Pre-Applica on Design Statement : Residen al Development, The Gas Works, 113 Bury Road, The ord, Norfolk 1

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1 Pre-Applica on Design Statement: Residen al Development, The Gas Works, 113 Bury Road, The ord, Norfolk Prepared by: Gary Johns Architects Date: October Pre-Applica on Design Statement : Residen al Development, The Gas Works, 113 Bury Road, The ord, Norfolk 1

2 Introduction Site & Location Planning History General Layout Example Massing Style & Appearance Car Parking Provision Contamination Ecology Density Pre-Applica on Design Statement : Residen al Development, The Gas Works, 113 Bury Road, The ord, Norfolk 2

3 Introduction This brief has been prepared on behalf of Havebury Housing Partnership (the client) to inform pre-application discussions regarding a proposed residential development of 38 dwellings at The Gas Works, 113 Bury Road, Thetford, Norfolk. This design statement should be read in conjunction with the following documents: Site Location Plan Rev E Site Plan Front Street Elevation Outline Remedial Statement, Nov 2014 by Atkins Pre-Applica on Design Statement : Residen al Development, The Gas Works, 113 Bury Road, The ord, Norfolk 3

4 Site & Location The site is located on the main A134 thoroughfare in Thetford. It is easily accessed by the A11 dual carriageway linking Norwich to London and within 600m of the main shopping precinct, town center and a variety of other amenities. Large public open space lies less than 0.5 miles from the site at Barnham Cross Common. The site is a former Gas Works and disused for this purpose since the 1960 s. Subsequently it was used as a gas holding facility and all gas manufacturing facilities demolished. An office and other buildings were constructed between 1972 and the 1990 s. All buildings on the site were demolished by National Grid Property Holdings (NGPH) in September and October of The overall site area is: 6350 m 2 (0.635 Hectares) with a perimeter of approximately: 356 m IMAGE TOP: General condition of the brownfield site Pre-Applica on Design Statement : Residen al Development, The Gas Works, 113 Bury Road, The ord, Norfolk 4

5 Generally the site is level and has been left unkempt with a combination of hard standing (60%), unmade ground (40%) and some overgrown foliage. Residential properties exist to the West, set back across both Bury Road and an estate access road. Further residential properties are located immediately North and North- East accessed via both Bury Road and Mill Lane. The land immediately to the South and East consists of allotment gardens with a residential estate beyond. The site area is shown above in red. National Grid Property Holdings maintain two areas with retained access rights via the development site (shown in blue). The Eastern contains a dis-sued communications mast and the Northern an active pressure reduction station. Both are rarely accessed. IMAGE TOP: Looking South from the site across the allotments. IMAGE BOTTOM: Site entrance to A134 Bury Road. IMAGE RIGHT: Site boundary highlighted in blue. Retained NGPH areas in red Pre-Applica on Design Statement : Residen al Development, The Gas Works, 113 Bury Road, The ord, Norfolk 5

6 Planning History Given the previous uses of the site, no full planning applications for development relevant to these proposals have been made in the past. Pre-application discussion with Breckland Council was undertaken in April This was based on a conceptual layout influenced by easements believed to be present on the site. The case officer for the discussion was Jemima Dean (no reference number was provided). The only other previous planning application to consider with the proposed development is 3PL/2011/0701/F dated 30/08/2011. This concerned engineering works to facilitate environmental improvement (remediation) with an open storage end use. (NOTE: Subsequent condition discharge applications linked to this approval are 3DC/2012/0145/DOC dated 29/11/2012 and 3DC/2014/0045/DOC dated 17/07/2014. The works were carried out in accordance with these permissions between 2012 and Comments noted that the principle of development, amenity and open space provision was acceptable. Items raised as needing consideration in a final application included the density and parking provision. These items are addressed later in this document. It should also be highlighted that the officer noted they did not visit the site and offered comments based on desk research only. In subsequent correspondence, the case officer raised that the Environmental Protection Officer would require a risk assessment and intrusive investigation regarding remediation to a residential end use. In response to this a comprehensive outline remediation strategy was commissioned in November 2014 by Atkins which is included as an attachment to this application. IMAGE: Massing study from April 2014 pre-application discussion Pre-Applica on Design Statement : Residen al Development, The Gas Works, 113 Bury Road, The ord, Norfolk 6

