Agenda item

Written Representations - 6/2019/0639

Minutes:

6/2019/0639 - OUTLINE APPLICATION FOR UP TO 15 RESIDENTIAL DWELLINGS, SITE RE-PROFILING AND ASSOCIATED INFRASTRUCTURE, WITH ALL MATTERS RESERVED APART FROM VEHICULAR ACCESS FROM WEST LANE AT LAND NORTH OF WEST LANE, STOBOROUGH

 

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Jane Freeman

I strongly object to the Planning Application Numbered: 6/2019/0639.

I have lived in Hollow Oak Road for many years and have seen the field behind my house saturated most years. This flood plain between my house and the tidal River Frome prevents my land flooding. My fear is that if this field is displaced by the proposed materials for a large building site, the present safety of Hollow Oak Road will be lost. We already see the severe impact of flooding at the junction of West Lane with the A351. Sea levels are rising and the flood risk from the River Frome will increase. The International Panel on Climate Change Report (IPCC) this month reports weather patterns changing markedly.

 

Can Hollow Oak Road residents see the Hydrology Report on what will happen to our gardens and homes if the site is developed? How will surface water be disposed of? What will the effect of the existing watercourse, the soakaways and the main sewer be on our homes?

 

Dorset Council’s Flood Risk Team said that the management of surface water runoff must demonstrate the proposed development is not to be placed at risk and that no off-site worsening is to result. There has been no assurance that no off-site worsening is to result. The platforms may help the new development, but they will not help Hollow Oak Road. Having nowhere else to go, the water will flow down and into the gardens of Hollow Oak Road. The impervious surfaces on the proposed site and extensive concrete areas will not allow drainage and will push water elsewhere.

 

A Material Consideration is that the proposed platform will overlook our properties in Hollow Oak Road being above the hedge at the end of our gardens.

 

Will Hollow Oak residents receive an Assurance from the Council that Hollow Oak Road will not flood? What indemnity will the Council provide for existing properties in the event of them being affected in the future?

 

This site has no flood defences. We are told that Hollow Oak Road might flood. I fear that my home and those of my neighbours’ will flood. The risk is too high, as is the risk to highway safety on West Lane.

 

I also have concerns about highway safety. Given the amount of traffic I see on West Lane, particularly on school days, a precedent to double it would be reckless given the proximity of the proposed site’s main access to the A351. Will there be sufficient parking on the new site for two car households and their visitors? If not, even more people will try to park on West Lane. This already hampers visibility for motorists.

 

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Beatrice Smith

 

I Strongly Object to the above Outline Planning Application to build 15 homes on the field adjacent to Hollow Oak Rd.

 

  • I have lived in Hollow Oak Rd. adjacent to the site for fifty-seven years and know that every winter season this field becomes very wet.  The situation has worsened since the building of the A351 bypass. This has meant that water flowing from the Purbeck Hills which previously dispersed across fields and woodlands to the River Frome, is now restricted.  Flooding regularly occurs at the junction of West Lane and the A351 bypass.  This flooding increases the water level in Ryder’s Field and if more hedgerows and trees are removed this will only add to the problem.  With climate change, increased rainfall and an increase in sea levels this very low level site seems entirely unsuitable for development.  Placing new houses on a platform may protect that development but will certainly increase the flood levels to our existing properties in Hollow Oak Rd.
  • From a road safety point of view a fourth opening on to the narrow West Lane seems foolhardy. West Lane is often used as a ‘rat run’ between the A351 bypass and Corfe Rd. and vehicles frequently turn in at high speed.  The proposed development site exit is very near to this turn-off making safe exiting risky.
  • I understand that the proposed development is not required to meet any current unmet housing need.    Arne Parish Council are opposed to any building on this site.
  • The site is within open countryside outside the current Stoborough Settlement Boundary.  It is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty at the gateway to the Isle of Purbeck.  Tourism being one of Dorset’s main industries a long acoustic fence and yet more houses as our visitors enter the Isle will not be a welcoming sight.
  • How much more suitable to continue to see cows grazing and the wildlife flourishing.  
  • Government guidelines on carbon levels should surely be encouraging everyone to preserve as much of the natural habitat as possible. Cutting down trees and tearing up hedgerows plus pouring concrete into a green site defeats these aspirations.
  • To conclude I feel that this site is entirely unsuitable for housing development.  The site is too wet, low lying and liable to flooding.  

