Object

Representation ID: 44961

Received: 11/10/2021

Respondent: Taylor Wimpey

Agent: Lichfields

Land at Clent View Road, Stourbridge

24.17 Land at Clent View Road, Stourbridge has not been allocated for residential development and
Taylor Wimpey objects to the Draft BCP on this basis.

24.18 Insufficient land is available within the Black Country and South Staffordshire on non-Green Belt land to meet the unmet housing needs of present and future generations and the release of Green Belt land is required. For the reasons identified in these representations, it is essential that further housing sites are allocated in the BCP. This will involve the release of additional Green Belt land. Exceptional circumstances therefore exist to remove land from the Green Belt.

24.19 A Delivery Statement has been prepared to support the allocation of the site and is submitted alongside these representations. We have also provided a brief description of the site and the reasons why it is considered suitable for allocation below.

24.20 The site will deliver up to 400 high quality homes suitable to the needs of the local community with a varied mix of house type, tenure and size, including affordable housing.

Clent View Road Site Description

24.21 The site is located on the western edge of Stourbridge and is bordered by Clent View Road to the east. The site is located primarily within the local authority boundary of South Staffordshire District Council [SSDC] but is also partially within the authority boundary of Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council [DMBC].

24.22 The Site comprises 19.6ha of improved grassland (16.5ha in South Staffordshire and 3.1ha in
Dudley) currently used as equestrian paddocks.

24.23 The site is situated approximately 2.5km south-west of the centre of Stourbridge and immediately abuts the established residential suburb of Stourbridge to the east, which is located within DMBC.

24.24 The Site is contained within well defined existing boundaries. It is bounded to the north by a public bridleway beyond which is dense woodland and agricultural land. To the east there is a permissive footpath named ‘Roman Road’, Clent View Road and the urban area of Stourbridge. This footpath is separated from the Site and Clent View Road by hedgerows. To the south there is a Public Right of Way and a line of mature trees, beyond which lies agricultural land; and to the south-west is a heavily wooded area (Bunkers Hill Wood). To the west, a line of trees extending from the northern boundary of the site to Frog Hall Cottages, bound the site towards the centre west. The site is further bounded to the west by a heavily wooded area, and a further line of trees which joins the wooded area to the south-west of the site, beyond which lies agricultural land.

Suitability of Clent View Road for Green Belt Release

24.25 We note that the site has not been considered in isolation in the BCGBS and this has a resultant impact upon the ratings identified in the Assessment.

24.26 In the Green Belt Technical Report submitted with these representations 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. The Technical Report sets out the reasons why land at Clent View Road, Stourbridge is suitable for release from the Green Belt.

Deliverability of Clent View Road

24.27 The site is being promoted by a national housebuilder, Taylor Wimpey, who can deliver the proposed residential scheme. Taylor Wimpey is seeking to commence development as soon as the Site is allocated.

24.28 It could deliver a up to 400 high quality family houses and will make a valuable contribution towards meeting the quantitative and qualitative needs of the community for market and affordable housing.

24.29 The site is not subject to any known constraints that would impede deliverability. There are no legal impediments, or any need for land in third party ownership.

24.30 Taylor Wimpey has reviewed the economic viability of the proposals in terms of the land value, attractiveness of the locality, level of potential market demand and projected rate of sales; as well as the cost factors associated with the Site including site preparation costs and site constraints. The site is economically viable and Taylor Wimpey is confident that residential development can be achieved within the first five years of the plan period

24.31 The land also benefits from clear, well-defined boundaries and it is considered that its allocation and future development will not have a detrimental impact on the form and character of the settlement. The allocation and development of the Site provides an opportunity to create a long term defensible boundary to Stourbridge and the provision of housing development for South Staffordshire and Dudley.

24.32 For the above reasons the site is fully deliverable.

Sustainability of Clent View Road

24.33 Stourbridge is identified within the adopted BCJCS and the emerging BCP as a Town Centre, which provides for convenience shopping as well local comparison shopping opportunities, local services and local leisure facilities. It is a key area in the settlement hierarchy below Strategic Centres. The provision of housing to maintain Stourbridge’s role in the settlement hierarchy of Dudley and the wider Black Country is therefore of importance. The delivery of high-quality housing in the locality will contribute to ensuring that population growth is focused in an area close to employment opportunities, which can be easily accessed via a sustainable transport network

24.34 The Site is located to the west of the residential area of Stourbridge in close proximity to a number of services and facilities in Stourbridge. Schools, shops, residential communities, and leisure facilities are all accessible by a choice of means of transport, including walking and cycling.

