Hadley and Leegomery Parish Council Castle Farm Community Centre, High Street, Hadley, Telford TF1 5NL Telephone/Fax: (01952) 245501 Email: [email protected] Website: www.hadleyandleegomery-pc.org.uk Andrew Gittins 3rd May 2018 Principal Development Planning Officer Development Management Telford and Wrekin Council PO Box 457 Wellington Civic Offices Telford TF2 2FH Your Ref: TWC/2018/0360 Dear Mr Gittins RE: Reserved Matters application (Appearance, Landscaping, Layout and Scale) for 90 dwellings, section of main spine road, site landscaping and surface water attenuation basin (Phase 1a) pursuant to TWC/2017/1014 (Outline application for the erection of a mixed use development comprising of up to 495no. dwellings (Use Class C3), a local centre (Use Class A1) and public open space with associated access and landscaping following the demolition of existing factory (All other matters reserved) Site of Former Maxell Europe Ltd, Apley, Telford. The Parish Council has considered the above application and has resolved to object subject to conditions. The Council expressed particularly concerns regarding the continued operation of the Elements Europe Ltd business from the former Maxell Europe site during the construction of Phases 1a, 1b, and 2. The Council is concerned that residential properties will be occupied before the NEAP/LEAP facility is delivered, and that delivery of the NEAP/LEAP facility is contingent on the relocation of the Elements Europe business to another site. The Council is also concerned that delay in the delivery of the development phases, or the relocation of Elements Europe Ltd, may result in up to 50% of the proposed total number of houses being occupied despite the Elements Europe business continuing to operate from the former Maxell Europe premises. The Council notes the following points contained in the Applicant’s Planning Statement submitted in support of application TWC/2018/0360 (emphasis added): 1.2.3 Pickstock Homes are a Shropshire based company who own the site and have been involved with the promotion of the site for residential development from the outset, achieving the outline consent now to be implemented. In addition, a component company of the Pickstock Group, Elements Europe, currently occupy the Maxell factory where modular units are constructed for use on development sites nationwide. The safeguarding of this business and the identification of alternative premises has influenced the delivery of the development and has critically informed the proposed phasing of the site to ensure that the operation of Elements Europe is not detrimentally affected and that the 300 plus jobs are kept within Telford through a relocation strategy. 2.1.2 Phase 1a of the development occupies the north eastern area of approximately 4.37 hectares in size. A Reserved Matters submission in relation to the Local Centre area adjacent (Phase 1b) is to be submitted shortly for consideration alongside. The remaining area of the outline Clerk: Jonathan Brumwell Chairman: Councillor John Smart application site will remain undeveloped and the existing factory will remain in situ for now, occupied by Elements Europe Ltd, part of the wider Pickstock Group. The phased redevelopment of this large brownfield site is proposed to be delivered with a phasing strategy indicated by the plan at Appendix 4 that accommodates the Maxell (Elements Europe) factory which, as part of the phased development, will be demolished to allow for full development of the site overall. 2.1.3 Access to the development site will be concentrated from Queensway, the road which bounds the site to the north with new access points from a new roundabout towards the western end of Queensway and new junction further east along the road. The new roundabout has been condition at the Outline Permission stage and will be delivered to enable the initiation of the Phase I works. These new access points and changes to Queensway are demonstrated in the Revised Concept Masterplan (1127_P_SA_03) which forms part of the conditions of the Outline Consent. The submissions also identify the location of the NEAP/LEAP adjacent to this reserved matter site area. However, the play facility is not included as part of the initial phases of development given the required retention of the factory building as illustrated by the proposed phasing strategy. The phased delivery of the outline consent has been facilitated through the approval of TWC/2017/3117 and the alteration of wording to Conditions 2, 4 and 5. 7.1.5 The design of the Reserved Matters, phasing proposals and landscaping strategy has identified the limitations of the retention of the Factory building and site delivery. This is particularly relevant when considering the delivery of the central NEAP/LEAP facility and discussions have been had with the Council regarding the design of the play facility and the appropriateness of its potential relocation. However, what has become clear through these discussions is that the central location is preferable for the play area and the alternative location/design solutions are not optimum for the site’s realisation. As such, the delay in delivery of the play facility is considered preferable to its provision in a sub-optimum location. 7.1.6 Notwithstanding this, the play facility will be delivered in phase 3 ahead of the delivery of the 250th dwelling, which is considered to be reasonable given that occupation of the units will occur on a phased basis as well. As stated above, the Council continues to have serious concerns regarding delivery of key elements of the development, specifically – given the continuing operation of the Elements Europe business at the site – the demolition of the former Maxell Europe Ltd factory and any remedial works required (Condition 9, TWC/2017/1014), and delivery of the NEAP/LEAP (Condition 15, TWC/2017/1014) which the Council notes is intended “to ensure early provision of new play facilities on the site” (emphasis added). Given the 8-year timescale for delivery anticipated in the original Design and Access Statement the Parish Council is concerned that demolition, site clearance, and remediation of the factory site, and provision of NEAP/LEAP facilities, must be made the subject of prioritised, ring-fenced and time- constrained conditions of the reserved matters consent. For the avoidance of doubt the Council requires that specific, measurable timescales are attached to these elements of the development separate and independent of any timescales for the delivery of the Phases identified in the Applicant’s Phasing Plan i.e. that conditions are set (a) requiring demolition of the factory and remediation of the site within a specific period of time following the commencement of development of the site; and (b) requiring the provision of the NEAP/LEAP facility in the agreed location within a specific period of time following the commencement of development of the site. Yours sincerely Jonathan Brumwell Jonathan Brumwell Clerk to the Council .