PLANNING, DESIGN & ACCESS STATEMENT January 2014 Redevelopment of sawmill to form new Brewery and Winery facility Land at Charmans Farm, Beggars Lane, Westerham, TN16 1QP Charmans Farm PLANNING, DESIGN AND ACCESS STATEMENT 1.INTRODUCTION Contents Introduction This Planning, Design and Access Statement is prepared in support of a proposal to reuse previously 1. Introduction developed land forming part of the Squerryes Estate, at Charmans Farm, New Beggars Lane, Westerham. The proposal seeks to redevelop the existing sawmill building and its curtilage at Charmans Farm to provide 2. Squerryes Estate facilities to accommodate local businesses, namely Westerham Brewery and Squerryes Estate’s wine enterprise. 3. Site Description Westerham Brewery has been established for 10 years at Grange Farm in Crockham Hill. Relocating to Charmans Farm will reaffirm long-term links with Westerham, a town with a history of brewing, providing a 4. Planning History bespoke facility which would be suitable for modern brewing in a sustainable new building. Westerham Brewery has been working closely with Squerryes Estate to support the move to Charmans Farm, subject to 5. Pre-application work planning permission. 6. Design - Use Squerryes planted their Estate vineyards in 2006 and has been supplying Chapel Down Winery with fruit since 2008. Wine made by Chapel Down from Squerryes fruit has already been recognised with an 7. Design - Layout international award. In 2010 Squerryes processed the first Estate reserve to be sold under the Squerryes label near Eastbourne. This will be released later this year. Squerryes hopes that Westerham will be 8. Design - Amount & Scale established as a ‘grand cru’ area within the South East of England for the production of sparkling wine, and the Estate has planted over 40 acres of vineyards. The new facility at Charmans Farm will support wine 9. Design - Appearance production locally. The Estate plans to take wine production a stage further by establishing storage, labelling, packaging and marketing facilities at Charmans Farm. 10. Access Vines have been ordered by Squerryes to plant a further vineyard in May 2014 on an outcrop of chalk 11. Parking immediately adjacent to Charmans Farm. 12. Environment Westerham Brewery has selected Charmans Farm as the preferred site for a permanent new facility. The complimentary nature of the uses makes sharing a premises highly beneficial in business terms, helping two 13. Planning Policy Appraisal local businesses to stay local, thus contributing to the local economy. 14. Very Special Circumstances The proposal for the site to be mixed use will allow the brewery and winery to be flexible with space requirements, depending on fluctuating need for processing and storage. 15. Summary This statement provides information on the background to the site, planning policy at a national, and local 16. Appendix I level and an assessment and justification for the proposal. The statement has been prepared in full accordance with Government guidance, including DCLG Guidance on information requirements and validation for planning applications. Charmans Farm 2 PLANNING, DESIGN AND ACCESS STATEMENT 2. SQUERRYES ESTATE Squerryes Vineyards. The M25 Motoway. The red star marks the application site. The town of Westerham. The map on the left shows the land owned by the Squerryes Estate. The key above shows the owership status of the land. It is noteworthy that Westerham is centrally located in the heart of the Squerryes Estate. Charmans Farm 3 PLANNING, DESIGN AND ACCESS STATEMENT 3. SITE DESCRIPTION Site Description The application site lies 200m south of the M25 motorway. A shrub and tree screen to the north provides a natural buffer between the site and the M25. The town of Westerham lies approximately 0.5km to the west, and the village of Brasted is approximately 1.5km east. To the south there are fields, a golf course and scattered development. To the north of the site a line of trees marks the former Westerham Valley line railway. This line ran from Dunton Green to Westerham via Brasted, with service ending in 1961. A small watercourse runs down the east of the site, entering from the north east corner and exiting from the south east. There is a pond to the north of the site which is often overgrown with vegetation. The site is accessed from New Beggars Lane. The same access also serves the buildings to the east of the site, which consist of offices within a converted barn, an Oast house, and the Grade ll listed Charmans Farmhouse. Just at the entrance to the site off Beggars Lane is a Public Footpath. The footpath runs from this point north over a bridge over the M25 to Force Green. Approximately 1.2km from the site there are bus stops along Westerham Road, served by the 315 bus. The 315 bus runs Monday-Friday, connecting the site with Westerham, Sevenoaks and Tunbridge Wells. M25 Charmans Farm 4 PLANNING, DESIGN AND ACCESS STATEMENT 3. SITE