Upton Farm bends, Ockham Lane • Ockham Lane near Bridge End (Most of Ockham’s lanes flood with rainwater from the adjoining fields, which are higher). • On the Portsmouth Road north of Ripley High Street – traffic is forced onto the other side of the road to avoid the water • Ripley High Street – at the traffic lights, on The Green side • The slip road alongside Ripley High Street has frequently experienced heavy flooding • At new houses at Peelers Place, Ripley High Street, on the site of the old police station – ‘ridges’ had to be added to prevent heavy rainwater flowing towards the houses • Portsmouth Road, leaving Ripley to the south –; water flowing regularly on either side of the road • Newark Lane – subject to severe flooding on the bend near The Seven Stars pub • Wisley Lane
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(PLUS MAP SHOWING WHERE THE ABOVE ARE)
Newark Lane at the junction with Newark Close 2018
The purpose of this policy is to minimise flood risk from new development and to protect existing development from increased flood risk as a result of new development, whilst acknowledging the protection afforded by the NPPF43 (paras 100, 101) and the possible requirement of an Exception Test, together with any site-specific flood risk assessment required (NPPF, para 103, footnote 20 and para 104).
Flood risk must be a fundamental consideration for any development project regardless of scale or type. Both rural and urban future land use changes are likely to alter the amount of surface water. Future development is also likely to change the position and numbers of people and/or developments exposed to flooding. Surface water runoff from development areas is very likely to result in increased water levels within local rivers and watercourses compared to the natural catchment levels.
43 (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, 2012) Page 59 of 142
7.5 Light Pollution
Policy L.EN4: Light Pollution Artificial lighting on developments must take account of the ecological impact and mitigation measures must limit the amount of light visible over the countryside. All developments will conform to the Dark Skies principles below unless it is demonstrated to be necessary and appropriate to depart from these principles, for example in relation to highways safety.
1) The character of the area and the surrounding environment should take account of the appropriate level of lighting for a development in a dark skies landscape 2) Development will include appropriate external lighting that does not significantly harm wildlife, including the positioning, type of light source and level of lighting. 3) Street lighting kept to a minimum level and type to avoid light pollution. No lamp standard on new developments will exceed six metres in height and will be shielded. 4) Street lighting will utilise yellow/orange light or the newer white light sources that filter out blue or ultraviolet light. White light, with more blue content or with ultraviolet content must be avoided. 5) Major developments to include ‘part-night lighting’ when light is not needed to reduce any impact on sensitive wildlife.
Reasoned Justification
Ockham, Wisley and rural Ripley have no street lighting on the rural roads or in the rural settlement areas. Ripley village has street lights in Ripley High Street with minimal street lighting beyond. Apart from lighting on the A3/M25, the area is generally a dark skies area.
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Source: https://www.lightpollutionmap.info/#zoom=12&lat=6674731&lon=- 51574&layers=B0TFFFFFFF
The impact of light on wildlife must include the consideration of all protected species as light spill can compromise an existing dark landscape and/or affect natural systems (e.g. plants, animals, insects, aquatic life). Lighting near or above the horizon should be avoided to reduce glare and sky glow44. (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/light-pollution#possible-ecological-impact).
Four Principles of Dark Sky Friendly Lighting
• minimize the amount of illumination • reduce number of lighting fixtures (to minimum level required) • reduce lamp wattage (often by as much as 1/2) • minimize the area of illumination (shine light only where it's needed) Nocturnal wildlife, including endangered birds such as the nightjar (on the RSPB’s amber list), can be affected by even very low levels of artificial lighting45, i.e. light pollution or “obtrusive light”, as their sensitivity to light differs from humans. (Reference Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution’s 2009 report, Artificial light in the environment). (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/light- pollution)
The NPPF (para 203) requires Local Planning Authorities to “consider whether otherwise unacceptable development could be made acceptable through the use of conditions”, if they meet the “6 tests” (para 206). This would allow GBC planning decision-makers to add conditions to take account of wildlife and dark skies policies at new developments.
44 (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, 2014) 45 (Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution, 2009) Page 61 of 142
7.6 Air Quality and Traffic
Policy L.EN5: Air Quality and Traffic-Pollution Support will be given to significant major planning proposals which demonstrate air quality will not significantly reduce as a result of increased HGV traffic to and from the development site during construction and by general traffic after occupation. Planning proposals which generate significant on-going increased transport movements in Lovelace are required to undertake relevant assessment and provide mitigation for increased traffic movements in locations where air quality is above UK and EU legal limits. Significant major developments (100+ dwellings) must meet all the provisions below, where feasible, and GBC are requested to implement clause 1) as a monitor. 1) Designation of Ripley High Street as an Air Quality Management Area by GBC in the near future to monitor air quality measurements during life of this plan and, as necessary, to bring about reductions down to UK and EU legal limits. 2) Provision of an Ecological Assessment (EA) to assess the effects of major developments on the environment. 3) Provision of a Construction and Environmental Plan (CEMP) to manage the planning and implementation of construction activities in accordance with environmental commitments, to include HGV routing and timetabling with particular reference to Ripley village centre, Ockham Road North, Ockham Lane and Wisley Lane. This is to be agreed in writing with the LPA, Ripley Parish Council and/or Ockham Parish Councils, dependent of which parish the major development is situated. This is to be a ‘live’ document with Parish/Borough Council reviews undertaken on a quarterly basis. 4) Provision of a Transport Assessment to identify measures needed to deal with he anticipated transport impacts through Ripley village and the LRN. Developers are to demonstrate encouragement for construction traffic to use the SRN. 5) A planning condition to prohibit HGV site deliveries/return journeys between 07.30 - 09.30 and 16.30 and 18.00 hrs every day, as part of a co-ordinated CEMP for each significant planned development in the area. GBC Planning and Development to consult and co-ordinate this with Highways England/SCC Highways as required.
Reasoned Justification
Each and every Lovelace survey highlighted traffic congestion and speed as the single most important issues in the area, and traffic is the main cause of poor air quality. (See surveys, Appendix 2). In 2017 the LNP steering committee, together with Ripley and Ockham parish councils, commissioned three months of 24-hour air quality monitoring at two locations, one at Ockham Common and one at the Ripley High Street/Newark Lane junction46, where traffic levels
46 (TRL Consultants (TRL), n.d.) Page 62 of 142
are very high, particularly during rush hours. Additionally, several diffusion tubes were positioned at locations throughout Ripley village.
The reasons for the poor air quality at the Newark Lane junction are the volumes of traffic and the stop-start routine caused by queuing traffic at this narrow bottleneck. A further problem at the junction is vehicles turning into Newark Lane from Ripley High Street, only to find the vehicle in front cannot progress along Newark Lane because of a larger on-coming vehicle and the road is not wide enough for two larger vehicles to pass. This junction becomes blocked, cars can protrude onto the High Street creating safety issues, and pedestrians crossing Newark Lane at this point are endangered.
The air quality results evidenced air pollution in both areas to be 20% to 50% higher than the maximum levels laid down by the EU Ambient Air Quality Directive
The main pollutants responsible are tiny carbon particles, Particulate Matter, (PM) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) and the primary generator of these pollutants is vehicle traffic (Appendix 4.1).
The EU47 and the UK government48 49 have produced regulations defining the upper limits of concentrations of a variety of pollutants, including gasses, principally Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) and particulate matter (principally PM10 and PM2.5). NOx gases are heavier than air with a higher concentration closer to the ground. These polluting particles and gases are generated by petrol and diesel vehicles.
Ripley has two junior schools close to the centre of Ripley Village, one close to Newark Lane and one in Rose Lane, both with nurseries and pre-school alongside, or as part of the school. The High Street/Newark Lane junction is also surrounded by residential properties.
47 (European Parliament, 2008) 48 (DEFRA, n.d.) 49 (Legislation.gov.uk) Page 63 of 142
The planned and proposed developments over the next 5-15 years would greatly increase ithe construction traffic levels and create further problems with construction lorries being too large for the local roads.
The 2018 GBC-Ptarmigan Statement of Common Ground50 states that the land at Garlicks Arch will facilitate the delivery of A3 slip roads – “these are necessary primarily to mitigate the impact of A35 former Wisley airfield”. Page 10, ‘A3 Slips’, of the same document advises “The slip roads will deliver significant environmental benefits across a wide area by addressing areas of congestion through settlements”.
The RHS recently proposed an option to consider south slips at the Ockham roundabout, a consideration excluded by Highways England (HE). The RHS believe the current HE proposals for a new access will increase the mileage of the RHS visitors from the south, adding a total four miles to their journey. Their concern is the strong possibility of decreasing, rather than increasing, visitor numbers as a direct result. Of equal concern is that an increasing number of visitors will short-cut through Ripley, Ockham and Wisley villages, but primarily Ripley.
Therefore traffic from the former Wisley Airfield, Ockham, Horsleys and the expanded RHS would access these A3 slip roads at Garlicks Arch/Burnt Common by travelling through Ripley village, thus increasing traffic driving through Ripley village rather than reducing ‘congestion though settlements’. This policy addresses the immediate requirement to minimise and manage extra traffic travelling through Ripley and on the LRNs of Wisley and Ockham.
As there is no overarching policy on air quality contained in the GBC 2017 LP51 and the TRL report highlights compelling evidence for the implementation of an air quality policy52, Lovelace request GBC to designate Ripley village as an Air Quality Management Area, as authorised under the Environment Act 199553, during the period of major works in and around Lovelace and until air quality levels comply with UK and International legal levels. Even if the TRL measurements be considered not to meet the relevant legal standards, they do indicate a serious air quality issue, particularly in the residential centre of Ripley and at Ockham close to the TFM development. The NPPF, para 124, requires planning policies to contribute towards EU limits or national objectives for pollutants, and air pollution in the area is already recognised by GBC.
The Guildford Borough Transport Strategy 201754acknowledges “Significant, recurrent traffic congestion is experienced during peak hours on the A3 trunk road as it runs through the town of Guildford and between the Ripley junction and the A3/M25 (Junction 10) Wisley interchange junction, and also in Guildford town centre, especially on the gyratory system and its approaches. Congestion on the SRN frequently spreads to the LRN and vice-versa.”
