Ashford Borough Council - Report of the Head of Development Management and Strategic Sites Planning Committee 14 February 2018 ___________________________________________________________________ Application Number 17/01170/AS Location Land at Chilmington Green, Ashford Road, Great Chart, Ashford, Kent Grid Reference 97953 /40353 Parish Council Great Chart with Singleton Ward Great Chart with Singleton North Application Layout, Access, Scale, Landscaping and Appearance Description of development at Chilmington Green for 346 residential dwellings, which comprises a mix of two bedroom apartments, two, three, four and five bedroom houses within Land Parcels B, C, J & K within Main AAP Phase 1. Applicant Hodson Developments Site Area 15.70 Hectares (a) 36/2R (b) Great Chart X (c) EA R, SWS R, KCC Shadoxhurst X (H&T) R, CMO PT Kingsnorth + X, KCC PP X, KCC BIO X, EHM (EP) X, ABC OSS R, PO(Drainage) R, ABC Culture R, AAG X Introduction 1. This Reserved Matters application is the first for the erection of dwellings at this important site, one of the Big 8 projects. As such it will set the tone for the development and is reported to the Planning Committee so that members can Ashford Borough Council - Report of the Head of Development Management and Strategic Sites Planning Committee 14 February 2018 ___________________________________________________________________ have the opportunity to debate design and layout issues such as compliance with the Quality Charter and adopted Design Code for the development. The proposal does not require determination by the Planning Committee under the Council’s Scheme of Delegation, however it has been agreed with the Portfolio Holder and Chairman that because of these considerations it is a sensitive application that warrants determination in this way. Should members be satisfied with the design approach taken then it is likely that future schemes will be determined under delegated powers, subject to the usual right of call-in by members. 2. Three separate further applications have also been made to discharge conditions relevant to the development of this part of the site. Reference is made in this report to those submissions for members information although a final determination will be made under delegated powers. Site and Surroundings 3. The Chilmington Green development site lies to the southwest of Ashford Town adjacent to the existing Singleton and Brisley Farm developments and to the east of the A28 and west of Long Length, and is one of two proposed Ashford Urban Extensions originally outlined in the adopted LDF Core Strategy 2008 (policy CS5). 4. It was subsequently the subject of an adopted Area Action Plan in 2013, a Quality Charter and a Design Code adopted as SPD in July 2016. An outline planning permission for the entire development was issued in January 2017 subject to an extensive s106 agreement. Chilmington Green will be designed along Garden Suburb lines, will have its own District Centre and a full range of community facilities and is intended to deliver significantly towards the boroughs Housing Target for 2011-2030 with anticipated completions in excess of 250 dwellings annually. 5. The outline planning application boundary is shown below as Figure 1 6. On 6 January 2017 outline planning permission was issued for up to 5,750 residential units, in a mix of sizes, types and tenures; up to 10,000 m² (gross external floor space) of Class Bl use; up to 9,000 m² (gross external floorspace) of Class Al to A5 uses; Education (including a secondary school of up to 8 ha and up to four primary schools of up to 2.1 ha each); Community Uses (class Dl) up to 7,000 m² (gross external floorspace); Leisure Uses (class D2) up to 6,000 m² (gross external floorspace); Provision of local recycling facilities; Provision of areas of formal and informal open space; Ashford Borough Council - Report of the Head of Development Management and Strategic Sites Planning Committee 14 February 2018 ___________________________________________________________________ Installation of appropriate utilities infrastructure as required to serve the development, including flood attenuation works, SUDS, water supply and wastewater infrastructure, gas supply, electricity supply (including substations), telecommunications infrastructure and renewable energy infrastructure (including CHP in the District Centre); Transport infrastructure, including provision of three accesses on to the A28, an access on to Coulter Road / Cuckoo Lane, other connections on to the local road network, and a network of internal roads, footpaths and cycle routes; New planting and landscaping, both within the Proposed Development and on its boundaries, and ecological enhancement works; and Associated groundworks where appearance, landscaping, layout and scale are reserved for future approval and where access is reserved for future approval with the exception of the three accesses on to the A28 and the access on to Coulter Road/ Cuckoo Lane. Ashford Borough Council - Report of the Head of Development Management and Strategic Sites Planning Committee 14 February 2018 ___________________________________________________________________ Figure 1: Chilmington Green Site Location Plan – outline permission Ashford Borough Council - Report of the Head of Development Management and Strategic Sites Planning Committee 14 February 2018 ___________________________________________________________________ 7. Since then a number of conditions of the Outline Planning Permission (OPP) have been discharged (see Planning History section), including in particular the AAP Phase 1 masterplanning condition (17) which was the subject of stakeholder workshops post outline permission, and which sets out the boundaries of proposed development parcels for this phase. Planning permission has also been granted for the construction of access roads down to the district centre and to serve the Brisley Farm part of the development. Permission has additionally been granted for several SUDS ponds and associated swales to serve Phase 1. All of these works have been or are in the course of being carried out, and accesses A, B (A28) and D (Coulter Road) have been fully constructed and are open to traffic. 8. This reserved matters scheme, which is the first residential phase for this site, comprises agreed land parcels B, C, J & K and some adjoining public open space. The site as originally submitted comprised 11.1 hectares of land and was for those development parcels plus intervening land (G2 on Figure 4 below). Following discussions the site area was increased to 13.68 hec to include more of the adjoining proposed landscaped and open space areas (G1 and G3) and exclude the already permitted Avenue site, and has very recently been increased again to include more land at Great Chart Ridge and around Colemans Kitchen Wood so that it now comprises 15.70 hectares. This was necessary as the OPP requires areas of advance planting for a main phase to be submitted at the same time as the first Reserved Matters for that phase. However, not all of the advance planting areas for this phase have been so submitted at this time. There will need to be a s96a application to amend condition 18 of the OPP for other areas of advance planting ( The Hamlet and the Entrance Park) to come forward later when other design issues for those areas have been settled. 9. The site is irregularly shaped and is located at the Northern edge of Chilmington Green (Figure 2 site as originally submitted and Figure 3 as revised and current). It is served by accesses A and B from the A28 and the approved and constructed roads called The Avenue and Access B Street (currently unnamed). The Northern edge of the site is generally bounded by the A28 Great Chart Bypass which continues south-west to form the western boundary of the OPP site. Further to the north west lies the historic village of Great Chart. Ashford Borough Council - Report of the Head of Development Management and Strategic Sites Planning Committee 14 February 2018 ___________________________________________________________________ Figure 2: original site boundary 10. The Eastern extent of the scheme adjoins Singleton’s built envelope with the redline boundary near to the street frontages of Pearmain Way and Ribston Way before turning southwest and wrapping around an adjoining field with substantial boundary vegetation. The land south of the red line boundary includes future development parcels also part of the AAP Phase 1 (Figure 5). The land is predominantly agricultural land. There are no existing buildings within the red line boundary and limited other vegetation. The national footpath the Greensand Way and an existing bridleway are to be retained. A number of existing trees and hedgerows are to be retained on site to become features of the development. Figure 4 below highlights the existing mature hedgerow identified which runs through the site and marks the bottom of the slope up to Singleton and the Great Chart Ridge. Ashford Borough Council - Report of the Head of Development Management and Strategic Sites Planning Committee 14 February 2018 ___________________________________________________________________ Figure 3: Amended site boundary Mature Hedgerow Figure 4: Open Space Parameter Plan Extract Ashford Borough Council - Report of the Head of Development Management and Strategic Sites Planning Committee 14 February 2018 ___________________________________________________________________ Figure 5: Parcels B, C, J & K & Accesses in relation to remainder