24.35 Stourbridge Town Centre is approximately 30 minutes walking distance from the northwest of the site where access to Stourbridge Town railway station is also available. Stourbridge Junction rail station is located approximately 3km from the proposed site and provides regular services to nearby and well-connected stations including Birmingham New Street, Kidderminster, Solihull, Worcester Shrub Hill, and Stratford-Upon-Avon.

24.36 The site is situated is situated 0.4km from Shenstone Avenue bus stop, which provides regular services to the centre of Stourbridge and Dudley.

24.37 The site is therefore located in an accessible location and would contribute to supporting existing services and facilities in the area including Stourbridge Town Centre.

24.38 The development of the site would provide a suitable range of dwellings in various types, sizes and tenures, including affordable housing, to meet the needs of the local population, and establish a mixed and sustainable community.

24.39 As detailed in the Delivery Statement for the site, the proposal will bring a number of economic and fiscal benefits in terms of job creation, additional monies to the Local Authority and increased expenditure in the economy.

24.40 No environmental constraints have been identified that would inhibit the future allocation and development of the site. It is currently in agricultural use and is considered to be of limited ecological value. The proposals will provide numerous compensatory improvements, and seek to retain, enhance or mitigate the existing ecological and environmental features of value on the Site.

24.41 Existing hedgerows and trees will be retained and incorporated where possible within the proposed development supplemented with further woodland planting to help screen the site and integrate it with surrounding assets such as Iverley Heath and Bunkers Hill Woods. The site extent allows the opportunity to provide wide-ranging enhancements to demonstrate a
‘biodiversity net gain’.

Masterplan for Clent View Road

24.42 The proposed masterplan is designed to:
• Create a development which is specific to Stourbridge by sensitively responding to the unique attributes and characteristics of the Site and its wider context.
• To provide safe and convenient access for both new and existing residents to local amenities and facilities through the delivery of public open space and pedestrian connections to Clent View Road, Roman Road, the public footpath adjacent to the Site leading to Iverley Heath and Bunkers Woods, and the adjacent public bridleway ‘Westwood Avenue’ to allow for opportunities to access nearby recreation assets, including Little Iverley Covert woodland.
• To provide a central area of greenspace to create a sense of place and provide recreational opportunities within the site through the provision of facilities such as LEAPs and MUGAs, and the use of sustainable links through the site incorporating existing assets such as the
Roman Road.
• To provide green gateways into the site along the main accesses, with the opportunity to create tree lined streets to contribute to the character and quality of the development and help mitigate and adapt to climate change.
• To provide a development of suitable scale, form and appearance which meets both the needs of the local community in a sustainable way, whilst also being sensitive to the character of the surrounding townscape and landscape setting.
• To retain, enhance and embrace the Site’s natural assets through the inclusion of naturalised green infrastructure including wetland attenuation basins, managed wild grasslands and the planting of native shrubs/trees to contribute to a well-designed and beautiful place in accordance with the Framework.

Alternative Masterplan

24.43 Taylor Wimpey is currently investigating the potential to include additional areas of land within the proposed masterplan for Clent View Road. The Alternative Masterplan includes these additional areas. As these areas would effectively provide development in areas surrounded by the land being promoted, or between this land and the existing urban area, they are not considered to perform any significant additional Green Belt role and are therefore suitable for release. The Alternative Masterplan is included in the Delivery Statement for Clent View Road which has been submitted alongside these representations.

24.44 These additional pieces of land would provide approximately 150 additional dwellings within a network of high-quality greens, routes and open spaces which would integrate with and connect to the wider development area. Existing tree belts and hedgerows to boundaries would be retained and enhanced to further improve containment and mitigate visual impact and would provide a well-connected and comprehensive greenspace network as part of the overall scheme. The additional open space brought forward in these areas would provide further recreational and placemaking opportunities within the site.