50 (Guildford Borough Council and Ptarmigan Land - Statement of Common Ground, 2018) 51 (Appendix ...... - AECOM Lovelace Neighbourhood Development Plan - pg 22, Conformity Check., 2018) 52 (Appendix ..... - AECOM - Lovelace Neighbourhood Development Plan Review, pg 22 - Evidence Analysis, 2018) 53 (GBC - Air Quality Duties, 2018) 54 (Guildford Borough Council, 2017) Page 64 of 142
A Strategic Assessment carried out for GBC in 2017 comments on ”‘potential air quality issues’” listed as a “key consideration’ for Wisley airfield,” with the latest position shown in a statement made in the Air Quality Review (2017) “Due to the size of the allocated area, ……… it is likely there will be a large increase in local traffic flows, particularly on the A3 passing close to the north of the site allocation which would provide vehicular access to the area. The change in vehicle flows on the A3 is anticipated to be over 21,000 vehicle movements per day. A change in flows of his magnitude has potential to lead to a significant adverse effect on air quality at sensitive receptors.”55 (pg 71).
At the southern end of Ripley, part of the Garlicks Arch development, (revised from 400 homes to 550 in an update to the GBC LP 2018 Inquiry), will be in Lovelace, the remainder in Send, and the Burnt Common area to the south is proposed as a new employment allocation (Site A58, GBC 2017 Local Plan). Combined, these “could potentially create a risk of localised traffic issues. It is notable that the employment floorspace could be expanded beyond the 7,000 m2 figure proposed for this plan period.” Also “… more specific draw-backs, most notably in respect of … transport (e.g. uncertainties regarding localised traffic impacts in the Send area) have been highlighted.”56 (p 88 and p 91).
It is also noted for proposed Three Farms Meadows development at Wisley “high car dependency can still be anticipated” and for Send Marsh/Burnt Common “a degree of car dependency can be anticipated”57 (Pgs 141-142). This is confirmed in the report produced after the Public Inquiry on the former Wisley airfield (TFM) appeal, which states “private cars would be used for most trips“58 and “may well result in a high level of car-dependency and so fail to assist in the provision of a low carbon economy”59
Policy L.EN5 plans to manage the inevitable increases in traffic levels and pollution in the Lovelace villages and the local road network as a result of the significant major developments at TFM and Garlicks Arch. The amount of major developments, infrastructure and other works in and around Lovelace over the LNP period requires traffic management and co-operation between relevant agencies to provide effective solutions to improve air quality in Lovelace and meet UK and EU legal requirements.
Aspirations
• A joint HE, SCC and GBC working party to examine options for the A3 roundabout at Ockham, taking account of plans and proposed development activity across the whole region, i.e. co-operation and joined up thinking.
55 (AECOM, 2017) 56 (AECOM, 2017) 57 (AECOM, 2017) 58 (Former Wisley Airfield Inquiry - pg 119, item 22.7, 2018) 59 (Former Wisley Airfield Inquiry Report - pg 122, 2018) Page 65 of 142
• Ban HGVs from travelling through Ripley High Street, Ockham and Wisley villages, wherever possible • Introduction of a 20mph zone through the central High Street, Rose Lane and Newark Lane, Ripley • A new crossing situated at the Ripley High Street junction with Newark Lane • Hatching at the south side entrance of Newark Lane to prevent log-jams. • In the event of any significant developments proceeding, a GBC Air Quality Monitoring Area (AQMA) and Local Air Quality Action Plan be set up in Ripley High Street and at Ockham roundabout. (https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/aqma).
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8. INFRASTRUCTURE
8.1 Introduction
This section looks at the infrastructure required for developments in Lovelace, with particular consideration given to significant developments of 100+ dwellings. Policies cover the following:
• Infrastructure and Utilities • Public Transport and Green Travel • Cycle Lanes and Public Footpaths • Parking and Cycle Standards • Social Facilities.
Over the 15-year life of the Lovelace Neighbourhood Plan, there will undoubtedly be small (under 10), major (10+) and very possibly significant (100 to 2,000+) developments. The aim is to ensure that any development does not outstrip the capacity of existing infrastructure and/or that it provides relevant infrastructure when required.
Infrastructure demand is generally dealt with between the Local Authorities, i.e. GBC, SCC, and higher Government authorities, and developers as required. However, the level of change proposed within, or close to, Lovelace warrants special attention to ensure it is delivered as required.
The borough of Guildford in general has an extensive supply of natural gas availability and the gas demands of the area are regularly assessed to balance supply with demand. There are, however, some rural areas in the borough including Ockham and Wisley where mains gas is not available and electricity or oil would be needed to provide heating and hot water.
Thames Water have stated that it was also unlikely to have sufficient waste water infrastructure for the developments planned at Gosden Hill, Three Farms Meadows and Garlicks Arch and that they require three years notice for major developments such as these.
There is a difficult balance between encouraging the use of public transport, cycling and walking and continued car usage. Other than within Ripley village, most of Lovelace is not within easy walking distance of services and social facilities. All the villages and hamlets are relatively isolated, bus services are poor or non-existent and there is only one road with a cycle lane. The proposed significant developments at either end of the ward are also isolated, one totally, one relatively. This impacts on travel to railway stations, schools, walking to village centres with toddlers, carrying shopping, cycling or walking to social facilities at night, etc. At the current time, it is unrealistic to consider people will do anything but use cars to travel unless considerable new investment is made in improved public transport and cycling/walking facilities locally as part of major new developments.
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8.2 Infrastructure
Policy L.I1: Infrastructure All developments requiring new infrastructure prior to occupation should ensure: 1) Infrastructure is delivered when it is first needed 2) All local roads within developments have pavements for safe walking 3) Fast broadband facilities are provided prior to occupation 4) Any development larger than 1,000 homes and beyond easy walking distance (500 metres) of social facilities should provide social infrastructure facilities to make the development sustainable, i.e. shops, pubs, restaurants, schools, GP surgeries and community facilities 5) Related infrastructure improvements are delivered at each stage of development to allow for the population growth.
Reasoned Justification
Smaller developments in Lovelace will link into the existing infrastructure. Significant developments will require new infrastructure and should demonstrate how they take account of other infrastructure requirements and developments in the area during the life of this plan, i.e. relating to A3/M25 improvements, RHS expansion, Three Farms Meadows, The Drift, Garlicks Arch, Burnt Common junctions, Burnt Common industrial area.
The Garlicks Arch slip roads are to be part-financed by developers, Wisley Property Investments Ltd (WPIL), owners of the former Wisley airfield, and are proposed as mitigation to relieve traffic congestion through Ripley. However, traffic from TFM, the RHS and general traffic to the north of Ripley would need to travel through Ripley High Street to access the Garlicks Arch slip roads. As traffic is currently the main problem in Ripley, it is difficult for locals to consider this as mitigation.
Where planning permission is granted on the basis of delivery of infrastructure, (i.e. a “Grampian” clause), these are secured through ‘Section 106’ (S106) or Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) agreements which are legal agreements between the developer and the Local Planning Authority, (i.e. GBC), whereby the developer makes a payment towards the wider geographical infrastructure requirements of a development (S106) or contributes to wider infrastructure necessary to support a development (CIL), e.g. cycle lanes, footpaths, community requirements.
Social Facilities Infrastructure
Social facilities infrastructure is needed to create or support strong and sustainable vibrant communities. They should consider the needs of present and future generations by the provision of sustainable local services that reflect the community’s needs and support its healthcare, education, social and cultural well-being, as well as sports and entertainment facilities.
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Broadband facilities in Lovelace are poor outside of Ripley village, with download speeds well below the promised national minimum of 10Mb per second. Over 50% of both business and residential respondents to a Surrey-wide survey have said that their current broadband service is inadequate. Developments should ensure fast broadband is available for commercial and social reasons.
Should either, or both of the Lovelace significant sites in the GBC 2017 LP be approved, a good infrastructure model is the development at Dickens Green60, Solihull, located 3 miles from Solihull, Birmingham. This is a sustainable, self-sufficient, new village of 1,672 dwellings, housing 4,000 people, and provides a range of social and transport infrastructure to encourage social cohesion and minimise car use.
The five key elements of the Dickens Heath Plan were that the new settlement should:
• be in a suburban location close to Solihull, with existing rail and road infrastructure • have a clear identity which gives residents a sense of place and belonging • echo the traditional features of village development including homes, employment, recreation, social and welfare facilities intermixed to create a cohesive whole • provide a range of proportionally sized housing, from first-time buyer housing through to family housing and smaller units suitable for the elderly, thereby creating a mixed community of all ages and incomes • create a safe and pleasing environment for pedestrians while still accommodating the motor car, but without allowing it to dominate the environment.
If TFM were to receive planning permission, it could be considerably larger than Dickens Heath. If TFM is approved with 1,000+ dwellings, then it is part of this policy for TFM to include the range of social facilities as at Dickens Heath. This would encourage less car usage to access social facilities such as restaurants, pubs, chemists, etc.
60 (Solilhull Borough Council, n.d.) Page 69 of 142
8.3 Public Transport and Green Travel
Policy L.I2: Public Transport and Green Travel Developments will be supported which reduce the need for car use and offer sustainable public transport choices that increase, or otherwise support, the delivery of public transport services in perpetuity, where:
1) All significant developments submit a Green Travel Plan , as defined by the Surrey County Council Green Travel Plan Good Practice Guide 2010, with their planning application, and require: 2) Provision of a public bus service, commensurate with the size of the development, to local facilities and railway stations, including a regular bus service to Woking railway station, in particular, for development of 1,000+ dwellings. 3) All major developments to include car-charging points for electric cars. 4) All major developments to include parking spaces solely for car-share clubs.
Reasoned Justification
All the local surveys undertaken (Appendix 2) show the majority of Lovelace residents and workers travel by car to access shops, medical facilities, restaurants, pubs, schools, railway stations and work places. This is unlikely to change without greatly improved public transport facilities throughout the borough and Lovelace has poor, or non-existent, public transport facilities. Ripley has one bus per hour, approximately, between Guildford and Kingston, via Ripley and Cobham, subject to traffic conditions. The last bus from Guildford is at 19.1861. The are two buses a day to Woking, and the last bus from Woking is at 17.4962.
Ockham and Wisley have no direct bus services at all and the nearest bus stops for Guildford/Kingston are on the A3, although these will be moved/removed when the A3/M25 junction improvements take place. There is no bus service between Ripley, Ockham and Horsley.
Lovelace has no rail links and the nearest stations are Woking with its fast, non-stop services to London Waterloo, and West Byfleet with its large car park. Both are very popular with locals which contributes to the traffic through Ripley and Wisley Lane. Other stations, with slow trains to Waterloo, include Cobham, Horsley and Effingham Junction, accessed via the unlit country lanes with no pavements or cycle lanes. Most locals access the stations by car and commuters are often dropped off and collected to avoid daily parking charges.
