Material Planning Matters

Bob Hope,
Director of Regeneration,
Wear Valley District Council,
Etc

Cc: Regional Director, Government Office for the North East
V.Shuttleworth (Ward Councillor)
D.Wilson (Ward Councillor)

Dear Sir,

Re: Application for the development of Housing and Roads etc, Sawmills, Wolsingham

I refer to the recently submitted planning application for the above, and wish to formally place on record an objection based on material planning criteria, referenced to the Wear Valley District Local Plan.

Please find attached extracts from the Local Plan, where I consider that the proposed development is in conflict.

I understand that it is normal practice for Officers to prepare a Planning Assessment of major applications, as background papers for Members of the Council, so that an objective view can be taken by Councillors of the material planning issues before deciding on the application. I feel that such assessment should include all of the sections of the Local Plan shown in the attached. I would appreciate if you could send me a copy of any such assessment before consideration by Councillors, so that I can fully consult with my elected representatives before they are asked to make a decision.

If process does not permit the laying of the Planning Assessment into the Public Domain prior to the Committee meeting, I would appreciate your direct response to the all of the potential breaches of the Local Plan that I have identified.

I also understand that the Council in considering any application and the development of Planning Policy, has a duty to consult and consider the views of local residents. I would therefore like to draw your attention to the Wolsingham Parish Plan, which was prepared last year. As part of this exercise, a questionnaire was sent to all households, and on the specific question of housing development, 49% of respondents wanted no further housing development in Wolsingham, and a further 33% were in favour of up to 49 additional houses. Since the questionnaire was circulated, permission has been granted, and development work begun for the Leazes, St Annes, and Parish Hall developments, the combined total of which exceed 49. It therefore appears that the development limits (as expressed by the majority of inhabitants) have now been met, and therefore any further development at Sawmills would be against this view.

Finally, I would request that you provide me with any updates on the process of this application, any amendments to it, and any other application in respect of the site in question, or any other housing applications applicable to the Wolsingham area.
Policy GD1

The proposal would not seem to conform to the following overall criteria for development, laid down for the whole district:

All new development and redevelopment within the District should be designed and built to a high standard and should contribute to the quality and built environment of the surrounding area. Permission will be granted provided it fulfils, where appropriate, the following design criteria:-

Design and Setting
(i) it is in keeping with the character and appearance of the area and is designed to be appropriate in terms of form, mass, scale, layout, density and materials to the town or village in which it is to be situated; and
(ii) it has regard and is appropriate to the setting of neighbouring buildings, landscape features and open spaces of the surrounding areas; and
(iii) its landscape, natural and historic features on site are retained and incorporated into the design and layout of the scheme;
(xiv) for major land use proposals, (including roads, industrial development and housing sites of over 25 dwellings on the edge of settlements) structural landscaping around the periphery of the site is provided to mitigate the impact of the scheme to the surrounding area and to blend the developments urban edge into the countryside;
(xviii) an Environmental Assessment will be required for proposals likely to have significant effects on the environment by virtue of factors such as their nature, size or location [Subject to the provisions of Schedule 2 of the Town and Country Planning (Assessment of Environmental Effects) Regulations 1988];
(xxi) it would not create unacceptable levels of traffic which exceeds the capacity of the local road network; (xxii) adequate links and access to public transport systems are incorporated within the layout of the site. Large development sites will be required to provide access for public transport networks;
(xxiii) priority is given to pedestrians and cyclists within the development site and provide links
into the local footpath and cycleway networks where practicable.

Protection of the Countryside

The proposal seems to extend beyond the settlement boundary established in Inset 23 of the Local Plan:

Policy ENV1 : The District Council will seek to protect and enhance the countryside of Wear Valley. Development will be allowed only for the purposes of agriculture, farm diversification, forestry or outdoor recreation or if it is related to existing compatible uses in the countryside as defined in other Local Plan policies.

Area of Landscape Value

The proposal seems to extend into the Area of Landscape Value of the Local Plan:

Policy ENV3: Development will not be allowed which adversely affects the special landscape character, nature conservation interests and appearance of the Area of Landscape Value
identified on the Proposals Map.

2.36 Development within the ALV will only be acceptable where they do not detract from the landscape quality of the area or lead to the loss of the essential features of the ALV and will not conflict with the nature conservation interest of the District.



