Land Adjacent Quinton Farmhouse, Quinton Road
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Land adjacent Quinton Environmental Farmhouse, Quinton Road Statement Volume 2 North West Sittingbourne Prepared by January 2018 Hertsmere Local Plan Issues and Options Consultation 2017 3 North West Sittingbourne Land adjacent Quinton Farmhouse, Quinton Road CONTENTS List of Abbreviations 1 Introduction 2 Regulatory and Policy Background 3 Environmental Impact Assessment Methodology 4 The Application 5 Site Selection, Alternatives, and Design Evolution 6 Landscape and Visual Effects 7 Land and Agriculture 8 Water Environment 9 Ground Conditions 10 Traffic and Transport 11 Noise and Vibration 12 Air Quality 13 Natural Environment 14 Cultural Heritage 15 Socio-Economic Effects 16 Cumulative Impacts and Conclusion jb planning associates environmental statement Redrow Homes North West Sittingbourne Chapter 1, Page 1 Land adjacent Quinton Farmhouse, Quinton Road 1. INTRODUCTION Overview 1.1 Redrow plc is applying to Swale Borough Council for planning permission to construct 155 dwellings on land adjacent to Quinton Farmhouse, Quinton Road, Sittingbourne. 1.2 The application site covers an area of approximately area of 8.74 ha of which some 0.94 ha will be used to provide an acoustic barrier and a connection to the existing surface water drainage system. The developable area is therefore 7.8 ha and is currently in agricultural use. It forms part of a much larger area of land (76.1 ha) that has been allocated for mixed-use development by the recently adopted Swale Local Plan, 2017. The mixed-use development will comprise a minimum of 1,500 dwellings, community facilities, structural landscaping and open space. 1.3 The Borough Council has confirmed that the proposed development which forms the subject of the planning application in combination with that proposed on the remainder of the north-west Sittingbourne allocation is Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) development. This Environmental Statement (ES) sets out the findings of that assessment. 1.4 The ES has been prepared in the full knowledge of the proposals being advanced by Persimmon Homes South East on land between Quinton Road and Bramblefield Lane and at Pheasant Farm and those by G H Dean and Co at Great Grovehurst Farm, Sittingbourne and the cumulative impacts have been assessed. Structure of the Environmental Statement 1.5 This ES comprises three volumes and has been prepared in distinct sections to allow the reader to understand the proposals, the purpose of the document, the regulatory framework in which it has been prepared, and the results of the EIA. The volumes are as follows: • Volume 1 – Environmental Statement Non-Technical Summary; • Volume 2 – Environmental Statement (this document), and • Volume 3 – Environmental Statement Appendices. 1.6 The Appendices follow the Chapter numbering in this ES, so Appendix 1 relates to Chapter 1, Appendix 2 relates to Chapter 2, Appendix 3 relates to jb planning associates environmental statement Redrow Homes North West Sittingbourne Chapter 1, Page 2 Land adjacent Quinton Farmhouse, Quinton Road Chapter 3 and so on. A glossary of terms and abbreviations used throughout the ES has also been provided at the start of this document. 1.7 This ES document is set out as follows: • Chapter 1 – provides a brief description of the development, the developer, and an introduction to the EIA process. • Chapter 2 – provides a brief description of the planning policy background and regulatory framework in which the ES has been prepared (although a more detailed description is provided in the Planning Statement which accompanies the planning application). • Chapter 3 – provides a description of the methodology employed in undertaking the EIA for the development. • Chapter 4 – provides a description of the application site and the surrounding area and includes a more detailed account of the development proposals which are the subject of the planning application. • Chapter 5 – provides commentary upon the selection of the application site, the consideration of alternatives and the evolution of the design solution. • Chapter 6 to 15 – provide a description of the results of the EIA process for each specific environmental topic. • Chapter 16 – considers the cumulative impact of the development in association with other proposals. North West Sittingbourne 1.8 North West Sittingbourne is the largest of the strategic allocations in the Swale Local Plan, and is of fundamental importance to the Plan’s delivery, since it will meet a significant proportion of the Borough’s future development needs in a sustainable location which minimises impacts on the wider countryside due to its relative self-containment. 