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
……………….
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.
…………….
Beatrice
Smith
I
Strongly Object to the above Outline Planning Application to build 15
homes on the field adjacent to Hollow Oak Rd.
……………….
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 3⸰C
global temperature rise - rendering many low-lying coastal cities and economic
regions uninhabitable, leaving millions of people without homes.
…………………
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.
………………………
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.
………………..
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.