Proposed residential development Land at the former William Blythe works Manchester Road, Hapton Planning Statement on behalf of Gleeson Homes and Temple Fields 523 Ltd January 2016 Contents Page 1. Introduction 1 2. Application site and surrounding area 2 3. Development proposals 6 4. Planning policy 9 5. Planning appraisal 18 6. Summary and conclusion 36 Prepared by: Graham Love MRTPI Smith Love Planning Consultants Ltd Unit 5, Albert Edward House The Pavilions, Port Way Preston, PR2 2YB Tel. 07769 332697 www.smithlove.co.uk Land at the former William Blythe Chemicals site, Manchester Road, Hapton January 2016 Gleeson Homes and Temple Fields 523 Ltd 1 Introduction 1.1 This Planning Statement has been prepared on behalf of Gleeson Homes and Temple Fields 523 Ltd in support of their full planning application for residential redevelopment of the former William Blythe Chemical Works site at Manchester Road, Hapton, comprising 202 no. dwellings with associated access, public open space and landscaping. 1.2 The statement provides a description of the application site and the proposed development, together with a summary of its planning history, and appraises the planning merits of the scheme against the relevant up-to-date development plan, national planning policy framework and other material considerations. It demonstrates that the application site is a suitable and appropriate location for new housing, and that the proposed scheme will create a high quality sustainable development that will make a valuable contribution to meeting housing needs in Burnley for several years. It will provide a range of family homes, including a number of larger ‘aspirational’ detached properties, at locally affordable prices and will deliver significant social, economic and environmental benefits to the local community and wider economy. 1.3 The proposed development is fully compliant with the relevant policies of the development plan and national policy and guidance, and there is a compelling case for planning permission to be granted in accordance with the presumption in favour of sustainable development. It is also demonstrated that very special circumstances exist to justify inappropriate development on part of the application site located within the Green Belt. Supporting documents 1.4 This Planning Statement should be read in conjunction with the following plans, drawings and supporting documents. These were agreed in pre-application discussions with officers at Burnley Council as being necessary to ensure the planning application can be validated; Location plan Topographical survey plan Proposed site masterplan (site wide) Proposed residential site layout plan (black and white and colour) Proposed housetype elevation and floorplan drawings Street scene drawing Landscape and visual impact assessment Extended Phase 1 habitat survey and bat roost potential report Tree survey and assessment Geo-environmental appraisal and remediation strategy (including Coal Mining Report) Transport assessment and interim travel plan Flood risk assessment and drainage report Air quality assessment Socio-economic benefits report Smith Love Planning Consultants Ltd Page 1 Land at the former William Blythe Chemicals site, Manchester Road, Hapton January 2016 Gleeson Homes and Temple Fields 523 Ltd 2 Application site and surrounding area The site 2.1 The application site lies in a sustainable location on the northern edge of Hapton, approximately 4km west of Burnley and 2km south of Padiham. 2.2 It comprises an irregularly shaped area of land of approximately 15ha, and is the site of the former William Blythe Chemical Works which closed in 2008. It contains three distinct areas as described and shown on Figure 1 below; A) The developed footprint of the former chemical works buildings and manager’s house: This covers the southwest part of the site with a frontage onto Manchester Road and the canal. It is 5 ha in area and contains the level remains of concrete bases, building foundations, roads and hard standings, and is crossed by the culverted Shaw Brook; B) The former landfill facility associated with the chemical manufacturing process: This lies east of the former chemical works buildings and forms a 10m high ‘mounded’ landform covering an area of 5.5 ha. The landfill was a licensed industrial facility serving the works and is now closed and capped, and the site has been restored and landscaped; C) Undeveloped land: The remaining northern part of the site comprises approximately 4.6 ha of unused rough grassland and copse. It is crossed by Shaw Brook and contains the remains of a water treatment plant / settlement tank and a service road and secondary access. Figure 1: Site composition plan Smith Love Planning Consultants Ltd Page 2 Land at the former William Blythe Chemicals site, Manchester Road, Hapton January 2016 Gleeson Homes and Temple Fields 523 Ltd 2.3 The site of former chemical works buildings (Area A) will require remediation before it can be redeveloped for the proposed housing, but no further remediation is required on the former landfill and the undeveloped part of the site (Areas B and C). The overall site is not constrained by any ecological designations or areas of flood risk, and there are no infrastructure or ownership constraints. The eastern fringe is crossed by an overhead power line and the site contains two pylons, but these are sufficiently clear of the proposed housing development. 