COMMITTEE DATE: 25/03/2010
Application Reference: / 09/0740WARD: / Stanley
DATE REGISTERED: / 03/06/09
LOCAL PLAN ALLOCATION: / Countryside Area
APPLICATION TYPE: / Outline Planning Permission
APPLICANT: / KENSINGTON DEVELOPMENTS LTD
PROPOSAL: / Erection of residential development comprising up to 584 dwellings (2 and 3 storey apartments and houses), with associated parking, village green including water features and shop and formation of vehicular access to Progress Way
LOCATION: / LAND AT MOSS HOUSE ROAD, MARTON MOSS, BLACKPOOL
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BACKGROUND
Kensington Developments Ltd has been purchasing land within the application site for some time now and in March 2008 the company unveiled its plans for the site at a public exhibition and invited comments on the proposals. This public exhibition was without prior consultation with the Council. The original outline planning application then followed this consultation exercise and was submitted in July 2008 (08/0681 refers). An appeal against the non determination of that application was submitted but was later withdrawn in August 2009. Kensington Developments submitted this present outline application after the appeal against the non determination of the original application was lodged. The application is for a lesser number of properties than the original outline application which was for up to 640 dwellings (up to 570 dwellings when originally submitted but amended to 584 in September 2009). The Committee resolved that it would have refused the original outline application had the appeal against non determination not been lodged.
When the previous application was appealed the key issues identified by the Secretary of State were considered to be -
· the extent to which the proposed development would be in accordance with the development plan for the area;
· the extent to which the proposed development would be consistent with Government policies in Planning Policy Statement 1: Delivering Sustainable Developments, and accompanying guidance The Planning System: General Principles with particular regard to whether the design principles adopted in relation to the site and its wider context, including the layout, scale, open space, visual appearance and landscaping, will preserve or enhance the character and appearance of the area, having regard to the advice in paragraphs 33 to 39 of PPS1;
· the extent to which the proposed development is consistent with Government planning for housing policy objectives in Planning Policy Statement 3 (PPS3) Housing, with particular regard towards delivering:
i) high quality housing that is well-designed and built to a high standard;
ii) a mix of housing, both market and affordable, particularly in terms of tenure and price, to support a wide variety of households in all areas, both urban and rural;
iii) a sufficient quantity of housing taking into account need and demand and seeking to improve choice;
iv) housing developments in suitable locations, which offer a good range of community facilities and with good access to jobs, key services and infrastructure;
v) a flexible, responsive supply of land – managed in a way that makes efficient and effective use of land, including re-use of previously-developed land, where appropriate;
· the extent to which the proposed development is consistent with the advice in Planning Policy Guidance note 13: Transport, in particular on the need to locate development in a way which helps to promote more sustainable transport choices; promote accessibility to jobs, shopping, leisure facilities and services by public transport, walking and cycling; reduce the need to travel, especially by car and whether the proposal complies with local car parking standards and the advice in paragraphs 52 to 56 of PPG13;
· whether any planning permission granted should be accompanied by any planning obligations under Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and, if so, whether the proposed terms of such obligations are acceptable;
· whether any permission should be subject to any conditions and, if so, the form these should take
On 16 September 2009 the Government Office for the North West (GONW) issued a direction to this Council prohibiting it from granting planning permission for the proposed development without special authorisation. In essence this means that if this Council is minded to approve the planning application it must first refer the application to GONW for it to decide whether the Secretary of State wishes to intervene and determine the application or whether it will leave it to this Council to determine the application.
The application has been the subject of lengthy negotiations with the applicant company particularly over the issues relating to the proposed Section 106 Agreement.
SITE DESCRIPTION
This application relates to 16.7 hectares of land at the southern end of the borough. The site is part of the Marton Moss Countryside Area as shown on the Proposals Map to the Blackpool Local Plan 2001-2016 and defined in saved Policy NE2 of the Plan. In essence the site is bounded by Progress Way (A5230) to the south, properties fronting Sovereign Gate and Common Edge Road (B5261) to the west, properties fronting Midgeland Road and Florence Street to the east and properties fronting Kincardine Avenue, Kildonan Avenue, Bennetts Lane and properties fronting the southern side of Bennetts Lane to the north. However within this broad area the application site excludes Moss House Road and a number of properties either side of Moss House Road, an area of woodland to the north of 17 to 23 Moss House Road, Laundry Road North and 2 properties on its eastern side (West View and Sunnyside) and one property on the eastern side of Dockypool Lane at its northern end (Rose Villa).
To the south of Progress Way is the South Shore Tennis Club, properties fronting Laundry Road South, open land and Blowing Sands, a Grade II Listed Building. On the western side of Common Edge Road to the north of its junction with Progress Way is Our Lady of The Assumption Primary School, the associated church and residential properties. The Local Centre at the junction of Common Edge Road and Highfield Road is some 1.6 km to the north. On the western side of Midgeland Road to the north of its junction with Progress Way are residential properties.
The Booths store on Highfield Road is some 2km from the centre of the application site, with Highfield Humanities College being a similar distance away. There is a doctor's practice on Common Edge Road approximately 1 km away(Outline planning permission was granted for a larger combined practice on part of the Booths car park and this proposal may now progress). Squires Gate Industrial Estate, Sycamore Trading Estate, Blackpool Business Park and Blackpool Retail Park are some 1.3 km to the west of the application site. There are existing bus services running down Common Edge Road (no 14) and Midgeland Road (no10). The former runs from Fleetwood to St Annes via Blackpool Town Centre with a frequency of every 10 minutes during the day. The latter runs to and from the town centre with a loop around Midgeland Road, School Road and Common Edge Road and is an hourly service. The application site is approximately 5 km to the south east of Blackpool Town Centre.
