Land South of Station Road, Stalbridge 01 BACKGROUND
Introduction
Gladman Developments Ltd have successfully invested in communities throughout the UK over the past 30 years, developing high quality and sustainable residential, commercial and industrial schemes. These consultation boards illustrate our emerging outline proposals for a new residential development located at Land South of Station Road, Stalbridge.
SOUTH SOMERSET DISTRICT STATION ROAD
NORTH DORSET DISTRICT CHURCH HILL SITE
Station Road Business/ Site Boundary A357 Industrial Park
Permitted Planning Applications
Planning Application - Awaiting Decision STALBRIDGE
Stalbridge Village Conservation Area
Site Location Plan
The Site The Need for Housing
The Site lies adjacent to the north eastern edge of Stalbridge, a small town in the Blackmore To support the Government’s objective of significantly boosting the supply of homes, Vale area, within the administrative district of Dorset. Stalbridge lies approximately 10km it is important that a sufficient amount and variety of land can come forward where it (6.5 miles) to the south of the A303, the main trunk road connecting Basingstoke and the is needed. The Council has a demonstrable need for more housing, and additional M3 to the east and Exeter in the west. The settlement of Stalbridge is centred equidistant deliverable sites are required by National Policy. between the larger settlements of Shaftesbury and Yeovil, with Shaftesbury approximately 14km (9 miles) to the east and Yeovil 18.5km (11.5 miles) to the west. The Site is located approximately 650m to the east of the centre of the town. The Application
To the north east of the Site is a small site that forms part of Gray’s Farm, which is currently Gladman Developments Ltd intend to submit an outline application to Dorset being promoted for the development of a new scheme for six new dwellings and the Council later this year for up to 130 dwellings on the Land South of Station Road, conversion of existing farm buildings into ten new residential dwellings. The application is Stalbridge. The application will establish the principles of development and currently awaiting decision with Dorset Council. determine the access arrangements. New housing will be set within robust green infrastructure to deliver the following:
A Sustainable Location • 130 new homes of varying sizes, types and tenures, of which 40% will be affordable housing in line with the Council’s policies. The Site is located in a sustainable location, within a 10 minute walking distance of the centre of Stalbridge, which offers local services and facilities, such as an independent • Vehicular access will be taken from Station Road, with opportunity for family run supermarket, convenience store, a Post Office, a nursery, a primary school, two pedestrian and cycle links along Station Road. churches, a hairdressers, a public house and a number of take-away establishments. • Retention of the vast majority of the trees, hedgerows and landscape features Stalbridge is well served by a number of bus services, notably the number X10 and 58A, across the Site and its boundaries. which together provide connections to a number of surrounding settlements in the local • New publicly accessible, attractively landscaped open spaces, including the area, including Sturminster Newton, Yeovil and Wincanton. These destinations also provide provision of new recreational routes, areas of public open space set within services further afield. The closest bus stop is located approximately 500m to the west, green corridors, located adjacent to the Site boundary, as well as an equipped along Jarvis Way, which is currently accessed along Station Road. This bus stop provides children’s play area. a regular service to the centre of Stalbridge and is also served by route X10 and 58A. The Sustainable Drainage System features will be located at the lowest part of the nearest railway station is located at Templecombe, 6 miles (3.7 km) to the north of the Site. • Site and will help manage the flow of surface water during periods of heavy Further railway stations are located at Gillingham (7.1 miles/11.6km) to the north east and and persistent rainfall. Yeovil in the west (10.35 miles/16.6km). These railway station offer wider opportunities for travel, employment and recreation. Land South of Station Road, Stalbridge 02 HISTORIC CONTEXT
Historic Development
Stalbridge sits within the Blackmore Vale, which is hisorically renowed for agriculture. Stalbridge was once connected to Bath in the north and Bournemouth in the south by the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway. This line was used for freight and local passenger traffic and provided weekend holiday traffic to the south coast. The line was closed in 1966.
The 1885-1890 map shows how the settlement of Stalbridge developed along the main thoroughfare through the town, along Church Hill, High Street and Thornhill Road, as well as nucleating at the junction with Station Road and Barrow Hill. The historic core of Stalbridge is a designated Conservation Area and contains 48 Listed Buildings, including two Grade II* Listings.
