Planning Brief - January 2012 Air Products Llangollen Road, Acrefair, Wrexham Contents: 1.0 Introduction 2.0 Policy Context 3.0 Physical Context & Site Appraisal 4.0 Land Uses 5.0 Approach to Design 6.0 Transport Issues 7.0 Development Issues and Expected Deliverables 8.0 Conclusions Appendices January 2012 2 1 Introduction 1.1 This Planning Brief complements and elaborates the content of the adopted Wrexham Unitary Development Plan (UDP) and provides a design and policy framework for the future development of both the north and south elements of the Acrefair Works Site, Llangollen Road, Acrefair. This framework will also be applicable once the emerging Wrexham Local Development Plan (LDP) has been adopted (known as the Air Products site in the emerging LDP). 1.2 The Brief will help to inform any future development proposals and will begin to explore design parameters which can be used to provide a bespoke masterplan for the site. An appropriate development response will be of great benefit to the wider area and future generations. In order to ensure this is achieved the following overarching Vision has been developed: “This site, at the heart of Acrefair, shall be a key location and catalyst for the wider renewal of the Village and surrounding area. It shall utilise the existing qualities of the site and exploit the growing leisure and cultural interest in the Llangollen Valley, being a Gateway and springboard into the Dee valley and beyond to Snowdonia. The site shall provide opportunities for leisure, recreation, active sports, play, retailing, jobs and a choice of housing and shall be an integral part of the village, seamlessly sitting within the landscape and townscape and providing a positive contribution towards the whole area.” 1.3 The Brief includes: - detailed contextual and technical information about the site and surrounding environment; - guidance on the design submission requirements: and - sets out the requirements of the developer/landowner in terms of their response to the Brief. January 2012 3 1.4 This document provides a clear indication of the key issues on site as well as the format in which planning proposals should be submitted. Developers are expected to comprehensively engage in pre – application discussions with the Council and are encouraged to continue this engagement to include discussions with other statutory and community stakeholders before and during the application process. January 2012 4 Policy Context 1.5 National planning policy principles are contained in Planning Policy Wales (PPW, edition 4, 2011)1 . This is supplemented by a series of Technical Advice Notes (TAN’s)2, the most relevant of which are contained in Appendix 1. 1.6 Local planning guidance is contained in the currently adopted Wrexham Unitary Development Plan, (Appendix 1). Other supporting documents of relevance are contained at Appendix 2. 1.7 Within the emerging Wrexham Local Development Plan, the site is identified as a Mixed Use Regeneration Opportunity under Policy P2 and is allocated for a comprehensive mixed-use development to include residential, employment, community leisure and local need retail uses. 1.8 The site has been identified within the list of Housing Allocations contained within Policy P1 as having the potential to deliver approximately 200 residential units as part of a mixed use development. 1 http://wales.gov.uk/topics/planning/policy/ppw/?lang=en 2 http://wales.gov.uk/topics/planning/policy/tans/?lang=en January 2012 5 2 Physical Context & Site Appraisal 2.1 In order to understand the relationship between the whole site and the wider area of Acrefair / Cefn Mawr, an appreciation of both parts of the site and the physical context of surrounding settlements is required. Air Products Northern and Southern Sites, Air Products is two distinct sites separated by the A539. The northern site measures 3.13 hectares and the southern portion is 8.25 hectares (11.38 hectares) see Map 1 below. Northern Site Southern Site Map 1: Air Products Development Sites a) Sub-Regional Context 2.2 The village of Acrefair is located in the County Borough of Wrexham, North Wales. It sits close to the border with the English counties of Cheshire and Shropshire. January 2012 6 2.3 The village straddles one of the key inland routes into North Wales, the A539, Llangollen Road and is just across the Dee Valley from the A5, the primary inland route into North Wales from the Wrexham/Cheshire/Shropshire sub-regions as illustrated in Map 2. 2.4 These main roads connect Acrefair and surrounding settlements with Llangollen, Ruabon, Chirk, Wrexham, Chester, Whitchurch, Oswestry and beyond into Snowdonia, the North Wales coast, the North West and Midlands of England. 2.5 Acrefair lies close to the heart of a group of traditional industrially focussed villages, which includes Cefn Mawr, Trevor and Rhosymedre. 