Limepit Lane, Huntington
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Limepit Lane, Huntington Vision Document December 2019 Page 1 Barton Willmore / 9th Floor / Bank House / 8 Cherry Street / Birmingham / B2 5AL tel: 0121 711 5151/ email: [email protected] Desk Top Publishing and Graphic Design by Barton Willmore Graphic Design This artwork was printed on paper using fibre sourced from sustainable plantation wood from suppliers who practice sustainable management of forests in line with strict international standards. Pulp used in its manufacture is also Elemental Chlorine Free (ECF). \\srvslvfiles1\Files\30000 - 30999\30500 - 30599\30589 - Limepit Lane, Huntington\A5 - Reports & Graphics\ Graphic Design\Documents\Draft\30589 Vision 10 © The contents of this document must not be copied or reproduced in whole or in part without the written consent of The Barton Willmore Partnership. All plans are reproduced from the Ordnance Survey Map with the permission of the Controller of HMSO. Crown Copyright Reserved. License No. 100019279. Date 12/12/2019 Status - FINAL Author - DW Checked by - LH Page 2 Contents 1. The Vision 4 2. Introduction 6 3. Planning Context 8 4. Site Location & Context 10 5. Key Opportunities 14 6. The Proposals 18 7. Development Benefits 20 Page 3 1. The Vision to provide a sustainable development offering a range of high-quality housing of “approximately 130 dwellings for the local community, within walking distance of Huntington Village Centre. The development seeks to use best practice urban design principles to promote a high-quality“ living environment that is responsive to its surroundings and local context. Page 4 A development which knits into the existing community fabric The development will work to work with the existing community through the improvement of the existing rugby club facilities, the provision of new public open space and the creation of new pedestrian and recreational routes. A development which creates a new, well defined settlement edge The development will utilise existing topography and vegetation and reinforce existing field boundaries to create an enhanced new defensible Green Belt boundary to Huntington and soft transition to the countryside, preserving views and the setting of the AONB. A development which retains and enhances existing green infrastructure The development utilises and expands existing green infrastructure on site and retains it where possible to inform new green links whilst enhancing the character and setting of new homes and public open space. The delivery of new homes within a high- quality living environment The development will extend the Huntington residential community creating high quality new homes within the framework of a carefully considered, site sensitive design approach. Page 5 2. Introduction The Vision Document has been prepared by Barton Willmore on behalf of IM Land, a subsidiary of IM Properties PLC. IM land is working with landowners to support proposals for residential development at Limepit Lane, Huntington. Site Location The purpose of this document is to support the promotion The site is located to the east of Huntington Village, of the site at Limepit Lane to accommodate residential Staffordshire. Huntington is a village and civil parish in the development. The key aims and objectives of the document district of Staffordshire, located on the outskirts of Cannock are to: Chase AONB. • present a vision and design framework to guide and Huntington Village is located 2 miles north of Cannock and shape the proposals 2 miles west of Hednesford providing wider facilities and services. It lies on the A34 road just north of Cannock . • review the site in the context of current Planning Policy The village is easily accessible from the adjacent A34, which • present an initial understanding of the site and the provides excellent connectivity to the wider strategic road local context, and network – A5, A460 and A449, M6/M6 (toll) and M54. The strategic road network provides access to Stafford, Lichfield • present the emerging concept masterplan, supported and Wolverhampton respectively. by an explanation of the key design principles that have informed it. Hednesford Railway Station can be reached via a 5 minute drive or 30 minute walk and Cannock Railway Station can be reached via a 10 minute bus journey. Both provide regular services to Birmingham. Aerial site plan Page 6 Wider Location Plan Page 7 3. Planning Context Existing Development Plan The existing Local Plan comprises the adopted Core Strategy The current lack of available and suitable non-Green Belt and Site Allocations Document, which set out the planned options is in the context of a housing target currently set at level and distribution of growth for South Staffordshire up 175 dwellings per year. However, the Core Strategy is over to 2027. Core Policy 6 (Housing Delivery) adopted a housing five years old and therefore the future housing target adopted target of ‘at least’ 3,675 dwellings to be delivered between through the development plan review will be based on the 2006 and 2027, at an annual rate of 175 dwellings per