HOUSING

The Local Plan specifies which settlements are most suitable for development, and the nature and character of any development. Wolsingham is not identified as a priority area. The Wolsingham Inset 23 does identify the Sawmills site as suitable for Industrial development, and for up to 55 houses. However, the current proposal is for 117 houses. Moreover, the Local Plan (after due assessment of the character and infrastructure of Wolsingham), establishes that the settlement is capable of absorping up to 107 new houses during the Plan Period. Following the development of Demesne Court, Holywood, Wesley View, Leazes, St Anne’s, and the Parish Hall, this number has already been exceeded. In the same period there has been no change in the infrastructure available to support any additional development.

The Local Plan aims to ensure:
1 A supply of housing adequate to meet the needs of all the District’s residents and that new land for housing development is both capable of development and available for development without excessive economic cost.
2 An adequate range of housing tenure and property type to allow for all housing needs.
3 That housing is made available for all sectors of the community, including those with special needs and those unable to afford to enter the housing market.
4 New housing development is well related to the availability of existing services, facilities and infrastructure to both support and facilitate development.
9 That existing residential densities are maintained and opportunities to increase densities, particulary in town center locations, are taken where appropriate

Policy H7: The following sites, as shown on the Proposals Map, are allocated for residential development during the plan period in the following villages:-
Inset Dev Estimated Area (ha) Dwellings
10. Saw Mill Site, Wolsingham 2.6 55
11. North of Riverdale, Wolsingham 0.8 20

4.48 Further development opportunities within these villages may also come forward during the plan period but should be restricted to that considered appropriate for each village. The development of these allocated sites, and any others that may come forward should be consistent with the other policies of the Local Plan, in particular general housing development policies. Reference should be made to Policies H9, H10, H15 and H22 and settlement studies which identify various requirements of some of these sites.

TABLE 4
Land with Planning Pemission Land Allocations
Area (Ha) Dwellings Area (Ha) Dwellings Total Dwellings
Wolsingham 8.3 32 3.4 75 107

Policy H11 : New housing development in the countryside outside the limits to development, as identified on the Proposals Map, will not be allowed.

Range of Housing Types

Policy H14 : When granting planning permission for residential development the District Council will seek the provision of an appropriate range of accomodation relative to the size of the site and the housing needs or demands in the locality.


Affordable Housing

In this proposal, the percentage of proposed affordable housing (20%) is not being maintained. Moreover the Local Plan also identified that the proposed percentage allocations of affordable housing were significantly short of estimated demand – the proposal would exacerbate this effect:
Proposal H15 : The District Council will, where a relevant local need has been established, seek to negotiate with developers for the inclusion of an appropriate element of affordable housing on the following and additional sites that come forward during the Plan period:-

Suggested number of affordable housing No. units
Wolsingham (H7)
Saw Mill Site 11

Residential Design Criteria

Policy H24 : New residential developments and/or redevelopments will be approved provided:
i) the proposals reflect the density and character of the locality;
iii) adequate and safe pedestrian and cycle routes are provided within the site and to surrounding areas to facilitate access to shops, schools, bus routes and other community facilities;
vii) the relationship between new dwellings, and between new dwellings and existing dwellings maintains and provides adequate levels of privacy in accordance with the following minimum guidelines:

a) A 21 metre distance between walls of dwellings containing windows to habitable rooms.
b) A 15 metre distance between windowed elevations and opposing gable end walls.
All development must satisfy the General Development Criteria, Policy GD1.

SAFEGUARDING OF MINERAL RESERVES

The proposal would seem to extend into the area for Mineral Rights Protection established in the Durham County Minerals Local Plan, and the Wear Valley District Local Plan:

Policy MW1 : Areas of identified mineral resources of economic importance as shown on the Proposals Map will be safeguarded from development. Permission will only be given to
non-mineral uses, where significant sterilization of resources would not occur in these areas.


INSET 23 - Wolsingham

Strategy
The Local Plan aims to maintain the existing housing and industrial development of Wolsingham in a way which can be adequately served by the existing facilities and services. The Plan aims to concentrate employment and residential development within the dale on the existing market towns which have an appropriate level of facilities to serve additional growth. Where possible new development will be required to provide for affordable housing to help meet local housing need. The attractiveness of the town will be maintained and intrusive development into the countryside will be resisted.

Constraints
Wolsingham is set in open countryside bounded by the River Wear to the south and rising land to the north.

Peripheral expansion of the town to the east or west would intrude into open countryside.