Sent via email

Mr Aaron Sands Planning Officer District Council

11 November 2020

Dear Mr Sands, Land north of Shawley Road and west of Glatton Road, Sawtry – Application reference: 20/01407/OUT

We are writing to you ahead of the Development Management Committee meeting on 16 November regarding Larkfleet Homes’ application for land north of Shawley Road and west of Glatton Road, Sawtry. The revised application has been amended to include landscape details for full consideration and is resubmitted following consideration of the previous planning application by the Committee earlier this year. Following continued engagement with Huntingdonshire District Council (HDC) officers, we are pleased to learn this revised application is recommended for approval.

The application is for:

• up to 340 new homes, including 40% affordable, which will help to meet housing need as well as providing significant investment in the local area.

• A high level of green infrastructure to be secured in detail as part of the consideration of landscaping within this application. This includes new and enhanced trees and hedgerows, new wetland habitat, a community orchard, allotment land, informal open space and a Neighbourhood Equipped Play Area (NEAP) - a total of 16,200 m2 of public open space will be provided. Importantly, the green infrastructure has been enhanced along sensitive boundaries to address members’ comments at the previous Development Management Committee meeting.

• 2.3 ha of land to be contributed to County Council (CCC) for the provision of a two-form entry primary school – providing a long-term solution to primary education needs in Sawtry and the wider area. The site is CCC’s preferred option for a new school in the village following analysis of three sites put forward in 2019.

• contributions towards local transport, education, sports and health provision.

Our proposals for the site have been developed following detailed consultation with a wide range of key stakeholders as well as extensive discussions with HDC planning, urban design and landscape officers and CCC over the past three years. We would, therefore, like to take this opportunity to highlight the key features of the proposed development and some of the changes that have been made to the scheme. Providing a sustainable solution to housing and education needs Sawtry is a ‘Key Service Centre’ in the district with direct access to the A1(M), public transport links with and and a good range of facilities and services. This range of services and facilities, coupled with population and location, leads to Sawtry being the most sustainable settlement within the Key Service Centre settlement hierarchy.

We are strongly committed to the proposed site and believe it provides an opportunity to deliver a range of new homes in a sustainable location, helping to meet the clear national shortage of housing.

This boost to both market and affordable homes is a significant material consideration in the context of national policy, especially whilst we are in the midst of an ongoing national housing crisis that is potentially only going to be exacerbated by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and the associated slowdown in construction work.

The Housing Secretary Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP announced on 22 June 2020 measures to help boost the construction industry stating that, “Building the homes the country needs is central to the mission of this government and is an important part of our plans to recover from the impact of the coronavirus.”

The reason Larkfleet opted to promote this site back in 2017 was initially because HDC was not in a position to demonstrate a five-year land supply for housing. While that position changed with the adoption of the Local Plan, shortly after submission it became clear that the Glatton Road site could help relieve a capacity issue with the existing primary school by providing a site for a new school, and we were asked to consider this as part of our scheme. Various discussions followed which have resulted in this proposal to provide land for a new school to meet primary education needs in Sawtry.

As a result, and notwithstanding the housing land supply position, the proposal before you has the overriding significant material benefit of providing land for a new primary school – a situation which was not anticipated at the time of plan making and, in any event, outweighs any harm with the Development Plan by virtue of paragraph 12 of the National Planning Policy Framework.

Consequently, whilst we appreciate the site is not allocated in the Local Plan, it is clear that the proposal accords with the overall aims and general thread of the Development Plan as a whole – a well written Development Plan which provides flexibility in the event that sustainable development comes forward which was not originally anticipated. A challenge noted in the Issues shaping the Plan section of the Local Plan highlights a need for local infrastructure to support development. This specifically identifies education infrastructure as being needed to accompany future housing growth and includes the following objectives: “The Council will:

1. seek to provide for adequate infrastructure to meet the needs of new growth and facilitate active, cohesive communities and sustainable lifestyles”; and 2. ensure inclusive and accessible provision for community needs, including education in particular.”

Policy LP22 Local Services and Community Facilities also notes that “a proposal for a new local service or community facility within a built up area, or the extension of an existing local service or community facility on land immediately adjoining the built up area would be supported where it is of a scale to serve local needs and provides for a new service or facility or it retains or enhances an existing service or facility”. Supporting paragraph 6.48 also states that, “provision of local services will continue to evolve in response to changing needs and delivery mechanisms…” and also notes that, “inevitably community needs change, as does funding and the ability of organisations to continue to operate”. Put simply, the proposal, whilst not directly providing an extension to a local service (as implied by the policy wording) will be providing land to support an increased and more sustainable provision of schooling in Sawtry and responds to a change in schooling needs and delivery mechanisms as explored below.

As mentioned above, the site for a primary school was included following lengthy discussion with all relevant stakeholders about the need to provide a long-term, sustainable solution to primary education needs in Sawtry and the wider area. Land being made available through our proposal now will, hopefully, mean it will not be necessary to revisit education provision again as part of the future plan process. CCC has agreed that building a new school on this land is its preferred option and the application is supported by both Sawtry Junior School and Sawtry Village Academy. A copy of both schools’ comments is attached.

Proposing a new school at the Glatton Road site stemmed from significant pressures faced (and projected) in the existing two form entry primary school and the inability for the school to suitably extend. Other options explored by County Education have been deemed less than satisfactory in addressing their immediate education needs. Setting aside children from our development, new school provision is required to meet the needs of children from other recently committed schemes that are currently under construction.

