Cheshire East Council Local Plan Strategy Examination Council’s Hearing Statement Matter 14.9: Local Plan Strategy Sites and Strategic Locations (Nantwich) Hearing Date: 24th October 2014 Cheshire East Council Hearing Statement: Matter 14.9 Matter 14.9 - NANTWICH Key Issue - Are the Strategic Sites and Strategic Locations fully justified, available, developable, sustainable, viable and deliverable within the Plan period? Questions General 1 Is the strategy for development at Nantwich appropriate, justified, effective, sustainable, viable, soundly based and consistent with the Plan’s strategy? 1.1 Nantwich is an historic market town, with its own distinct character; it has a large Conservation Area within which there are 125 entries on the national register of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest held by English Heritage (registered either individually or as a group), amounting to over 200 individual buildings. 1.2 Nantwich dates from the Roman era, when it was a centre for salt production and was said to be the second most important town in the county after Chester in mediaeval times. Its early growth and economic prosperity was assisted by the development of tanneries and mills and in the sixteenth century it became a centre for the clothing trade with glove makers and shoemakers. By the Nineteenth Century new workshops and factories were established in place of the earlier cottage rooms. By the second half of the nineteenth century however there was a marked decline in the town’s prosperity. The advent of the railway system did little to halt this decline and neither did the decision of the Grand Junction Railway Company to centre its locomotive works at Crewe. In the post-war years the town continued to grow beyond its historic core, which still remains its retail, commercial and residential centre retaining a great number of fine buildings of different styles and age linked together by an informal mediaeval pattern of fairly narrow streets and lanes. The town now has a population of around 18,000 people. 1.3 The historic market town of Nantwich is identified as a Key Service Centre (KSC) in the Local Plan Strategy (LPS) [SD001] and is expected to accommodate development of a scale, location and nature that recognises and reinforces the distinctive, historic nature of the town, whilst supporting its vitality and viability. Its position as a KSC is reflective of its position as a market town in the Sustainable Communities Strategy [BE049]. 1.4 The selection of sites has progressed from the consultation that took place on the draft Nantwich Town Strategy [BE088] during 2012. This included a number of different options (Diagram 2 in [BE088]) that the Stakeholder Panel (SP) had identified as potential housing sites. It was made clear that not all of those options would be required and that a number of the sites were not favoured by the SP (Diagram 3 in [BE088]); of those sites they included land in the Green Gap and those in or adjacent to the Acton Conservation Area; the Dorfold Hall Registered Park and Garden and a Scheduled Ancient Monument. In relation to the 1 Cheshire East Council Hearing Statement: Matter 14.9 sites that have been included in the LPS, the draft Nantwich Town Strategy Summary Report of Consultation Findings [BE097] shows that for site B (now CS21), 56% of respondents agreed that the site had future potential for housing development; for site I (now CS22), 26% of respondents agreed that the site had future potential for housing development; and site C (now CS23), 77% of respondents agreed that the site had future potential for mixed use development. This provided an initial indication of the community’s preference for development locations, for testing through the Local Plan process. All of this has now been tested through the LPS plan making process, Sustainability Appraisal and other elements. 1.5 Nantwich is expected to accommodate around 1,900 new homes and 3 hectares of employment land within the Plan period. A total of 1,250 of those new homes are identified on Strategic sites within the Plan, with 116 new homes having been completed between 1 April 2010 and 31 March 2013; 474 new homes on committed sites and a further 60 new homes to be identified within the Site Allocations and Development Policies Document of the Local Plan (SADPD). A total of two hectares of employment land is identified on Strategic sites within the LPS, with 0.11 hectares having been completed between 1 April 2010 and 31 March 2013; 0.07 hectares on committed sites and a further 0.82 hectares to be identified within the SADPD. 1.6 The three sites that have been included in the LPS provide for development in sustainable locations and ensure that there is a choice and variety of sites available for development. Site CS21 – Kingsley Fields will provide a mixed-use site, including up to 1,100 new homes. The site lies adjacent to the edge of the town centre, and relates well to the built form of the town. The site has the benefit of a resolution to grant outline planning permission for a mixed-use development including up to 1,100 new homes. Site CS22 Stapeley Water Gardens is phase 2 of the redevelopment of a brownfield site that has a resolution to grant outline planning approval for 171 new homes. Site CS23 is a brownfield site, in a sustainable location, that provides the opportunity to create a high quality, mixed use development immediately adjacent to the town centre, whilst regenerating brownfield land. CS21: Kingsley Fields 2 Is the proposal sustainable, deliverable and viable, has it properly addressed the impact on flood risk and heritage assets, and how will it help to deliver the Waterlode highway link? 2.1 The site is located to the north west of Nantwich town centre, immediately adjacent to the urban edge for Nantwich. It is bounded by the A51 to the north; the River Weaver to the east; playing fields and Nantwich Town football club to the south and Welshmans Lane to the west. The site provides the opportunity to create a sustainable urban extension, as a planned community that will be easily integrated within the town, through the delivery of up to 1,100 new homes, a mixed use local centre, up to 2 hectares of B1 employment land (business), the provision of an extension to the Nantwich Riverside Park and open space provision. The development of the site will also act as an enabler for the expansion of Reaseheath College which is both an important source of employment (it employs over 500 staff) and a nationally prestigious educational facility. 2 Cheshire East Council Hearing Statement: Matter 14.9 2.2 Resolution to grant Outline planning approval (Ref: 13/2471N) was given at Strategic Planning Board on 5 February 2014 to North West Nantwich Consortium, for residential development of up to 1,100 dwellings, up to 1.82ha of Class B1 Business Use, a potential Primary School, community facilities and local centre, allotments, recreational open space, landscaping, highways, access roads, cycleways, footways and drainage infrastructure. The planning application excludes the non-designated heritage asset of Henhull Hall Farm. 2.3 Detailed studies prepared to support the planning application include: masterplan; Design and Access Statement; noise survey; ecology reports; flood risk assessment; heritage assessment; highway reports; Travel Plan; tree survey; Statement of Community Involvement; constraints plan. 2.4 Sustainable: Kingsley Fields will create a sustainable urban extension; it will deliver not only new houses but other benefits for the town including an extension to the riverside park between Reaseheath College and the town centre that will be a great benefit to both the existing community and new residents. The existing riverside park is an extremely well used recreational facility, adjacent to the River Weaver, sustainably linking parts of the town and providing areas where residents can walk and cycle, along with larger areas of open space that can be used for various recreational activities. The extended riverside park will enable this well used recreational area to provide a sustainable link between the town centre and Reaseheath College, thereby opening up new areas of land, not previously accessible to members of the public. 2.5 The development of Kingsley Fields will also act as an enabler to Reaseheath College, who will invest the income from land sales to secure the future of the College through completing the campus redevelopment of specialist facilities and resources; this will include a specialist centre for horticulture and sustainable food production and a specialist learning difficulties facility. The College is a nationally prestigious educational facility which employs more than 500 staff and has invested £30 million in its site since 2006; it also makes a major contribution to the local economy. 2.6 The business park, within the development, is proposed to be managed by Reaseheath College where the principal objective will be to provide starter innovation space units in Class B1 for businesses linked to and spinning off from the research activities of the College. Again, this will be a benefit to the local area, creating new jobs and reinforcing the links with the College. 2.7 The site lies in a sustainable location, within walking distance of Nantwich Town Centre, which is less than 1km from the southern edge of the site. The town centre offers a wide range of essential facilities and means that occupiers of the development will not be reliant on the private car. The mix of residential and commercial (B1 business) uses together with a new local centre, community facilities and open space provision will minimise the need to travel.