EAST LOTHIAN COUNCIL LOCAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN MAIN ISSUES REPORT CONSULTATION REPRESENTATION ON BEHALF OF MANSELL HOMES LAND AT ADNISTON FARM, MACMERRY NORTH (PREFERRED SITE - PREF–T8 - SITE REFERENCE- PM/TT/HSG053) TMS PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT SERVICES LTD "Balclune", 32 Clune Road, Gowkhall, Fife, KY12 9NZ Tel: (01383) 853066 Mob: E-mail: [email protected] PURPOSE OF REPORT This report has been prepared on behalf of Mansell Homes, a Balfour Beatty company. The report seeks to address relevant issues arising in the MIR related to the preferred site at Macmerry North (PREF – T8 site ref PM/TT/HSG053) and to support this allocation as an appropriate location for new residential development within the Tranent Cluster in order to meet relevant SESplan and emerging Local Development Plan housing requirements. 1.0 EAST LOTHIAN LOCAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN DEVELOPMENT ISSUES AND STRATEGY 1.1 In order to comply with the requirements set out in NPF3, Scottish Planning Policy, and SESplan it is essential that the East Lothian Local Development Plan (LDP) provides for the delivery of sustainable development in accessible locations. Key to the delivery of the LDP development strategy will be promoting a range of new housing development throughout the area with the concentration of new development in the most accessible parts of the district. The preferred approach set out in the Main Issues Report (MIR), that related to the Compact Growth Strategy Option, appears a reasoned response to the identified delivery needs and on this basis is fully supported. In effect, the majority of new development will be focussed on land in/around the main settlements within the west of the SESplan East Lothian Strategic Development Area (focussed on the A1 and East Coast Main Line), that closest to the origin of demand. 1.2 Blindwells is a key component of the emerging preferred strategy (as it has been over an extended period) and can only be relied on, no matter the scale of development supported at this location through the LDP process, for a modest percentage of the new house completions required by SESplan in the LDP area during the plan period. The SESplan housing requirement for East Lothian equate with the need to identify land capable of delivering 10,050 homes in the period up to 2024, with an interim requirement of land capable of delivering 6,250 homes up to 2019 and thereafter, the residual requirement of 3800 units. A five year effective housing land supply is also to be maintained at all times. 1.3 The MIR identifies a range of potential delivery constraints including infrastructure and underlying demand (e.g. requiring a higher level of completions than ever recorded in the district). No matter, to comply with SESplan the set targets have to be met and sufficient effective land allocated to address the requirements. 1.4 The MIR identifies that Trunk road and local road network capacity as already an acute problem, particularly in the west of East Lothian. Existing constraints have been highlighted on the A1(T), in particular at Old Craighall Junction and generally at all interchanges west of the Gladsmuir Interchange. Transport Scotland is of the view that these capacity constraints alone will constrain any further development from being delivered in the area until solutions are found and are committed to be put in place. Transport Scotland is currently conducting a regional study to establish these solutions. However, funding and delivery mechanisms need to be identified and it is expected that developer contributions will have a significant role to play. It is anticipated that the findings of the regional study and others will inform the LDP on trunk road and local road network interventions and the need for interventions/developer contributions. 1.5 Education capacity is also a significant issue impacting on a number of settlements with solutions, in each case, requiring to be developer led. 1.6 The MIR confirms that an important consideration relevant to the delivery of the spatial strategy will be the availability of resources/infrastructure and the extent to which there is a willingness and clear ability to make development happen on a site (or part(s) of a site) within the required timeframe. These issues will apply when selecting new sites intended to form part of any spatial strategy going forward in order to ensure that the selected strategy can deliver the SDP’s development requirements for East Lothian in the most appropriate locations. The MIR specifically requires, in accordance with SPP, that “Parties promoting potential development sites must prove the effectiveness of their sites to the Council’s satisfaction before any site may be included in the Proposed LDP”, e.g. demonstrate deliverability. 