DELEGATED REPORT

Report considered and agreed by Head of Planning

Tony Cook…………….. date …3/7/09………………………

Report considered and agreed by Team Manager, Planning Development Control

Sarah Iles……………………….. date …1/7/09………………………

Report by: / Director of Transport and Environment
Proposal: / Demolition of a technology building and the ROSLA building. Erection of a two storey `Skill Centre` together with landscaped areas, cycle and vehicle parking, delivery access, fencing, external storage area for workshops, temporary construction access and ancillary works.
Site Address: / Bexhill High School, Down Road, Bexhill on Sea.
Applicant: / Director of Children's Services
Application No. / RR/2770/CC
Key Issues: / 1. Siting and Design
2. Relationship to Rother Local Plan, Policy BX9
3. Access and Highways
4. Ecology
5. Archaeology
6. Sustainability
7. Flood Risk and Drainage
8. Construction and Waste Minimisation

RESOLUTION OF THE DIRECTOR OF TRANSPORT AND ENVIRONMENT:

Under the powers delegated to me by the Governance Committee on 30 January 2003, I resolve to approve the proposal subject to the conditions set out in the recommendation.

CONSIDERATION OF RELEVANT PLANNING MATTERS

1. The Site and Surroundings

Bexhill High School lies to the north of the A259 Little Common Road to the rear of King Offa Primary School and Bexhill Sports Centre. To the west is Bexhill Down common and recreation land.

The school site is split towards the rear by a footpath which links the Common with residential areas to the north and east of the school. To the south of the footpath is the main body of the school and to the north is a considerably smaller part of the school containing the kitchens and dining facilities.

The School is also separated from the Leisure Centre and Primary School to the south by another public footpath, known as Chapel Path, linking London Road to the east with the Common to the west. London Road and terraced houses on its western side are included within the proposed Bexhill - Hastings Link Road development area.

2. The Proposal

This application relates to land on the east side of the High School site. This part includes the ROSLA (Raising of the School Leaving Age) building, temporary classrooms and a technology building. These buildings will be demolished or relocated in preparation for the proposed Skill Centre. The existing tennis courts to the north will be retained for use by the High School until it relocates to Gunters Lane in a new building currently under construction.

The Skills Centre is designed to offer basic vocational education in curriculum areas such as engineering, hairdressing and catering for Bexhill High School students aged 13 – 16. Although an educational building, the intention is to offer a workplace type environment. Capacity would be for 180 students who would spend 20% of their time at the Centre (i.e. a whole day at a time) in groups of between 12 and 15.

In common with the main school, the Skills Centre will operate an extended school day between 0830 and 1700 hours and it is also intended to be available for evening use as a community facility for adult vocational learning.

It is proposed to be arranged within a two storey building described in the application as ‘industrial’ in appearance, ‘with a shopfront’. It will be approximately square in plan form with the aforementioned glazed ‘shopfront’ to the principal southern entrance / elevation. The remainder of this elevation would be clad in a proprietary composite sheet material in metallic grey colour as would the majority of the other elevations. The roof is to be pitched and clad in a composite sheet punctured at intervals with translucent sheet to allow natural light into the upper floor. A series of ‘windcatchers’ are also proposed on the roof. These resemble chimneys and are the most visible part of a passive ventilation system.

Internally the general arrangement will be ‘clean’ disciplines, such as hairdressing and catering in the southern part with ‘dirty’, such as engineering, in double height spaces to the north including external storage beneath overhanging roofs to the east and west elevations.

Access to the building is proposed from the west although construction access will be from the south between the Leisure Centre and the Drill Hall. Construction is expected to last for approximately 12 months commencing Summer 2009. The site is to be enclosed by fencing at least 2 metres high of a type to be agreed.

The site layout will comprise the main entrance to the building from the south approached across a landscaped ‘plaza’ comprising coloured paving and semi-mature specimen trees between 4 and 6 metres high at planting. Covered parking for 36 cycles is proposed along the south boundary together with parking along the western boundary for 21 cars including 3 dedicated for drivers with disabilities. Land to the north of the building is identified as having potential for future extension. In the interim the tarmac surface tennis courts are indicated for dual use as play until relocation of the High School when this area will become exclusively play. On the east side of the building are separate areas dedicated for kitchen and ‘dirty’ deliveries for the engineering training areas.

