QE Park Phase 9: CDC2020

Miller Homes now own this parcel of land, which was purchased from Linden Homes end of 2003. Linden Homes have already built the affordable housing that was part of this phase. Planning literature referred to this area as 'North Green'.

Fairclough Homes was acquired by Centex Corporation in 1999. The UK business became Centex UK, with the Centex Development Company known as CDC2020. In September 2005 it was sold to Miller Homes "the UK’s largest, privately owned House building, Property Development and Construction business."

May 2005 - CDC2020 are offering residents surrounding the 'phase 9 North Green area' the opportunity to purchase the strips of land between their homes and the site.

05/T/00149: Tree Work - Approved, with conditions - see below.

Officer's Report: This application refers to the following works: Raise canopy of Norway Maple (A), Ash (B), and Oak (1103), remove low branches of Oak (198), thin out congested growth of Norway Maple by 20% (192), remove low laterals of Oaks (191 & 183), remove lateral of Oak (190), remove all Elm trees to stumps, remove Ash (113), remove smallest trunks of Ash (1108), shorten lower lateral of Oak (1096), remove high lateral of Ash (1095) and remove all deadwood from all trees. The trees have no public amenity value and the proposed works would not be considered as being detrimental to the character of the area or warrant the protection by a Tree Preservation Order in this case, as such the works are acceptable.

A number of requests have been made from local residents to include additional tree works that were not originally part of the submitted application as part of this application. Given the level of interest in further tree works and subsequent amendments being made to the submitted scheme it was considered that these individual amendments should not be accepted due to problems with keeping the application within an acceptable time period. It was agreed with the applicant that a re-consultation of the sites neighbouring properties be carried out in order to establish a comprehensive record of what further tree works are required on the site. Consequently, the application was considered as it was originally submitted.

04/P/02463: Erection of 40 houses, village green, play area and associated landscaping and parking. Development comprising 8 three storey dwellings and 32 two-storey dwellings each with a double garage. Reserved matters pursuant to outline planning permission 01/P/0881 dated 30/10/01 (as amended by plans received on 28/04/05). (CDC2020 plc). [Registered 16/11/2004] - This is a revised application replacing 04/P/01417. Approved 23 Aug 05, see below for GBC Planning Officers Report .

04/P/01417: Erection of 40 houses, village green, play area and associated landscaping and parking. Development comprising eight x three-storey dwellings and 32 x two-storey dwellings each with a double garage. Reserved matters pursuant to outline planning permission 01/P/0881 dated 30/10/01 (CDC2020 plc). [Registered 23/06/2004] - Applicants withdrew 16/09/04.

04/P/00544: Land forming part of Phase 9, Queen Elizabeth Park. Six affordable houses, comprising one pair of two storey semi-detached houses and a terrace of four two storey houses with associated parking (reserved matters pursuant to planning permission 01/P/00881 dated 30/10/2001). (Linden Homes). [Registered 12/03/2004] - Approved.

GBC Planning Officers Report for Application No: 04/P/02463

Site Description

Queen Elizabeth Park (QEP) is located on the northern edge of Guildford within Stoughton and is approximately 1.5 km north of the A3 Guildford bypass and to the east of the Worplesdon Road. This application site is on the northern side of the main development site.

Phase 9 is bounded to the north east and west by established residential areas and to the south by an earlier residential phase on the QEP site. The site is relatively flat, but is on higher ground than properties backing onto the site on Escombe Drive and Cumberland Avenue.

Proposal

This proposal is for the erection of 40 houses, village green, play area and associated landscaping and parking. Development comprising 8 three storey dwellings and 32 two storey dwellings each with a double garage.

This is a reserved matters application pursuant to outline planning permission 01/P/0881 dated 30/10/01 (as amended by plans received on 28/04/05).

The amended plans received show a different site layout and revised house type designs. These are significantly different from the originally submitted plans, following discussions with officers.

Planning History

The early planning history relates to the use of the site by the Ministry of Defence. In 1999 duplicate planning applications were received from the MOD for the residential development of this site. These were withdrawn. In October 2001 outline planning permission (ref. 01/P/0881) was granted for the development of the Queen Elizabeth Park site for 525 dwellings, employment, nursing home, community facilities, retail, health and fitness centre, open space and associated roads.