2.0 THE TRANENT CLUSTER (Including Macmerry) 2.1 The Tranent Cluster is centred around Tranent, the second largest town in East Lothian with a population of circa 11,565 persons. The defined area includes Tranent in the north and a range of smaller settlements and villages including Ormiston, Macmerry, Elphinstone, and Pencaitland, among others. Tranent contains a range of commercial, educational and leisure facilities commensurate with its scale/function. The Tranent Cluster lies within the area covered by the preferred MIR spatial strategy (as per SESplan), and is readily accessed from the main A1(T). Macmerry is also a very accessible settlement on the A1(T) corridor containing a Primary School, shop, bowling green, public open space, a community hall and the largest concentration of employment uses in the Tranent Cluster. It is readily accessed from the A1(T) from the Gladsmuir junction to the east and through Tranent from the Bankton Junction. Public transport services are readily available. The preferred sites in the Tranent Cluster going forward, as presently identified in the MIR, propose 1,350 additional homes and 24 hectares of additional employment land. 2.2 A number of local issues related to Tranent Cluster are identified in the MIR. These include: Education capacity; A1(T) junction capacity; and Air quality in High Street, Tranent (and the need to improve this and/or ensure new development does not exacerbate this). Education capacity 2.3 Ross High, Tranent presently has additional accommodation committed to provide further capacity related to current housing commitments. There is potential for a further expansion of this school’s capacity, albeit while the full scope of this remains to be determined, the level of new allocations currently proposed within the MIR, circa 1,350 units, would appear an acceptable scale of additional development to East Lothian Council. With respect to the non-denominational primary schools in the town, Windygoul Primary has significant capacity issues with Sanderson’s Wynd Primary School, along with Macmerry Primary School in neighbouring Macmerry, having the most potential for provision of additional capacity. Elsewhere in the Ross High catchment area (the Tranent Cluster), available primary school capacity and expansion potential is considered limited. 2.4 No matter the favoured approach for new residential development within the Tranent Cluster, additional primary and secondary education capacity will require to be provided through a carefully planned and deliverable development strategy. As outlined in the MIR and following recent discussions with East Lothian Council’s Education Service, it is clear that Macmerry Primary School could be expanded to meet the indicative development level of circa 200 units being proposed for the subject site at Adniston Farm, Macmerry. The expansion would be delivered as part of the related residential development. A1(T) junction capacity 2.5 It is noted that each of the A1(T) junctions to the west of the Gladsmuir Junction are considered to have some potential capacity constraints. The MIR identifies the need to look comprehensively at traffic issues including consideration of impacts on the local road network and on the A1(T) and the relevant junctions. Additional development in Macmerry has the benefit of good access to 2 separate A1(T) junctions, with access to the Gladsmuir Junction being an attractive option from much, if not all, of the village in light of the ability to avoid central Tranent and the traffic lights and related delays. Development in Macmerry is likely therefore to have very limited impact on the pressurised Bankton Junction. Air quality in High Street, Tranent 2.7 Air quality in High Street, Tranent (a designated Air Quality Management Area) is a long standing issue with no easy fix. Removing traffic from High Street, or at the very least, not increasing traffic movements from new development will be key. The option for a Tranent By-pass is looked at in the MIR Transport Appraisal but this is not considered to be a fundable/deliverable option and therefore cannot be seen as a potential solution. 2.8 It is understood that a development option to the east of Tranent is presently being promoted, this providing an eastern and southern By-pass of the town centre thereby facilitating additional traffic movements in the town/to the A1(T) corridor without additional impacts on the High Street. Whether or not this is a preferred option going forward, development in Macmerry will result in more dispersed traffic movements than development of a similar scale in Tranent, and with the accessibility of Macmerry to the A1(T) Gladsmuir Junction, any potential impacts on Air quality in Tranent High Street arsing from the development in Macmerry is likely to be limited. 3.0 FUTURE DEVELOPMENT IN MACMERRY 3.1 The MIR preferred site at Adniston Farm, Macmerry (PREF T8) relates to land directly adjacent to and forming a logical extension to the village. The main part of the site is being promoted by Mansell Homes (Refer Plan 1 – Location Plan) with the remainder not being actively promoted by the present landowner.