 

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Miriam Abbott and Richard Holroyd

We would like to express our objection to Planning Application Number 6/2019/0639 due to interlinked concerns about flood risk, climate change and urbanisation of the water meadows.

1.      The flood risk assessment is based on out-of-date sea level and peak river flow climate change allowances. Both higher central and upper end allowances should be calculated for both the sea level rise and the peak river flow as the field is vulnerable to flooding. Considering projected sea level rises, the still water tidal level is closer to 4 metres, whilst the level of the site and of Hollow Oak Road is below 4 metres. The national policy is not to develop new homes on land lower than this level, so this alone should rule out the field for development.

2.      The drainage system proposed does not offer adequate flood protection.  Any malfunction of the system, or a large storm which uses the whole field to channel rainwater to the Frome, or a higher tidal flood (set to increase 1.6m in the south-west over the next 100 years), risks flooding the site, Hollow Oak Road and/or the A351 bypass. In the long term, if the new and/or existing housing become untenable due to flooding, then there will be a loss rather than gain of housing provision.

3.      The wider context for this is that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has just issued the starkest warning that we must act immediately to avoid catastrophic climate change: “we must treat climate change as an immediate threat, just as we must treat the connected crises of nature and biodiversity loss, waste and pollution as immediate threats (…) ecosystem degradation damages nature’s ability to reduce the force of climate change (…) every tonne of CO2 adds to global warming, every citizen needs to play their part in making systemic changes to stop the current warming”.

4.      Consider your legacy. To approve this development runs counter to the need to mitigate climate change, protect and restore ecosystems and biodiversity. For future generations, consider a planning policy that involves the redevelopment/ repurposing of existing urban areas to lower their carbon impact, minimising embodied carbon through the reuse of existing structures and building materials. A policy of guaranteeing protection for all green spaces and wetlands and enhancing their ability to act as ‘carbon sinks’. To prioritise development over climate change mitigation risks exceeding a 3C global temperature rise - rendering many low-lying coastal cities and economic regions uninhabitable, leaving millions of people without homes.

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William Evans

I have previously stated in full my strongest possible objection to the planning application for 15 residential dwellings on West Lane in my letters to Dorset Council on 13 December 2019 and 11 May 2020. I hereby briefly list two very serious issues of concern raised to ensure that the Committee fully take account of the ramifications should permission be granted.

The proposed site is outside the existing defined settlement boundary,

High risk of flood within the development,

Increased risk of flooding adjacent to the development. Please note that the road at the junction of West Lane and the bye-pass flooded again on 12 July 2021. Events such as this are more likely to occur due to global warming. This matter alone should be sufficient to stop any development.

Loss of farmer's grazing for cattle.

Loss of farmer's hay crop and silage for winter feed.

Loss of farming heritage that currently form part of the tradition and character of the village.

Increased pressure on places at the local junior school.

Traffic risk to pedestrians on West Lane.

Increased risk of road traffic accidents at the junction with the bye-pass and the proposed new junction.

Increased traffic congestion.

Loss of rural culture and green space.

Increase likelihood of second home ownership.

The scheme goes against Arne Parish Neighbourhood Plan.

Too large a development for the location and village setting.

Density of the development is too high.

Proposed design not in keeping with rural aspects.

The overall design pushes too many boundaries.

High impact on wildlife. Green space, farmland watercourse, hedgerows and general wildlife habitat lost.

Encroachment into the AONB.

There is no drastic need as housing requirements will be met in other identified locations.

Finally, if this development were permitted it would be a mistake that could never be reversed. I request that the planning application be rejected.

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Shelley Cranshaw – Chair, Arne Parish Council

 

On behalf of Arne Parish Council and our parishioners, we put these objections to the Planning Committee.