Reserved matters applications have been approved for all of the residential phases apart from Phase 9. Development of the site is nearing completion with Phase 9 being the last part of the site to be the subject of a reserved matters application. The nursing home and the commercial/community core. Construction is now proceeding across various parts of the site with some dwellings now occupied.

A reserved matters application for 40 dwellings on Phase 9 was withdrawn in 2004 (04/P/01417).

A Tree Preservation Order (TPO) was recently confirmed in March 2005 on a number of trees located along the north, east and western boundary of Phase 9, that back onto Cumberland Avenue, Escombe Drive and Hamilton Drive respectively.

Consultations

The Environment Agency has no objection.

Thames Water has no objection.

The County Highway Authority recommend conditions be imposed on any permission granted.

The Council's Trees & Woodlands Officer recommends conditions be imposed on any permission granted.

The Council's Head of Environmental Health and Licensing has no objection.

Eight third party letters have been received. These can be summarised as follows:

Increase of 60% to the number of homes in this phase
Loss of privacy from balconies/balconette
Three storey houses too high
Loss of sunlight/daylight to existing properties from height of buildings
Concern over the future maintenance and ownership of strip of land that runs between the site and existing properties on Escombe Drive and Cumberland Avenue in and any flooding issues that may occur with this
Position of houses/buildings still too close to existing trees
The new play area is meagre in comparison to the Local Plan 2003 layout.

Four further third party letters have been received in response to the amended plans. These can be summarised as follows:

Three storey town houses remain extremely high, built close to the southern boundary
Loss of sunlight/daylight to houses on Cumberland Avenue
Loss of privacy due to height of buildings
The density of housing appears far greater in this phase
Concern over impact on existing trees - through construction phase and north facing gardens to proposed properties. There will be continued pressure to prune these trees. Who and how will these trees be maintained.
Concern over maintenance and future of ditch that runs between the site and existing properties. The situation regarding this land should be agreed before planning permission is granted.
Would like to see a 2 metre high close boarded fence on boundary for privacy
Greater volume of traffic along Knox Road

Planning Policies

The following policies are relevant:

Guildford Borough Local Plan 2003
Surrey Structure Plan 2004

Planning Considerations

This proposal forms the last phase of wholly residential development for the Queen Elizabeth Park site, granted outline permission in 2001. The main considerations are therefore the principle of development, the design and impact on the surrounding area, including the impact on the trees that define the boundary of the site, the impact on residential amenities and highway concerns.

Principle of development

Phase 9 is the last of the residential phases to be submitted as reserved matters pursuant to outline planning permission 01/P/00881. A total of forty dwellings for this site have already been agreed as part of the outline permission. This final phase to the north of the site was always considered to be an area of lower density housing aimed at the higher end of the housing market. As such, the overall density for Phase 9 as submitted in this reserved matters application is approximately 17 dwellings per hectare (dph), including the provision of a village green (20 dph excluding the village green). However, the development of the QEP site overall equates to an average density of 36 dwellings per hectare.

This proposal does not include an element of affordable housing, however, as it forms part of the overall development of Queen Elizabeth Park, this has already been provided in earlier phases.

It should be noted that the boundary lines of phases as described in the outline application have changed slightly since 2001. This proposal for 40 units does not increase the number of units originally proposed. Furthermore, the density has remained low in comparison to the site as a whole, as originally set out in the outline application.

The principle of development on the site is therefore acceptable and in line with the outline permission on the site.

Design and Impact on surrounding area

The surrounding area is predominantly residential, with existing properties to the north, west and east of the site and new residential development to the south. The amended application includes the provision of a village green, play area and cycle/pedestrian links to the east and west from the neighbouring residential areas.

The plans have been significantly amended from those originally submitted, with the redesign of the house types and plot positioning. The revised house types have reduced footprints which has enabled an increase in the garden areas around each plot and enabled the dwellings to be repositioned away from the site boundaries.

