__________________________________________________________________________________ Design and Access Statement 10 Affordable houses plus one self build house Park Farm, Seend Cleeve, Wiltshire March 2020 Artist’s impression – aerial view from the South East for Seend Community Land Trust In partnership with White Horse Housing PKA Architects ltd Company registered in England and Wales No 8605083 Directors: Peter Kent (BA(Arch) DipArch DipCHSM AMRSPH RIBA, Tom Kent BSc(Hons) MArch RIBA, Clare Kent BSc(Soc.Sci) PGCE HNC Registered Office: Featherbrook, Whistley Road, Potterne, Devizes, Wiltshire SN10 5TD Tel. 01380 725688 Fax. 0843 5120002 www.pka-architects.com [email protected] Design and Access Statement – Park Farm Seend March 2020 1. Introduction The development proposed is a community led development and adheres to the principles of Community Led Housing, an initiative supported and funded by central government through the Community Housing Fund. This design and access statement describes design proposals for 10 affordable houses for rent and shared ownership, with an additional self-build serviced plot in the Parish of Seend by Seend Community Land Trust (CLT) in partnership White Horse Housing (WHH). The site is located on an unnamed road in Seend Cleeve to the west of Bollands Hill (see Figure 1). The site became available following a call for sites in conjunction with the local Neighbourhood Plan group. It was followed by a Housing Needs Survey conducted by Wiltshire Council in conjunction with Seend Parish Council and Seend CLT. The proposals are for 10 no. 2 storey terraced and semi-detached homes consisting of: • 2 x 1 bed 2 person dwellings • 5 x 2 bed 4 person dwellings • 3 x 3 bed 5 person dwellings • 1 x 4 bed self-build serviced plot The designs described in this Design and Access Statement and illustrated on the supporting drawings have been developed with reference to: Homes England’s Design & Quality Standards; Passivhaus Classic Certification; Building for Life; Secure by Design; Lifetime Homes; WHH Development and Partnering Protocol. The following consultants have been employed to develop the designs to planning application stage: Nixey Powell Partnership Limited - Quantity Surveyors PKA Architects Ltd - Architects Brunel Surveys Ltd - Topographical Surveyors Cole Easdon Consultants - Land Drainage Consultants Wildwood Ecology Ltd. - Ecologists Wessex Archaeology - Archaeology and heritage services The proposals have been developed in consultation with the local community, Seend Parish Council and Wiltshire Council. 2: Background Seend CLT formed in 2018 to assist the village in the delivery of affordable homes for local people. They are a locally powered initiative, supported by national and local government through the National Community Land Trust Network and other agencies including the Wiltshire and Swindon Community Led Housing Partnership, Homes of Our Own. The Seend CLT aims to enable parishioners to access affordable PKA Architects Ltd Page 2 Design and Access Statement – Park Farm Seend March 2020 housing and develop, preserve and care for local assets for their benefit in perpetuity. Any Seend parishioners over the age of 16 years can join the CLT as members, of which there are currently 259. In November 2018 Seend CLT appointed White Horse Housing (WHH), a specialist provider of affordable homes in rural areas with a proven track record within this area and village, to assist them with the development of their affordable housing for the parish. This followed interviews that they conducted with three potential Registered Providers. Seend CLT have been working with WHH, Seend Parish Council and the Neighbourhood Plan to ensure that their vision for delivery is in alignment. WHH were appointed before the Rural Housing Needs Survey (RHNS) was undertaken and a site was identified as to enable Seend CLT to have additional support in their approach to these two areas. 3: The Site and Location Proposed site Plan – not to scale PKA Architects Ltd Page 3 Design and Access Statement – Park Farm Seend March 2020 During the site selection process six sites were identified and considered in terms of their suitability for delivery of Affordable Housing; ultimately the site which is the subject of this application is a Rural Exception Site. The sites that were reviewed had all been put forward through the Neighbourhood Plan as potential sites for development and following this each land owner was contacted to ask if they would be happy for their site to be considered for development by Seend CLT. Further details of the identification and selection of sites can be found in the Statement of Community Involvement, also submitted as part of this planning application. The Park Farm site is located adjacent to the current settlement of the village. The site is bounded by a line of trees and hedgerow with open land to the west and houses to the south. Consequently, the developed site will fit naturally