WEST OF TWERTON DEVELOPMENT CONCEPT OPTIONS REPORT APRIL 2013 2 CONTENTS 1 Introduction 4 2 Site analysis 10 3 Constraints and opportunities 17 4 Development concept options 23 5 Infrastructure requirements 27 6 Viability and delivery 33 7 Summary 36 3 1. INTRODUCTION 4 Study area locations - B&NES BRISTOL 1.1 Overview Bath and North East Somerset Council (‘B&NES’) Hicks Planning Service appointed Ove Arup and Partners Gate Limited (‘Arup’) to investigate development concept options for ten locations to inform the consideration KEYNSHAM of additional housing led development. The East Ensleigh West Lower slopes Keynsham locations are largely adjacent to the principal Keynsham settlements within and associated with Bath and at Weston North East Somerset. Four locations are on the edge of Bath, two on the south edge of Bristol and four on Whitchurch South the edge of Keynsham. of K2 Uplands These Concept Option Reports are not the work West of of the Council and are not planning policy. They Twerton BATH are assessments used to help the consideration of these locations for development. By publishing these reports the Council is not agreeing to the development capacities identified in the Concept Options presented. As such the Reports have no planning status. The planning policy relating to any locations taken forward will need to be formulated in the first instance through the Core Odd Down Strategy and sites will then be allocated with detailed site requirements in the Placemaking Plan. Work on the Placemaking Plan will be done in conjunction with local community involvement and supported by further detailed site work e.g. relating to environmental impacts. green belt 5 1.2 Development concept 1.3 Fit with the wider options Core Strategy Review The Development Concept Options work will build As part of the wider Core Strategy Review, the The publication of this study is not an endorsement upon the work already undertaken by the Council Council is also currently developing, reviewing by the Council of a particular strategy for this within its Core Strategy preparation process. The and updating a number of related relevant technical location; rather it is to test different development locations, selected by the Council, have previously evidence documents. For this report, the following scenarios in order to assess the relative capacity and been assessed either through the Strategic Housing evidence base documents are particularly relevant: development impacts. Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA) and/or the Environmental Capacity Study. - Green Belt Review: A strategic review of the entire Green Belt in B&NES to assess the The locations have all been previously considered importance of different areas of land in serving unsuitable for development due to strategic policy the purposes of the Green Belt, in order to reasons, i.e. the draft Core Strategy did not propose inform consideration of whether land should be any changes to the general extent of the Green Belt, removed from the Green Belt to accommodate in the form of either extensions or deletions. development in a sustainable location. The Development Concept Options work is - Transport Assessment: To examine the transport to contribute to the identification of additional impact of development at the ten locations; development capacity within the review of the identification of infrastructure ‘trigger points’; Council’s Core Strategy. and consideration of the cumulative impact of development across the related locations and the The work will identify: viable potential development District. capacity, illustrate and test potential outline spatial scenarios; and place-making principles. The analysis of these evidence base documents together with the existing work carried out by the As part of this report no site selection Council has informed the production of this report. recommendations will be made by the design team in its reporting. This exercise will be undertaken by the Council Members and Officers post completion of the technical analysis. 6 Study area locations - Bath Lower slopes at Ensleigh Weston 1.4 Bath Context 2.1 Location The Council selected four locations adjacent or near Eventioria consecabo. Nequiae incia velent, tem to the existing settlement boundary of Bath: dolupis ut molorep udisci iustotatur repelesciis volo et, tempore moluptatur sequi nonsedit qui del etur - Land at MoD Ensleigh sapicienis corere serita conecte moluptat. River - Lower Slopes at Weston Avon 2.2 Physical context of - Land adjoining Odd Down the site magnisquamA4 erissitation essus adiam ea nos etur? BATH - Land West of Twerton Ga. Ut labores suntiis ressundia nullabora incto minvendenis vent am est ute volore nonse nisquiatis The study areas vary in character, size and location explautWest quatque of dus idio et dis as estia cum vero but all relate to the current edge of settlement doluptaeTwerton occusda et maximent, consequam ra sam relationship with the landscape; the definition of the Bath character; and the confinement of the city 2.3 Land ownership