Bramley Parish Council response to Planning Application 15/02708/OUT

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Parent Category: Planning and Development

Category: Planning Applications

Last Updated on Wednesday, 16 September 2015 00:00

Published on Tuesday, 15 September 2015 23:18

Written by Parish Clerk

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Land to the North of Sherfield Road Bramley Hampshire

Bramley Parish Council on behalf of many members of the parish community object to this planning application, we also need to make it clear up front that the applicants have not engaged in public consultation nor spoken with the parish council regarding a 50 dwelling proposal on this site. 

The reasons for objection are as follows:

1. The application is for development of 50 homes on a green field site outside of the Bramley settlement policy boundary (SPB).  Policy D5 of the Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council (BDBC) Local Plan (adopted 2006) states that development will be permitted in Bramley within the SPB.  Under the prevailing development plan policy, and as acknowledged by the applicants in paragraph 2.7 of their planning statement, this site is designated ‘countryside’ due to its location outside of the SPB.
   
   
2. Between 1981 and 2011 the number of dwellings in Bramley parish increased from 500 to 1662, this is an expansion of 232%.  In the same period the population grew from 1420 to 4233, an increase of 198%.  These rates of expansion are very far in excess of average rates across the Borough.  The current population average of 2.6 per dwelling, when applied to the currently approved developments at Razors Farm and Minchens Lane, will add 1625 people to the parish with 520 (i.e. Minchens) within the village.  This increases the parish population by a further 114% and adds 125% to the number of dwellings.  Since 1981 there has been no significant investment in infrastructure other than a small addition to the school and a small hall.    
   
   
3. Within the emerging BDBC local plan for the plan period 2011 to 2029, it is recognised that “Bramley parish became a designated area for neighbourhood planning purposes” in February 2013 (local plan reference para. 4.29), and also that ‘an allocation of 200 homes has been made to meet the needs of the village through Policy SS5 (Neighbourhood Planning)’.  The needs of the village are defined as 72 households in housing need in the parish.
   
   In early 2014 an application was approved for the development of 200 homes on a single site in Minchens Lane in Bramley to include 80 social and affordable homes.  This development fulfils the requirement in Policy SS5.  It is also important to note that up to 170 further affordable and social dwellings are being provided in the south of Bramley parish under approved application BDB/77341 for 425 dwellings in total.  On approved plans to date the housing need in Bramley parish is met and substantially exceeded.
   
   In addition to these two approved applications the emerging BDBC local development plan (LDP) allocates another site in Bramley parish at Upper Cufaude Farm (a BDBC owned property) for up to 385 homes including 40% affordable and social dwellings.
   
   In terms of Bramley’s contribution to the emerging BDBC LDP and the current issue of the five year land supply the parish is already contributing 625 dwellings with a further 385 in prospect and a total of up to 404 social and affordable dwellings versus the parish need, as stated in the emerging LDP of 72.  The resources of the parish, already limited in most respects will therefore be further exceptionally over stretched by an influx of residents from other parts of the Basingstoke and Deane Borough. 
   
   
4. The parish council appreciates the support given by the Portfolio Holder for the LDP councillor Mark Ruffell and the previous Planning Policy Implementation Manager Andrew Hunter who have both stated that the approved development of 200 dwellings at Minchens Lane has met, in entirety, the SS5 allocation to Bramley.  We also note that former Borough Councillor and Deputy BDBC Chairman Ranil Jayawardena wrote to a Bramley resident on 14^th July 2014 expressing support for the NDP process and his opposition to development on Strawberry Fields.
   
   
5. The applicants’ planning statement puts great emphasis on the public open space which it will be providing.  It also emphasises the sustainability of the development location based on what it claims are existing amenities, services and transport links.  However, the parish council would like to point out the reality of the situation:

1. The application uses flood zones 2 and 3 to provide the open green space, kick about and play area.  This is by definition a very wet area and can hardly be described as useable public space.  The application also proposes that play areas in other parts of Bramley village are accessible to residents on this development, however all of these play areas are south of the C32 and would necessitate children crossing this very busy and increasingly busy road at a point west of a blind bend.
    
2. The services referred to in the planning statement actually consist of; one very small local shop, a public house to the west of the level crossing, a bakery and car mechanics at the crossing, a primary school already at capacity and recently under special measures, some small commercial enterprises mainly employing people from outside of the Bramley area and a doctors surgery which is being expanded to accommodate the 200 homes already approved.
3. The amenities referred to consist of a small village hall, small church hall and two small halls with open space at Clift Meadow which are all west of the level crossing and thus not easily accessible to this proposed development.
4. Public transport consists of a limited bus service to Basingstoke and Tadley which does not go to the hospital, the last service to Basingstoke leaves before 6pm Mon-Fri.  There are only two trains per hour to Basingstoke and Reading.  There is a dangerous designated national cycle route which uses the very busy C32 and the (single track in parts) Cufaude Lane.  The parish council have pointed out to BDBC and to Hampshire County Council (HCC) on a number of occasions that crossing the C32 within the SPB is extremely dangerous as there are no formal controlled crossings.  The east of Bramley is the most developed and populous area within the SPB and adding more dwellings with associated people and vehicles to this area would exacerbate existing difficulties.  Pavements in Bramley are typically narrow, they are not continuous on either side of the C32 and they are non-existent on most of the very busy surrounding roads. Additionally there is frequent parking on the pavement by the shop leading to great difficulty for those with push chairs and wheel chairs etc.  There is a small car park near the station which is full by 0730 each day with both local residents and with commuters from outside of the parish.  The railway station attracts commuters from as far as Andover which contributes to the severe parking issues throughout the village.
5. The transport assessment provided by the applicants includes data from many different sources and time periods presented in a form to support their conclusion (planning statement para.6.5) that the development will “have no detrimental impact upon the local highway network”, the parish council dispute this conclusion in the light of local knowledge.  The parish council considers that the use of national and borough wide statistics as well as data which is no longer current, to predict the impact of this application on Bramley, is not applicable and therefore the conclusions can be deemed irrelevant.
    