Guildford station is poorly located, in the middle of the town’s shopping centre and cut off by the gyratory traffic system that is renowned for its traffic congestion, making it is an impractical choice for Lovelace residents.
61 (Arriva, n.d.) 62 (Stagecoach, 2017) Page 70 of 142
Although the rail passenger table below shows Guildford as slightly more popular, this undoubtedly includes passengers from all around Guildford. An additional reason for Lovelace preferring Woking to Guildford is that it adds a further 15 minutes to the train journey time, increases the cost and the trains pass through Woking on their way to Waterloo.
The table below shows the passenger entries and exits from the nearest railway stations as of 2011/12 and the percentage increase from 2001/02.
Passenger entries Change from 2001/02 Station name and exits to 2011/12
Guildford 7,992,712 +33.7%
Woking 7,358,408 +27.7%
West Byfleet 1,225,308 +40.5%
London Road (Guildford) 499,810 +67.3%
Horsley 405,686 +44.0%
Effingham Junction 285,398 +17.7%
Clandon 186,534 +33.1%
Source: Government Office of Rail & Road (www.orr.gov.uk )
There are key capacity and adequacy issues for rail in Surrey63, several of which relate specifically to Guildford borough. Trains between Portsmouth/Haslemere and London Waterloo use part of the South West Main Line, the capacity of which will be a major long-term challenge as demand already exceeds the seats available during the busiest times on weekday services. Passenger numbers will grow by 24% between 2011 and 2031 – about 1% per year (Network Rail, July 2011). Network Rail has made commitments for improvements to be delivered in the short-term but has no long-term plans.
As TFM will probably have an average of 2 cars per household, up to 4,000+ cars could leave and return to the site daily, whilst Garlicks Arch could have 800+ cars doing the same. The draft GBC 2017 LP shows the withdrawal of a bus service from TFM to Woking64, yet a regular shuttle bus between both developments to Woking station would dramatically reduce car usage from both sites and provide a service for local people. Woking station ranks second in commuter numbers and is the station of choice for many in Lovelace, who mainly travel to it by car as there is no suitable bus service. The inclusion of a regular Woking bus service would serve commuters and shoppers leaving school runs as the most regular daily car usage need and some of that could use these buses. Good public transport is the most sustainable way to reduce car usage from significant
63 (ARUP, 2013) 64 (Guildford Borough Council - draft LP Consultation Document - pg 225-6, 2017) Page 71 of 142
developments, as is proven by Dickens Heath, previously a semi-rural location, with two railway stations less than 15 minutes’ walk, plus 12 local bus services going in every direction. A bus service between East Horsley and Woking, via Ockham, Wisley and Ripley, would be strongly supported to reduce, rather than increase, air quality issues. Encouragement of car sharing and the addition of electric car-charging points at significant sites are also supported.
Aspirations
• Increase the frequency and destinations of local bus services. • Provide low-cost fares for station destinations, to encourage usage. • Provide real time information at all bus stops. • GBC to reinstate the requirement for a regular bus service to Woking if the former Wisley airfield receives planning permission for development
8.4 Cycling and Walking
Policy L.I3: Cycle Lanes and Public Footpaths Developments which support and encourage cycling and walking as safe and sustainable means of travel to nearby facilities will be supported. The creation of separate cycle lanes and provision of places where walking and cycling have priority over motorised traffic, for safety reasons, will be supported.
To assist these provisions, developments must include:
1) S106 contributions for appropriate improvements to cycling and walking provision related to the development and to link the development to existing cycle routes and footpaths
2) New developments must ensure existing footpaths, footways, Public Rights of Way and cycle paths are preserved and enhanced to encourage walking and cycling. 3) Any significant new development, must include provision for linking into the existing network of footpaths, Public Rights of Way, and cycle paths and involve the local parish councils in planning these provisions. NOTE: It will not normally be sufficient for developers to just make a financial contribution to GBC or SSC as their means of providing these facilities if at all possible. They are to deliver these facilities.
Reasoned Justification
Lovelace is not well served with cycle lanes and pavements. There are no full specification cycle lanes (separating cycles and vehicles) in Lovelace. Cycle lanes to Guildford (7 miles), and Woking (5 Page 72 of 142
miles) are unsafe as they cover only part of the route. The addition of new cycle lanes on most of the local road structure is impractical due to the narrowness of these roads.
Pavements are scarce in the ward and not all roads have lighting outside of Ripley village, they do not provide a sense of safety and security for those walking alone or cycling at night.
There is a footpath from the Ockham roundabout to Ripley but it is not well maintained, has no lighting and is isolated and invisible from the road. The distance on this path is approximately one mile from Ripley village to the edge of TFM.
In Ripley village, people walking to work or to the Ripley schools generally live within easy walking distance. In Wisley workers who live in RHS accommodation near the Gardens walk to work, those living outside Wisley generally drive although some cycle.
The rural footpaths are used by leisure walkers, ramblers and dog walkers from within and outside the area. They use the Wisley and Ockham Commons, Ripley Green, Papercourt Lake and the paths along the River Wey and the Navigation.
There is a recurrent need for footpaths to be maintained by the relevant authority and kept free of all overgrown vegetation. The public Pigeon House bridge across the River Wey was damaged during the floods of 2013, removed but not replaced by Surrey County Council due to lack of funding. (See Appendix 1, Map 9, for map of existing footpaths).
Green Travel is an important consideration in all significant developments. Section S106 contributions from any such developments are encouraged to create and enhance cycle routes and footpaths, where possible. Parish councils receiving their 25% portion of Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) will have discretion to address demands that development places on the area.
Aspirations
• A bike-hire scheme.
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8.5 Parking
Policy L.I4: Parking Parking management is essential to avoid increasing on-street parking, particularly in Ripley village, and all developments must ensure they meet the parking standards below:
Residential Parking
1) All residential developments within Lovelace which provide parking within its designated land boundaries to meet the expected demand of the development will be supported. On-street parking for residents or as overflow facilities is not supported. 2) Each development must provide parking bays of a minimum size of 6m x 2.6m, or 7m x 2.6m if parallel parked, and/or garages with a minimum size of 7m x 3m to accommodate modern vehicles and some storage. 3) Minimum parking standards are: a) Studio apartments: 1 car space minimum b) 1-bedroom dwelling: 1 car space minimum c) 2-bedroom dwelling: 2 car spaces minimum d) 3 bedrooms or more dwelling: 3 car spaces minimum e) Elderly (sheltered): 0.5 car spaces per unit
Residential Visitor Parking
4) Visitor parking must be provided within the curtilage of the development. Minimum levels of visitor parking, which must be signposted, are as follows a) 2 – 5 dwellings 1 space b) 5 – 10 dwellings 2 spaces c) 10+ dwellings 1 space per 5 dwellings
Commercial Parking
5) All commercial developments must provide on-site car parking to meet the maximum predicted use for daily company usage unless located within easy walking distance of good public transport facilities. 6) Overnight parking needed for company vehicles must be provided on-site. 7) All commercial developments must provide on-site car parking to meet the maximum predicted use for daily company usage unless located within 500m of good public transport facilities.
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9) Car parking spaces for employees will provide 5 spaces per 100 sq. m. of commercial space. Parking on non-residential sites shall not be below the prevailing maximum standards in use by Guildford Borough Council (i.e. the maximum for the Borough shall be applied as a minimum in Lovelace). Note: all figures to be rounded up 10) The provision of visitor parking facilities in communal and commercial areas of strategic new developments would be supported, as would the use of S106/CIL monies towards this objective. Public Parking 11) There will be support for land around the settlement areas, particularly Ripley Village, to be repurposed in perpetuity where the relevant Parish council considers it appropriate. Cycle Stands 12) To encourage cycling as a means of sustainable travel, cycling-related provisions will include: 13) All new housing developments to provide one cycle space for each dwelling within a block of flats. 14) Commercial developments will provide a minimum of 5 Cycle Parking spaces per 100 sq.m. of commercial space.
Reasoned Justification
This Neighbourhood Plan fully supports green travel, but the area is too rural and undeveloped for this to be practical in many parts of Lovelace as the narrow roads are inadequate for this purpose.
High car usage was identified in the 2011 census within Guildford Borough, this is particularly true of Lovelace which lacks Guildford town’s infrastructure. Car usage is the main form of transport at the current time and this is unlikely to change significantly in the foreseeable future.
The parking standards in the policy are designed to manage car parking, particularly in Ripley village, which has to provide for residential, employment and visitor parking. The NPPF changes dated 25 March 2015 acknowledged there are situations where car usage is required. ‘Local planning authorities should only impose local parking standards for residential and non-residential development where there is clear and compelling justification that it is necessary to manage their local road network.65’ Ockham and Wisley do not have need for car parking management, but Ripley village does. Additional development and increasing visitor numbers will inevitably add to the need for extra parking in Ripley village in the foreseeable future.
65 (Ministry of Housing , Communities and Local Governmenet and The Rt Hon Sir Eric Pickles) Page 75 of 142
There is two-hour unmonitored parking in Ripley High Street and unrestricted parking outside the village centre. There is a total of about 350 parking spaces in the village centre, which is sometimes insufficient and many spaces are used inappropriately. Car parking facilities include the free car park (often used by residents and workers), on-street parking (used by shoppers and workers) and the ‘unofficial’ car parks on The Green (used by walkers, commuters and residents). Many High Street residents have no on-site parking facilities and use street parking, or verges, only to receive parking tickets. Visitors park where they can and if the car parks are full, they park on verges, on pavements forcing pedestrians onto the street, and even on residents’ private off-street parking spaces in front of their homes.
Delivery vehicles often park on the High Street pavements forcing pedestrians onto the road, and lorries and vans parked in the bus bays are a daily occurrence.
Pavement Parking Ripley
The 2011 Census figures showed 33.2% of people living in the area are between the ages of 18 and 4466, and 9.5% are “non-dependent” children67. However, this does not reflect the increased current trend for many young people to remain or return to the family home as house purchase is beyond their means. These adult children often have cars, increasing the need for parking space to three or four cars per household68. The parking standards and parking space sizes in the policy take account of this need69.
66 (ONS: Census, 2011) 67 (ONS: Census, 2011) 68 (ONS: Census, 2011) 69 (Dept for Transport, Pg 110) Page 76 of 142
Former Sage Interiors, Ripley, converted in 2017 from commercial to residential
Insufficient parking in Ripley Village has been shown to deter employment. Belle and the Dragon restaurant chain decided not to purchase the former Sage Interiors, a large, High Street property, due to inadequate public parking facilities. The 2016 Business Survey results and anecdotal evidence show residents of nearby towns and villages by-pass Ripley to shop due to this problem. (Appendix 2.6).