The layout is based on the illustrative plans submitted with the outline application, with a main avenue, flanked by detached houses leading to a village green area. The inclusion of town houses at the end of the village green provide visual interest and a crescent feature for the development. Pedestrian and cycle links to the east and west are proposed, with the location of the play area adjacent to the cycle path. The larger, more substantial family dwellings are positioned to the east and west of the main avenue.

These changes to the site layout overall reduce the footprint of the proposed dwellings and increase the space as a whole within the development. The main avenue provides visual interest with the village green and crescent of town houses. A play area for this element has now been provided.

In terms of the design of the proposed dwellings, there are generally two house types. These consist of town houses which are found along the main avenue and village green, and larger family homes. Overall eight different designs of houses are proposed. A mix of fully hipped and dutch hipped roofs with front gable projections, pitched roof and flat roof dormer windows and chimneys provide visual interest to the rooflines. A condition can be imposed to ensure materials are agreed prior to the commencement of the development. The drawings show that materials include brick, render and tile hanging. There is a unity in materials for plots fronting the green, whilst there is more of a variety within the rest of the development. However, there is a common approach to materials and detailing which will visually unify the variety of dwellings proposed.

The scheme has been amended and improved through consultation with the Head of Environmental Policy and Design Services and the overall housing design and layout is now considered acceptable.

Impact on Trees

A Tree Preservation Order (TPO) has been made on the trees located on the boundary of the site.

The Council's Trees & Woodlands Officer has no objection, subject to conditions. In addition, a tree survey drawing showing the tree protection zones has been submitted as part of the amended plans, which shows that none of the development will be built within these zones. Due to the revised layout, most of the buildings have been moved back from the side boundaries so that a good distance is acheived between the proposed houses and trees.

Impact on residential amenities

The amended plans have repositioned the houses away from the boundaries adjacent to established residential areas. Back to back separation distances of more than 20 metres have been achieved on properties backing onto Escombe Drive and Cumberland Avenue.

In particular, with the three storey town houses, back to back separation distances are more than 25 metres with properties on Cumberland Avenue. A cross section drawing has been provided to illustrate the difference in height levels and proposed distances. Although the three storey town houses will be higher than the existing houses on Cumberland Avenue, due to the separation distances and mature boundary treatment, it is not considered that this relationship is unreasonable in a residential urban area.

All the rear balconies on the proposed dwellings which back onto existing residential areas have been omitted from the amended plans. This overcomes initial concerns over loss of privacy and overlooking from these balconies.

Concern has been raised by existing residents over the loss of sunlight/daylight from the heights of the proposed buildings. Houses which back onto Cumberland Avenue do have south facing gardens and it is recognised that the three storey town houses are located on higher ground than existing dwellings. However, due to the separation distances outlined above and the mature boundary treatment, it is not considered that there will be a significant loss of sunlight/daylight to be detrimental to their residential amenities.

In terms of the boundary treatment proposed, this is not stated on the plans. However, a condition can be imposed to require the boundary treatment to be agreed prior to commencement of the development.

Highway issues

This amended scheme layout has been significantly altered to overcome original concerns raised by the County Highway Authority in respect to the first reserved matters application received for Phase 9. As such, the CHA has no objection and recommends conditions be imposed on any permission granted.

Strip of land between site boundary and Cumberland Avenue/Escombe Drive

A number of concerns have been received by residents over the future maintenance and ownership of this strip of land and any potential flooding issues that may arise.

The Council's Clerk of Works has confirmed that the ditch forms part of the local drainage system. The applicants, CDC 2020, have offered to hand this strip of land over to existing residents so that they have control and ownership. Prior to the handover, CDC 2020 have confirmed that they will pipe the ditch to a standard to be agreed by the Council under the Land Drainage Act 1991 and do works to the TPO trees as agreed by the Council.

Whether this strip of land is eventually handed over to residents on Cumberland Avenue/Escombe Drive or whether it remains the responsibility of the developers is not a material planning consideration. However maintenance for the trees and the ditch will lie with the eventual owners of the land. The trees are now protected under the TPO and any flooding issues are covered by the Land Drainage Act 1991 and conditions imposed on the outline permission 01/P/00881 .