Tewkesbury Borough Council, Gloucester City Council and Cheltenham Borough Council
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Tewkesbury Borough Council, Gloucester City Council and Cheltenham Borough Council Urban Extensions Boundary Definition Study Draft Final Report - Volume 1 July 2010 Entec UK Limited Copyright and Non-Disclosure Notice The contents and layout of this report are subject to copyright owned by Entec (© Entec UK Limited 2010) save to the extent that copyright has been legally assigned by us to another party or is used by Entec under licence. To the extent that we own the copyright in this report, it may not be copied or used without our prior written agreement for any purpose other than the purpose indicated in this report. The methodology (if any) contained in this report is provided to you in confidence and must not be disclosed or copied to third parties without the prior written agreement of Entec. Disclosure of that information may constitute an actionable breach of confidence or may otherwise prejudice our commercial interests. Any third party who obtains access to this report by any means will, in any event, be subject to the Third Party Disclaimer set out below. Third Party Disclaimer Any disclosure of this report to a third party is subject to this disclaimer. The report was prepared by Entec at the instruction of, and for use by, our client named on the front of the report. It does not in any way constitute advice to any third party who is able to access it by any means. Entec excludes to the fullest extent lawfully permitted all liability whatsoever for any loss or damage howsoever arising from reliance on the contents of this report. We do not however exclude our liability (if any) for personal injury or death resulting from our negligence, for fraud or any other matter in relation to which we can not legally exclude liability. Document Revisions No. Details Date 1 Draft July 2009 2 Draft Final Jan 2010 3/4 Revised Final Draft July 2010 Draft - See Disclaimer i Contents 1. Introduction 1 1.1 Background 1 1.2 Scope and Aim of the Study 2 1.3 Report Content 2 2. Regional Planning Policy Context 5 2.1 Introduction 5 2.2 South West RSS 5 2.3 Draft RSS 6 2.4 EiP Panel Report 6 2.5 Secretary of State’s Proposed Changes (the Draft Revised RSS) 8 2.6 Summary 10 3. Assessment Methodologies 11 3.1 Introduction 11 3.2 Study Areas 11 3.3 Landscape Assessment 12 3.4 Green Belt Assessment 17 3.5 Capacity Testing of the Areas of Search 21 3.6 Development of Urban Extension Boundary Options 30 3.7 Assessment of the Urban Extension Boundary Options and Recommendations 31 4. North of Gloucester 33 4.1 Introduction 33 4.2 Landscape Character 34 4.3 Visual Context 37 4.4 Assessment of Landscape Character Sensitivity 41 4.5 Assessment of Visual Sensitivity 45 4.6 Summary of Overall Landscape Sensitivity 46 4.7 Green Belt Assessment 47 h:\projects\ea-210\#25000 projects\25233 tewkesbury (sub file, main in bristol)\1 client\reports\urban extensions\draft © Entec UK Limited final urban extensions boundary study.doc July 2010 Draft - See Disclaimer ii 4.8 Urban Extension Boundary Options 50 5. South of Cheltenham 57 5.1 Introduction 57 5.2 Landscape Character 58 5.3 Visual Context 61 5.4 Assessment of Landscape Character Sensitivity 65 5.5 Assessment of Visual Sensitivity 73 5.6 Summary of Overall Landscape Sensitivity 74 5.7 Green Belt Assessment 79 5.8 Urban Extensions Boundary Options 83 6. East of Gloucester 91 6.1 Introduction 91 6.2 Landscape Character 91 6.3 Visual Context 94 6.4 Assessment of Landscape Character Sensitivity 95 6.5 Assessment of Visual Sensitivity 98 6.6 Summary of Overall Landscape Sensitivity 99 6.7 Green Belt Assessment 101 6.8 Urban Extension Boundary Options 103 7. North of Bishop’s Cleeve 107 7.1 Introduction 107 7.2 Landscape Character 108 7.3 Visual Context 111 7.4 Assessment of Landscape Character Sensitivity 112 7.5 Assessment of Visual Sensitivity 115 7.6 Summary of Overall Landscape Sensitivity 116 7.7 Urban Extension Boundary Options 117 8. North West Cheltenham 123 8.1 Introduction 123 8.2 Landscape Character 124 8.3 Visual Context 126 8.4 Assessment of Landscape Character Sensitivity 127 h:\projects\ea-210\#25000 projects\25233 tewkesbury (sub file, main in bristol)\1 client\reports\urban extensions\draft © Entec UK Limited final urban extensions boundary study.doc July 2010 Draft - See Disclaimer iii 8.5 Assessment of Visual Sensitivity 131 8.6 Summary of Overall Landscape Sensitivity 132 8.7 Green Belt Assessment 133 8.8 Urban Extension Boundary Options 137 9. Summary and Recommendations 143 9.1 Summary 143 Table 2.1 Panel Changes to Annual Average Housing Requirements 7 Table 2.2 Panel Proposed Additional Housing Requirements and Areas of Search 7 Table 3.1 Key Characteristics for the Severn and Avon Vales National Character