Aspirational • Restrictions on all-day parking in Ripley. • Provide timed parking in the car parks to discourage daily commuter parkers leaving multiple cars in the car parks and continuing in one vehicle • Provide Residents Parking Permits for those with no off-street parking facilities • Provide contract parking for employers and employees to free up High Street parking spaces • Provide new small, unobtrusive public car parks alongside the settlement areas for workers and visitors. • Stop pavement parking, which forces people to into the road. • Encourage car sharing for employers and employees with reduced parking charges for proven local car sharers.
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8.6 Community Facilities
Policy L.I5: Provision of Community Facilities To provide for social facilities on new developments and the enhancement of current facilities, developments are supported which: 1) Retain or, in the case of significant developments, provide, community facilities and land for community use. Proposals for increases/improvements in community facilities on Local Authority- or community-owned land will be supported. 2) Provision and improvements in community facilities will be supported as an appropriate use of CIL funds and Section 106 payments.
Reasoned Justification
Community facility provision is essential to create and enhance thriving communities. Ockham uses its cricket pavilion, cricket grounds and Parish Rooms for community events; Wisley has a cricket pavilion but no cricket club at present and has few, if any events outside those held by the RHS; Ripley has numerous local clubs and organisations, plus regular monthly and annual events.
Ripley Village Hall, built in the early 1970s and designed to last 30 years, is the main indoor venue, but badly in need of replacement.
Ripley Parish Council own 38 allotment plots, 21 full and 17 half. There are 28 plot holders, nine of whom live outside of Lovelace, and a waiting list of seven people, six of whom are within Lovelace. The RHS also have some allotments.
This purpose of this policy is to encourage new and/or expanded facilities which benefit the community.
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8.7 Healthcare and Educational Provision
Policy L.I6: Healthcare and Education Significant developments which consider healthcare and educational needs for the development prior to the planning application will be supported where: 1) It is evidenced that the developer has consulted with the local county authority (SCC), Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) and Local Authority (GBC), or relevant subsequent authorities during the life of this plan, to ascertain the healthcare and educational requirements for the new community on the development 2) the proposal for healthcare and educational facility provision is calculated to meet revised local needs.
Reasoned Justification
It is recognised that significant developments will require liaison with the Local Authority, the County Local Authority and the relevant educational and health care authorities prior to submitting a planning application
Healthcare provision in Lovelace is limited and it no longer has a doctor’s surgery, although facilities are available in neighbouring parishes. There is no demonstrable need for additional facilities in Lovelace at present but significant developments will upset this balance.
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9. BUSINESS AND EMPLOYMENT
9.1 Introduction
Lovelace has an active and diverse local economy. Ripley village is a vibrant retail and commercial centre, Ockham has no commercial centre at all, nor does Wisley. Wisley village has the largest employer in Lovelace, followed by the golf clubs in Ockham and Wisley and one employer in Ripley village. Other employment in Lovelace is, in the majority, agricultural, horticultural and equine- related activities or home working.
The polices contained in this section are to encourage commercial growth and provide local employment in Lovelace and include:
• Preserve and Develop Lovelace Business (L.BE1) • Agricultural and Horticultural Land Use (L.BE2)
Ripley
Ripley village is proposed as a District Centre in the draft GBC 2017 LP. It is the commercial hub of Lovelace and has become a ‘destination’ village. Its compact High Street provides a range of service and hospitality facilities, i.e. shops, coffee shops, pubs and restaurants, attracting walkers, cyclists and tourists as well as locals. The majority of businesses in the High Street are privately owned and provide a range of employment opportunities.
Shops are at ground floor level only and retail premises rarely stay empty for long when marketed, offices are at ground and first floor level The largest employer in Ripley, PharSafer, is in the village centre, occupying a two-storey office with some car parking. The company employs 48 full-time staff, most of whom live outside the area.
There are pockets of small, light industrial sites in and around the village, but those in or near the centre are slowly being redeveloped to provide housing. One proposed development of 26 homes plans to include two shops, but this is rare. There is little opportunity for new employment floor space other than on the few remaining brownfield sites in Ripley village and on the Portsmouth Road, outside the village, but residential usage usually prevails against business usage.
The major constraints to conserving and expanding business in Ripley are loss of commercial premises to residential, insufficient overall parking and poor public transport.
Wisley
Wisley Village has the smallest population but one of the largest employers in Guildford borough. The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) employs 350 full-time and 100 part-time staff; has 221 volunteers and 24 trainees. When its expansion is complete, it expects to increase staff levels by 10%.
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based there, although only an average of 30 are there at any one time, and two other separate, non-related, offices employing 38 people in total.
The Wisley Golf Club straddles the Lovelace/Pyrford boundaries and employs 72 full-time and 28 part-time/casual staff, of whom 14 are Lovelace residents. Ockham
The largest employer, on the Ockham/East Horsley boundary is The Drift Golf Club, employing 44 full-time, part-time and casual workers. Martyr’s Green Montessori employs 20 full-time and part- time staff. Other employment is agricultural or horticultural related, scattered thinly across a wide area.
Home Working
Other employment outside retail and agricultural tends to be homeworking. The 2011 Census showed that 16.6% of Lovelace residents work from home, a figure that will have increased significantly since then.
Lancaster University70 say the UK is on the verge of a flexible employment tipping point and 70% of companies will have employees, known as ‘digital nomads’ working remotely from home by 2020 or setting up small home offices to create employment. The use of work/live units are therefore supported on some larger new developments as is fast broadband for all new or change of use developments.
70 (Lancaster University Work Foundation, 2016) Page 82 of 142
9.2 Preserve and Develop Business & Employment
Policy L.BE1: Change of Use from Commercial to Non-Commercial Proposals which provide sustainable growth and expansion of employment floor space to create or expand employment opportunities will be supported. Proposals which would result in the loss of shops and pubs, particularly in Ripley village centre, or community facilities, or requiring HGV movements though the villages will not be supported. Support is provided where:
1) They are of a scale appropriate to the character and appearance of the area. 2) They provide parking in accordance with Policy L.I4 of this plan. 3) They do not have an impact on nearby residents by way of noise, smell or nuisance. 4) Applications which would result in the change of use of non-residential buildings must provide marketing evidence alongside any planning application. The marketing must be carried out in accordance with the stipulations below: 5) For Class A1 units, 12 months of sustained and widespread marketing of premises at a realistic price, as proven by a local valuation report, has been undertaken 6) With the exception of A1 units, any other A Uses and B1 premises 6 months of sustained and widespread marketing of the premises at a realistic price, as provide by a local valuation report, has been undertaken.
7) the current business is not a well-used service facility or of community benefit, an example being an art gallery that is rarely open and employs no one 8) change of use to general industrial use (B2) or distribution and storage uses (B8) or other such uses will not have a severe traffic impact within the village 9) change of use will adhere to commercial parking policies in L.I4.
Reasoned Justification
The purpose of this policy is to encourage and support business growth appropriate to each location and retain or encourage sustainable premises providing employment.
Commercial activity is vital for Ripley village in particular and support is given to new retail and service facilities which provide employment. Support is given to rural business which is appropriate to the rural areas and does not cause nuisance to nearby residents or add significantly to road traffic at peak times.
The Lovelace 2016 Business Survey received a response of over 50%, with most businesses planning to stay in the area and expecting that their business would expand, although some believed inadequate broadband was a problem. 97% wanted to encourage new business. Local community
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surveys showed residents and visitors also encourage business growth in the area, particularly service facilities; 33% of the 258 respondents of the Lovelace 2015 Summer Survey want more retail in Ripley village, i.e. shops, restaurants, a bank, etc. The retention of retail premises in the village supports the community’s desire to create and retain these facilities (Appendix 2.6 – Business Survey Summary and full survey http://lovelaceplan.co.uk/survey-form).
Retaining service facilities, i.e. the chemist, post office, florist, etc., reduces the need to travel outside the village. Many local pubs are changing to gastropubs/pub restaurants and retaining the few remaining ’real’ pubs is important as they provide a valuable facility for casual social relaxation and interaction for locals and visitors.
The sustained widespread marketing requirement (L.BE1, 3)) is to discourage premises being left empty where there is a covert desire to convert to residential. When marketed, few commercial outlets in Ripley remain vacant for long.
Lutidine House, Ripley
Office premises in the village, many of which have provided significant employment, are being converted to residential by taking advantage of planning or permitted development to convert to residential, e.g. the former Sage Interiors, a large building in the centre of Ripley, received permission to convert to a single residence. Permitted development saw Lutidine House, formerly offices on the edge of the village convert to 18 flats; Ballpenny House and the former Jeffrey Flanders office, in central locations on Ripley High Street, are also being converted.
(PICS – Ballpenny and J.F. for appendices)
Aspirational
• Improved high speed broadband throughout Lovelace. • A proportion of home/work units in residential developments that were formerly brownfield.
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• Shared office facilities, or a Business Centre, with hot-desking, shared office space, and meeting rooms for hire. (Possibly in a new village hall). • Internet pick up/drop off “locker” facilities, as at Morrisons in Woking.
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9.3 Rural and Agricultural
Policy L.BE2: Agricultural and Horticultural Land Use Proposals that will contribute to rural prosperity will be supported where it is demonstrated that: : 1) They relate to agricultural and horticultural small business activity. 2) They continue to provide employment. 3) There are no severe adverse traffic and HGV impacts on the LRN 4) The development conforms to Policy L.BE1, 4) regarding negative impacts and loss of amenity.
Reasoned Justification
As the LNP area is rural, it is important to protect farming and agriculture-related activities to ensure the rural character of the countryside is preserved and managed in a sustainable and sympathetic manner. Lovelace agricultural land includes DEFRA-defined grade 2 (very good quality), grade 3a (good) and 3b (moderate) land, suitable for producing moderate to high yields of arable crops and grazing grass for cattle. As the Surrey Countryside and Rural Enterprise Forum71 (SCREF) describes farming as "an important land based sector in rural Surrey" and its vision for farming and horticulture is "viable, successful, sustainable and resilient to contribute to the rural economy and landscape", the Lovelace Neighbourhood Plan will encourage such use of agricultural land.
Lovelace already has thriving businesses using green space and woodland, which provide employment, e.g. cattle and sheep-grazing, livery stables, flower and seed production, nurseries, local pheasant shoots, etc., plus the flagship 240-acre RHS Gardens at Wisley.
