Land off Mill Lane, Monks Risborough 01 INTRODUCTION Introduction Gladman Developments Ltd has successfully invested in communities throughout the UK for over 20 years, developing high quality and sustainable residential, commercial and industrial schemes. A process of public consultation is being undertaken by Gladman Developments Ltd in order to present the emerging development proposal for land off Mill Lane, Monks Risborough to the local community. We are proposing a new residential development of up to 300 homes, together with new green infrastructure and a comprehensive drainage strategy. The purpose of this consultation process is to outline the details of the draft scheme and seek comments from the local community which will be considered before the outline planning application is submitted to Wycombe District Council. Site Description The site comprises 17.39ha of agricultural land and is located on the north western edge of Monks Risborough. Existing properties off Mill Lane and Kingsmead adjoin the site to the south east and south west. Mill Lane runs to the south of the site and a row of mature horse chestnut trees defines the site’s boundary with the lane. To the north, Askett Village Lane runs adjacent to the site’s boundary while to the east is situated the Princes Risborough to Aylesbury railway line. Two Public Footpaths transect the site, entering the site off Mill Lane and Crowbrook Road before crossing agricultural land to the west of the site. Housing Need Every Council is required by the Government to boost significantly the supply of housing and to make planning decisions in the light of a presumption in favour of sustainable development. Wycombe District Council is required to provide enough housing land to meet its full future housing needs. Approval of this development will help towards meeting the housing need within the local authority area. Why is the site suitable for development? The site is sustainably located with easy access to a wide range of existing community amenities and the local public transport network. It is a logical housing site with existing development to the east, south east and south west. Two existing roads bound the site The Application to the north and south. Gladman Developments Ltd intends to submit an outline planning application to Wycombe District Council in Autumn 2017. This would establish the principle of development. Development Proposals • A residential development to include up to 300 new Great Kimble homes (including up to 40% Affordable) of varying sizes, types and tenures. • Green Infrastructure, comprising: new publicly accessible greenspace, equipped play area, recreational Longwick Station paths, attenuation areas, tree and shrub planting. Monks Risborough • Drainage Strategy. Site Boundary Public Footpaths Existing Settlement Railway Primary Roads Woodland Princes Risborough Station Secondary Roads Land off Mill Lane, Monks Risborough 02 HISTORIC CONTEXT Historic Maps The historic maps illustrate the site in the context of the growth of the surrounding settlement over the past 120 years. The 1897-98 map shows Askett and Monks Risborough as small settlements to the east of the site with the areas of settlement generally relating to those now included in the Askett and Monks Risborough Conservation Areas. The framework of main routes including Mill Lane and Askett Village Lane to the south and north of the site can also be seen on the 1897-98 map as well as the railway line to the east of the site. There is relatively little development between 1897 and 1922, though a property off Mill Lane, ‘The Gables’, can be seen to the south west of the site. By 1956-59 extensive expansion has occurred around Monks Risborough including residential development stretching towards Askett along Upper Icknield Way and Crowbrook Road and towards Princes Risborough along Aylesbury Road. Further residential development is also shown along Mill Lane with a cul-de-sac development at Kingsmead adjoining the site to the south west. The 1977-79 map shows a large area of residential development situated between Mill Lane and Longwick Road to the east of the railway, two properties off Mill Lane which adjoin the site to the south east can also be seen on this map. Relatively little development has occurred in the local context since the late 1970s. c1897-98 c1922-26 c1956-59 c1977-79 c2002 Present Land off Mill Lane, Monks Risborough 03 EXISTING CHARACTER Landscape Character The site comprises agricultural land and adjoins the existing settlement. Site Boundary The site is not subject to any local or national designations such as National Area of Outstanding Natural Park or Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The Chiltern AONB Beauty (AONB) with its characteristic rising landform is located to the east of the site. National Landscape Character Areas NCA Boundary The site lies within the National Character Area (NCA) 108 ‘Upper Thames 108 NCA 108: Upper Thames Clay Vales Clay Vales’ as published by Natural England. The key characteristics of this 110 NCA 110: NCA include: Chilterns Wycombe