Of the two other options considered:

• Option 1 relied upon the existing school being extended. It was deemed that this could not be done suitably without causing other practical delivery issues, disruption at the existing school site whilst the scheme was being built and increased traffic congestion and parking problems around the existing school. • Option 2 was to build a new primary school on the site of Sawtry Village Academy. This would have led to a reduction in land that may be needed for future secondary education needs and, in any event, required the section 106 contributions from our proposal to support the additional costs of such a scheme.

The provision of a new school at our site would not only help to future proof provision of education needs but also avoid the need to adopt either of the unsatisfactory options outlined above. Larkfleet Homes has worked closely with CCC’s education department and HDC’s planning department to ensure the proposed development delivers, not only much needed housing, but also a school site, which can be achieved post-grant of an outline consent and early in the delivery period, to ensure a new CCC primary school could be commissioned and operational within the next few years.

The associated residential development is required to enable the new primary school to come to fruition. The rarity of such a proposal was clearly not anticipated by HDC at the time of plan making. Nonetheless, it is clear that the overriding intention of Policy LP22 is to support the evolution of local services and community facilities which help to meet the needs of a local community and would provide a more sustainable provision than currently exists. The mechanism to secure that support allows for development outside of the built- up areas and in the countryside.

In addition, the Government has recently declared a commitment to delivering better quality school provision going forward. The Housing Secretary Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP stated in his speech of 2 July 2020 his support to help local communities achieve such ambitions through stating that, “I’m looking forward to working with local leaders to deliver public buildings like schools and hospitals, and to ensure we build them as quickly as possible to meet the expectations of the public and our manifesto commitments to build those new hospitals and schools and public services people want to be delivered.”

This was of course preceded by the Prime Minister’s speech of 30 June 2020 that promised to “build the foundations now for future prosperity” with a commitment to, “investing massively now in education with over £14bn for primary and secondary education between now and 2023 and with a new ten year school building programme beginning now with £1bn for the first 50 schools.” This commitment from the Government provides further support and significant weight for the overarching material consideration of the school land.

Other benefits

Green infrastructure

We have been mindful about members’ concerns with the previous application regarding visual impact and encroachment into the countryside. As a result, this revised application seeks to secure a high level of green infrastructure with detailed landscaping (instead of outline) which has been agreed with HDC’s Landscape Officer and which will mitigate against the perceived landscape harm of the development.

As is noted at paragraphs 7.19 and 7.21 of the officers’ committee report, the proposed boundary planting would, over time, be perceived as a natural edge to the village and would integrate well with the wider landscape setting; and are considered to provide significant mitigation such that the harm in landscape and visual impact terms is minimised. Paragraph 7.22 therefore concludes that in comparison to the previous application, having regard to the reason for refusal, this application has demonstrated a significant improvement in green infrastructure and the parameter and landscaping plans have identified design principles that reinforce the landscape character. Officers consider the proposal would now satisfy the requirements of policies LP3, LP12 and LP13, protecting the landscape as a resource in its own right.

The open space within the site includes new and enhanced trees and hedgerows, new wetland habitat, a community orchard, allotment land, informal open space and the neighbourhood equipped play area. In addition, the site includes the retention and enhancement of existing Public Rights of Way alongside the addition of new footpaths providing links around and through the site.

The green infrastructure will also enhance the site’s existing ecological value resulting in a net gain in biodiversity.

Transport

As part of the application, Glatton Road would be widened to 5.5 metres in the vicinity of Sawtry Brook. In addition, the proposals include the upgrading of two existing bus stops in the village and the provision of a new additional bus stop on Glatton Road.

Investment in Sawtry and its local services

In addition to the provision of land for a new primary school, Section 106 contributions include investment in the following key areas:

• £2,852,600 towards the new primary school • £786,562.50 for early years education • £128,695 to help the expansion of Wellside Surgery • £216,922 to fund the provision of off-site sports facilities • £54,345.99 towards the maintenance of the NEAP

Contributions would also be made towards the maintenance of public open space in accordance with Appendix 2 of the Developer Contributions Supplementary Planning Document (as updated annually).

Other significant economic benefits and investment in Sawtry include:

• The provision of approximately 510 full-time equivalent local construction jobs and indirect jobs in the housebuilding supply chain. The total build cost would be in excess of £30 million and the majority of contracts would be placed with local contractors.

• Increased expenditure in the local area associated with the furnishing of new homes and increased footfall and expenditure at local shops and businesses including Sawtry Leisure Centre.

• New revenue for HDC via council tax payments in the region of £350,000 per year plus New Homes Bonus payments which, over six years, would total more than £2 million.

Members raised concerns with the previous application about whether there were enough shops to support the development. An increase in population may bring about further investment to Sawtry. In addition, given the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on the economy, and the need to maximise economic activity to aid recovery levels, we believe the new jobs and investment in the local economy which will result from the development is especially important in order to aid recovery levels.

Sawtry Leisure Centre has also supported the application, highlighting how it would “dramatically improve the viability, and allow continual improvement of Sawtry Leisure Centre for years to come.” Without continued investment and increase of population in Sawtry, it is unsure whether the leisure centre would be able to continue to operate. A copy of the leisure centre’s comments is attached.

Conclusion We have developed our proposals for the Glatton Road site with careful consideration of Sawtry’s existing and future needs working closely with the HDC planning, urban design and landscape officers over the past three years. We have also worked hard to mitigate the impact of the proposed development, especially to the landscape, and believe that it will provide a sustainable, new neighbourhood that will make a positive contribution to Sawtry’s long-term housing and education needs at the same time as delivering significant economic benefits.

Going forward, if the application is approved, we commit to continuing to work closely with the local authority to help bring the development to fruition and with the local community to minimise disruption during the construction process.

Yours sincerely,

pp Hannah Guy

Planning Manager Larkfleet Homes