Agricultural, horticultural and equestrian uses, plus small offices and workshops which do not detract from the landscape, do not require vehicles over 7.5 tons on narrow country roads and do not create nuisance out of character with the peaceful nature of the countryside, are encouraged to sustain and enhance a viable rural economy and provide employment.
71 (Surrey Countryside and Rural Enterprise Forum, 2015) Page 86 of 142
APPENDIX 1. APPENDIX 1. MAPS
Map 1 - Lovelace – Green Belt and Surrounding Conurbations
Map 2 - Environmental Designated Areas
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Map 3 - Woodland and Grassland
Map 4 - SSSI Impact Zones
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Map 5 - Flood Risk
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Map 6 - Bus Stops and Schools
Map 7 - Public Rights of Way
Map 8 - Footpaths
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Map 9 - Road Noise
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APPENDIX 2 SUMMARIES OF SURVEYS A series of public surveys were undertaken in 2015-2016, as shown below with summaries of the results. The summaries and full responses to the surveys is available on the LNP website at http://lovelaceplan.co.uk/survey-form/
2.1 The 2015 Summer Survey Summary
This survey was taken by the Lovelace Neighbourhood Plan Group to establish the priorities and concerns of all those with a stake in the villages of Ripley, Ockham or Wisley, prior to drafting a neighbourhood plan for the area.
This public consultation was undertaken at local public events during summer 2015. These included the Ripley Event, Ripley Rocks, the Farmers Market, plus fetes and school fetes, all of which attract locals from Lovelace and the surrounding areas. Ockham had one public event but did not conduct the survey and Wisley did not have any public events.
It was a simple 5-question survey;
a) What do you like about your village?
b) What do you dislike about your village?
c) What is missing from your village?
d) What sort of place would you like your area to be?
e) What else in Lovelace is important or should the Neighbourhood Plan address?
This was an important survey as the responses established the focus of the Lovelace Neighbourhood Plan and its policies.
A summary is shown below with full details on the www.Lovelaceplan.co.uk website.
2.1.1 What's Good, What's Bad?
Top of the list is the friendly community spirit, followed by Lovelace remaining essentially a rural and unspoilt location, which is largely due to the planning restrictions currently in place, including the Green Belt provisions.
The biggest negative by far was the traffic, both the amount and the speed, along with its associated problem - parking.
After this was the concern of over development changing the character and landscape of the area and the expected increased traffic and further parking issues. 2.1.2 What Is Missing?
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In keeping with the outcome of the ‘What’s bad?’ question, the most important thing missing is solutions to the traffic and parking problems. There were lots of suggestions, of which, turning the A3 into a proper by-pass for Ripley, was by far the favourite. Transport related planning is in the hands of Surrey County Council and Highways England, the neighbourhood plan cannot impose solutions to these issues, but the information gleaned from the survey will enable representations to be made by appropriate bodies on behalf of the area.
When it came to missing facilities, in spite of everything the village has, the list was long. Top of it was more and better schools, closely followed by the new village hall. This is combined with a desire for more sports facilities, including tennis and badminton.
Improved public transport, especially a more reliable bus service was much requested and some people have felt the departure of the both the police station and the old post office keenly.
On the commercial front, there appears to be scope for more shops, particularly a butcher and a fishmonger, with many other suggestions too.
On the question of the housing requirement in the village, most people seem to accept the need for some ongoing development, but the feeling was that this should be more carefully controlled and focus on smaller, cheaper housing units.
2.1.3 What Else Is Needed?
This need for greater control over housing development in Ripley came across very strongly in this section.
There was also a very strong steer to resist the proposed Three Farms Meadows (former Wisley airfield) development, although this was not asked, or mentioned, in the survey questions.
2.1.4 What Sort of Place Should Ripley Be?
YRespoindents would like Lovelace to remain much as it is, with a few additional facilities, better parking and reduced traffic.
They accept limited and controlled development, especially of housing.
2.1.5 Other Issues
The Proposed Development on The Wisley Airfield Site (Three Farms Meadow)
We did not ask about this as it is a ‘strategic’ site in the emerging GBC Local Plan, and strategic sites are outside the scope of a neighbourhood plan.
However, respondents chose to give us their views spontaneously.
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Of those who specifically mentioned either Wisley Airfield or major housing developments in the area, we found one respondent in favour and 120 against. To these might reasonably be added the 427 who opted for their village to be a ‘Quiet, rural, protected space’.
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2.2 Summer 2015 Survey Analysis
In the summer of 2015 a survey was conducted in the Lovelace parishes of Ripley, Ockham and Wisley together with visitors to the Lovelace Ward. The survey by the Lovelace Neighbourhood Plan Group was to establish the priorities and concerns of stakeholders in the parishes/villages of Ripley, Ockham and Wisley prior to drafting a Neighbourhood Plan for the area.
Each of the three villages has its own character and concerns and so the responses from each village has been analysed separately.
A summary is shown below:
Age of Respondents :
AGE Ripley Ockham Wisley TOTAL
12-17 8 7 0 15
18-24 5 2 0 7
25-34 22 4 1 27
35-44 20 7 3 30
45-54 39 26 2 67
55-64 37 22 8 67
65 + 78 22 4 104
Unknown 49 32 8 89
TOTAL 258 122 26 406
Question 1 : What do you like about your village ?
Ripley Ockham Wisley Visitors TOTAL
Friendly Village Feel 328 63 4 89 484
Facilities / Shops 259 0 3 110 372
Rural / Unspoilt 99 332 26 60 517
Attractive / Historic 63 16 3 35 117
Access 22 17 7 4 50
Other 0 0 2 3 5
Question 2 : What do you dislike about your village ?
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Ripley Ockham Wisley Visitors TOTAL
Traffic 238 107 22 69 436
Parking 77 0 0 23 100
Over-development 54 36 0 11 101
Services 17 38 23 19 97
Facilities 0 57 10 3 70
Antisocial Behaviour 33 21 2 8 64
Other 10 1 12 7 30
Question 3: What is missing from your village, or needed to improve the place ?
Ripley Ockham Wisley Visitors TOTAL
Traffic Solutions 405 39 0 22 466
Facilities 165 14 10 22 211
Shops 84 65 8 22 179
Appropriate / 96 0 0 11 107 Affordable Homes
Infrastructure 0 43 0 37 80
Other 19 0 0 2 21
Question 4 : What sort of place would you like your area to be ?
Ripley Ockham Wisley Visitors TOTAL
A Village 281 137 9 120 547
Community 37 10 11 17 75
Safe 24 14 0 15 53
Other 31 0 1 12 44
Question 5 : What else in Lovelace is important or should the Neighbourhood Plan address ?
Ripley Ockham Wisley Visitors TOTAL
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Controlled Housing 95 34 16 21 166 Development
Wisley Airfield 62 47 3 12 124 Stopped / Restricted
Facilities Managed 16 17 5 7 45
Community Feel 12 0 9 3 24 Restored
Other 5 0 0 7 12
2.3 The Lovelace Housing Development Survey 2016
In April 2016, a housing survey was conducted in the Lovelace villages in conjunction with an external independent agency, AECOM, to establish the current housing situation and gather views on future development of housing within the Lovelace Ward.
A total of 1177 surveys were posted to all households and was also available online. 257 surveys were returned (22%), of which just 25 were completed online.
A brief summary is shown below and the full survey results can be found at http://lovelaceplan.co.uk/survey-form/
58% of respondents were aged over 60.
83% were owner-occupiers.
23% wanted to see less than 12 homes per year developed
24% wanted to see less than 35 homes per year developed.
63% households wanted to see only small scale development.
42% households wanted new homes to be in line with the local vernacular.
19% of households said they may need to move within the next 15 years.
Key Comments
• For Lovelace Ward to retain its rural feel. • The need to improve local infrastructure to deal with traffic issues before any further development takes place. • Commuter parking in Ripley
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• Additional parking spaces required in Ripley • Traffic speed through village and at junction with Newark Lane • Appropriate infrastructure to match any development • Affordable homes for young families • Retirement properties for those looking to downsize
2.4 Ockham Housing Survey
Ockham chose to also carry out its own, separate, housing survey which was far more detailed than the Lovelace Housing Survey. The figures and comments above are for the general Lovelace Housing Survey, but the full Ockham Survey results are available on the LNP website at http://lovelaceplan.co.uk/survey-form/
2.5 The 016 Summer Survey
The 2016 Lovelace Public Consultation Summer Survey was to assess and/or reaffirm the general direction that the Lovelace Neighbourhood Plan was taking was aligned to local public opinion.
It gave a progress update to show the LNP was covering the areas of Housing, Environment, Business/Employment, Facilities and Infrastructure, as all had been highlighted in the 2015 Lovelace Public Consultation Summer Survey.
To be consistent, the 2016 Summer Survey took place at most of the same events as the 2015 survey. There were a total of 63 respondents, the majority of whom lived within a 5 mile radius of Ripley. Those living further afield chose not to complete the questionnaire due to their lack of local knowledge. A summary is shown below with full details on the LP website at http://lovelaceplan.co.uk/survey-form/
Housing
46% rate low cost homeownership to be ‘affordable housing’.
Garden space, car park space and proximity of amenities were thought to rate almost equally in importance for new properties.
The most important criterion for new housing was affordability (48%), with sympathetic design second (38%).
Environment
37% want all green spaces in the area to be protected from development if Ripley Village were removed from the Green Belt (inset), 33% want the entire village green protected
88% of respondents walk regularly around the Village Green, down by the River Wey/Navigation and all around for exercise and pleasure.
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89% said they were not affected by residential flooding, with only 4% saying they were.
Business and Employment
52% do not want any more new local businesses set up, with 24% wanting more retail and 24% wanting mixed development.
69% consider existing or new brownfield sites were best for mixed developments.
22% felt certain types of rural businesses suitable development, e.g. stabling.
Facilities
38% said a new Village Hall was the most needed new facility, a further 23% saying there was nothing further needed.
55% thought that no room for more car parking facilities to be provided. (N.B. Many people mis- understood this question). Infrastructure
97% said new developments should not go ahead without the infrastructure being in place.
60% said the results of having new developments without the infrastructure would be traffic problems, congestion and road chaos, only 1% thought there would be little change.
2.6 The 2016 Facilities Survey
The Facilities Survey was carried out in February amongst young people, parents and over 60s to establish their views on current and future facilities in Lovelace. A total of 54 people responded.
A summary of the main responses to each question is shown below. The full survey can be found on the website at http://lovelaceplan.co.uk/survey-form/
76% of people are happy with the facilities within Lovelace for their age groups.