7 General Layout The primary existing site entrance is retained with only minor adjustment required to the existing brick boundary wall to accommodate a suitable carriageway width and bell mouth. There is a large public footway bounding the eastern edge of the site and this means the required visibility splay of 2.4m x 59m can be met with ease. The highway into the site provides direct access to grouped parking courts (see parking section later in this document) and provides adequate turning and access to all areas of the site including the two areas of National Grid Property Holding land that were retained during the land conveyance. The intention is for this road to be adopted. It has been sized appropriately and footpaths at 1.5m wide have been provided extensively. This central road creates a large square on to which the majority of the dwellings in the development face. At the centre of this square is a 100m 2 local area play space (this open space provision is supplemented by the sites proximity to Barnham Cross common). As you can see from the image adjacent, a great deal of pedestrian access space to the front of the dwellings has also been allowed. The properties located directly adjacent Bury Road face into the site with the rear elevation protected from road noise by the existing (and refurbished) brick facing wall. Overall the street elevation will experience minimal change with the scheme being set back from the highway. The development highway extends around to the rear of the site providing access to the two NGPH areas and a further small housing court containing two 2 storey dwellings and two bungalows. This is to respect the massing of the properties adjacent the site boundary in this area: 2 Storeys to the north and bungalows to the east. IMAGE TOP: Central square area of development with Local Area Play space Pre-Applica on Design Statement : Residen al Development, The Gas Works, 113 Bury Road, The ord, Norfolk 7

8 The properties to the front of the site The central block of one and two car parking associated with the A greater focal point has ben (Bury Road) and the south-west bedroom flats will also sit at 2.5 block to the rear of the site out of created with the block of 4 flats as corner are 2 storey units reflecting storeys as a focal point in the sight. you enter the site and the car traditional roof forms in the immediate vicinity. The units bounding the edge of the site to the south and east overlooking the allotments are to be 2.5 storey. They will provide a visual backdrop to the site as it is entered from the main road. middle of the site. The previous layout for this involved a four-sided block that pushed car parking to the edges and in full visibility of the road. This has been revised to an arrangement that directly addresses the square with a variable frontage and locates all It is felt this is a substantial improvement to this portion of the scheme. This revision has also allowed us to locate a discrete bin storage area to service the 16 flat units on the left hand side of the development entrance road. parking repositioned which was previously located directly on the site entrance. Both of the above examples allow for more integrated and substantial soft landscaping opportunities. IMAGE LEFT: Central flat block in original pre-app. IMAGE CENTER LEFT: central flat block in latest revision hiding parking to rear. IMAGE CENTER RIGHT: Original flat block addressing site entrance. IMAGE RIGHT: Revised flat block creating focal point at entrance Pre-Applica on Design Statement : Residen al Development, The Gas Works, 113 Bury Road, The ord, Norfolk 8

9 Example Massing: (NOTE: All roof arrangements and facades shown as flat/shown indicative) Central flat block redesigned to address main development with variable facade 2.5 storey units located to rear of site overlooking allotments to provide backdrop to development Dwellings on Bury Rd face into development with rear gardens protected by existing wall Parking for central flat block located 1 Bed Units to hidden court at rear New focal point created at site entrance with 6m bell mouth to new carriageway 2 Bed Units 4 Bed Units Pre-Applica on Design Statement : Residen al Development, The Gas Works, 113 Bury Road, The ord, Norfolk 9

10 Example Massing: (NOTE: All roof arrangements and facades shown as flat/shown indicative) 1 Bed Units 2 Bed Units 4 Bed Units Pre-Applica on Design Statement : Residen al Development, The Gas Works, 113 Bury Road, The ord, Norfolk 10

11 Style & Appearance At this stage we are open to a variety of potential building aesthetics. Predominantly the immediate area consists of mid-20 th C brick and pantile residential dwellings ranging from 2-3 storeys. As can be seen in the images above much of the area represents relatively bland post-war housing however as you progress along Bury Road further towards the town center there are properties with more charming traditional styling. Not least of which is the house located immediately adjacent the north-west corner of the site. A property that was previously owned as part of the overall site and rented out by NGPH. Not far away from the site on the adjacent Barnham Cross estate there is also one recent new build affordable housing estate. The Fulmerston Road / Sweyn Close development by Flagship Housing. It is likely the proposals will follow a contemporary aesthetic of facing brick, composite boarding and pantile/slate roofs. Feature bays and dormers will likely be pulled out from the main facades to give the elevations some definition and variation unit to unit. IMAGE TOP: 3 Storey flat blocks adjacent 2 storey houses at St Michaels Cl. IMAGE MIDDLE: 2 Storey brick & hipped pantile roof properties along Bury Rd. IMAGE BOTTOM: Traditional styling immediately adjacent the site Pre-Applica on Design Statement : Residen al Development, The Gas Works, 113 Bury Road, The ord, Norfolk 11

