Ashford Borough Council - Report of Head of Development Management and Strategic Sites Planning Committee 14 November 2018 ___________________________________________________________________ Application Number 15/00856/AS Location Land at Pound Lane, Magpie Hall Road, Bond Lane and Ashford Road, Kingsnorth, Kent Grid Reference 00255/38868 Parish Council Kingsnorth Ward Weald East Application Outline application for a development comprising of up to Description 550 dwellings in a mix of size, type and tenure. Provision of local recycling facilities. Provision of areas of formal and informal open space. Installation of utilities, infrastructure to serve the development including flood attenuation, surface water attenuation, water supply, gas supply, electricity supply (including sub-station, telecommunications infrastructure and renewable energy). Transport infrastructure including highway improvements in the vicinity of Ashford Road/Magpie Hall Road/Steeds Lane, Pound Lane and Bond Lane, plus an internal network of roads and junctions, footpaths and cycle routes. New planting and landscaping both within the proposed development and on its boundaries as well as ecological enhancement works. Associated groundworks. Applicant Pentland Homes Ltd and Jarvis Homes Ltd Agent Ian Bull Consultancy Ltd Site Area 51ha Ashford Borough Council - Report of Head of Development Management and Strategic Sites Planning Committee 14 November 2018 ___________________________________________________________________ (a) 807/112R (b) PC – R (c) Shad PC – R; GCS PC – X; Amnds: Amnds R Bils PC – R; MWS PC – R; 837/46R KCC Highways – R; HE – R; KCC SuDs – S; ABC Proj – S; EA – X; KCC Prow – R; KCC Her – R; Hist Eng – X; ECC Bio – R; Nat Eng – X; SE – R; ABC ES – X; SE Rail – R; HSE – X; WKPS – R; BHS – X; SWS – X; KWS – R; CPRE – R; Amnds: Bils PC – R; KCC Highways – R; HE – R; KCC SuDs – X; EA – X; KCC developer contributions – X; KCC Her – X; Hist Eng – X; KCC Bio – R; Nat Eng – X; ABC ES – X; WKPS – X; SWS – X; KMG – R; RA – X; KP – X; Amnds: KCC Highways – X; KCC Her – X; KCC Bio – X; NHA – X; SWS - X Introduction 1. This application is reported to the Planning Committee because it involves the erection of more than 10 dwellings and therefore is classified as a major development that requires determination by the Planning Committee under the scheme of delegation. Site and Surroundings 2. The application site, which covers an area of 51 hectares is located in Kingsnorth Parish. It is comprised of four separate land parcels which straddle the main Ashford Road (C142), which runs through Kingsnorth north to south. The four parcels are illustrated below. The applicant has described them as Areas 1 – 4, and this description has therefore been used throughout the report, as shown in Figure 1 in the appendix to the report. Ashford Borough Council - Report of Head of Development Management and Strategic Sites Planning Committee 14 November 2018 ___________________________________________________________________ 3. Area 1 (10.11ha) is the northernmost parcel and is bounded by Ashford Road to the east, Pound Lane to the north, open fields to the west and residential properties on Ashford Road to the south. 4. Area 2 (13.08ha) is the south western parcel, and is bounded by Ashford Road to the east, Magpie Hall Road to the south, open fields to the east and residential properties on Ashford Road to the north. 5. Area 3 (16.03ha) is at the centre of the application site and is bounded by Bond Lane to the east, Ashford Cricket Club and properties on Steeds Lane to the south, residential properties on Ashford Road and fields overlooked by Church Hill to the north. 6. Area 4 (11.7ha) is the most eastern parcel and is bound by Steeds Lane to the south, properties along Bond Lane to the west and to the east lie fields, Isaac Wood and properties in Stumble Lane. 7. Overall, the site has a varied topography. Kingsnorth village which generally lies to the north is situated on a local high point in the otherwise relatively flat area to the south of Ashford. There is a general slope from east to west, whilst the northern part of the site is generally steeper than the southern part. There is a ridge running east to west across the site with the highest point at the centre of Area 3. 8. Area 1 slopes down towards Pound Lane, and Area 2 slopes gently eastwards with a small valley running down the centre where there is a small stream. Area 3 slopes down in all directions with the steepest areas in the northern part of the site. Area 4 slopes south and east towards Steeds Lane. 9. Kingsnorth is situated within the “Low Weald” National Landscape Character Area, which is described as “Broad, low-lying gently undulating clay vales”. The land use is “predominantly agricultural but with urban influences”, whilst “small towns are scattered among areas of woodland”. Within the Landscape Assessment of Kent (2004) the site falls within the character area “Bethersden Farmlands”, which is characterised by the typical Wealden pattern of small fields and bushy hedgerows but towards Kingsnorth, this has “broken down with fields enlarged and hedgerows removed to allow mechanisation for arable farming”. 