Quest park Lakeside Housing Proposals Pre-Application Document 29 September 2017 Version 1.7 Produced by: Quest park Lakeside Housing Proposals Contents 1 Introduction 1 Introduction This document has been prepared by Corylus Planning and Environmental Ltd in 2 Location in Context conjunction with KSS Architects. It provides the basis for an application seeking pre application advice for a lakeside residential 3 Connectivity development at the site known as Quest Park, Ampthill Road, Houghton Conquest, 4 Past Mineral Operations Bedfordshire. The document outlines the site’s 5 Authority Borders geographical and political context and provides a brief history of previous planning 6 Consented Context consents that relate to the site. It also provides a history of the site’s former uses and gives an overview of the proposal. 7 Local Policy This is supported by a concept masterplan and interpretive statement detailing the 8 Freshwater and aquarium research facility evolution of design and the inclusion of expert ecological enhancement recommendations, throughout the early 9 Early Concept stages of the design process. 10 Indicative Masterplan 11 Suitability and benefits 12 Summary Quest park Lakeside Housing Proposals 2 Location in Context Quest Park is located approximately 3km to the south of central Bedford, 10km to the north east of Milton Keynes and more locally lies between the villages of Stewartby, Houghton Conquest and Kempston Hardwick. The site extends to some 60 ha and is bounded by Stewartby Way and the B530 to the south and east respectively. The site’s western fringe is bounded by the Midland Main Line railway. Access to the site is via B530 on the site’s eastern boundary. Quest park Lakeside Housing Proposals Wootton Wixams Kempston Hardwick Duck End Wootton Green Wilstead Lower Sheldon Stewartby Lake Stewartby Site Chapel End Marston Moretaine Houghton Conquest Quest park Site Quest park Lakeside Housing Proposals 3 Connectivity The site is well connected by road and rail networks, providing good connectivity to Bedford, and towns and villages both locally and nationally. Stewartby train station is accessible to pedestrians and is located approximately 1km to the west of the site whilst Bedford and the surrounding area is within reasonable cycling distance. Footpath routes connect to a number of County Wildlife Sites located to the west of Stewartby and also provide safe access to Stewartby Lake and the Marston Vale Millennium Country Park. Quest park Lakeside Housing Proposals Wootton Wixams Kempston Hardwick Duck End To Bedford Wootton Green Wilstead Lower Sheldon Stewartby Lake Stewartby Site Chapel End Marston Moretaine Houghton Conquest Quest park Site Railway B530 Road Secondary Roads To London Quest park Lakeside Housing Proposals 4 Past Mineral Operations Quest Park is located in Marston Vale, an area heavily influenced by the brick industry. The site has been used for the purposes of mineral extraction from as far back as the 1940s. In 1980 the London Brick Company was granted permission for continuing extraction, a brickworks and maintenance and welfare buildings. Mineral operations ceased in 2008 corresponding with the industry’s general decline. The Marston Vale area is now identified as a priority area for landscape enhancement. The site has now been restored and large waterbodies were formed as part of the site restoration. Colonisation by local pioneering species is beginning to occur presenting habitat enhancement opportunities. Despite much of the site being located in flood zones 2 and 3 these higher flooding risk zones are restricted to within the margins of the existing waterbodies. Areas where residential dwellings are proposed are without exception located in flood zone 1, the zone of lowest flood risk. Quest park Lakeside Housing Proposals Wootton Kempston Hardwick Wixams Stewartby Marston Site Moretaine Quest park Site Past Mineral Operations Quest park Lakeside Housing Proposals 5 Authority borders The site lies on the north western boundary of the Central Bedfordshire District. Much of the site lies within this local authority’s administration with the exception of a small portion of the site’s south western corner. This lies within Bedford Borough Council’s administration. Quest park Lakeside Housing Proposals Wootton Kempston Hardwick Wixams BEDFORD Stewartby Marston Site Moretaine CENTRAL BEDFORDSHIRE Quest park Site Authority Boundary Quest park Lakeside Housing Proposals 6 Consented Context 7 Local Policy The site was previously granted planning The local development plan for the majority permission for a freshwater and aquarium of the site is Central Bed’s North Local research facility ref MB/06/02036/OUT. This Development Framework. This is made up included an international