The 1962 map shows how the urban form of Stalbridge changed little over the 72 years between 1888 and 1962, with only small areas of infill development occurring within the existing extent of the town. An industrial area can be seen with larger units present along Station Road, where Stalbridge Station was once located. New development is noticeable to the south of the settlement along Thornhill Road.
The 1983 map and modern-day map illustrate the growth of the surrounding area over the last 135 years. The most significant change to the local area, both to the physical environment and economically, was the closure of the railway line. Today the route of the railway line forms part of the Stalbridge Trailway, a designated Public Bridleway. Station Road Business and Industrial Park continued to grow, with a new site opening to the south of Station Road. Stalbridge’s growth has continued to reflect its historic pattern, developing mainly to the east and west along the main thoroughfare, bound to the east by the route of the original railway line. A large housing development centred around Jarvis Way can be seen to the west of Site 2, with further 21st Century development at Springfields. Infill development can also be seen throughout the central parts of the settlement, with additional growth along and around Barrow Hill.
12 pt SITE
SITE
1888 - 1890 1962
SITE SITE
1983 Present Day
Somerset & Dorset Site Boundary Development growth Approved Planning Applications Joint Railway Land South of Station Road, Stalbridge 03 THE SITE
The Site, together with the surrounding landscape, is broadly characteristic of the respective Blackmore Vale and The Vale of Wardour, which are located on the north eastern extent of Stalbridge.
The Site is an irregular shaped parcel of land to the south of Station Road, used for the grazing of cattle. This Site is not publicly accessible, however Public Footpath
N51/23 N51/74 runs partly parallel to its western boundary. There are no internal landscape N51/24 features of note within the Site. The northern boundary is defined by a mature well maintained hedgerow which runs adjacent to Station Road, with two agricultural N51/20 STATION ROAD N51/31 gates along it. Its eastern boundary is defined by another mature hedgerow with a number of good quality oak trees within the boundary vegetation. A derelict brick built 1 2 agricultural building, associated with an adjacent property, can be seen in the north N51/74 SITE 3 eastern corner, with the southern boundary defined by mature scrub and hedgerow vegetation. The southern half of the western boundary is defined by dense scrub and JARVIS WAY
tree planting, with the Public Footpath and industrial estate further to the west. An 4 area of overgrown grassland, bound by a post and wire fence, indents the Site along Station Road Business/ the northern part of the western boundary, beyond which is a small industrial unit Public Footpaths Industrial Park (incl. PF Numbers) along Station Road.
MAP SHOWING SITE BOUNDARIES & PHOTO LOCATIONS
Station Road Hedgerow along Station Road Agricultural field access Southern Site boundary
1
View looking east along Station Road, at the mature hedgerow an existing agricultural access into the Site.
Factory units, within Station Road Western Site boundary Southern Site boundary Industrial/Business Park
2
View looking south from the agricultural access along Station Road.
Factory units within Station Road Industrial/Business Park Properties along Jarvis Way Hedgerow along Station Road
3
View looking west across the Site, towards Station Road Industrial/Business Park, with Stalbridge town beyond. Land South of Station Road, Stalbridge 04 EXISTING LOCAL CHARACTER
Landscape and Visual Environment
Natural England has produced profiles for England’s National Character Areas (‘NCAs’). The Site and land surrounding Stalbridge are located within NCA 133: Blackmore Vale and the Vale of Wardour, which includes both the large expanse of lowland clay vale and the Upper Greensand terraces and hills that mark the southern, eastern and north eastern edges of the NCA. Steeped in a long history of pastoral agriculture, the Blackmore Vale, within which the Site is located, is characterised by hedged fields with an abundance of hedgerow trees, many of them veteran. This is an area of productive pastureland that is often waterlogged, crossed by streams and several rivers that leave the NCA at all points of the compass.
