Land at Restrop ~ Urban or Rural?

After withdrawing their application, the developer has now returned with a revised application to build 38 houses (might be more). The application is so confusing that it is verging on the misleading.

Is it 41 or 38 houses?

  • The application appears to be for a Residential Development of 38 Dwelling including access, car parking, landscaping and other associated infrastructure (registered 2 November 2016). Yet only the original Application Form is available and this clearly states that it is for 41 dwellings (27 October 2016). There is no formal correspondence, on the planning applications web site, from the applicant (Persimmon Homes) to say they have reduced the number of houses from 41 to 38;
  • There are two sets of documentation, the first set of drawings issued on 2 November 2016 and the second set on the 5 April 2017. The Planning Layout which defines the numbers of houses is in two versions yet both (in contradiction to planning best practice) have the same issue date on the drawings ~ June 16, yet one shows 41 houses whilst the other shows 38.  There is no other way to distinguish between the two drawings; and
  • The Design and Access Statement is dated October 2016 and it too has not been updated to reflect any changes.

Still Urban:

  • The development is still a classic urban design which does not fit with the character of the village and certainly not with the houses at Red Gables or along Restrop Road. The reconstituted stone that is being proposed simply does not match with any of the existing houses that front the site; and
  • Purton is a rural village yet the application, which has not been significantly amended, still regards Purton as an urban environment and has set its housing level at an urban density. Consequently, the appearance of the development is out of character with the distinctive development along Restrop Road, in proximity to the site. The current layout and appearance do not constitute being a considerate neighbour since it has little or no regard to the form of existing development at the boundary, neither does it seek to enhance local distinctiveness or to respond positively to the existing village-scape and landscape.

Parking and Traffic:

  • The Application and the Transport Statement are contradictory which has a profound implication for the predicted traffic flows and for parking spaces. The so-called revised Planning Layout is dated June 2016 and is for 38 dwellings yet the application remains for 41 dwellings. This is confusing in trying to calculate parking spaces;
  • The revised Transport Statement identifies 83 allocated parking (including 16 garages) yet states that 67 parking spaces have been provided.  They also state that there are seven visitor spaces;
  • The Planning Layout (the later of the two versions), the Landscape Master Plan and the plan in the Transport Statement suggest there are 69 parking spaces (some of the other drawings give a different number) including 16 garages and eight visitor spaces.  So it seems there are 85 allocated parking spaces.  Is it 83 or 85? The Transport Statement is not coherent on the matter and provides no assurance or reassurance about parking or future traffic flows; and
  • Having the parking spaces, one behind the other, especially with garages as well, makes parking difficult. In reality, instead of shuffling the cars around when returning in the evening ready to go in the morning, cars would simply end up being parked on the roads for the sake of convenience. Even with just eight visitor parking spaces, it is inevitable that there will be on-road parking, potentially spilling out onto Restrop Road. We know this from observing parking behaviour from other nearby new developments.

Housing decreases, bedrooms increase

  • Although house numbers have been reduced, the total number of bedrooms has increased from 112 to 114. In the original scheme, the majority of the houses were two- and three-bed houses with only half a dozen being four beds.  Now, the size of the houses have been increased. Notable, is the introduction of 5-bed houses at 11%.  So the larger houses (4+5 beds) have been increased by 7%. This totally contradicts all the local need consultation over several years as encapsulated in the Parish Plan and Neighbourhood Plan;
  • In addition, there is no provision from bungalows for which there has been an acknowledged need for some years;
  • It is quite clear, from the consultations undertaken for the Rural Housing Needs Survey, Purton Parish Plan and Purton’s Neighbourhood Plan that local need is for:

“40 smaller homes including affordable housing, houses for first-time buyers, smaller properties for those who wish to downsize and also properties suited to older persons including bungalows.” 

  • The Design and Access Statementhas not been revised and its claim that the application “reflects the need and aspirations of the local community (even citing the draft Neighbourhood Plan) is untrue.

Misleading information:

  • The expectation of public transport (service buses) is over-estimated since it is known that the No 53 continues to be reduced in frequency and scope, (most recently just a few months ago) with the full anticipation that it will cease completely in due course. Thus, a summary statement (3.32) noting that the site is able to access destinations out of the village “by frequent bus services” is untrue.

Mass of contradictions

So, on the above basis, especially recognising its mass of contradictions, and recognising that this application, if allowed, would seriously undermine five years of work on behalf of the parish council, by the Purton Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group, Wiltshire Council should be urged to refuse this application.

The Purton Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group has objected to the application and the Parish Council meets on Monday (8 May) to consider this application.

If you wish to make a comment on the application please click here and use the Application Number 16/10513/FUL to navigate to the appropriate place to make a comment.

Alternatively, send an email to developmentmanagement@wiltshire.gov.uk marked for the attention of the officer dealing with this, Mr Mark Staincliffe. Comments need to be made by 5 pm Wednesday 10 May.

 

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