3. Relevant Planning History

1995 – RR/1609/CC. Granted. First phase of proposed replacement school at Gunters Lane for the existing Bexhill High School at Down Road.

2008 – RR/2709/CC. Granted. Erection of replacement Bexhill High School at Gunters Lane including new two/three storey building, floodlit all weather pitches, playing fields, cycle and car parking.

4. Consultations and Representations

Rother District Council; District Council raise no objection subject to sufficient land being retained for landscaping and the underpass to the proposed Link Road to ensure a proper setting and context for the Skills Centre. Construction access must be temporary only with permanent access via existing High School entrance in order to avoid limiting the longer term redevelopment of the wider area.

Rights of Way Officer; No objections following assurances about operation of haul road crossing public footpath during construction

County Archaeologist; In the light of potential archaeological significance of this site recommend the area affected by the proposals be the subject of a programme of archaeological works.

Sport England; Sport England understands that the site of the proposed development does not comprise playing field land. It is also noted the tennis courts will be retained until the whole school has relocated to Gunters Lane where the majority of the open space and sports facilities for the new school are located. Sport England has no objection to the proposed development.

Southern Water Services; No objections but recommend details of proposed means of surface water disposal be agreed (by condition if necessary).

Highway Authority; Any consent shall include conditions to ensure use of parking facilities are as intended, turning space is provided, wheel washing is provided during construction and construction access is removed and the land re-instated before the approved building is occupied.

Environment Agency; No fundamental objection but recommend conditions to ensure surface water drainage details are appropriate and measures to deal with Japanese Knotweed are implemented.

Natural England; No objection (following consideration of ‘Ecology background and Progress Update’, May 2009)

Highways Agency; Highways Agency offers no objection.

Local Representations; None received

5. The Development Plan policies of relevance to this decision are:

South East Plan 2009 (SEP): Policy CC4 (sustainable design and construction), RE4 (human resource development), NRM1 (sustainable water resources and groundwater quality), NRM2 (water quality), NRM4 (sustainable flood risk management), NRM11 (development design for energy efficiency and renewable energy), S3 (education and skills),

Rother District Local Plan 2006 (RLP): Policy DS1 (development principles), GD1 (general development criteria), TR3 (parking standards), CF1 (community facilities), BX9 (High School site and Drill Halls, Down Road)

East Sussex and Brighton & Hove Waste Local Plan 2006 (WLP): Policy WLP11 (waste during construction)

6. Considerations

Siting and Design

Policy S3 in the South East Plan encourages local planning authorities to work with partners to ensure adequate provision of education and community learning facilities. Policies should take account of future development needs; encourage mixed use approaches with community facilities alongside ‘formal’ educational facilities and seek to ensure access for all sections of society to educational facilities in locations with good public transport access. Policy DS1 in the Rother Local Plan sets out general locational principles with which all proposals should accord. Policy GD1 requires all development meet an exhaustive range of criteria mainly in respect of accessibility, impact on amenity, landscape, ecology, highways and flood risk. Policy CF1 permits development of community facilities where they accord with criteria at Policies DS1 and GD1.

As stated in section 2, the Skills Centre is designed to offer vocational based education as part of an emerging educational philosophy being developed by the High School of ‘education for life’ combining academic and practical approaches. The Skills Centre is intended to replicate the workplace with students attending for a whole day. To reinforce the workplace idea the applicant has opted for a site which will be separate from the new main school at Gunters Lane. To emphasise this approach the proposed building has an ‘industrial’ type appearance albeit resembling a modern light industrial or even office type unit rather than a traditional factory in its appearance.

Whilst this approach may not meet with universal support in itself the appearance of the proposal with indicative landscaping is acceptable. It is not considered to be out of character with the immediate area in its current state or its known state after development of the Link Road and this includes anticipated views of the Skills Centre from the elevated section of the Link Road proposed to the east. Furthermore the siting of the building is sufficiently distant at 18 metres from the nearest dwelling at 159 London Road to avoid any adverse impact upon their amenity.