12 Car Parking Car parking was raised during the initial pre-application discussions as our proposals do not sit in line with the standard Norfolk County Council guidance. We address this as follows: Table 1 below shows the proposed number of car park spaces, broken down by housing type, comparing this with the maximum standards in the Parking Standards for Norfolk (2007) and the Breckland Core Strategy and Development Control Policies (2009). Dwellings Car spaces proposed Norfolk (maximum standard) * Includes seven additional spaces. ** Includes eight disabled spaces (one per five communal spaces). TABLE 1: Car parking provision compared with Norfolk and Breckland standards Breckland (minimum standard) Type Number Per unit Total Per unit Total Per unit Total 1 bed flats bed flats bed houses bed houses TOTAL * ** The site is very accessible from the town centre, with a choice of walking routes. Local shops, schools and medical facilities are within walking distance. The bus interchange and railway station are within walking distance and have services to a variety of destinations. The Parking Standards for Norfolk state that the accessibility of a site, determined from a site specific assessment of access to employment and services by walking, cycling and public transport, will be used to determine the appropriate local parking provision. This is also the spirit of the clause in Policy DC19 in the Breckland Core Strategy which states that a reduction in car parking standards will be applied where it is considered to be in the interest of sustainable development. The same policy notes that developments with very limited parking provision will be considered in town centres and/or where they are near to a public transport node. While the proposed development is not actually in the town centre, as noted above it is sufficiently close to it and to the transport nodes within it as to justify some reduction in parking provision. The proposed provision falls below the minimum standard in the Core Strategy and Development Control Policies. However, the following points should be noted: Pre-Applica on Design Statement : Residen al Development, The Gas Works, 113 Bury Road, The ord, Norfolk 12

13 In addition, it can be shown that the demand for spaces among residents of flats is lower than for residents of houses. Examination of Census data for Lower Layer Super Output Area Breckland 017B shows that levels of car ownership among residents of houses and of flats or maisonettes differ markedly (Table 2). * This category also includes caravans and other temporary structures, but there were none of these in the LSOA. Whole house or bungalow Flat, maisonette or apartment * Cars or vans in household Households % Households % None % % One % % Two or more % 4 5.9% All households % % Table 2: Car ownership by accommodation type in LSOA Breckland 017B (from Nomis Table LC4415EW) We have estimated that in the LSOA households in houses own 1.36 cars on average whereas those in flats own On this basis it can be calculated that the 22 flats in the proposed development will generate a demand for 9 spaces and the 17 houses will generate a demand for 23. This would give a total demand for 32 spaces and the 51 spaces proposed gives an allowance for higher demand. Contamination As noted in the earlier section regarding planning history, some remediation works have already been carried out on the site to make it suitable for an open storage end use. A further outline remediation strategy was commissioned in November 2014 from Atkins to allow for a residential end use. A dialogue has already been opened with Varuna Addy at Breckland Council environmental protection to discuss remediation works to the site and ask that they be included as a consultee to this pre-application. The aforementioned report is attached to this submission to aid this. It can therefore be concluded that the provision of car parking spaces reflects the accessibility of the location, the prevailing car ownership levels and the mix of accommodation types, and that there will be no requirement for overspill parking onto the local roads Pre-Applica on Design Statement : Residen al Development, The Gas Works, 113 Bury Road, The ord, Norfolk 13

14 Ecology Density The site is of extremely limited ecological value given its previous usage and current state. A phase 1 ecology survey report has been carried out which has concluded there is no record and minimal opportunity for protected species. The report has also made some recommendations to be implemented that ensure compliance with the National Planning Policy Framework with regard to biodiversity. These relate to bird box provision, site lighting and soft landscaping specification. This report and it s advised inclusions will be submitted as part of any full application that follows. During the previous pre-application discussion it was noted that the overall density of the site was high at 65 dwellings per hectare. The current density of the proposal is 59.8 dwellings per hectare (38 dwelling son He). This number is inflated by the allocation of 1 bed flat units which require very little space by comparison with stand-alone houses. The spacing/ density of the non-flatted areas of the scheme is very generous with adequate access, parking and rear amenity for each unit. The housing mix for the scheme was in direct response to advice received from the Breckland Council Senior Enabling & Projects Officer. It is felt that as this is a prime brownfield site with direct access to the town centre, will involve a high level of design and specification as well as providing greatly needed affordable housing, it can be considered a reasonable and appropriate unit layout. IMAGE: Limited ecology value restricted mainly to shurbs that have sprung up on site boundary Pre-Applica on Design Statement : Residen al Development, The Gas Works, 113 Bury Road, The ord, Norfolk 14