District Landscape • Woodland cover is low … but hedges, hedgerow trees and field trees Character Areas 108 are frequent. Wycombe District Landscape Character • Fields are regular and hedged. Assessment (October 2011) • Brick and tile from local clays, timber and thatch are traditional 8.13 Longwick Vale building materials across the area. 10.6 Risborough Chalk Foothills 11.3 The Upper Thames Clay Vales NCA comprises two sub-areas: ‘the Wiltshire, Coombe Hill and Whiteleaf Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Vales’ and ‘the Vales of White Horse and Chalk Escarpment 14.1 Aylesbury’, of which the site falls into the latter. The description of the Great Hampden Wooded Vales of White Horse and Aylesbury includes: Plateau 110 • A geometric enclosure of farms set among large hedged fields with regularly spaced hedgerow trees. Around villages the fields are generally smaller and more irregular. • The Chalk scarp of the Chilterns ... is prominent in many views from the Vales to the south. • A line of settlements developed along the natural springlines at the base of the Chilterns Chalk scarp. The site falls within Landscape Character Area ‘Longwick Vale’ of The Wycombe District Landscape Character Assessment (2011). The key characteristics include: • Gently undulating low lying topography. • Large to medium scale open and expansive arable fields, with a mosaic of smaller scale paddock and pasture fields associated with farmsteads. • A low density of dispersed settlement pattern. • Parliamentary field enclosures, generating a strong geometric landscape pattern. A strongly uniform and simple landscape character. • Relatively straight rural roads and smaller winding lanes. • Sense of tranquillity and calm, despite accessibility of public roads (A4129) and railway. Settlement Character The majority of the settlement in close proximity to the site was established in the mid twentieth century. There is a mix of built forms and styles evident throughout the surrounding area. Predominantly houses are constructed from brick with clay roof tiles. Other features of local vernacular include Examples of settlement character within the local context weather boards, render, hanging tiles and gabled dormers. Land off Mill Lane, Monks Risborough 04 VISUAL CONTEXT Site and Setting The site is situated on the north western edge of Monks Risborough, to the west of the Princes Risborough to Aylesbury railway. Mill Lane and Askett Village Lane lie adjacent to the south and north of the site with two existing properties off Mill Lane adjoining Askett Village Lane the site to the south east. To the south west residential development off Kingsmead adjoins the site with the remainder of the western boundary adjoining agricultural land. Further existing dwellings are situated to the east of the site beyond the railway line. 2 The site itself comprises 17.39ha of agricultural land divided into three fields. An agricultural building is situated within the central field of the site and two Public Rights Lower Icknield Way of Way transect the site. A number of trees and hedgerows are located along the site’s Askett boundaries and field boundaries within the site including a row of protected horse chestnut trees situated along Mill Lane, a roadside hedgerow along Askett Village Lane Kingsmead Railway and tree planting which bounds the railway line. Mill Lane 1 Views towards the site from the north, south and west are constrained by a combination Crowbrook Road of intervening vegetation and relatively flat topography which results in a lack of higher 3 vantage points. Existing residential development and vegetation adjacent to the railway line help restrict views from the east. Though, further east rising land within the Chilterns AONB allows for some views of the site, these will however, be distant and seen in Monks the context of existing settlement at Princes Risborough and Monks Risborough. Views Risborough from within the AONB have been considered within the proposals. Aerial photograph with site boundary and viewpoint locations Monks Risborough Chilterns AONB Train Station Horse Chestnut Trees Properties off Mill Lane Site along Mill Lane 1 PHOTO VIEWPOINT 1: View south east from Public Footpath within site. Farm Track within Site Askett Village Lane Agricultural Building within Site Site 2 PHOTO VIEWPOINT 2: View south from Askett Village Lane. Garden of Property off Mill Lane Horse Chestnut Trees along Mill Lane Properties off Monks Risborough Kingsmead Train Station Site 3 PHOTO VIEWPOINT 3: View south west from Monks Risborough Train Station. Land off Mill Lane, Monks Risborough 05 FACILITIES What are the local facilities? The site is sustainably located with easy access to existing community amenities and the public transport network. Amenities include a nursery, primary school, medical centre and local shops as well as Monks Risborough Railway Station which is located adjacent to the site’s eastern boundary. There is a regular bus service between Aylesbury and High Wycombe with bus stops located adjacent to the site at Monks Risborough Railway Station.