visitor centre, of the Core Strategy and Development science research park, tropical biotope, a Management Policies Development (2009) water adventure park, spa, three hotels, a and some saved policies from the Mid conference and exhibition centre, cinema, Bedfordshire Local Plan (2005). and ancillary retail and food and drink uses. Adequate private investment funding The south west proportion of the site in the could not be raised for the development Bedford Borough District will be subject to and consequently the permission lapsed. proposals sensitively regarding policy AD25 Forest of Marston Vale, policy NE3 Sites of Two strategic sites in the locale have been Local importance and CP13 the Countryside allocated for residential development. and development within it. At this stage in the design process it is likely the area will Wooton is located to the west of the site not contain any built development. in within the district of Bedford Borough Council and is allocated for housing within An emerging plan for Central Bedfordshire the extant development plan. is in the early stages of preparation and as such the extant policies within the Wixams is located 2km to the north east LDF provide the policy framework for of the site within central Bedfordshire and determining applications. currently allocated for 4,500 homes. The housing need for Central Bedfordshire is 32,000 new homes over the period 2015- 2035 SHMA 2017. This is equivalent to 1,600 homes per year. The Council considers it has a 5.75 years supply of deliverable housing sites however this has yet to be tested and found sound during examination of the emerging local plan. Quest park Lakeside Housing Proposals Wootton Kempston Hardwick Wixams Stewartby Marston Site Moretaine Quest park Site Residential Scheme Commercial Scheme Quest park Lakeside Housing Proposals 8 Freshwater and aquarium research facility The freshwater and aquarium research facility consented in 2006 was intended to be led by the globally renowned freshwater conservation organisation, Nirah. The scheme was to be the world’s first conservation-orientated theme park accessed by a park and ride shuttle bus service site located to the north west of the Quest park site. On-site parking provided for 2340 spaces for the use of staff and coaches. The scheme included 12ha of the site allocated for B1 employment use built at a density of 4,371m2 per ha, with the Science Research Park occupying 42,322m2 of B1 space. Circa 9.5 ha of the scheme was allocated for D2 uses including the Biotope, the Water Adventure Park, Temperate Landscape and Spa. A 420 bed hotel, restaurants, cafes and bars were all granted consent as part of the overall scheme. Quest park Lakeside Housing Proposals Figure 5.5 - Aerial View Quest park Lakeside Housing Proposals Design and Access Statement: November 2006 64 9 New Proposals Early Concept An early scheme for Quest Park was prepared by KSS architects. The scheme proposed roughly 4,000 sqft units, 43 of these are lakeside villas with an additional 16 barn type buildings. Quest park Lakeside Housing Proposals Quest park Lakeside Housing Proposals 10 Indicative Masterplan The latest scheme builds on and improves the principles of the initial concept. A green buffer is proposed around the site providing both landscape and biodiversity benefit. A low density of homes is proposed across the site in the region of 120 units (c. 2,000 sqft each) equating to 2dph. The scheme sensitively locates homes around existing waterbodies and focuses on the enhancement of a number of terrestrial habitat areas. The number of homes remains at the same low density however, this masterplan more closely relates to the consented Nirah scheme by incorporating leisure activities into the site. Leisure activities might include tennis, sailing, canoeing, Zip-wires and an Eco-trail and could be open to the public subject to demand. Central to this scheme is the introduction of managed wildlife areas again reflecting the principal of the Temperate Landscape in the Nirah scheme. It is proposed the income generated form the residential element of the scheme will provide the funding for the considerable ecological enhancement measures to be undertaken on site. Quest park Lakeside Housing Proposals Indicative Masterplan Quest park Lakeside Housing Proposals 11 Suitability and benefits Quest Park is located in a sustainable and accessible location served by an excellent range of transport and infrastructure services. Bedford, Luton and Milton Keynes are easily accessed by using the strategic road and rail network whilst secondary road networks provide good connectivity to smaller towns and villages within the area. The infrastructure improvement plans for the area include widening the M1 corridor,