Object

Representation ID: 44958

Received: 11/10/2021

Respondent: Taylor Wimpey

Agent: Lichfields

Land at Chester Road, Streetly

24.15 Taylor Wimpey notes that Land at Chester Road Streetly has not been allocated for residential development and objects to the Draft BCP on this basis.

24.16 For the reasons set out in these representations, it essential that further housing sites are allocated in the BCP. This will involve the release of additional Green Belt land as insufficient alternative land is available to meet housing needs.

24.17 A Delivery Statement, which sets out the reasons why the Chester Road site is suitable for allocation, has been submitted to the Council previously and also submitted alongside these representations. We have also provided a description of the site and the reasons why it is suitable for allocation below.

Site Description

24.18 The 25.6 ha site comprises agricultural fields which fall from south-east to north-west. The land is currently in use for arable and pasture. Overhead transmission and high voltage electricity cables cross the western part of the site in a north-south direction.

24.19 The site is dominated by arable fields delineated by hedgerows, with mature standard trees, areas of semi-improved grassland and a small copse of semi-natural broad-leaved woodland present within the site. Towers Covert ancient woodland site lies directly adjacent to the western boundary of the site.

24.20 The site is contained within defined boundaries. It is bounded to the:
• North predominantly by a hedgerow that demarks the edge of the site with agricultural fields beyond. To the far north east of the boundary is Water Works Farm which has been redeveloped for residential development.
• East by Chester Road and the residential properties fronting onto Chester Road and Leacliffe Way.
• South east by Chesterwood and the residential properties which front onto Chesterwood beyond which lies Little Hardwick Road. The south western boundary is bounded by Little Hardwick Road and the residential properties of Little Hardwick Road.
• West by Bourne Vale Road, areas of mature tree groups and hedgerows and the properties along Bourne Vale Road. Further to the north west of the site is Tower’s Covert, an area of ancient deciduous woodland.

Suitability of Chester Road for Green Belt Release
24.1 In the Green Belt Technical Report submitted with these representations we set out the reasons why land at Chester Road, Streetly is suitable for release from the Green Belt and why the findings of the BCGBS do not accurately assess its contribution.

24.2 In particular, we note that the site has not been considered in isolation in the BCP Green Belt Assessment and this has a resultant impact upon the ratings identified in the Assessment. In the Green Belt Technical Report, we have carried out our own assessment of the site in isolation as this is considered to be the most appropriate and transparent method of assessing its suitability for Green Belt release.

24.3 As detailed in our Technical Report, land at Chester Road, Streetly does not make a significant contribution to the purposes of the Green Belt and is suitable for release.


Deliverability of Chester Road

24.4 The Chester Road site is entirely deliverable and would make a valuable contribution to meeting future housing needs. The proposed allocation and development of the site:

• Will make a valuable contribution towards meeting the quantitative and qualitative needs of the community for market and affordable housing. It could deliver up to approximately 505 high quality family houses.
• Is being promoted by a national housebuilder, Taylor Wimpey who can deliver the proposed residential scheme. Taylor Wimpey is seeking to develop the site as soon as it is allocated.
• Is not subject to any known constraints that would impede deliverability. There are no legal impediments, need for land in third party ownership. The site is therefore is fully deliverable
• Streetly is identified as a vibrant Local Centre. Therefore, the provision of housing to maintain its role in the settlement hierarchy of Walsall and the wider Black Country is important.
• The land has strong boundaries and it is considered that its allocation and future development is unlikely to have a detrimental impact on the form and character of the settlement.
• Taylor Wimpey has undertaken an evaluation of the technical and environmental constraints that could prevent or restrict the development of the land. This work has identified that there is no overriding constraint that will impede its delivery.
• Taylor Wimpey confirms that the development of the site is economically viable and is confident that residential development can be achieved within the first five years of the plan period.

Sustainability of Chester Road

24.5 Streetly is identified as a Local Centre in the emerging BCP. Therefore, the provision of housing to maintain its role in the settlement hierarchy of Walsall and the wider Black Country is important. The development of the site would contribute to retention of a good level of access to local convenience and comparison retail, services, community facilities and other amenities.