2.6 This historic industrial relationship also means that the village benefits from being close to the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and the Llangollen branch of the Shropshire Union Canal, which gained World Heritage Site Status in 2009. 2.7 This heritage and tourism theme continues generally within the Dee Valley, with the location of tourist destinations such as Llangollen, the Snowdonia National Park and various historic houses and castles, including the National Trust’s Chirk Castle, all within easy reach. b) Settlement Context 2.8 Acrefair developed during the industrial revolution, initially as a mining and quarrying settlement, then iron working and finally moving over to gas and chemical manufacturing/equipment production during the 20th Century. 2.9 The Works sites, as well as the other traditional industrial sites in and around the adjoining villages have either closed or contracted over the first decade of the 21st Century. 2.10 Acrefair and its neighbours are therefore in a phase of change and renewal, finding new purpose and a new role within North Wales. January 2012 7 Map 2: Sub-regional context. i) Statutory Designations 2.11 Map 3 illustrates the local, national and international statutory designations which are in close proximity to both the north and south parts of the site. 2.12 The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal achieved World Heritage Site (WHS) status in 2009 and the buffer zone is located just to the south of the northern and southern elements of the site. Whilst the two are not visually connected, any future development of these sites will need to ensure that the 'sense of arrival' at the WHS is retained and enhanced. 2.13 The River Dee is a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Water quality and biodiversity have improved on the River in the past 20 - 30 years but there are still January 2012 8 opportunities for further improvement. Several key features of the River Dee SAC such as otter and fish species are classed as "mobile species". These species are known to move outside the confines of the SAC but impacts upon them must be carefully assessed even on sites some distance from the designated site. 2.14 The Snowdonia National Park boundary is 20 miles to the west, there are views to the foothills of Snowdonia from the higher points of the southern site and village. 2.15 Map 3 also illustrates all the definitive footpaths which are in and around the village and specifically those which border or in part cross both the northern and southern elements of the site. Map 3: Statutory designations and public transport routes ii) Movement January 2012 9 2.16 Map 3 also illustrates the road and public transport networks which currently service both parts of the site and surrounding villages. iii) Local Land Uses 2.17 The land uses in and around Acrefair are illustrated in Map 4. The most recent or current uses and the industrial sites currently in a state of transition are illustrated as employment sites, their traditional status. Map 4: Land Uses January 2012 10 Map 5: Village Centres 2.18 The historic village centre still retains some community facilities, in the form of chapels, social clubs, schools, pubs and health clinics. These facilities also support local shops in the locations illustrated in Map 5. 2.19 The main retail centre in the area is located within the village of Cefn Mawr, which, alongside the local shops also has a Co-Operative food store. A Tesco food store is currently being built immediately adjacent to the Co-Op. 2.20 The historical industrial areas are located on the lower slopes or valley bottom, where the industrial processing had easy access to water and the transport systems, such as the Canal and Railways. 2.21 Residential neighbourhoods surround both parts of the site, some of which are at a higher level (Lancaster Terrace and Cae Coch Lane) and specifically overlook the south site. Older housing is located on the valley slopes, following the contours and wrapping around the crests and ridges of the valley sides. Larger residential estates (primarily social housing circa 1950’s) can be found on the valley bottom, to the south of the historical centre of Cefn Mawr and on the upper plateau, above Acrefair at Plas Madoc. January 2012 11 2.22 The villages are interlaced and surrounded with greenspace and open countryside. Fingers of greenspace wrap around the sites and continue along site boundaries in the form of woodland belts, providing a mature setting and backdrop to both sites. The greenspace within the villages appears, from historic maps, to have been previously used by primarily the extractive industries, including coal mining and stone quarrying. The mines and quarries were connected via a series of mineral rail and tramways, which now provide footpath links within green corridors between these spaces, the wider countryside, the River Dee, Llangollen Canal and the World Heritage Site.