The Site is not covered by any statutory or non-statutory designations for landscape or heritage character or quality. The Site is not publicly accessible, however, Public Bridleway N51/74, the Stalbridge Trailway, runs along its southwestern boundary. The Site is relatively low lying and flat, at approximately 60 metres Above Ordnance Datum (AOD). The topography of the surrounding landscape varies, rising to the west to form the limestone ridge whose east facing slopes accommodate the town of Stalbridge, and falling to the east, to the floodplains of the River Stour beyond a low ridge at Shipney Lane. Although the Site has a generally pleasant character with its pastoral fields and well enclosed by dense boundary hedgerows, the presence of the industrial area to the west reduces its landscape quality.
Large buildings within the industrial estate to the east of Stalbridge provide substantial screening the Site. There may be occasional views from the northern end of Stalbridge to the Site, but equally occasional views from the eastern part of the town and locations to the west. The Site can be viewed from the bridleway and Stalbridge Trailway on the southwestern Site boundary. Dense boundary hedgerows along Station Road restrict views into the Site on passing the northern boundary. Vantage points to the east are generally confined to the property Stanbrook and nearby footpath to the south of Station Road, and the distant limestone ridge to the east of the River Stour.
Existing property along Station Road, Small industrial unit along Station Road Hedgerow along Station Road Maple Tree Farm adjacent to the eastern boundary
4
View from the south eastern corner looking north west across the Site towards Station Road.
Local Building Styles
The majority of Stalbridge falls within the Stalbridge Conservation Area and includes some 48 Listed Buildings dating from the 17th, 18th and 19th Centuries. These properties are constructed from local grey limestone and some still retain their original stone tiled roofs. The Grade II* Listed Market Cross, which is built of golden Ham Hill stone, dates back to the early 15th Century and is one of the best-preserved Market Crosses in the south of England. Other notably properties within Stalbridge are the Grade II* Listed Church of St Mary and the Grade II Listed Stalbridge Park Farmhouse. The Grade II Listed Thornhill House, located to the south of the town, was built by the great artist Sir James Thornhill in 1730. This large country house boosts a Palladian style, rendered in an Ashlar dressing with stone quoin detailing.
Some of the more modern 20th and 21st Century housing reflects some of the historic vernacular, including pale limestone-coloured stone, painted render and buff bricks, and often with more generous setbacks and plot widths than the older buildings. The development centred along Jarvis Way to the west of the Site, includes mainly semi-detached and detached 2 storey properties, built from buff brick or pale limestone coloured stone, finished in cream render with some use of quoin stone detailing and concrete orange roof tiles.
LOWER ROAD JARVIS WAY HIGH STREET SPRINGFIELDS Land South of Station Road, Stalbridge 05 SITE ANALYSIS
Local Facilities
Stalbridge High Street is located within a 10 minute walk of the Site and offers a number of retail opportunities for the local area. These include an independent family run supermarket, Post Office, pharmacy, a vintage tool shop, two churches, the Stalbridge Community Library and a number of take-away establishments. Stalbridge Hall offers a large community space and houses a number of events, societies and clubs. Sports facilities, including Stalbridge Cricket, Tennis and Football Clubs are all provided on the playing fields along Barrow Hill in the west of the settlement. There is also a recreation area, including a children’s play area, located to the south of the south eastern corner of the Site off Jarvis Way.
Stalbridge is well served by a number of bus services, notably the number X10 and 58A, which together provide connections to a number of the surrounding settlements in the local area, as well as train stations. These settlements and transport connections offer wider opportunities for employment, recreation and retail facilities.