adjacent to the existing village footprint. The site area is 0.327ha, the land is currently used for agricultural/pasture purposes and was identified in the pre-application advice as being Grade 3 agricultural land, based on pre-1988 mapping. The site is mostly flat and is bordered by two fields, which are also used for agricultural/pasture purposes. There is also a highway and houses adjacent to the east and south of the site, respectively. There are no ecological designations on or in close proximity to the site i.e. a European designated site, Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) or Site of Nature Conservation Interest (SNCI). The site is approximately 100m south of the Kennet and Avon Canal County Wildlife site which is a SNCI. Site frontage on left of highway – photo taken from South corner The site is approximately 125m north of The Brewery Inn (Grade II listed) and Barn at Park Farm which is also Grade II listed. There is no known recorded archaeology on or near to the site. PKA Architects Ltd Page 4 Design and Access Statement – Park Farm Seend March 2020 Poor quality Willow at the norther edge of the site There are no Tree Preservation Orders on or in close proximity to the site. There are currently 3 Willow trees located at the edge of a drainage ditch adjacent to farmland which, due to safety concerns will be removed from the site. Site highway frontage to the right photo taken looking SW The site has been identified as being in the Environment Agency’s Flood Zone 1 and surface water issues have been identified. The drainage strategy included with this planning application provides mitigation for this. PKA Architects Ltd Page 5 Design and Access Statement – Park Farm Seend March 2020 The site is located approximately 960m from the nearest proposed Seend Parish Local Green Space located between Bollands Hill and the A361 (as identified as ‘1’ on the attached map). There are 7 sites identified as emerging possible Local Green Spaces in the Neighbourhood Plan proposals, all of which are located in the most densely populated area of Seend Parish. Pre-application discussions with Wiltshire Council’s Highways Officer confirmed that there is no record of public rights of way across the site. View South into Seend Cleeve from the Southern corner of the site 4: Consultation Since the conception of Seend CLT, 17 public meetings have been held where both members of Seend CLT and non-members have been encouraged to attend. In addition to this, Seend CLT have an accessible website which has been kept regularly updated to include the plans and revised plans for the site, has a ‘frequently asked questions’ section ( https://www.seendclt.org/site-faqs.html ) and a form available for interested parties to leave feedback on the proposed development. Further details of public consultation can be found in the Statement of Community Involvement, also submitted as part of this planning application. In April 2019 PKA Architects Ltd were appointed to develop proposals for the site and public consultation meetings were held monthly from September 2019 to January 2020 in the Irene Usher Pavilion, Seend, where the draft plans were presented. The meetings were well attended by CLT members, local residents, a number of Parish Councillors, members of WHH staff, the PKA architectural team and members of the Wiltshire Community Led Housing Partnership (WCLHP). In addition to the drawings being presented and amended each time, a number of comments were received through feedback forms on Seend CLT’s website, by email and letters sent to the Seend CLT and 7 applications were also received from people wishing to rent one of the homes. PKA Architects Ltd Page 6 Design and Access Statement – Park Farm Seend March 2020 Each question and comment was considered in the development of the design, and each question was responded to on the Seend CLT website ( https://www.seendclt.org/site-consultation.html , https://www.seendclt.org/site-faqs.html ), at the consultation meetings that took place in October 2019, November 2019 and December 2019. The development has been designed to minimise impact on neighbouring properties in terms of overlooking from the site and any impact due to the mass of the development seen from the opposite side of Bollands Hill. The layout respects the existing hedge and tree lines. The final consultation event and subsequent comments forwarded raised no concerns with regard the scale and principle of brick and slate used as the primary materials in the design proposals. The following are noted particularly in response to some points raised by the community during the consultation: Highways The site is located on the unnamed road through Seend Cleeve and runs from its junction with Trowbridge Road (A361) to the south and its junction with Bollands Hill to the north. The nearest town is Melksham, approximately 4 miles by road, other nearby towns are Devizes and Trowbridge, both approximately 6 miles away.