DESCRIPTION M25 Former Railway Line Pond/watercourse Barn converted Public Footpath Storage/Parking Area to offices Ancillary Buildings Application Site Charmans Farmhouse Beggars Lane Oast House Sawmill Building Aerial photograph 2003 Charmans Farm 5 PLANNING, DESIGN AND ACCESS STATEMENT 3. SITE DESCRIPTION The application site is currently vacant, with a low level of informal use. The topography of the site is largely flat, except for bunding along the north of the site. The main existing structure is a redundant Sawmill building in the 2 3 Hard standing being used south east of the site. The Sawmill has a floor area of 612m (including outbuildings) and a volume of 2,964m . The for storage Sawmill is externally clad in a variety of materials, including corrugated metal sheeting, brick and timber. Bunding A track from Beggars Lane runs along the north of the site to access the area of extensive but unkempt hard stand- ing, currently put to a variety of informal uses, including storage and coach and car parking. The photographs on this page however show how the area of hardstanding was used for timber storage in connection with the sawmill use, an activity that was carried out on the application site until about five years ago. There are also extant planning permissions for three new structures, which fall within the application site boundary. The combined floor area of the unimplemented planning permissions is 312m2, and the combined volume is 1,250m3. If implemented, the site could contain structures with a total floor area of 924m2 (and more if an existing portakabin is included in the calculations). Adjoining the site are additional buildings which are part of the Squerryes Estate ownership. The buildings are ac- cessed from Beggars Lane, using the track along the northern boundary of the site. They consist of a converted Oast House, grade ll listed Chamans Farmhouse, and offices within a converted barn. The offices adjoin the plan- ning application site and are currently subject to a Lawful Development Certificate application for use as a Farm Shop (Class A1). Sawmill curtilage being used for storage Former Sawmill including extensions, showing the variety of Chamans Farm buildings: B1 offices on the right, Charmans materials which have been used as cladding Farmhouse in the background Charmans Farm 6 PLANNING, DESIGN AND ACCESS STATEMENT 4. PLANNING HISTORY Planning History A number of planning applications were submitted in 1997, including for retrospective works/ variations of conditions. Collectively they sought authorisation for use of an area to the north of the original sawyard site for staff car parking; retention of hard standing throughout the open The Planning History relating to this site dates back to 1985. Since then there have storage areas of the site; and use of land to the south of the original access drive for timber been numerous planning applications, Enforcement Notices and a planning appeal. storage. The Local Authority refused all of these applications. The effect is a complex layer of inter-related applications, which have collectively led to the evolution of the buildings on site and established the extent of the lawful use of the A number of Enforcement Notices were subsequently served. A planning appeal followed and site as a sawmill. The position is summarised in the notes below, and (sceptically) on the Inspector granted planning permission for use of the northern area of the site as a car park page 9. and creation of a hard standing area throughout the open storage areas of the site. The Inspector also quashed the Enforcement Notice seeking the cessation of timber storage on land Planning History of the application site to the south of the original access drive. Application SE/85/1278 granted planning permission for change of use and alteration of Planning History of Charmans Farm buildings a dutch barn for sawmill use. This was approved as an alternative to the extension of the barn adjoining the current site combined with new buildings, approved under Planning permission was initially granted in 1985 (SE/85/23) for the change of use and SE/85/23 (detailed opposite), however no planning condition was imposed preventing extension of the barn which adjoins the current application site, as a sawmill with ancillary implementation of the original permission. storage and offices; construction of two buildings and use of land to the north of the original access drive, and to the west of the barn for ancillary purposes. In 1991, planning permission was granted to extend the site area of the timber yard and to extend the sawmill. A planning condition prevented the use of land near the southern It appears that this consent was partially implemented, via the use of the barn, although neither boundary for timber storage purposes, and limited the height of timber storage the extension to the barn, nor the two new buildings were subsequently constructed.