CHURCH HILL STATION ROAD to to HENSTRIDGE HENSTRIDGE AIRFIELD & INDUSTRIAL ESTATE
CHURCH HILL
10 minutes
walk - 800m SOUTH SOMERSET DISTRICT
NORTH DORSET DISTRICT
5 minutes walk - 400mSTATION ROAD
HIGH ST SITE
T H O
R N Station Road Business/ H Industrial Park IL BARROW HILL L
R O STALBRIDGE BARROW HILL A to D MILBOURNE PORT THORNHILL ROAD Facilities Plan to STURMINSTER NEWTON
Vehicular routes and Site Boundary Churches Petrol station existing bus stops Retail facilities
Permitted Planning Applications Public Rights of Way Education facility Recreation facilities Care home
Planning Application - Awaiting Stalbridge Pharmacy Decision District border Post Office Eating facilities
Stalbridge Conservation Area Public Houses Community facilities Industrial estates Facilities nearby:
STALBRIDGE POST OFFICE THE SWAN PUBLIC HOUSE, STALBRIDGE GRADE II* CHURCH OF ST MARY Land South of Station Road, Stalbridge 06 SITE ANALYSIS
Key Considerations
We have undertaken a thorough assessment of the Site and its surroundings in order to identify the features which should be protected, retained and enhanced as part of the development proposals. These considerations provide the opportunities and constraints for development and have been used to inform the preparation of the Development Framework Plan.
There is the opportunity to strengthen and enhance the existing boundary vegetation along all the Site’s boundaries. This will further aid the contained character of the Site. New green corridors along these boundaries could include new tree planting, recreational routes and opportunities for formal and informal play. A larger green corridor along the western boundary would help mitigate against any potential noise impacts from the business and industrial park to the west. This area could be used to provide ecological enhancements, considering its proximity to the Stalbridge SNCI. This area also forms the lowest part of the Site and therefore provides the opportunity for sustainable drainage features in the form of an attenuation basin and swale, which will manage the flow of the water during heavy and persistent rainfall.
The existing well maintained mature hedgerow which runs along Station Road, provides an attractive approach into Stalbridge from the east. The opportunity exists to set the new dwellings back from this boundary and enhance it with new tree planting, framing views towards the town.
Opportunity for dwellings to overlook Station Road and areas of public open space, creating a natural surveillance and attractive edge to the STATION ROAD development and approach to Stalbridge from east to the east. HENSTRIDGE
Potential new vehicular, cycle and pedestrian access point to be taken from Station Road.
Proposed 2m high acoustic fence is proposed along the western boundary to mitigate against noise from the surrounding business/industrial park. New tree planting will be planted to soften views of the fence and the new homes. SuDS PLAY
Station Road Business/ Industrial Park Potential location for Sustainable Drainage System (SuDS) features at the low points of the Site, to help SuDS manage the flow of surface water during periods of heavy and persistent rainfall. These features could form an integral part of the Site’s green infrastructure framework and provide habitat creation.
Stalbridge Site of Nature Conservation Interest Opportunities and Constraints Plan
Site Boundary: 5.60ha Potential area of residential Existing contours Existing vehicular routes & bus stops development: 3.40ha (Up to 130 units @ 38dph) Existing vegetation Stalbridge Conservation Area Potential vehicular access options Extent of surface water flooding Employment Committed Site Potential vehicular circulation Area assessed as most visually sensitive through the development parcels Important Open or Woodland to views from Conservation Area Area Potential green corridors to provide open space, setting the entire Site within Potential Noise & Odour Stalbridge SNCI a strong green framework Opportunity to strengthen Public Foul Sewer Local facilities/points of existing vegetation along the Site interest
boundaries CONSTRAINTS Highway Drain CONTEXT Existing waterbodies and
OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES Potential location for SuDS features water courses Distribution Main and wildlife ponds 3m easement Existing public footpath Potential locations for children’s play facilities Electricity Cables Existing public bridleway Potential building frontages to overlook open space and Station Road Medium Pressure Gas Mains Stalbridge Trailway Potential 2m high acoustic fence Land South of Station Road, Stalbridge 07 DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK PLAN
Site Boundary: 5.60ha
Proposed dwellings to overlook Station Road DEVELOPABLE AREA and areas of public open space, creating Proposed new vehicular, cycle and natural surveillance and an attractive edge Residential development area: 3.40ha pedestrian access point to be taken to the development and approach to from Station Road. Stalbridge from the east. (Up to 130 units @ 38dph)
STATION ROAD east to HENSTRIDGE Proposed vehicular access points
Proposed spine road through the development
Proposed central focal area, Proposed secondary roads STATION ROAD which could include green verges and incidental green STATION ROAD spaces. Proposed private drives and lanes west to STALBRIDGE Proposed shared spaces ACCESS & MOVEMENT Proposed recreational routes Proposed 2m high acoustic fence is proposed along the western boundary to mitigate against noise from the Proposed 2m high acoustic fence surrounding business/industrial park. New tree planting will be planted to soften views of the fence and the new homes. SuDS Existing vegetation