81% use the Ripley Village Hall,
59% visit the RHS Gardens
48% use the Church and Church room
48% use the restaurants
39% use the village pubs
Of the specific facilities used:
48% use the open spaces
41% use the footpaths
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37% the playground
37% the Over 60’s Club
24% the Youth Club.
31% used a broad range of facilities within a few miles of Lovelace, including Guildford Spectrum (sports centre), the library, golf clubs, Woking Leisure Centre, etc.
11% would like better parking
8% a swimming pool
The remaining people suggested a wide range of extra facilities, e.g. extra pedestrian crossings, a skate park (now situated on The Green), cinema, outdoor gym equipment, somewhere for teens to hang out, rock wall climbing, etc.
Of changes the respondents would like to see the majority, 11%, would like increased parking, other changes included youth football, improved bus services, improved access to the A3, Village Hall refurbishment, youth club twice a week, etc.
2.7 The 2016 Business and Employment Survey
A Business Survey was carried out in February-March 2016 to ask companies for their vision of the commercial future in the area, plus their perceived constraints to business development. The survey was distributed to 121 companies with premises throughout Lovelace of which 64 responded, plus 15 self-employed home workers made aware of the survey via the local online newsletter. The RHS provided information separately, HMP Send did not respond.
A summary is shown below with full details at http://lovelaceplan.co.uk/survey-form/
Note: Some questions offered single answers, some multi-answers, some allowed comments.
59.7% own their own business, with 20.8% working from home and 19.4% self-employed.
10.8% had employees living in Lovelace
62.4% of employees travel to work by car, 13.5% walk and 12.10% cycle.
41.1% found public transport inadequate.
85.3% required more car parking with 57.4% needing parking for customers and employees.
55.4% anticipate their business growing and 51.4% expect to increase their employees
36.8% expect business to decline due to retirement, 15.8% because of insufficient parking facilities in Ripley.
82.9% intend to keep their business in Lovelace.
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73.3% use internet/email as their main form of communication; 45% felt internet connection was adequate, 29.6% felt it was good.
97.2% felt new business should be encouraged, with provisos.
31.30% would like more retail, 16.4% equally favoured A3/A4 use and agriculture.
87.5% saw future business/housing development as advantageous, 78.6% felt is disadvantageous.
63.1% thought brownfield sites could be used for either business or residential
83.6% did not want green-field sites developed for either.
78.6% wanted either minimal or no extra traffic.
2.8 The 2018 Summer Survey
In July and August 2018 a survey was conducted in the Lovelace villages to establish the current views of respondents regarding housing and land use in their area.
A total of 134 surveys were completed. 82 at Ripley Rocks event on 14 July 2018, 34 at the Ripley Event on 21 July 2018, and 18 at the Ripley Farmers Market on 11 August 2018.
A brief summary is shown below and the full survey results can be found at ….
70% of respondents were from Ripley
77% wanted housing for young people (studio/1-bed) and family homes (2-4 bed)
78% reported affordability in renting and purchasing as the main housing problem in Lovelace
95% wanted new development to reflect the surrounding style and height,
77% considered sustainability as being within easy walking distance of facilities and near a bus or railway service
83% did not consider the Former Wisley Airfield as a sustainable site
91% did not consider Garlicks Arch (Burnt Common) as a sustainable site
74% were unhappy or thinking of moving following GBC Local plan of having up to 3000 new homes in Lovelace in the next 15 years
98% were worried / very unhappy or considering moving as a result of the impact of new development on local traffic
98% considered it important for Ripley to have a local State Primary School
73% considered the effect of new homes on local facilities to be bad
98% of respondents considered the effect of new homes on parking in Ripley to be a problem or serious problem Page 101 of 142
94% of respondents were aged over 31
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APPENDIX 3 HOUSING
3.1 Population Growth and Households - 2011 and 2016
This looks at the population growth in Lovelace over a five-year period, the housing bands and the current (April 2018) purchase and rental prices.
Housing/Population Statistics
Total Total Total Average No of Houses Population Population * People per 2016 2011 2016 House 2016 Wisley 92 185 137 1.49**
Ockham 187 410 437 2.34
Ripley 910 1747 1933 2.12
Lovelace Totals: 1189 2342 2507 2.11
Sources: Guildford Borough Council, 2011 Census, GBC Electoral List totals
Notes: *2016 Total population numbers include 2016 electoral list numbers, i.e. aged 18+ and the 2011 under 18 figures have been added to these electoral numbers, therefore numbers are largely current but somewhat hybrid.
** Approximately [35% of properties in Wisley village (i.e. 32)] are empty as the buildings are being refurbished and slowly transitioning from employee accommodation to market rentals.
3.2 Housing Stock
There is a mixed housing stock in Lovelace, as shown below:
Housing stock by Council tax band [2016]
A B C D E F G H Totals
Ripley 58 32 122 207 248 117 104 22 910
Ockham 7 2 2 8 30 43 59 36 187
Wisley 0 11 17 19 31 3 7 4 92
Totals 65 45 141 234 309 163 170 62 1189
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3.3 Lovelace Property Purchase and Rental Prices
A snapshot (6th April 2018) shows that houses for sale in Lovelace include:
Description Location Minimum £ Source To Purchase 1 bed flat Ripley` £299,950 Prime Location 2 bed maisonette Ripley £310,000 Seymours, Ripley 2 bed terrace Ripley £420,000 + Zoopla 2 bed semi Ockham £450,000 Seymours, Ripley 2 bed bungalow Ockham £529,950 + Zoopla 3 bed terrace Ripley £550,000 + Zoopla 3 bed semi Ripley £485,000 + Wills & Smerdon, Ripley 3 bed bungalow Ockham £575,000 Wills & Smerdon, Ripley 3 bed detached Ockham £799,950 + Wills & Smerdon, Ripley 4 bed detached Ockham £800,000 + Zoopla 4 bed detached Ripley £850,000 + Zoopla To Rent The Only Properties Available on 6th April 2018 1 bed flat Ripley £910 pcm Seymours, Ripley 3 bed semi Ripley £1,295 Zoopla 3 bed semi Wisley £1,450 pcm Seymours, Ripley 3 bed terrace Ripley £1,995 pcm Zoopla 4 bed semi Ripley £2,200 pcm Seymours, Ripley 4 bed detached Wisley £2,650 pcm Seymours, Ripley 5 bed detached Wisley £2,500 pcm Zoopla
Affordable rents on newly built properties can be charged up to a maximum of the Local Housing Allowance, including service charge, which currently is:
1 bed flat - £ 740 per month
2 bed house - £ 970 per month
3 bed house - £1160 per month
Source : GBC Ripley Conservation Area report 2017
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3.4 Additions to Housing Stock in Ripley over Last 5 Years
Milk Road, The Green 2 houses Aston House , Portsmouth Road 4 flats Newark Lane 8 units, houses and flats Stansfields 9 flats White Hart Meadows Development 45 units, mix of houses and flats Dorton Way 3 houses White Horse Lane Barns 4 houses Walsham Mews 8 houses Green View, The Green 1 (3 built to replace 2) Lutidine House 17 flats Exchange Cottages 4 houses The Courtyard 11 houses Peelers Place 3 houses TOTAL: 109 UNITS
3.5 Ripley Village Businesses Commercial Conversions
“since publication of the GBC Plan 2003, and Potential Conversions”
All are situated in Ripley Village centre except the final one.
Previously Currently
Retail butcher Wholesale butcher, shop window obscured, used as office
Post Office Take away fish and chip shop
Doctor’s surgery Office
Wylie & Mar workshops 8 Houses in gated development.
Wylie and Mar, formerly an Decorative glass shop on a short lease. The ground floor is a large interior design and furniture shop, the first floor is a large training workshop. showroom. 2 storeys. Planning permission has been granted to convert the 1st floor to 3- 4 flats.
Wylie & Mar, small shop Planning permission to convert their smaller ground floor shop to residential has been refused.
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Sage Antiques. Originally a Currently converting to residential, just 1 home. (Belle and The pub with large function hall, Dragon restaurant chain interested but withdrew due to lack of then an interior design parking facilities). showroom. 2 storey
Smith Pearman offices. 2 Empty and being renovated as serviced offices for rent storey
Lutidine House - 3-storey 18 flats complex of small offices
Police station 4 Houses
White Hart Old folks Home Mixed development of flats and houses providing 45 homes
Workshops behind the Planning permission for 26 homes and 2 shops approved, but still Talbot hotel included in GBC 2017 Local Plan
Garlicks Arch. Light Last minute addition to draft GBC 2016 Draft Local Plan. Situated industrial workshops. 1.5 partly in Lovelace and partly in Send, the proposal is for 400 houses miles outside village centre. (150 in Ripley)
Hautboy Inn, Ockham Two houses and nine flats
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3.6 Three Farms Meadows/Wisley Airfield – Land and Building
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INSERT SURREY TIMES ARTICLE – 18.3.18 Best Places to Live 2018 ???
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APPENDIX 4. ENVIRONMENT
2.1 Air Quality
The EU (Ambient Air Quality Directive 2008) and the UK government (Air Quality Standards Regulations 2010 and National Air Quality Standards) have produced regulations defining the upper limits of concentrations of a variety of pollutants, including gasses (principally NOx) and particulate matter (principally PM10 and PM2.5). These limits are shown below. All figures are micrograms per cubic metre.
EU AMBIENT AIR QUALITY DIRECTIVE 2008 – MAXIMUM LIMITS
Nitrous gasses NOx Average 40 µg/m3 Occasional peak 200 µg/m3 Particulate Matter PM10 Average 40 µg/m3 Particulate Matter PM2.5 Average 25 µg/m3 For heathland the NOx limit is Average 30 µg/m3
Ripley and Ockham Air Monitoring took place in 2017 and summaries of the results and location of air monitors are shown in the next two pages.
Both locations exceeded the maximum legal limits.
The full air quality testing reports from TRL Consultants are shown on the LNP website at http://lovelaceplan.co.uk/.