10. The sites are dominated by arable farming and semi-improved grassland and the surrounding landcover includes woodland and urban areas but is also dominated by farmland. 11. The Whitewater Dyke is located to the west and north of the site following in a northerly direction towards Ashford, where it joins the East Stour River. There Ashford Borough Council - Report of Head of Development Management and Strategic Sites Planning Committee 14 November 2018 ___________________________________________________________________ are a number of small watercourses and drainage ditches that feed into the Whitewater Dyke. A small stream located along the southern boundary of Areas 3 and 4 and through the centre of Area 2, flows in a north-westerly direction to join the Whitewater Dyke. Part of Area 1 at its northern end falls within Flood Zone 2. 12. There are a number of hedgerows which form field boundaries within the site as well as some areas of woodland. Isaac Wood is an area of Ancient Woodland and that stretches into part of Area 4. There are also some trees located within the site primarily in proximity to ponds or along field boundaries. 13. The Kingsnorth Conservation Area is some distance to the north of the site, centred along Church Hill and St Michael’s Church. There are 9 listed buildings within 100m of the boundary, in Pound Lane, Ashford Road, Magpie Hall Road, Steeds Lane and Bond Lane. 14. There are several footpaths running across the fields within the application site boundary and alongside Ashford Road and Church Hill, connecting Kingsnorth to the settlements along Steeds Land and Magpie Hall Road and out into the surrounding countryside. A part of the North Downs Way National Trail runs through eastern areas of the site where it connects from Steeds Lane to Church Hill. 15. The sites are allocated for development in the emerging Local Plan 2030 as S4 and S5. They are located to the east of another allocated site known as Court Lodge (Policy S3), which is itself to the east of the Chilmington Green development, separated by the strategic Discovery Park. 16. A plan showing existing levels is in the Appendix to the report as Figure 2. Proposal 17. Outline planning permission is sought for the erection of up to 550 dwellings (including 430 % affordable housing), in a mix of size, type and tenure: infrastructure including local recycling facilities; formal and informal open space; utilities including flood attenuation, surface water attenuation, water supply, gas supply and electricity supply; transport infrastructure including highway improvements in the vicinity of Ashford Road/Magpie Hall Road/Steeds Lane junction; new junctions on Ashford Road, Steeds Lane, Pound Lane and Bond Lane, plus an internal network of roads and junctions, footpaths and cycle routes; new planting and landscaping both within the proposed development and on its boundaries; ecological enhancement/mitigation works and associated ground works. Ashford Borough Council - Report of Head of Development Management and Strategic Sites Planning Committee 14 November 2018 ___________________________________________________________________ 18. The application was originally submitted in 2015 whilst the emerging Local Plan was at the very early stages. The proposal was originally for a much larger scheme – up to 750 houses, a primary school and a greater amount of infrastructure. The applicant subsequently agreed to hold the application in abeyance until the Local Plan was in the late stages of adoption, adopted, and the application has been amended to take into account the changes made to the policies relevant to this site, as per the description in the preceding paragraph. This process is clarified in more detail in the Assessment section of my report. 19. The application includes a series of Parameter plans – Land Use Parameter Plan, Building Heights Plan, Density Plan and Connectivity Plan, which is a very similar approach to that which was used for the outline planning application at Chilmington Green. This allows the application to be determined within a certain set of parameters giving certainty to the wider masterplanning and the relationship of the proposed development with existing homes and the surrounding countryside. 20. The Land Use Parameter Plan proposes up to 550 homes on approximately 25 ha. The green infrastructure will take up 25.34 ha and the roads take up approximately 0.75 ha. The proposed density is an average of 22 dwellings per hectare with a range of densities from 15 to 24 dwellings per hectare. Higher densities are proposed closer to the transport infrastructure, with the lower densities towards the edge of the development or around SUDs and open space features.