The site will be developed without steep slopes or steps and the new building arranged with level thresholds, generous circulation space, dedicated wc for users with disabilities and 3 dedicated car parking spaces close to the building.

The District Council is concerned to ensure sufficient land is retained to accommodate the proposed construction of Chapel Path beneath the proposed Link Road and that there is sufficient area for landscaping between the Skills Centre and the Link Road. There is no overlap between the application site boundaries for the respective proposals, therefore whilst the final detail of reconstruction of Chapel Path beneath the Link Road is yet to be resolved there should be no conflict with the Skills Centre site and development of it. Although no specific landscaping is indicated along the east boundary the District Council’s concern is acknowledged and can be considered as part of more detailed discussion in discharge of landscaping conditions attached to any consent. The hard and soft landscaping should be relates to the provision of landscaping adjoining the Link Road.

Relationship to Rother Local Plan Policy BX9

In anticipation of the relocation of the High School to Gunters Lane, Policy BX9 in the Local Plan considers that the vacated school site needs to be viewed as part of a larger area together with adjoining land to the south occupied by the Leisure Centre and Drill Hall. A mixed-use development is envisaged comprising offices, community buildings and high density housing following relocation of the High School, the whole to be guided by a Development Brief. The line of the Link Road immediately to the east is recognised as a key factor affecting the whole area and the site’s central, accessible location is considered suitable for uses generating a significant amount of trips but ones which should relate well to the open space to the west.

The Skills Centre falls within the Local Plan definition of ‘community buildings’ derived from Policy CF1 and used for the purposes of Policy BX9 and is therefore an appropriate use within the overall mix of uses envisaged. The site for the Skills Centre has been chosen to make allowance for the route of the Link Road, the need to maintain operation of the High School until it relocates to Gunters Lane as well as the need to comply with the land-use aims of Policy BX9 and at the same time to avoid prejudicing the master-planning of the whole area given that this is still in progress.

Within this context the options for siting of the Skills Centre are, in reality, quite limited and the site selected is considered to adequately fulfil that particular policy ‘balancing act’ – an opinion shared by Rother District Council which raises no fundamental objection to the siting in this part of the wider policy area.

Access and Highways

Policy TR2 of the Rother District Local Plan requires all development (where reasonably practicable) to be carried out in a location and manner which will promote more sustainable travel choice. Policy TR3 sets out parking standards for development.

The main vehicular access to the proposed site will be from the west and the current access to the High School from Down Road. There will also be a separate pedestrian and cyclist access from Chapel Path to the south of the site. Such an arrangement means that pedestrians will be separate from vehicles within the site.

The numbers of vehicle parking spaces proposed is adequate and the cycle parking facilities, being both covered and secure, are acceptable in principle. 31 cycle stands is in excess of the minimum requirement and site location benefits from good pedestrian links particularly from the densely populated areas to the east and south.

Overall the numbers of school pupils in the area will reduce when the High School relocates and the Skills Centre opens and this will be a permanent change. Clearly however, pending the wider redevelopment of the area around the application site, the patterns of movements will increase although these will be assessed at an appropriate time. The Highway Authority and the Highways Agency offer no objection to the Skills Centre proposal.

Construction access and site office is proposed off Down Road but via a separate arrangement to the current access to the High School. This would be between the Leisure Centre and the Drill Hall to the south – almost the closest point to the main A259 – and should mean that construction traffic need not use more minor, local roads to service construction. This arrangement does however mean that the construction access crosses both the Leisure Centre car park and Chapel Path adjacent to the southern site boundary. Chapel Path is not to be closed for the duration of construction. Arrangements will be in place whereby gates and signage will be installed at the crossing point. The default situation will be gates to the construction access closed off and only opened for deliveries, temporarily closing the footpath. The whole operation will be supervised and vehicles escorted by a site operative who will then re-open the path. This arrangement is acceptable to the Rights of Way Officer.