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Results of Air Quality Tests – Ripley High Street, 2017
Results of Air Quality Tests – Ripley 2017
Table 1. Hourly Statistis for Ripley High Street – 16/03/17 to 15/07/17
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Results of Air Quality Tests – Ockham, 2017 Table2: Hourly statistics for the Ockham – 08/02/17 to 22/05/17
NO NOx NO2 3 NO2 hourly mean objective (200 μg/m , 18 0 exceedances/year) Critical level 24-hour mean NOx (75µg/m3) 49 Number of exceedances Minimum (μg/m3) 0.8 5.7 0.8 Average (μg/m3) 35.0 74.3 39.3 Standard deviation (μg/m3) 41.4 62.4 24.0 Median (μg/m3) 20.6 56.5 35.8 Maximum (μg/m3) 444.3 535.7 142.6 Data capture (%) 99.8 99.8 99.8
Figure 2: Map of diffusion tube and continuous monitoring station location
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4.2 Lovelace Local Green Spaces
Figure 3: Lovelace Local Green Spaces
REPLACE MAP TO SHOW ALL SPACES LISTED with arrows
The Local Green Spaces shown below exclude the larger tracts of common land in Lovelace, which are protected by national and local designations, i.e.:
Ripley Green, a large area with wildlife meadows, children’s playground, designated picnic area, cricket and football pitches, is a designated SNCI site, owned by Surrey County Council and leased to, and maintained by Ripley Parish Council.
Ockham and Wisley Commons are large areas designated SPA, SSSI and LNR areas managed by Surrey Wildlife Trust and used for walking and horse-riding.
Apart from Wisley Common and the RHS gardens there are footpaths with their verges, a small part of the Wisley Golf course, which includes a number of public footpaths, the conservation area (Wisley church and Church Farm House). Under RHS ownership are also allotments. There are also various undeveloped areas owned by the RHS, currently Green Belt but subject to RHS application for inset.
4.2.1 Ripley Local Green Spaces
Quality of facility (including Name & Address Description & Purpose deficiencies)
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21 full size plots & 18 half size plots for growing fruit, Fairly well maintained, with a Ripley Allotments, Rose vegetables, flowers for personal waiting list of 3 within parish & Lane GU23 6NE use only. Residents of parish 4 out of parish. given priority of others.
Opened in 2016 & provides Ripley Bowling Club, Rose Well maintained bowling recreational value for local Lane GU23 6NE green with clubhouse residents
Ripley Court School Well maintained by Ripley Playing Fields Rose Lane, Sports and recreational use Court School GU23 6NE GU23 6BB
Field for Ripley Rocks, A large field used for the annual Owned and maintained by Rose Lane GU23 6NE summer concert ‘Ripley Rocks’ Ripley Court School
A quiet space for bird watching, Administered, developed and Nature Reserve (land rear walking and sitting. Dogs (other maintained by Ripley Parish of West End Cottages) than Guide Dogs) are excluded Council with the aid of local High Street GU23 6AD from the area. volunteers. Village Hall Field (land by A small field used for sports and village hall, Toby Cottage Maintenance by the Village on occasion extra car parking for & Oak Cottage) High Street Hall Trustees? village events GU23 6AF Ripley Primary School Well maintained by Ripley Playing Fields Wentworth Sports and recreational use. Primary School. Close GU23 6ED
4.2.2 Ockham Green Spaces
Name and address Description Quality of Facility
Area for bird watching, and Maintained by Ockham Parish Ockham Village Green, walking with extensive Council. Managed by Surrey Elm Corner wildlife and flowers Wildlife Trust Owned in Trust and leased to Well maintained grounds with Ockham Cricket Ground Cricket Club for Cricket, clubhouse Football, and other events.
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4.2.3 Wisley Green Spaces
Quality of facility (including Name & Address Description & Purpose deficiencies)
Wisley Cricket Ground, A village cricket ground, owned Currently unused but could be Wisley Lane, Wisley by the RHS. brought back to use.
Used by the Woking Archery Wisley Archery Field, Owned and maintained by the Club, situated behind Deers Farm Wisley Lane, Wisley RHS. Close, owned by the RHS
4.3 Local Views
Lovelace Neighbourhood Plan – Appendix 4.3 – Map (DRAFT)
N.B. Arrows shown are not accurate as can only be turned at right angles. A professional map will be prepared for the final LNP with final pictures, to include the areas where arrows are shown outside the map area below.
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PRESERVATION OF LANDSCAPE AND RURAL CHARACTER
The 2015 survey of opinion in Lovelace confirms that the characteristic of the area that is most valued by residents and other stakeholders is its rural character. So, while promoting sustainable development within the settlement boundaries, in accordance with ENP-G1, all development proposals must respect the rural and landscape character and the setting of each of the villages in the ward as defined in the Guildford Borough Council Landscape Character Assessment; in particular by conserving the open countryside in and around the villages and the key strategic views and vistas described in Table 1 below. Development proposals should have regard to key views and vistas and should be designed to minimise the effect on the existing landscape character and long distance views across the Plan Area, or on attractive outlooks from within the built area.
Schedule of Views and Vistas
Various valued views and landscapes have been identified which have all or a number of the following characteristics:
They can all be seen from public rights of way or areas where the public has access rights
They provide a sense of tranquility - including the absence of buildings and human presence
They sustain the distinctive character of the Ripley Conservation Areas and contribute to its setting
They reflect key characteristics identified in the Guildford Landscape Character Assessment.
Note there is no need for a view or vista to be scenic in order to be valued; it may be valued for its intrinsic contribution to the nature, setting and historical significance of parts of the Plan Area.
These views are tabulated below. The images are based on a single viewpoint but each of these views will be enjoyed and valued from other locations around the selected viewpoints.
The number of views that this plan will protect is a reflection of the current rural nature of the area (which this provision seeks to preserve) and the fact that Lovelace covers three separate villages.
NO. VIEW NAME DIRECTION DESCRIPTION
1 South View from Rose Lane
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2 North View from Rose Lane
3 South View from Rose Lane bridge over A3
4 North View from Grove Heath Rd bridge over A3
5 West View from Portsmouth Road at the Farm Shop
6 Southeast From Portsmouth Rd at Southern entrance to Ripley village.
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7 South View from Newark Lane at the western entrance to Ripley village.
8 West View of part of Ripley Green closest to habitation.
9 South View across Papercourt Lake
10 North-east Devonia Farm from Newark Lane at entrance to Ripley village
11 South View from Newark Lane between Georgelands and Papercourt Lake.
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12 North-east Homelands Farm from Newark Lane
13 South-east View from the Ripley Nature Reserve
14 North View from the western entrance to Ockham.
15 North View from Old Vicarage Lane.
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16 South-east View from Ockham Rd, Guileshill Lane junction.
17 South-east View from School Lane, Ockham, towards East Horsley
18 North View from School Lane, Ockham, facing Bridge End
19 North View from Ockham Rd North, towards Martyrs Green
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20 South-east View from Martyrs Green, Ockham, towards Horsley
21 North-east View from Mays Green, Old Lane, Ockham, towards Fetcham
22 East Bridge End Lane, Ockham, towards Effingham
23 East Elm Lane Ockham. View across Three Farms Meadow
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24 South Elm Lane Ockham. View across Three Farms Meadow
25 North-west Wisley Lane entrance to Wisley village
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4.4. Biodiversity – Ockham and Wisley Commons
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APPENDIX 5 INFRASTRUCTURE
1.1 Public Transport – Three Farms Meadows
The bus service from the TFM to Woking has been removed from the GBC 2017 Draft Local Plan.
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APPENDIX 6 GLOSSARY Affordable Housing, whether for rent, shared ownership or outright purchase, provided Housing at a cost considered affordable in relation to incomes that are average or below average, or in relation to the price of general market housing.
?????????????? International, national and locally designated sites of importance for biodiversity: All international sites (Special Areas of Conservation, Special Protection Areas, and Ramsar sites), national sites (Sites of Special Scientific Interest) and locally designated sites including Local Wildlife Sites.
Air Quality Areas designated by local authorities because they are not likely to achieve Management national air quality objectives by the relevant deadlines. Areas [NPPF]
Ancient woodland An area that has been wooded continuously since at least 1600 AD - [NPPF]
Best and most Land in grades 1, 2 and 3a of the Agricultural Land Classification versatile agricultural land
Birds and Habitats European Directives to conserve natural habitats and wild fauna and flora Directives
Brownfield Land See ‘Previously Developed Land’
Blue Corridors Linked to water e.g. watercourses, pools, ponds and pond systems, rivers, canals, etc
Commercial Defined as shops, offices, light industrial, hospitality, schools, surgeries, Premises [NPPF] leisure facilities, agricultural and horticultural linked businesses and all businesses using buildings of any type.
Community (CIL) formerly S106 A levy allowing local authorities to raise funds from Infrastructure Levy owners or developers of land undertaking new building projects in their area. [NPPF] CIL can be used to help fund projects related to the project. 25% of the levy is given to the parish in which the development takes palce.
Community Right An Order made by the local planning authority (under the Town and Country to Build Order Planning Act 1990) that grants planning permission for a site-specific [NPPF] development proposal or classes of development
Conservation (for The process of maintaining and managing change to a heritage asset in a way heritage policy) that sustains and, where appropriate, enhances its significance.
Conservation Area ??????????? Appraisal
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????????????????? ??????
Density In the case of residential development, a measurement of the number of dwellings per hectare
Development plan This includes adopted Local Plans, neighbourhood plans and the London Plan, and is defined in section 38 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. (Regional strategies remain part of the development plan until they are abolished by Order using powers taken in the Localism Act. It is the government’s clear policy intention to revoke the regional strategies outside of London, subject to the outcome of the environmental assessments that are currently being undertaken.)
Ecological These link sites of biodiversity importance networks
Economic Development, including those within the B Use Classes, public and development community uses and main town centre uses (but excluding housing development).
Ecosystem services The benefits people obtain from ecosystems such as, food, water, flood and disease control and recreation.
Edge of centre For retail purposes, a location that is well connected and up to 300 metres of the primary shopping area. For all other main town centre uses, a location within 300 metres of a town centre boundary. For office development, this includes locations outside the town centre but within 500 metres of a public transport interchange. In determining whether a site falls within the definition of edge of centre, account should be taken of local circumstances.
Environmental A procedure to be followed for certain types of project to ensure that Impact Assessment decisions are made in full knowledge of any likely significant effects on the environment.
Evidence Base The information and data gathered by local authorities to support the “soundness” of the policy approach set out in Local Development Framework documents, including physical, economic, and social characteristics of an area.
Grampian Planning Is a planning condition attached to a decision notice that prevents the start of Conditions a development until off-site works have been completed on land not controlled by the applicant.
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Green Belt A designation for land around certain cities and towns, which aims to keep this land permanently open or largely undeveloped. The purposes of the
Green Belt are to:
• check the unrestricted sprawl of large built up areas • prevent neighbouring towns from merging • safeguard the countryside from encroachment • preserve the setting and special character of historic towns • assist urban regeneration by encouraging the recycling of derelict and other urban land
Green Belts are defined in a local planning authority’s Development Plan
Green Corridors Covering hedgerows, copses, bushes, orchards, woodlands, natural grasslands and ecological parks.
for visitors
Green Field Land (or a defined site), usually farmland, that has not previously been developed
Green A network of multi-functional green space, urban and rural, which is capable infrastructure of delivering a wide range of environmental and quality of life benefits for local communities.
