Support

Representation ID: 21200

Received: 11/10/2021

Respondent: Taylor Wimpey

Agent: Avison Young

Representations of Taylor Wimpey – Land at Barns Lane, Walsall
Avison Young (‘AY’) is instructed by Taylor Wimpey Strategic Land (‘Taylor Wimpey’) to prepare and submit representations to the Draft Black Country Plan (Regulation 18) consultation (‘Draft Plan Consultation’). Taylor Wimpey controls land at Barns Lane, Aldridge (‘the site’), edged red on the Site Location Plan attached to these representations at Appendix I.

Taylor Wimpey has reviewed the Black Country Authorities’ (‘BCAs’) consultation document and wishes to make representations on it. This letter should, therefore, be taken as Taylor Wimpey’s comprehensive response to the consultation. It should be read alongside the completed response form that we have provided as part of the representations.

In particular, our Client welcomes the Draft Plan’s recognition that the site can, and should, deliver a development that is capable of materially contributing to Walsall’s, and the Black Country’s housing requirements. In this respect, Policy HOU1 (site ref. WAH251) allocates the site for 112 dwellings.

Notwithstanding the support for the site’s allocation, these representations made by Taylor Wimpey make a number of observations on the policies contained within the Draft Plan and the emerging evidence base that underpins the draft policies and allocations contained in the Plan.

With these introductory points in mind, the remainder of our submission goes on to:
• describe our Client’s site and the merits of it as a development opportunity;
• provide our Client’s response to the Draft Plan consultation; and
• summarise the key points arising and overarching conclusions.

We address each of the above in turn.
Taylor Wimpey’s Land at Barns Lane
The site extends to 4.3 hectares (ha) and is located on the western edge of Aldridge, along Barns Lane. It consists primarily of arable farmland and associated buildings. To the south and southwestern edges of the site, the site is bound by existing residential dwellings along Barns Lane. To the north east lies a lake known locally as The Swag, along with Aldridge Sailing Club. To the northwest, the site is bound by Barns Lane Pool and Nature Reserve.

The site is positioned in a highly sustainable location, approximately 1.5 miles (2.4km) north west of the centre of Aldridge and 1.2 miles (1.9km) south of the centre of Shelfield, both of which contain a range of facilities and employment opportunities. Bus stops are located directly opposite the site along Barns Lane and are served by routes 35 and 35A, which provide frequent services to Walsall, Lichfield and Castlefort.

Taylor Wimpey is in the process of appointing a team of technical consultants and masterplanners to carry out various surveys and investigations and use these to comment on the development potential of the site. The findings will be published in a Development Statement and will be submitted to Planning Officers at Walsall Council in due course, who have agreed to accept the submission of additional supporting information after the Draft Black Country Plan consultation deadline. Nevertheless, Taylor Wimpey has, for the purposes of demonstrating the deliverability of the site, prepared an Illustrative Masterplan (attached to these representations at Appendix II), which demonstrates that the site is capable of accommodation approximately 130 dwellings at a density of 35 dwellings per ha. This is subject to further technical investigation.

Housing Allocations

In order for the Draft Plan to be sound it must provide a clear strategy for bringing sufficient land forward, and at a sufficient rate, to address objectively assessed needs over the Plan period. Because the BCAs must also identify and update annually a supply of specific deliverable sites sufficient to provide a minimum of five years’ worth of housing against its housing requirement, the Draft Plan is also required to identify specific, deliverable sites for years one to five of the plan period and then sufficient developable sites, or broad areas of growth, for the remainder of the plan period.

The Glossary to the NPPF defines ‘deliverable’ sites as being available now, offering a suitable location for development. In order for a site to be considered ‘developable’ it should be in a suitable location for housing development with a reasonable prospect that it will be available and could be viably developed at the point envisaged.

Our Client welcomes the Draft Plan’s recognition that the site can, and should, deliver a development that is capable of materially contributing to Walsall, and the Black Country’s housing requirements. The site is available, offers a suitable location for development and is achievable with a realistic prospect of delivering housing within the first five years of the plan period.