24.6 The site is sustainably located being situated the edge of the settlement in close proximity to a number of services. Public transport services operate to the south of the site and are within walking distance.

24.7 It will provide a range of open market and affordable housing in various types, sizes and tenures to help meet local needs.

24.8 The site is currently in agricultural use and has limited ecological value. Suitable ecological mitigation will be incorporated within the site. Where possible existing hedgerows and trees will be retained and incorporated within the proposed development.

Masterplan for Chester Road

24.9 The vision for the site is to create an attractive housing development with distinctive local character offering a choice of high-quality new homes to meet local needs. The proposed masterplan is designed to:
• Create a development that complements the character of the surrounding area through appropriate development densities, street scenes, housing types and retaining the existing landscape structure.
• Create a Public Open Space network that improves pedestrian and cycle connectivity from the site and Bourne Vale to the centre of Streetly via attractive routes set within green corridors.
• Provide a local park that is easily accessible via the public open space network. This park would provide opportunities for informal recreation, children’s play, habitat creation and improved surface water drainage through the integration of SuDS attenuation basins, swales and wetland areas. As well as a Locally Equipped Area for Play, there is the potential to accommodate a junior sports pitch and a series of Local Area’s for Play throughout the development to ensure residents have access to a variety of informal recreation and play opportunities.
• Create a high-quality residential scheme within the site with a coherent landscape structure, which conserves the natural assets present on the site, as well as improving the local recreational and children’s play opportunities and connectivity within Streetly.

BCP Site Assessment Report

24.10 The Chester Road site has been considered in the Council’s Site Assessment Report [Site Reference SA-0037-WAL]. The Assessment Report concludes the following on the site:

“The site is part of a larger area which is characterised by its openness and helps to define
Streetly's semirural character. Although it is recognised that wider visual amenity impacts
are limited due to the development to the South and East, this land forms part of the transition between the urban and the rural so any development here would erode that having a significant visual amenity impact. Employment uses would have more significant character impacts”.

24.11 We do not agree with this assessment. Any site on the edge of the urban area forms part of the transition between urban and rural and the site would not have a significant visual amenity impact. It is well enclosed by existing residential uses to the east and south, with the western boundary enclosed by the Bourne Vale residential development, which obscures views from the west. The northern boundary is currently defined by an existing hedgerow and individual trees, and a new housing development, introducing urban features in this location. Suitable landscape planting to the boundaries of the site, including enhancing the northern boundary with new woodland planting, would ensure that the visual impact of the development is minimised.

24.12 These built and natural features serve to separate the site from the wider open countryside and the site would essentially provide an ‘infill’ plot between the existing built development to the east, south and west (and partially to the north).

24.13 We therefore consider that the findings in the assessment are inaccurate and for the reasons we have identified in these representations, the site is suitable for removal from the Green Belt and allocation for residential development.

Alternative Masterplan

24.14 Taylor Wimpey have worked collaboratively with St Philips (adjacent landowner to the north) to produce a combined masterplan to show the potential for community infrastructure delivery across a wider strategic development site, including the land to the west of Site WSA9 (Illustrative Masterplan attached at Appendix 6). This site has the potential to deliver circa 800 dwellings, land for a new school, local centre/health facility and significant public open space including a country park. This wider proposal may also be of a scale that could support a new/improved bus service on Chester Road which would enhance the sustainability credentials of the existing settlement. The scale of the combined proposals gives rise to a more comprehensive opportunity than the constrained and fragmented proposition contained in the Draft BCP at present and would allow for the inclusion of significant community infrastructure.

Conclusions
24.15 It is essential that further housing sites are allocated in the BCP in order to meet housing needs.
This will involve the release of additional Green Belt land as insufficient alternative land is available to meet housing needs.

24.16 In summary, land at Chester Road, Streetly is considered suitable for allocation for residential development because:
• It does not make a significant contribution to the purposes of the Green Belt and is suitable for release.
• There is no overriding constraint that will impede the delivery of the site.
• It would provide a local park that is easily accessible via the public open space network
• It is entirely deliverable and would make a valuable contribution to meeting future housing needs, including affordable housing, within the first five years of the plan period