Welcome The site in the context of its surroundings (boundary highlighted in red) Welcome Site location Why here? Welcome to our exhibition of emerging The Elm Grove Farm site is located on The Elm Grove site is allocated for proposals for a mixed-use development the southern edge of Trowbridge. It is development by Wiltshire Council in on land at Elm Grove, Trowbridge. located north of the A363, either side their draft Housing Site Allocations of Drynham Lane, and is bordered Plan. The draft plan supports Coulston Estates Ltd is proposing to to the east by the mainline railway. development of the site to deliver circa build circa 250-280 new family and The northernmost portion of the site 250 new homes and a new school, as affordable homes and a two-form includes the parcel of land between well as enhanced public recreation entry primary school at the Elm Grove Drynham Road and the railway line. space. site. The proposed development also includes plans to deliver enlarged and The site represents an opportunity to enhanced public sports and recreation help meet local housing and primary facilities, replacing the underutilised education need in a sustainable and and poorly drained facilities on the well-connected location, bordered The proposals existing Elm Grove recreation ground. to the north and west by urban The plans also include informal open development, to the east a mainline include: space to act as a wildlife corridor and rail line and to the south by an A road. green buffer between existing and As such, it represents an infill location • Circa 250-280 new homes, 30% of proposed homes. for development, maintaining a green which will be affordable homes gap between Trowbridge and North Bradley. • A site for a new two-form entry primary school to be delivered by Wiltshire Council in response to a growing shortage of primary places in Community Planning Trowbridge feedback application • An enhanced and larger public sports and recreation space immediately Your views are important to us as Once we have had an opportunity adjacent to the existing Elm Grove we refine the masterplan for the to analyse all the feedback from this field, as well as landscaped wildlife site. We want to ensure that the consultation, and have concluded a corridors to provide a buffer between development responds as much as pre-application process with Wiltshire new and existing homes possible to local need and delivers a Council, the proposals will be refined positive contribution for the existing and submitted as an outline planning • A package of improvements to local community in terms of enhanced public application in early 2019. infrastructure and community open space, as well as improvements to facilities to be agreed with Wiltshire local infrastructure. The finalised outline application will Council include full details of ‘access’ and Please take the time to complete a ‘landscaping’ and will be accompanied feedback form once you have had an by a full suite of technical reports and opportunity to consider our proposals. illustrative masterplan. All parties to the planning process will have an opportunity to submit their comments directly to Wiltshire Council. Elm Grove, Trowbridge New homes, school and enhanced sports and recreation facilities Planning context The proposed site for a new school Wiltshire Council’s draft Local need for new school Housing Site Allocations Plan places Wiltshire Housing Site Allocations Plan establishes the The proposal for a new primary school is driven by locations for the delivery of new housing as set out in the Wiltshire Council, who have identified an acute need in Wiltshire Core Strategy (adopted January 2015). this part of Trowbridge to address current school places shortages as well as for planned future developments . The key purpose of the plan is to allocate new sites for housing to ensure the delivery of homes across the plan Wiltshire Council has an agreed policy for requesting period in order to maintain a sufficient supply of land infrastructure contributions and land for new schools to meet housing needs for the next five years in each of where the need for extra school and early years (nursery) Wiltshire’s three Housing Market Areas over the period to places arises directly from housing developments. 2026. The Council has a comprehensive and well-established The draft Wiltshire Housing Site Allocations Plan was system for forecasting the future pupil populations of agreed by Wiltshire Council at Cabinet and Full Council in primary and secondary schools in the County. Information June 2018 and has been submitted to the Secretary of State is gathered on: children registered with GPs in the County; for Housing, Communities and Local Government and will admission trends (taking into account parental preferences be subject to formal Examination in Spring 2019. for schools and demographic changes in population) and planned housing developments. The site at Elm Grove is allocated within the draft plan for a mixed-use development to deliver circa 250 new homes and a two-form entry primary school. The proposals being put forward by Coulston Estates Ltd respond directly to the Primary School provision in proposed allocation in the draft plan. Trowbridge At present there are some surplus places within existing primary schools in Trowbridge, although many schools are already full. The greatest pressure is on schools in east Trowbridge which have the highest proportion of young families in their catchment areas. There are several large housing developments planned for Trowbridge in the next 10 years. In total, there are around 4600 homes in consideration (more than half already have planning approval) which will significantly increase the population of the town. Based on Wiltshire Council’s method for predicting future demand for school’s places, these new houses alone will generate demand for 1400 new school places. To address this need, as well as other factors contributing to demand, three new primary schools will be needed in Trowbridge by 2023 to ensure sufficient capacity in the town. The new school planned by Wiltshire Council at Elm Grove will help to address this demand. Elm Grove, Trowbridge New homes, school and enhanced sports and recreation facilities Site appraisal Site constraints Site constraints plan We have undertaken a thorough appraisal of the site to ensure a sustainable development is delivered. This included identifying potential constraints to arrive at a masterplan that responds positively to the site and its surroundings. Transport Vehicular access to the residential part of the site will be taken from Drynham Road opposite the junction with Wiltshire Drive. A second access can be provided from the A363 to the south of the site. The proposed primary school will have its own access taken directly from Wiltshire Drive. The existing Dryhnam Road / Drynham Lane will be downgraded to a restricted by- way, ideal for pedestrians and cyclists, with access retained to the existing properties where required. The site is within easy walking distance of existing bus stops along Wiltshire Drive and Bradley Road. The town centre, including the railway station, are within a 25 minute walk of the site, whilst schools, retail and potential employment sites are much closer. Ecology A full range of in-season ecology surveys have been undertaken over the last two years. The bat survey data has been analysed and discussed with Wiltshire Council’s ecologists. This information has informed the provision of the ‘dark corridors’ and new planting proposals that are Landscape Noise illustrated in the masterplan. The proposals will protect existing wildlife The proposals include a substantial The noise assessment indicates and will enhance biodiversity. strategic landscaping scheme within that acoustic double glazing and which is integrated the green and blue acoustically treated ventilation will be site infrastructure. required to ensure that internal noise targets are achieved at the proposed Drainage The landscape buffers will create residential properties. Options to landscape dark corridors to enhance protect any outdoor living areas/ existing bat flight paths, and swales will gardens close to the boundaries of The site’s existing drainage regime be incorporated as part of the surface the site with the railway and the A363 has been assessed, revealing that the water attenuation proposals. include a scheme on acoustic barriers, existing watercourse crossing the orientation of properties to protect site is heavily constrained due to the The proposals will also provide natural gardens and noise buffer zones. Details condition and capacity of the channel surveillance over the existing Elm will be provided when the site layout and structures along the watercourse Grove Farm Recreation Field, which will plan has been finalised. and under the railway line. be extended to offer a more significant area of public open space at the heart The noise impact of the proposed two- We propose to make improvements to of the development, and will also form entry Primary School and sports this watercourse to reduce the flood engage more positively with the 1970s playing fields together with appropriate risk to the site and adjacent properties and 80s adjacent suburban housing parking and access arrangements will development. be assessed at both the nearest existing It is necessary to raise the ground levels and proposed residential properties as on a small part of the site to ensure the The recreation field will be enhanced to part of the detailed design to ensure development is above flood levels. To address existing drainage issues along that the noise effects meet local and ensure no loss of flood storage, other with new formal play space and the national standards . parts of the site will be lowered as provision of new play equipment and compensation. A system of Sustainable perimeter landscaping. Drainage features will be included on the site to naturally store and treat the rainwater runoff from the site.