1. This land will be increasingly vulnerable to flood risk from the River Frome due to sea level rise - the river is tidal up to Wareham and beyond. The EA anticipates this rise to be between 200-400mm by 2060, over 1990 levels. Higher sea levels combined with stormier conditions add to the risk. We are concerned that freshwater drainage at the site will in consequence be severely impaired. Already, significant rainfalls lead to surface water being unable to drain away at the junction of West Lane with the A351. Flood plain sites are not normally used for housing and this site has no flood defences.

 We acknowledge and applaud DC’s targets to reduce greenhouse gases.

In an effort to deal with the site's wet conditions, the applicant would introduce to the site a large amount of concrete. Not only would this add to our carbon problems, it would adversely affect the drainage of the neighbours'

land in Hollow Oak Road.

 

2. We do not accept that this application meets the definition of a Rural Exception Site. It is not a small site to be  " used for affordable housing in perpetuity".

8 of the 15 proposed properties are to be on the open market. Of the 7 affordable units, 4 are 1 bedroom flats.

 

3. We are concerned about Highway safety. West Lane is a short narrow curving country road. It has visibility problems and is largely without a pavement.

There is a primary school situated at its north end. The main access to the proposed site is close to the busy A351- the Wareham bypass with its 70 mph speed limit. Were this site to be built, the site's traffic on and off the lane would be at serious hazard from and to traffic leaving the bypass.

 

4. A noise monitoring survey was carried out at the site with its highest reading recorded at 89.9 decibels. We understand that the maximum permissible instantaneous noise levels in bedrooms should not exceed 45 decibels.

 

These are all Material Planning Considerations which the parish ask you to take into consideration when you make your decision.

 

For greater detail of our objections together with photographs locating the site in its landscape, please look at our Response dated January 2020 to planning application 6/2019/ 0639.

 

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Martin Miller - agent

 

Statement in support of planning application 6/2019/0639

 

Good morning Councillors.

 

The application has been made by the Trustees of the Stoborough Settlement

who are part of the Rempstone Estate. The Estate is located in the Purbecks

and its business interests include renting and managing a large number of

residential, commercial and agricultural properties in the Wareham area to over

100 local people. The Estate has submitted this planning application in order to

increase the supply of housing available to local people and it wishes to retain

the ownership of, and manage the 7 affordable housing units in perpetuity.

 

It is exactly five years since the Estate first held discussions with Arne Parish

Council and Purbeck District Council officers about the potential of this site to

accommodate housing for local people. The application before you today is the

culmination of five years of discussions, design iteration and assessment, and

we are pleased that it is recommended for approval.

 

As highlighted in the officer report, the application accords with the policies of

the Arne Parish Neighbourhood Plan which was made by Dorset Council just last

month following 93% public support in the May 2021 referendum. The

proposed development will deliver 15 badly needed homes in the Purbecks of a

range of sizes, with 7 affordable housing units being provided for rent.

 

The application site does not flood and is not predicted to flood in the future. All

the proposed houses will have decent sized gardens and parking and a footway

is to be provided linking the development site to the primary school and village

centre. The proposed development connects to an existing SANG via an

existing public footpath, it will deliver ecological mitigation measures and

biodiversity net gain and will not give rise to unnecessary light pollution,

overlooking or loss of privacy for adjoining residents.

 

Whilst the application accords with the neighbourhood plan, it also accords with

the small sites policy (policy H8) of the advanced Purbeck Local Plan and is

specifically identified within Appendix 2 of this plan as a small development site

that Dorset Council wishes to see come forward for housing in the Purbeck area.

 

The development of this unconstrained site provides an excellent opportunity to

deliver badly needed housing for local people in the Purbecks in accordance

with very recent adopted development plan policies. There are no substantive

objections to the application from the Environment Agency, Natural England, the

Dorset AONB Partnership or Dorset Council Highways and we ask that you

endorse the recommendation to approve before you today. If you do, the Estate

looks forward to working further with council officers and stakeholders to deliver

a small but sustainable development of the very highest quality.