2.4 There are no public rights of way crossing the site although new connections will be provided to the Stone Moor public access land which adjoins the norther perimeter and the local network of public footpaths to the east and west, as well as the canal towpath. The remains of a local heritage asset (a WWII spigot mortar emplacement) are also located on the northern boundary of the proposed housing site and will be preserved in the scheme proposals. The adjacent Manchester Road canal bridge (no. 121) is also a designated heritage asset (Grade II listed). The surrounding area 2.5 The application site is bounded by Manchester Road on its western side, from which it is accessed, and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal (and M65 motorway beyond) along its southern boundary. Open countryside (Green Belt) lies to the north, east and west, with the recently redeveloped Burnley Bridge Business Park (former Hepworth works), further to the east. Figure 2: Site location plan 2.6 The site lies approximately 350m from the centre of Hapton and the railway station, and is easily accessed via Manchester Road which is lit and provided with footpaths, apart from crossing the canal bridge, which the proposed development will provide. Hapton offers a range of community services and facilities, including a primary school, shops, pubs, places of worship, recreation areas and a community centre, together with bus stops and the railway station. Smith Love Planning Consultants Ltd Page 3 Land at the former William Blythe Chemicals site, Manchester Road, Hapton January 2016 Gleeson Homes and Temple Fields 523 Ltd Relevant planning history 2.7 There are two relevant pieces of planning history, namely the approved Development Brief for the redevelopment of the site, and the planning permission (county matter) for the closure and restoration of the former landfill facility. a) Development Brief 2.8 The Development Brief for the redevelopment of the former William Blythe Chemical Works site was prepared in early 2011 in liaison with Burnley Council officers, and was formally endorsed by members of the Council’s Executive at its meeting on 26th July 2011. The illustrative Development Framework is shown below and identifies a number of development principles. Figure 3: Development Framework 2.9 The Development Brief establishes the following planning matters and development principles; i) The principle of redeveloping the site for residential use and no longer protecting it as an employment site; ii) The area of the site considered suitable for housing development (Area A on the Development Framework plan) and its principal development guidelines in respect of access, form, layout and density, indicating a potential yield of up to 280 no. dwellings; iii) The principle of a ‘land swap’ to develop land in the Green Belt within the site (shown as Area B on the Development Framework plan), in substitution for the area of sterilised brownfield land (Area C) within the settlement boundary for Hapton that cannot be developed due to the capping and closure engineering works associated with the former landfill, and on which all future built development is permanently prohibited; Smith Love Planning Consultants Ltd Page 4 Land at the former William Blythe Chemicals site, Manchester Road, Hapton January 2016 Gleeson Homes and Temple Fields 523 Ltd iv) The treatment and aftercare of the restored landfill facility and the area of undeveloped land within the site (Area D on the Development Framework plan), and the provision of controlled public access to the land for informal / countryside recreation. b) Planning permission 2.10 The Environment Agency issued a formal Closure Notice for the hazardous landfill facility in 2006, in parallel with the closure of the chemical works and the end of chemical manufacturing. A planning application (ref. 12/10/0552) was submitted to Lancashire County Council in August 2010 and approved subject to conditions on 23rd May 2011, for the remediation, closure engineering and barrier containment works of the licensed landfill facility, together with the re- profiling of the capped landform and its landscaped restoration (grassland and tree planting). 2.11 The landscaping scheme replicates the former planting on the north and south sloping flanks of the landform and leaves the capping layer as managed grassland free of tree roots. A surface water cut-off trench was also installed around the perimeter of the cap and drains to a balancing pond in the open grassland in the northern part of the site. The closure works were completed in spring 2012 and the sequence is shown in the photographs in Figure 4 below.