Statement Submitted to WBC

THE SITE:

The site is a sloping grass paddock area 0.4 hectares (1.1 acres) in size, lying between Marsh Lane ( to the north) and the nearby railway line ( to the south), about 700 mts
to the North west of Hungerford town Centre. At the present there is a stable block comprising 3 loose boxes, hay barn, tack room, storage shed and workshop, although the paddock is no longer grazed and there are no horses currently kept by the owner.

ACCESS:

The site is currently accessed by a gravel roadway leading from Marsh Lane. Marsh lane is a cul-de-sac off Smitham Bridge Road, currently serving 11 detached houses and an 11 bedroom hotel complex and is the sole access route to the site. The site is located at the end of the lane.

The overall condition of the lane is in poor state, Vegetation and earth from both sides has encroached on to the carriage way, the north side by up to 2 meters at ground level. This prevents safe car parking in the lane which is popular with dog walkers accessing Freemans Marsh. The overhead lighting is inadequate and hidden by the hanging vegetation


Adjacent to the west and east ends of the paddock site are housing developments of recent date. At the west end is a development consisting of 7 Neo – Georgian style detached 4 bedroom houses built in 1982 on ground adjoining Freemans Marsh and utilising an area of 0.26 hectares (0.65acres). At the east end is a large single detached house with out buildings built in 1996.


Fig 2. Aerial Photo of site circa 2000

The site, outlined in red in the photograph above, is not prominent within the locality, being low lying and well screened by dense vegetation around its perimeters. It is not visible from any point south and the development could only be seen in winter from the top of Strongrove hill 0.4 miles to the North.

PLANNING HISTORY:

The whole site including the existing developments lay outside the settlement boundary, the railway line being the current boundary for the local plan (adopted 2002). The developments mentioned above for 7 dwellings were granted planning permission in 1978 and 1996 respectively. The Hotel has undergone numerous transformations from a 2 room Bed & Breakfast in 1988 to its current status.

Three proposals for housing on the paddock site have been submitted over the past 20 years. The first being for a development of 9 dwellings of mixed type; 2, 3 & 4 bed detached and semi. This was withdrawn by the applicant in 1998 .

The second application submitted in 1999 was for 4 substantial self-build dwellings utilising the entire 0.4 hectare site. This application was supported by Hungerford Town Council and the Ward Councillor (who still currently holds this position) and was therefore referred to the Downlands sub planning committee where it was approved with only one vote against.

As the application was contrary to local policy it was referred up to the then Environment committee, who supported the officer’s recommendation of refusal by one vote. An unsuccessful appeal then followed.

An application was submitted in 2003 for a major development of 12 dwellings to include affordable housing and a mixture of 3 & 4 bed detached and semis. This application was submitted after consultation with the Town council who felt that a development of this type was what Hungerford most needed. This was supported by the Town and Manor of Hungerford, Hungerford Town Council, The Environmental Agency, many local residents and initially the Ward Councillor. However the latter had to withdraw his support when it was deemed the application was not sustainable.

It was realised that the site location was not suitable for affordable housing which formed the basis of objections from the local residents. It was also established that the management of the increased traffic could prove uneconomic to fulfil.

The application was therefore withdrawn by the applicant prior to the expiry of the decision period.

It appears that the main difficulty with any proposal for development on this site is the fact that site lies beyond the official settlement boundary. However it is important to note that on the granting of planning permission for the house in 1996, Hungerford Town Council stated that as a condition of their approval the boundary must be moved to from the Railway to Marsh Lane to incorporate the new development.

In spite of letters from the Town Council and the ward Councillor requesting that this boundary move take place, West Berks Council rejected the request but are unable to give a reason, although it appears the correct procedures to enable this change were not adhered to. There is now official letters on register with WBC requesting that this whole settlement be brought within the settlement boundary at the next review of the Local plan which is currently under way.

Any development of the site therefore currently is seen by planning officers as an intrusion into the countryside, an intensification of scatter development, blurring to the distinction between town and countryside, detrimental to the AONB and an undesirable precedent.

Additionally access to Marsh Lane from Smitham Bridge road passes under a railway bridge. This presents difficult but not insurmountable traffic problems as we intend to show in our highways report.

However, as detailed in the attached drawings and plans, this is obviously not the case, being undeniably infill between the developments to the west and the east rounding off the settlement pattern to the edge of the town in a legitimate manner. The railway incidentally has a large development adjacent to the south leaving Marsh Lane as a natural boundary preventing any further development to the north.

The aerial photo below shows the existing developments edged in blue at either end of the site.


Fig 3 Boundaries of existing developments

PROPOSALS

GENERALLY:

The proposed development falls between the two previously submitted applications, which is hoped will meet the demands of the locality whilst blending in with the surrounding properties and offering a sustainable highways solution.

The proposed development comprises the construction of 6 x 4 bedroom houses complete with garages. It is proposed to utilise the entire site as the highway would be uneconomically incapable of sustaining a heavier density. The density would therefore be 1.5 times less than the existing 7 dwelling development, reducing the visual and environmental impact on the area.

Government guidance contained in paragraph 39 of draft PPG.3 states that low density development be avoided, but as shown above an increase in dwellings causing higher traffic movements is impractical.

The scheme has been designed to relate in a sensitive way to the context of the locality. Particular attention has been paid to the scale, design and relationship of the dwellings together with landscaping so that it would integrate appropriately with the surrounding context and serve to enhance the character of the area. It is worth noting that, since there are a significant number of existing buildings in the vicinity of the site, it is not set against an open truly rural backdrop in terms of appearance and setting.

We have produced a computer generated image of what the site would look like with the proposed 6 houses in place:


Fig 4 Aerial view of developed site


ACCESS:

Vehicular access to the site would be from a single additional new access point from one of the wider parts of Marsh lane culminating in a hammerhead cul-de-sac providing a boundary along the current access for the existing seven houses. It would be envisaged that entrance to the new houses would be through the new access at the eastern end of the lane and therefore not increase traffic movements beyond this point. This would eliminate the necessity for traffic passing at the narrower parts of Marsh lane. The increase of an estimated 6-9 vehicle movements during each of the weekday morning and evening peak hours is considered well within the capacity of the local roadway system; especially as Marshgate Hotel now has planning approval for Change of use from Hotel accommodation to short term letting apartments, reducing its traffic by 60% (application 0101668FUL).

It is intended that the appropriate improvements to Marsh lane, anticipated to be in general accordance with the proposals approved previously by the principle Engineer of West Berkshire, will be implemented as part of the development. All proposed dwellings will be provided with appropriate independent parking within their boundaries.

LANDSCAPING:

Loss of existing vegetation will be minimal and restricted to the new access area only. It is anticipated to keep the lane hedge in tact where possible. New planting would be expected along the southern boundary to improve screening from the railway and between the existing development – basically this site would be invisible during full leaf months.