C H A R T E R E D S U R V E Y O R S & P L A N N I N G C O N S U L T A N T S
MAMHEAD CASTLE – M AM HE AD – EXETER – DEVON – EX6 8HD
Design and Access Statement
Proposed Redevelopment and Expansion of the Poultry Unit at Sutton Veny Poultry Farm, Sutton Veny, Wiltshire
Prepared for:
Amber Real Estate Investments Ltd Colmore Court 9 Colmore Row Birmingham B3 2BJ
Date
March 2012
NAME OF ORGANISATION
Acorus Rural Property Services Ltd – known as Acorus (Registered number 04514547)
OVERVIEW OF ORGANISATION
Acorus Rural Property Services Limited was formed by virtue of a Management Buy Out from ADAS Holdings Limited (ADAS) on 1st October 2002. This latter organisation was created on the privatisation by the then Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food of the majority of the Agricultural Development and Advisory Service in April 1997.
Acorus has four offices nationwide of which the South West office operates from Mamhead Castle, Mamhead, Exeter. Other offices are located in Wolverhampton, Leeds and Bury St Edmunds.
CONTACT
James Whilding MRICS MBIAC Associate
Acorus Mamhead Castle Mamhead Exeter Devon EX6 8HD
Direct line: 01626 899906
Email: [email protected]
Introduction
This Design and Access Statement has been produced by James Whilding of Acorus Rural Property Services and is based on the guidelines as set out in the CABE publication: ‘Design and Access Statements: How to write, read and use them’ 2006.
This is a Design and Access Statement to accompany the formal planning application for the proposed redevelopment and expansion of the poultry unit at Sutton Veny Poultry Farm, Longbridge Deverill, Wiltshire.
Project Overview
The proposal seeks to redevelop the site by demolishing the four existing poultry buildings currently in place and then replace them with five new poultry houses each measuring 23.2m x 97.6m each to provide a total of 223,900 bird places for broiler rearing. The scheme also seeks to provide the necessary site infrastructure including dirty and clean water handling facilities, feed bins and concrete yard areas.
Physical
The site and the immediate surrounding area is relatively level, only falling from approximately 120m ODN in the northwest corner down to a level of about 115m ODN on the southern boundary. At present the site comprises of four poultry buildings, associated infrastructure and a farm dwelling all of which have been disused for about five years. Large areas of hardstanding are also present across the site. The areas of the holding not occupied with built development are grass or scrub/woodland vegetation. The total land area extends to 3.17 hectares.
Access to the site is via Deverill Road, a classified road (C41) which also serves properties in the area and the remainder of the Longbridge Deverill trading estate which adjoins the site. Access to the surrounding area is provided by the A350 which is approximately 3/4 mile to the west, though the A36 is also only 1 mile to the east which also provides access to the wider road network.
The land use surrounding the application site is almost exclusively agricultural or equine. Though directly to the north of the site lies a former army camp which has been used for light industrial uses for a number of years. Predominantly isolated rural properties form the residential provision within the area though the nearest lies within the trading estate and is approximately 230m from the development site. The edge of the village of Sutton Veny is some 400m distant.
Social
The proposed location of the new development has been selected to meet the needs of the business and to be as sensitive as possible to its environment and nearby properties.
A number of mitigation measures which are fully detailed within the Environmental Statement are proposed to ensure that any offsite impacts generated by the poultry unit are reduced from the present situation despite the proposed expansion. These measures include improved dirty water handling, ventilation and clean water management provisions.
The proposed scheme is appropriate within the agricultural context of the area and the design of the new buildings is similar to the existing structures on the site.
Design
The design and appearance of the buildings is based on the needs of the farming activity and is similar to other poultry buildings across the country. Poultry buildings typically have lower ridge heights than most other agricultural buildings with in this case the height to the ridge being 4.6m with ventilation chimneys adding 1.7m to this. In this case the design proposed is considered to be wholly appropriate given the context of the area and the needs of the business.
Materials
The buildings to be provided will be sited on new concrete slabs and will be of a steel framed construction, clad with box profile polyester coated steel sheeting, coloured Merlin Grey on the gable and side elevations and Goosewing Grey on the roof. Along the side elevations of the buildings close to the eaves will be a number of glazed windows fitted with internal blackout blinds. These windows will allow natural light into the buildings in accordance with current thinking on bird welfare.
All buildings will be insulated to high modern standards and equipped with state of the art high speed ventilation fans.
Access
Access to the site will be via an existing entrance currently serving the holding which will be linked to the development as per the attached plans. This access from the west of the site is deemed appropriate for the type and number of vehicles that are anticipated to visit the site. All farm traffic will use this entrance. Access from the north of the site will only be used by the resident site manager.
As full turning arrangements are proposed within the site vehicles will leave the site in a forward direction.
Landscape
The site is already partly screened by existing vegetation and further enhancements are also suggested. The extent of existing vegetation and the enhancements proposed are fully detailed within the Environmental Statement and on the planning drawings.
Consultations
Pre-application consultation has been undertaken with the Council primarily in the form of the Environmental Impact Assessment scoping opinion provided by Rosie MacGregor and more recently with Mike Kilmister.
Consultation has also been undertaken with Chris Kirk of Wiltshire Council with regard to landscaping.
Details of the proposal have also been submitted to the Parish Council and the Ward Member for the area.
Evaluation
A thorough assessment of the potential impacts that could be caused by the development proposed has been considered fully within the Environmental Statement.
It has been identified that with the mitigation measures proposed the development will have no significant negative impacts on or offsite and that it will be possible to improve on the situation that would exist if the unit was brought back into operation as it stands.