within the landscape. Nitam, que plit vent qui officitia sus molupta is The land around Bath contributes positively to the modi ipsuntiatia velessitae latur sitatem perchil ium, setting of the city and the World Heritage Site. omnia et quuntio dolorporunt andipsa venducium et utetur sitiorum autae pro consect iaecaborio eaquid quissimpos porrum quae pore molora ad 2.4 Planning context 2.5 Planning history Odd Down A367 development boundary 7 West of Twerton study area location 1.5 West of Twerton This report concerns the West of Twerton study area, Bath. It should be noted that the extent of the study area has been reduced from the West of Twerton site as considered in the Core Strategy options (SWB1). This reduction is in direct response to English Heritage’s comments (Core Document CD8/01) where they stated that: NEWTON ST LOE “Unless development at the Twerton site is contained to the south side and does not rise above the ridgeline there would be an unacceptable impact on the setting of the World Heritage Site.” TWERTON 8 1.6 Context Area 21 hectares Evaluation The Council’s previous assessment of this study area has provided the context for this Report. The relevant evaluation and assessment history documents are: - Urban Extension Environmental Capacity Appraisal: Revision A (October 2006) - New neighbourhood in an urban extension to South/South West Bath – Information Paper (October 2009) - Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment: Report of Findings (May 2011): Appendix 1b: Land at South/South West Bath 9 2. SITE ANALYSIS 10 2.1 Land use 2.2 Topography 2.3 Designations This is a greenfield site with the land mostly in The study area is located on slopes facing towards As illustrated in the diagrams (overleaf) there are a agricultural use. the city. Part of the settlement of Twerton has spilled number of environmental, heritage and landscape out beyond the ‘bowl’ of the city. designations both within and in close proximity to The study area is bound by Seven Acre Wood, the boundary: agricultural fields and beyond by the A4 Bristol The landform here, where the Avon corridor emerges Road to the north. beyond the settlement boundary, encloses the - Newton St Loe Conservation Area western edge of the city less. As well as this the hills The steeply sided Newton Brook Valley runs along to the west of Twerton and surrounding the villages - Newton Park Historic Park and Garden the east, gradually widening out to join the Avon of Newton St Loe and Corston are lower generally River Valley. Beyond the river valley to the east than most of the landscape around the rest of the - Bath World Heritage Site is the existing settlement and local services at city. Twerton. - Public right of way The study area is bound to the south by Pennyquick - Green Belt Lane which connects this area to the A4 and Whiteway Road and Twerton. In close proximity to - Near to Kelston Conservation Area the west, across Pennyquick Lane, is the village of Newton St Loe. - Near to Kelston Park Registered Park and Garden (Grade II*; located across the River There is a public right of way (PROW) that runs Avon to the north on prominent hillside) across the area connecting Newton Brook Valley with the village and the network of PROWs that link - Near to Carrs Wood and Newton Brooks Sites the village to the wider countryside. of Nature Conservation Interest (SNCI) - Near to Carrs Woodland Local Nature Reserve - Near to Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) (1km away) 11 Environmental designations Landscape designations Heritage designations 12 2.4 Landscape appraisal Bath is situated within an enclosed landscape around the River Avon. The settlement occupies the lowlands along the river and the slopes which rise from the river banks to become the hills of the southern Cotswolds to the north of the city and the lower lying areas around Cam Brook and Wellow Brook to the south of the city. B&NES Landscape Character Assessment The B&NES report Rural Landscapes of Bath & North East Somerset - A Landscape Character Assessment identifies that: “Geologically the area is significant because it marks the western limit of the typical English lowland landscape characterised by scarps and AONB gently undulating flat topped hills and broad clay ridgeline valleys. The older formations of Wales and land to the south-west by contrast are characterised by Area of outstanding natural beauty gnarled and rugged scenery all intensely folded and faulted. These older formations are represented, for example, by the Carboniferous Limestone of the The study goes on to outline how this geology, as it changes from an enclosed and overlooked Avon Gorge at Clifton which is outside the area and coupled with the drainage patterns of the area, has basin with well defined tributary valleys to the the Mendip Hills, of which only a narrow strip to the created a contrasting topography of deeply-incised open landscape beyond the city to the west towards far south-west is within the area.” river valleys in some instances, and open, wide flood Saltford and Keynsham.