year. local housing need using the standard methodology. Core Policy 1 (Spatial Strategy) identifies Huntington as a ‘Local Service Village’ where limited development would Core Policy 4 (Promoting High Quality Design) and Policy be supported. The limited opportunities for development EQ11 (Wider Design Considerations) set out the range of within Huntington, under the current development plan, are criteria to be applied to all development proposals in order further constrained by a tightly drawn Green Belt boundary to achieve high quality design in South Staffordshire. This that envelopes the settlement. Consequently, the current includes the need for proposals to be consistent with design development plan does not allocate any land for immediate guidance set out in the adopted Village Design Guide SPD. release for new development at Huntington, including housing land, up to 2027. There are no specific environmental or heritage designations directly affecting Huntington, or the site in particular. However, the Core Strategy recognised the need to consider Nonetheless, the site abuts the Area of Outstanding Natural the release of some Green Belt land at the Main and Local Beauty AONB) to the east (Policies EQ1 and EQ4) as Service Villages in order to deliver the adopted development shown in the Site Allocations Policies Map Inset Plan 19 strategy, and that a review of the Green Belt (Policy GB1) (Huntington), extract set out below: would accompany the Site Allocations Document (SAD). Whilst only identifying a small area of ‘safeguarded’ land within the Green Belt at Huntington settlement, the SAD did establish ‘Exceptional Circumstances’ in support of some Green Belt release in other parts of the District. The key justification for this being the lack of non-Green Belt sites suitable for development in South Staffordshire. This was an argument accepted by the Local Plan Inspector who examined the SAD, as stated in his final report: “61. The NPPF (¶ 83-85) requires exceptional circumstances to be demonstrated in order to justify amending Green Belt boundaries and releasing land from the Green Belt.…SSC [South Staffordshire Council] has fully examined all reasonable non-Green Belt options to accommodate the required scale and distribution of development, but given that over 80% of the district is covered by Green Belt, it is clear that there is insufficient suitable, available, deliverable and viable non-Green Belt land in the district which would provide sustainable patterns of development….” (South Staffordshire Council – Site Allocations Document - Inspector’s Report: May 2018). Site Allocations Policies Map - Inset Plan 19 (Huntington) Page 8 Emerging Local Plan South Staffordshire Council is currently progressing the In terms of the spatial distribution of growth, Huntington review of the Local Plan (the Core Strategy and Site is identified as a ‘Tier 2’ settlement within the District’s Allocations Document) and has carried out an Issues settlement hierarchy. Tier 2 settlements have a range of and Options and Statement of Community Involvement services and facilities, as well as access to public transport consultation that ran for eight weeks in October / November connections to higher tier settlements. The Issues and 2018. Options Document includes six spatial options; including two options (A & B) which would focus a proportion of future The South Staffordshire Site Allocations Document growth on the rural settlements. The Council is currently (SAD) committed South Staffordshire to carrying out consulting on seven Spatial Housing Options to inform an early review of the Local Plan in order to respond to the Council’s preferred distribution of growth. This will be the increasing need for development, both within South consulted on as part of the Council’s proposed draft Plan, Staffordshire, and in neighbouring authorities across the which is likely to happen during Summer 2020. wider housing market area. Agreeing to an early review of the Local Plan was an essential requirement of the Consideration will therefore need to be given to the release Government’s Planning Inspector who examined the SAD of further Green Belt land in sustainable locations to assist in and was largely in response to unmet housing needs in both meeting the preferred level of growth, given the step-change South Staffordshire and the wider region. This means that in local housing delivery required over an extended period the council must submit a reviewed Local Plan by 2021, up to 2037. A Green Belt Review has now been published. which is earlier than previously anticipated. In this context, it is already recognised that there is a lack of available brownfield land in the District to meet the likely The new Local Plan will set out how much development scale of growth to be planned for. Consequently, there is is required in the district up until 2037. This will include need to consider development in sustainable locations that do residential (including Gypsy, Traveller and Travelling not undermine the purposes of the Green Belt in line with Showpeople accommodation), retail and employment uses.