Planning, Design & Access Statement Land to the North & East of Cypress Gardens, Newton, Porthcawl, Bridgend, CF36 5BZ Outline Planning Application For Residential Development C.H Knight & Partners August 2020 Client: C.H Knight & Partners Report Title: Planning, Design & Access Statement Contents 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................... 3 2. The Site: Location & Extent ....................................................................................................................................... 5 3. Pre-Application Dialogue & Design Evolution ...................................................................................................... 10 4. Planning Policy Context ......................................................................................................................................... 13 5. Design and Access Proposals ................................................................................................................................ 20 6. Key Material Considerations .................................................................................................................................. 26 7. Summary .................................................................................................................................................................. 34 Appendices Appendix I Site Location Plan Appendix II Indicative Site Layout Plan Appendix III Proposed Access Arrangements Appendix IV Candidate Site Representation to BCBC’s Revised Local Development Plan (2018-2033) Figures Figure 1 Site Location Plan Figure 2 Extract from LDP Proposals Map Status: Draft v1 Date: 03 August 2020 For and on behalf of Avison Young (UK) Limited Date: August 2020 Page: 2 Client: C.H. Knight & Partners Report Title: Planning, Design & Access Statement 1. Introduction The Purpose of this Statement 1.1 This Planning, Design and Access Statement has been prepared to accompany and support an outline planning application to develop the vacant scrubland located to the north and east of Cypress Gardens in Newton for residential purposes, together with associated parking, landscaping and ancillary works. 1.2 The application is submitted to Bridgend County Borough Council (BCBC) by Avison Young, on behalf of C.H Knight & Partners. 1.3 The extent and location of the site is shown on the Site Location Plan below. Figure 1: Site Location Plan Structure of this Statement 1.4 This statement has been prepared in line with the requirements and recommendations of Technical Advice Note 12: Design (TAN 12), BCBC’s own guidance on Design and Access Statements (DAS) and having regard to the ‘Design and Access Statements in Wales Why, What and How’ (June 2017) guidance, which builds on that understanding and responds to legislative requirements for DAS under the Planning (Wales) Act 2015. Date: August 2020 Page: 3 Client: C.H Knight & Partners Report Title: Planning, Design & Access Statement 1.5 This statement seeks to demonstrate the acceptability of the proposed development in the context of relevant planning policy, taking into account the context of the site and the surrounding forms of development. The remainder of the statement is, therefore, structured as follows: ▪ Section 2 provides an explanation of the context of the application including site details, relevant planning history, a description of the proposal and the rationale behind the application; ▪ Section 3 provides the detail of the pre-application enquiry submitted to the Council and a summary of the Council’s response; ▪ Section 4 provides a review of the planning policy context relevant to the proposal; ▪ Section 5 interprets context and policy analysis into a set of guiding principles for the development of the site before going on to describe the proposed development in greater detail, giving specific details regarding the evolution of the scheme, and design and access considerations (as required by TAN 12); ▪ Section 6 considers the primary planning issues, providing a comprehensive analysis of how this proposal conforms with relevant policy and planning considerations, and ▪ Section 7 provides an overview and concludes the statement, confirming that there are a number of material benefits arising from the proposals which ought to justify the grant of planning permission. Date: August 2020 Page: 4 Client: C.H. Knight & Partners Report Title: Planning, Design & Access Statement 2. The Site: Location & Extent Location & Context 2.1 The application site extends to approximately 0.68 hectares and is situated to the north and east of Cypress Gardens, which is located in Newton, on the eastern side of Porthcawl. 2.2 The site comprises unused land that is well suited for residential development, immediately bounding Cypress Gardens to the south and a public right of way to the north, beyond which is a belt of vegetation and tree cover that screens the properties fronting Lime Tree Way. To the east is open land that extends along the coastline towards Candleston Castle. 2.3 The surrounding area is predominantly residential in character and form, largely consisting of detached dwellings benefitting from front and rear gardens, with respective driveways accessed from cul-de-sacs served by the main estate roads. 2.4 There is plentiful informal, formal and incidental open space located within the vicinity, much of which is located to the east of the site and south of Cypress Gardens, including a Council owned playing field. 2.5 Newton benefits from a range of existing facilities including plentiful open space, a children’s equipped play area, a day school, football pitches, tennis courts, churches and numerous public houses. 2.6 The site is positioned on the eastern edge of Newton in close proximity to the route of the Wales Coast Path, overlooking Merthyr Mawr Warren and Newton Burrows. The village of Newton dates from the 12th Century, although there has been significant residential development in more recent years taking advantage of the good access links offered by the A4106 (Bridgend Road). 2.7 Beyond Newton, to the west, lies Porthcawl (identified in the adopted Local Development Plan (LDP) as one of the four strategic growth areas in the County Borough). The site is circa 1.5 miles from Porthcawl town centre and the retail, employment and community facilities offered there. The town also benefits from a significant historic and natural amenity resource. 2.8 Access to the site can be achieved from Cypress Gardens, which benefits from an existing turning head that abuts the site’s southern boundary. The information that supports this application demonstrates that Cypress Gardens can be extended from the existing turning head to provide sufficient access via an adoptable highway and private drives. 2.9 The site location plan, attached at Appendix I, clearly defines the site and its context. The Application 2.10 The application is submitted in outline form, with all matters reserved for future consideration except for the access arrangements. Date: August 2020 Page: 5 Client: C.H Knight & Partners Report Title: Planning, Design & Access Statement 2.11 The description of development for the proposed scheme (on the outline planning application form) reads as follows: “Residential development, together with car parking, landscaping and ancillary works.” 2.12 The indicative site layout plan and details of the proposed access arrangements are included in Appendix II & III of this statement. Relevant Planning History 2.13 Based upon a search and review of the Council’s online planning records, there are a number of historic planning permissions of relevance to the site. The most significant planning permissions are listed below: Planning History Schedule LPA Ref: Applicant Proposal Decision Full planning application for residential Tythegston development – 12 no. detached dwellings, new P/04/1726/FUL Millennium Refused 29/03/2005 access onto Cypress Gardens and associated Trust landscaping. C.H. Knight & Outline planning application for residential P/99/426/OUT Refused 06/07/1999 Partners development - 4 no. detached dwellings (N.B. the above is based on a desktop inspection of available information on Bridgend County Borough Council’s website) 2.14 We understand the 2004 planning application (LPA reference P/04/1726/FUL) was partly refused on the basis of highway safety in connection with limited carriageway width. The Council’s Highway Engineers suggested that a reduced form of development may be given sympathetic consideration as the associated traffic movements are unlikely to generate significant adverse effects on the local highway network. 2.15 In addition, we note that a representation was made for the site’s development for residential purposes (LDP Candidate Site reference 792.B1) to the candidate site consultation stage of the then emerging LDP. 2.16 A representation was also submitted to the Deposit LDP objecting to the Plan Strategy, the Proposal Map and Strategic Policies SP1, PLA1, ENV3 and COM2. This representation objected to the Plan on the basis the site should not be excluded from the proposed settlement boundary, should not be included in the Special Landscape Area and that it was not identified as a residential land allocation. 2.17 We also note the Inspector of the Unitary Development Plan (UDP), which preceded the LDP, accepted the site would represent a logical rounding off of development,