Heritage asset A building, monument, site, place, area or landscape identified as having a degree of significance meriting consideration in planning decisions, because of its heritage interest. Heritage asset includes designated heritage assets and assets identified by the local planning authority (including local listing).
Historic All aspects of the environment resulting from the interaction between people environment and places through time, including all surviving physical remains of past human activity, whether visible, buried or submerged, and landscaped and
planted or managed flora
Inclusive design Designing the built environment, including buildings and their surrounding spaces, to ensure that they can be accessed and used by everyone
Infilling Land with houses or development on three sides
Insetting Removing land or villages from the Green Belt
Land Availability Assessment
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Local Development An Order made by a local planning authority (under the Town and Country Order Planning Act 1990) that grants planning permission for a specific development proposal or classes of development.
Local Plan The plan for the future development of the local area, drawn up by the local planning authority in consultation with the community. In law this is described as the development plan documents adopted under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. Current core strategies or other planning policies, which under the regulations would be considered to be development plan documents, form part of the Local Plan. The term includes old policies which have been saved under the 2004 Act.
Major Domestic: 30 or more dwellings. Above 500 sq m of commercial. Development
Massing Height The height and massing of the development contribute to a built form of a high standard that is designed to respond to its context
Minor Domestic: 1 to 4 dwellings. Up to 100sq m of commercial Development
National Trails Long distance routes for walking, cycling and horse riding
Nature Inter-connected networks of wildlife habitats intended to re-establish Improvement thriving wildlife populations and help species respond to the challenges of Areas climate change
Negative traffic Impact
Neighbourhood An Order made by a local planning authority (under the Town and Country Development Planning Act 1990) through which Parish Councils and neighbourhood forums Order can grant planning permission for a specific development proposal or classes of development
Neighbourhood A plan prepared by a Parish Council or Neighbourhood Forum for a particular plans neighbourhood area (made under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004
NOx Polluting gases from traffic
NPPF Definition: Social rented, affordable rented and intermediate housing, provided to eligible households whose needs are not met by the market. Eligibility is determined with regard to local incomes and local house prices. Affordable housing should include provisions to remain at an affordable price for future
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eligible households or for the subsidy to be recycled for alternative affordable housing provision.
Social rented housing is owned by local authorities and private registered providers (as defined in section 80 of the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008), for which guideline target rents are determined through the national rent regime. It may also be owned by other persons and provided under equivalent rental arrangements to the above, as agreed with the local authority or with the Homes and Communities Agency.
Affordable rented housing is let by local authorities or private registered providers of social housing to households who are eligible for social rented housing. Affordable Rent is subject to rent controls that require a rent of no more than 80% of the local market rent (including service charges, where applicable).
Intermediate housing is homes for sale and rent provided at a cost above social rent, but below market levels subject to the criteria in the Affordable Housing definition above. These can include shared equity (shared ownership and equity loans), other low cost homes for sale and intermediate rent, but not affordable rented housing.
Older people People over retirement age, including the active, newly-retired through to the very frail elderly, whose housing needs can encompass accessible, adaptable general needs housing for those looking to downsize from family housing and the full range of retirement and specialised housing for those with support or care needs
Open space All open space of public value, including not just land, but also areas of water (such as rivers, canals, lakes and reservoirs) which offer important opportunities for sport and recreation and can act as a visual amenity.
Open Spaces Defined as open common land, farms, school playing fields, sports fields, sports and recreation facilities, National Trust land and anywhere, which is green and unbuilt.
Original building A building as it existed on 1 July 1948 or, if constructed after 1 July 1948, as it was built originally
People with People have a disability if they have a physical or mental impairment, and disabilities that impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. These persons include, but are not limited to, people with ambulatory difficulties, blindness, learning difficulties, autism and mental health needs.
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Planning condition A condition imposed on a grant of planning permission (in accordance with the Town and Country Planning Act 1990) or a condition included in a Local
Development Order or Neighbourhood Development Order.
Planning obligation A legally enforceable obligation entered into under section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 to mitigate the impacts of a development proposal
Playing field The whole of a site which encompasses at least one playing pitch as defined in the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2010.
PM 2.5/10 Polluting particles, usually from traffic
Pollution Anything that affects the quality of land, air, water or soils, which might lead to an adverse impact on human health, the natural environment or general amenity. Pollution can arise from a range of emissions, including smoke, fumes, gases, dust, steam, odour, noise and light
Previously Land which is or was occupied by a permanent structure, including the developed land curtilage of the developed land (although it should not be assumed that the whole of the curtilage should be developed) and any associated fixed surface (Brownfield) infrastructure. This excludes: land that is or has been occupied by agricultural or forestry buildings; land that has been developed for minerals extraction or waste disposal by landfill purposes where provision for restoration has been made through development control procedures; land in built-up areas such as private residential gardens, parks, recreation grounds and allotments; and land that was previously-developed but where the remains of the permanent structure or fixed surface structure have blended into the landscape in the process of time.
Primary and Primary frontages are likely to include a high proportion of retail uses which secondary may include food, drinks, clothing and household goods. Secondary frontages frontages provide greater opportunities for a diversity of uses such as restaurants, cinemas and businesses.
Primary shopping Defined area where retail development is concentrated (generally comprising area the primary and those secondary frontages which are adjoining and closely related to the primary shopping frontage).
Priority habitats Species and Habitats of Principle Importance included in the England and species Biodiversity List published by the Secretary of State under section 41 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006.
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Rural Exception (Definition taken from GBC’s website - Homes https://getinvolved.guildford.gov.uk/consult.ti/LPSS2016/view?objectId=7810004)
• Affordable homes for people who cannot afford to rent or buy and have connections to rural parishes through family, recent past residence, or current employment. Such housing must be retained permanently for people who are current or former residents, or who have a family or employment connection to the parish. • As an exception to other development plan policies including Green Belt policy, these are affordable houses provided on small sites in rural areas on Green Belt land. • Sustainable
Rural exception Small sites used for affordable housing in perpetuity where sites would not sites normally be used for housing. Rural exception sites seek to address the needs of the local community by accommodating households who are either
current residents or have an existing family or employment connection. Small numbers of market homes may be allowed at the local authority’s discretion, for example where essential to enable the delivery of affordable units without grant funding
Safeguarding zone An area defined in Circular 01/03: Safeguarding aerodromes, technical sites and military explosives storage areas, to safeguard such sites
Section 106 Monies
Setting of a The surroundings in which a heritage asset is experienced. Its extent is not heritage asset fixed and may change as the asset and its surroundings evolve. Elements of a setting may make a positive or negative contribution to the significance of an asset, may affect the ability to appreciate that significance or may be neutral.
Settlement Areas
Severe Traffic This means the road usage will exceed the capacity as stated in the Design impact Manual for Roads and Bridges for that designation of road.
Significance (for The value of a heritage asset to this and future generations because of its heritage policy) heritage interest. That interest may be archaeological, architectural, artistic or historic. Significance derives not only from a heritage asset’s physical presence, but also from its setting
Significant Domestic: 5 or more dwellings. Above 100 sq. m of commercial Development
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Significant This means that the level of traffic increases Air and Noise pollution above Negative Impacts the level set by the controlling bodies within the UK and Internationally (Traffic)
Site investigation Includes a risk assessment of land potentially affected by contamination, or information ground stability and slope stability reports, as appropriate. All investigations of land potentially affected by contamination should be carried out in accordance with established procedures (such as BS10175 (2001) Code of Practice for the Investigation of Potentially Contaminated Sites). The minimum information that should be provided by an applicant is the report of a desk study and site reconnaissance.
Site of Special Sites designated by Natural England under the Wildlife and Countryside Act Scientific Interest 1981
Special Areas of Areas given special protection under the European Union’s Habitats Directive, Conservation which is transposed into UK law by the Habitats and Conservation of Species Regulations 2010.
Special Protection Areas which have been identified as being of international importance for the Areas breeding, feeding, wintering or the migration of rare and vulnerable species of birds found within European Union countries. They are European designated sites, classified under the Birds Directive.
Stepping stones Pockets of habitat that, while not necessarily connected, facilitate the movement of species across otherwise inhospitable landscapes
Strategic A procedure (set out in the Environmental Assessment of Plans and Environmental Programmes Regulations 2004) which requires the formal environmental Assessment assessment of certain plans and programmes which are likely to have significant effects on the environment
Strategic Road Network
Sustainable Any efficient, safe and accessible means of transport with overall low impact transport modes on the environment, including walking and cycling, low and ultra low emission vehicles to reduce carbon emissions, car sharing and public transport to reduce pressure on other infrastructure such as the transport network
Town centre Area defined on the local authority’s proposal map, including the primary shopping area and areas predominantly occupied by main town centre uses
within or adjacent to the primary shopping area. References to town centres or centres apply to city centres, town centres, district centres and local centres but exclude small parades of shops of purely neighbourhood Page 134 of 142
significance. Unless they are identified as centres in Local Plans, existing out- of-centre developments, comprising or including main town centre uses, do not constitute town centres
Transport A comprehensive and systematic process that sets out transport issues assessment relating to a proposed development. It identifies what measures will be required to improve accessibility and safety for all modes of travel, particularly for alternatives to the car such as walking, cycling and public transport and what measures will need to be taken to deal with the anticipated transport impacts of the development.
Transport A simplified version of a transport assessment where it is agreed the statement transport issues arising out of development proposals are limited and a full transport assessment is not required.
Travel plan A long-term management strategy for an organisation or site that seeks to deliver sustainable transport objectives through action and is articulated in a document that is regularly reviewed.
Wildlife corridor Areas of habitat connecting wildlife populations.
Windfall sites Sites which have not been specifically identified as available in the Local Plan process. They normally comprise previously-developed sites that have unexpectedly become available
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Guildford Borough Council - Policy A43, Garlicks Arch. (2018, July-August). Proposed Submission Local Plan: strategy and sites 2017 - Part 2: Sites: POLICY A43 Land at Garlick’s Arch, Send Marsh/Burnt Common and Ripley. Retrieved from Guildford Borough Council: https://getinvolved.guildford.gov.uk/consult.ti/pslpss17/viewCompoundDoc?docid=8815252 &sessionid=&voteid=&partId=8819988
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