24.45 The Alternative Masterplan also identifies a ‘Potential Expansion Site’ to the west of the masterplanned area which measures 24ha in area. The potential to acquire and develop this land is also being investigated by Taylor Wimpey.

24.46 This land is well contained by existing permanent defensible boundaries which are capable of preventing urban sprawl and preventing encroachment into the wider countryside. An access road lined by established boundary hedgerows runs to the north and a thick belt of woodland planting at Bunkers Hill Woods to the west and south. The land would be contained by development on the Clent View Road site to the east. The future development of the site would not result in merging of settlements. It would retain a significant gap of approximately 2.3km between Stourbridge and Kinver and a gap of approximately 4.9km between Stourbridge and Kidderminster. This land does not affect the setting and special character of a historic town and therefore does not contravene this purpose. The release of this land from the Green Belt would not prevent the recycling of derelict land and other urban land within South Staffordshire or Dudley, as insufficient previously developed land and land in the urban area is available to meet future housing requirements.

24.47 It is considered that this land would form a logical future phase of development once the masterplanned area is completed and could potentially come forward for release towards the end of the BCP Site Assessment Report

24.48 The Clent View Road site is identified as Site Reference SA-0105-DUD in the Council’s Site
Assessment Report. The Assessment Report concludes the following on the site:

“The western boundary of the submitted site follows the borough boundary with South Staffordshire at the northern end and then expands to form a cross boundary ‘call for sites’ submission. The land within Dudley MBC is long and narrow.

The Green Belt and Landscape Sensitivity Assessment considers the landscape to have a
‘Moderate’ overall sensitivity to residential development, as the majority of the criteria score moderate and no criteria overrides that judgement. It rates harm to the Green Belt from release as ‘Moderate to High’ noting that the sub-parcel makes a strong contribution to preventing sprawl of the West Midlands conurbation to the east of the suburbs of Stourbridge, and to preventing encroachment on the countryside, and a moderate contribution to maintaining the separation of Stourbridge and Kidderminster (via intervening settlements). It goes on to say that the area, to the south of Westwood Avenue has an urban edge that is bounded by the well-treed hedgerow along Roman Road. Indeed, Sandy Lane acts as a strong defensible boundary to the Green Belt at this point.

If development were to be allowed on this site it would effectively allow the conurbation to expand into open countryside. Furthermore, the borough boundary cuts though the centre of the grazed fields and the consequent new boundary to the built-up area would be very weak. This makes this site a poor choice for the receipt of new development.

There is a high-pressure gas pipeline running north south along the Roman Road, the zone of influence of which effectively covers the majority of the site. This creates a physical constraint”.

24.49 For the reasons set out in the Green Belt Technical Report submitted with these representations, we consider that the BCGBS does not accurately assess the contribution of the site to the Green Belt and its contribution is lower than recorded.

24.50 Whilst the allocation of the site would involve the expansion of the conurbation into the open countryside, this would be the case for any site on the edge of the existing conurbation (many of which have been allocated in the draft BCP) so we do not consider that this is a valid reason to discount the site.

24.51 The assessment that the borough boundary cuts though the centre of the grazed fields and the consequent new boundary to the built-up area would be very weak, is also flawed as the site would not be delivered on this basis. The site is being promoted as a cross boundary site which extends into South Staffordshire and would be defined by well established boundaries, including existing field boundaries. As a result, the new boundary to the built up area would be strong.

24.52 Taylor Wimpey is aware of the gas pipeline running along Roman Road and the scheme would be designed to ensure that it would not impact upon the zone of influence. The pipeline does not therefore create a physical constraint which would preclude the development of the site.

24.53 For the above reasons, the conclusions in the BCP Site Assessment Report are considered to be unfounded and the site is suitable for removal from the Green Belt and allocation for residential development.

Conclusions

24.54 Land at Clent View Road, Stourbridge is considered suitable for allocation for residential development because:

• 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.
• There is no overriding constraint that will impede the delivery of the site.
• It does not make a significant contribution to the purposes of the Green Belt and is suitable for release.
• The site should be identified as it will meet the needs of both South Staffordshire and
Dudley where there are clear issues with regards to the duty to cooperate and meeting cross- boundary strategic needs.