1.9 This mixed use strategic allocation is expected to provide a minimum of 1,500 new homes, a combined primary and secondary school site, structural landscaping and open space including a linear park adjacent the A249. 1.10 Persimmon Homes South East, Redrow plc, and G H Dean & Co Limited are bringing forward the proposals as the landowners / developers involved in the delivery of the allocation. 1.11 The extent of the Local Plan allocation, and the various development components, is illustrated by Figure 1.1 jb planning associates environmental statement Redrow Homes North West Sittingbourne Chapter 1, Page 3 Land adjacent Quinton Farmhouse, Quinton Road The Environmental Statement Application 1.12 The proposed development upon which this assessment is based is described as follows: Construction of 155 dwellings (9 two- bedroom flats, 13 two- bedroom houses, 66 three-bedroom houses, and 67 four- bedroom houses) together with associated new access road, car parking, linear park with acoustic barrier to the A249, a local equipped area for play (LEAP), allotments, areas for surface water drainage attenuation and ecological enhancement, and new planting, including and an area planted in the style of an orchard. jb planning associates environmental statement Redrow Homes North West Sittingbourne Chapter 1, Page 4 Land adjacent Quinton Farmhouse, Quinton Road Figure 1.1 North West Sittingbourne Allocation Area jb planning associates environmental statement Redrow Homes North West Sittingbourne Chapter 1, Page 5 Land adjacent Quinton Farmhouse, Quinton Road 1.13 This ES accompanies a full planning application that is being submitted by Redrow plc for residential development on the land adjacent Quinton Farmhouse, Quinton Road, Sittingbourne. 1.14 The ES also considers the cumulative impact of the proposals in combination with those being advanced by Persimmon Homes South East on the land between Quinton Road and Bramblefield Lane and at Pheasant Farm and by G H Dean & Co Limited at Great Grovehurst Farm, Sittingbourne. 1.15 The proposed development is more fully described in Chapter 4 however Figure 1.2 illustrates the extent of the ES application area. The Developer 1.16 Redrow was established in 1974. From modest beginnings as a small civil engineering company in north Wales it quickly became established as a national house builder. During the 1980’s and early 1990’s the Company emerged as a leader in its sector and in 1994 Redrow was floated on the London stock exchange. 1.17 Despite the financial crisis in 2008, the Company has continued to grow with the opening of divisional operations in the south east, the southern counties, and the west country. In 2016/17 it legally completed 5,416 properties, including joint venture schemes. The Project Team 1.18 Redrow plc instructed JB Planning Associates to prepare this ES in conjunction with Judith Ashton Associates. In preparing this ES, JB Planning Associates has been assisted by CSA / Allen Pyke Associates (Landscape and Visual Effects), Reading Agricultural Services (Land Use and Agriculture), WSP (Water Environment, Ground Conditions, Noise, and Air Quality, Peter Brett Associates (Traffic and Transport) The Ecology Partnership (Natural Environment) Swale and Thames Archaeological Survey Company (Cultural Heritage), and JB Planning Associates (Socio-Economics). 1.19 These consultancies who have collaborated closely with the other consultancies involved in the advancement of the proposals for the remainder of the land at north-west Sittingbourne. jb planning associates environmental statement Redrow Homes North West Sittingbourne Chapter 1, Page 6 Land adjacent Quinton Farmhouse, Quinton Road Figure 1.2 The Planning Application Area jb planning associates environmental statement Redrow Homes North West Sittingbourne Chapter 1, Page 7 Land adjacent Quinton Farmhouse, Quinton Road Purpose of the Environmental Statement 1.20 This ES records the findings of the EIA that has been undertaken in relation to the proposed development. EIA is required for certain development types in accordance with the provisions of the Town and Country Planning Act, 1990, and the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2011 (as amended). 1.21 This ES has been prepared for the purposes of meeting these requirements and provides information that will be used by Swale Borough Council to inform its consideration of the planning application for the proposed development. 1.22 The ES reports the findings of an assessment of the potential environmental effects of the proposed development which Swale Borough Council considered might be significant. This reflects the requirement of the EIA Regulations (see Schedule 4) for the ES to assess the ‘main effects’ that a development is likely to have on the environment and to focus on those effects that are likely to be significant, which could include,