The site is roughly level although along its western boundary it is lower than the properties in Sovereign Gate and those along Common Edge Road. The site comprises existing houses and their gardens (approx 2.1 hectares of the site) plus 2 areas of mown grassland (approx1.5 hectares of the site), disused horticultural land (approx 5 hectares of the site), productive horticultural land (approx 0.2 hectares of the site), grazing land (approx 4.5 hectares of the site), stables, sand paddocks (approx 0.45 hectares of the site and small copses of trees (approx 2.3 hectares of the site).The site is dissected by a number of watercourses and hedgerows(approx 1.0 hectares of the site). The site is at low risk of flooding on the basis of the Environment Agency's maps. There is some evidence of archaeological remains on part of the site and there may be the potential for some of the site to be contaminated by the previous horticultural activities.
The Committee will have visited the site on 25 March 2010.
SUMMARY OF PROPOSAL AND SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION
This is an outline application for the erection of up to 584 dwellings (a mix of 2 and 3 storey dwellings are proposed) a shop with a floor area of 170 sq m, a village green and other open space with only means of access to be determined at this stage.
The key changes to the proposal compared to the first outline application are as follows -
· the reduction in the number of dwellings (from up to 640 down to up to 584)
· the change in the mix of proposed dwellings
· the omission of water features on the site frontage
· the retention of areas of planting/trees
· the retention of Dockypool Lane
· the omission of an area of woodland to the rear of 17-23 Moss House Road
In accordance with Circular 01/2006 an indicative layout has been provided together with indicative elevations of the proposed dwellings. The application is accompanied by the following documents-
· Environmental Statement
· Transport Assessment
· Design and Access Statement
· Planning Statement
· Public Consultation statement (this relates to the original outline application ref 08/0681)
· Air Quality Assessment
· Sustainability Appraisal
The access would be located approximately mid way along the Progress Way frontage of the site and would comprise a new signal controlled junction incorporating dedicated left and right turning lanes into and out of the site (the dual carriageway would be maintained). The indicative site layout shows areas of linear open space either side of the access road which would then split in easterly and westerly directions to form a loop road with development fronting the loop road and roads off the loop road. In addition there would be some infill development along Moss House Road between the existing houses that would remain. Development fronting Progress Way would vary in its set back distance from some 20m to 80m with the majority being set back some 50m. The development would comprise 2 and 3 storey dwellings and apartments, with the latter being dispersed within the site. There would be pedestrian/cycle links to Bennetts Lane, Dockypool Lane and Florence Street, as well as onto Common Edge Road and Midgeland Road via Moss House Road. The 'village green' would be set centrally within the site as would the 'village shop'. There would be another area of open space to provide a small park and play area towards the north west corner of the site.
The proposal would comprise 87 two bed apartments (15% of the total number of dwellings), 64 semi-detached dwellings (11%), 92 three and four bedroom detached houses (16%) and 341 two, three, and four bedroom terraced/mews properties (58%). On this basis the proposed density would equate to 35 dwellings per hectare.
In terms of the supporting documentation a summary of the issues raised is presented below
Planning Statement - this document sets the scene by describing the location and characteristics of the site, its planning history, the proposed development and summarises the position with regard to flood risk and ground conditions. It then goes on to consider the National and Regional planning policy and the Development Plan (these matters are considered in more detail later in this report). It also refers to the documents which will inform the emerging policy context as part of the Local Development Framework, namely the Fylde Coast Strategic Housing Market Assessment (April 2008), the Blackpool Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (May 2008) and the Blackpool Strategic Flood Risk Assessment (June 2008). It then goes on to consider the principle of the development, housing land supply, the form of the proposed development and briefly touches on flood risk/drainage and landscaping/ecology (these matters are considered in more detail in the Environmental Statement).
Design and Access Statement - this document is accompanied by various concept drawings and together they seek to explain how the illustrative layout has evolved. The statement describes the character of the site and its distinctive features. It then talks about the objectives of the design brief, which are:
· to provide a modern, sustainable and attractive residential development
· to benefit the visual amenity of the area by creating an interesting and attractive frontage to Progress Way
· to create a focal point in the form of a 'village green' and vehicle free routes and connectivity through the site
The document then goes on to consider the scale, appearance, materials and access proposed and discusses safety and security. The statement and concept drawings indicate that the proposed dwellings would match the local vernacular in terms of the materials to be used but could have a modern twist in terms of their design and appearance.
Transport Assessment - this document assesses the amount of traffic that the development would generate and its implications for the road network in the vicinity of the application site. It also considers access to and from the site by other means of travel (bus, cycling and walking)
Environmental Statement -this document has been produced in response to a 'screening' opinion by the Council that the development would constitute a Schedule 2 (10b) project which would require an Environmental Statement. The document considers the following issues - noise and vibration, transportation, landscape and visual amenity, hydrology/flood risk and drainage, ecology and nature conservation, socio-economic and community effects, recreation, contamination and cultural heritage/archaeology. A separate document has been submitted to consider the issue of air quality.