Area 13 Table 3.2 Landscape Character Type and Landscape Character Area Hierarchy 14 Table 3.3 Land Take Requirements for Housing Growth at 40dph and 50dph 23 Table 3.4 Public Open Space Requirements 24 Table 3.5 Education Requirements 25 Table 3.6 Employment Requirements 26 Table 3.7 Community Facilities per Household Number 27 Table 3.8 Community Facility Requirements 28 Table 3.9 Summary ‘Non-Residential’ Area Provision 29 Table 3.10 Total Developable Area Requirements 30 Table 4.1 Key Characteristics for the Rea, Maisemore Ham and Longford Landscape Character Area 36 Table 4.2 Key Characteristics for the Vale of Gloucester Landscape Character Area 37 Table 4.3 Landscape Sensitivity to a Specific Type of Change 46 Table 4.4 North of Gloucester Land Take Requirements 51 Table 4.5 North of Gloucester Constrained Area 52 Table 5.1 Key Characteristics for the Settled Unwooded Vale Landscape Character Type 59 Table 5.2 Key Characteristics for the Escarpment Landscape Character Type 60 Table 5.3 Key Characteristics for the Vale of Gloucester Landscape Character Area 61 Table 5.4 Landscape Sensitivity to a Specific Type of Change at the land at Brizen 74 Table 5.5 Landscape Sensitivity to a Specific Type of Change of the Shurdington Orchards 76 Table 5.6 Landscape Sensitivity to a Specific Type of Change of Leckhampton 77 Table 5.7 Landscape Sensitivity to a Specific Type of Change of the Cotswold Escarpment 78 Table 5.8 South of Cheltenham Land Take Requirements 84 Table 5.9 South of Cheltenham Land Take Requirements - Borough Split 85 Table 5.10 South of Cheltenham Constrained Area 86 Table 6.1 Key Characteristics for the Settled Unwooded Vale Landscape Character Type 92 Table 6.2 Key Characteristics for the Vale of Gloucester Landscape Character Area 93 Table 6.3 Landscape Sensitivity to a Specific Type of Change East of Gloucester 100 Table 6.4 East of Gloucester Land Take Requirements 104 Table 6.5 East of Gloucester Constrained Area 104 Table 7.1 Key Characteristics for the Settled Unwooded Vale Landscape Character Type 109 Table 7.2 Key Characteristics for the Vale of Gloucester Landscape Character Area 110 Table 7.3 Key Characteristics for the Escarpment Landscape Character Type 110 Table 7.4 Key Characteristics for the Coopers Hill to Winchcombe Landscape Character Area 111 Table 7.5 Landscape Sensitivity to a Specific Type of Change at North Bishop’s Cleeve 116 Table 7.6 North of Bishop’s Cleeve Land Take Requirements 118 Table 7.7 North of Bishop’s Cleeve Constrained Area 119 Table 8.1 Key Characteristics for the Settled Unwooded Vale Landscape Character Type 125 Table 8.2 Key Characteristics for the Vale of Gloucester 126 Table 8.3 Landscape Sensitivity to a Specific Type of Change at North West Cheltenham 132 Table 8.4 North West Cheltenham Land Take Requirements 137 Table 8.5 North West Cheltenham Land Take Requirements - Borough Split 138 Table 8.6 North West Cheltenham Constrained Area 138 Table 9.1 Strategic Urban Extension and Green Belt Boundary Options Summary 144 Figure 2.1 Cheltenham and Gloucester Housing Market Area 9 Figure 3.1 Study Methodology 11 Figure 3.2 Overall Landscape Sensitivity. Source: Topic Paper 6 16 Figure 3.3 The Traffic Light System 20 Figure 3.4 Employment Demand Methodology 26 h:\projects\ea-210\#25000 projects\25233 tewkesbury (sub file, main in bristol)\1 client\reports\urban extensions\draft © Entec UK Limited final urban extensions boundary study.doc July 2010 Draft - See Disclaimer iv Figure 4.1 North of Gloucester - Area of Search Location After page 56 Figure 4.2 North of Gloucester - Landscape Character Areas After page 56 Figure 4.3 North of Gloucester - Landscape Context After page 56 Figure 4.4 North of Gloucester - Green Belt Boundary Options After page 56 Figure 4.5 North of Gloucester - Constraints Analysis After page 56 Figure 4.6 North of Gloucester - Urban Extension Option 1 After page 56 Figure 5.1 South of Cheltenham - Area of Search Location After page 90 Figure 5.2 South of Cheltenham - Landscape Character Areas After page 90 Figure 5.3 South of Cheltenham - Landscape Context After page 90 Figure 5.4 South of Cheltenham - Green Belt Boundary Options After page 90 Figure 5.5 South of Cheltenham - Constraints Analysis After page 90 Figure 5.6 South of Cheltenham - Urban Extension Option 1 After page 90 Figure 5.7 South of Cheltenham - Urban Extension Option 2 After page 90 Figure 6.1 East of Gloucester - Area of Search Location After page 106 Figure 6.2 East of Gloucester - Landscape Character Areas After page 106 Figure 6.3 East of Gloucester - Landscape Context After page 106 Figure 6.4 East of Gloucester - Green Belt Boundary Options After page 106 Figure 6.5 East of Gloucester - Constraints Analysis After page 106 Figure 6.6 East of Gloucester - Urban Extension Option 1 After page 106 Figure 7.1 North of Bishop’s