Proposed public open space and new Station Road Business/ PLAY Industrial Park landscaping
Green corridors are proposed around Proposed play provision the development to enhance the Site’s SuDS ecological value, alongside the retention of existing ditches and hedgerows, setting the Proposed attenuation features development in a strong green framework. GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE
Proposed Sustainable Drainage System basin and swale channel at the low point of the Site, will help Existing waterbodies and water courses manage the flow of surface water during periods of heavy and persistent rainfall. These features will form an integral part of the Site’s green Existing Public Footpaths infrastructure framework and provide habitat creation. Existing Public Bridleway Development Framework Plan Stalbridge Site of Nature CONTEXT Conservation Interest Stalbridge Trailway
The assessment of the Site and its setting has helped to inform the preparation of the Development Framework Plan. A number of design principles have influenced the development proposals for the Site. These principles are:
• The new homes will consist of a mix of detached, semi-detached and terraced • The existing trees, hedgerows and landscape features within and on the homes, designed to reflect the local vernacular. boundaries of the Site will be retained and enhanced to help filter views of the new development and to retain their functions as wildlife corridors and habitats. • The new development will be served by a vehicular access point, taken from Small sections of existing hedgerows will be removed as part of the development Station Road. Pedestrian access points will also be provided at this point. proposals to allow the route of the spine road; however, these losses will be • The development will include areas of public open space, which will replaced by new trees and hedgerow across the whole Site. accommodate existing tree and hedgerow planting. Wider green corridors will • An attenuation basin and swale will be provided in the lowest part of the Site be provided along the Site’s western and eastern boundaries, which will provide and will form part of the development’s green infrastructure, and will accord suitable areas to protect the mature high-quality oaks trees within the boundary to the sustainable drainage system principles. These features will store water vegetation, as well as respecting Stalbridge SNCI in the west. The open spaces will during periods of heavy or persistent rainfall in order to control run-off from the allow for informal recreational activities such as picnicking and children’s play, Site to green field run-off rates. The features will be designed to create attractive together with opportunities for wildlife enhancements. new landscape features, which complements the ecological objectives of the • The potential to provide a high-quality new children’s play area, to promote development’s wider open space. Within the basin an area would be designed to an active and integrated community for the whole of Stalbridge. Recreational be permanently wet. footways will meander through the development, connecting to Station Road and onto the Public Bridleway in the west to create a well integrated and accessible development for Stalbridge. Land South of Station Road, Stalbridge 10 HAVE YOUR SAY
Your views
Your comments and suggestions will be taken into account when formulating the final planning application submission. All comments and feedback received will be provided to the Local Planning Authority as part of the planning application.
Once a planning application has been submitted, you will also be able to make further representations to Dorset Council, who will take these into account before making their decision on the planning application.
You can keep up-to-date on progress using our dedicated website which provides further information and includes an online feedback form for making comments.
Thank you for taking time to view our proposals.
How do I comment?
You can respond via the website:
www.your-views.co.uk/Stalbridge
You can respond by email:
(Using ‘Stalbridge’ as the subject line)
Or by post:
Your Views - Stalbridge Gladman Developments Ltd. Gladman House Alexandria Way Congleton CW12 1LB
Gladman consider all correspondence received and our response to the issues raised will be set out in a Statement of Community Involvement (SCI). As part of a planning application, Gladman submit to the Local Planning Authority a complete copy of all correspondence received (including any details such as your name, address and email address where you have provided them). This ensures all your comments are available to the Council during the consideration of an application and shows who we have consulted. As the SCI forms part of the formal application documents, the Council may publish it online, subject to their own Data Protection policies. Should the application be the subject of an appeal, the same information will be forwarded to the Planning Inspectorate. If further consultation is carried out as part of the planning process, Gladman may use your details to make you aware of this and to ask for your views, but will not use this information for any other purpose.