   Car ownership data for rural Hampshire in the 2011 census is approximately 1.5 cars per household. Based on the 1662 dwellings in Bramley parish in 2011 there were therefore approximately 2500 cars.  Approved development applications at Minchens Lane and Razors Farm will add approximately 940 cars which is a 38% expected increase in cars within the parish.  Not all vehicles from Razors Farm will travel north into Bramley village but the parish council estimates that conservatively 25% of the vehicles from Razors Farm will access the C32.  The traffic impact of approved planning applications upon Bramley village will be an increase of 300 cars from Minchens Lane and 160 from Razors Farm; this will be an 18% increase in traffic using the C32.  The community is already concerned with current traffic volumes and therefore increasing the volume by 18% will exacerbate the current problems.  This application, using the same factor will add 75 cars and a further 3% to traffic volumes moving through the village.  The community have to consider the cumulative effect of expansion in recent years and the adverse impact of each new development, a 21% increase is not sustainable on the current road network.  The parish council considers that the combination of additional road traffic, combined with additional rail traffic following electrification of the rail line to accommodate increasing freight traffic, will bring Bramley to a standstill.
      
6. The applicants’ own traffic assessment indicates that over the course of 24 hours there are in excess of 4500 traffic movements on the C32 in the vicinity of the site.  The applicants are proposing to provide 144 parking spaces on site; this could leave up to 69 spaces in excess of the 75 estimated car ownership volumes.   Any available parking spaces in Bramley are taken up by commuters using the station and this could further worsen the traffic issues.
   
   Traffic queuing in the east for the level crossing frequently exceeds 80 vehicles and stretches as far back as The Smithy and Farriers Close which are opposite the proposed site access.  The level crossing barriers are currently down for approximately 30 mins in every hour, the barriers can be closed for up to 10 minutes at a time and occasionally when raised it is only for a brief period allowing 3-4 vehicles to cross.  This pattern generates long and very slow moving queues of which the applicant makes no mention.
   
   The applicants claim in para 2.10 of their planning statement that the site lies north of a main arterial route, this road is in fact a vastly overburdened and poorly maintained C road.  The traffic burden is not just caused by the increasing volume of local traffic but also traffic moving between the A33 and the A340 as it is the only route north of Basingstoke which joins these two main arterial roads.  The C32 is particularly poorly maintained east of the railway line. As a C road it has a lower Highways priority than a B road even though it carries the traffic burden of a B road by linking two A roads.
     
7. The proposed site access lies west of a blind bend on this much overburdened road and is in immediate proximity to four side roads and a number of private dwelling access points joining the C32.  Due to the previously mentioned lack of continuous pavement along the C32 the vast majority of the population from the south east of Bramley also have to cross the C32 just after this blind bend and close to the proposed site access.
    
8. In para. 6.5 of the applicants’ planning statement they state that the proposed development will “cause no adverse impact on the scale and character of Bramley”.  The reality is that Bramley has experienced significant expansion since 1988 in excess of any other area within the Borough and is still struggling to integrate the residents from the 277 dwellings in the locally titled “German Road development” which includes 47% social and affordable dwellings.  This has already changed the demographics of the village.  Any further increases in parish population will compound the difficulties created by the rate of expansion of Bramley.
9. The same paragraph goes on to state that the proposed development will “respect the significance of Bramley Conservation Area, retaining the locally important key views”.  Any development north east of the existing SPB will have a severe adverse impact on the context and the setting of the conservation area known as Bramley Green.  The open spaces within Bramley Green have been significantly eroded by recent development; these open spaces were recognised as very important to illustrate the development of the settlement as well as providing vistas through the conservation area. The settlement of Bramley Green is fast losing its historic identity and the preservation of the remaining open spaces is vital to its setting and protection of its historic significance.  Development of this site will compound the erosion of Bramley’s rural character in this area and will close down views north and east out of the area, from the north into the area and from Folly Lane looking west and significantly eroding the historic setting of Green Farm and The Barracks.  The proposed planting plans merely seek to hide the development and not to enhance the area.
10. The same paragraph again talks about “sustainable drainage”; there are already issues with water management in the area of Strawberry Fields and Sherfield Road and problems with the sewage system in this area of Bramley.  The open space and play area provision on the site is in flood zones 2 and 3 and there are no proposals to improve the drainage in these areas.
11. The applicant frequently refers to the Bramley neighbourhood development plan (NDP), this NDP is only in draft form and following public consultation there will be significant amendments to the draft.  Although Bramley does not yet have an NDP in place the process was used for assessing the Minchens Lane site in which public consultation accepted that this was a preferable location to that proposed by the applicants.  Minchens Lane site was able to offer tangible infrastructure improvements of value to Bramley and unique to that site.  The applicants’ site offers no such benefits.  The parish council believes that a draft neighbourhood plan carries no weight in the applicants’ proposal.
12. The applicants claim that this development will create jobs throughout the construction phase of the development.  It must be noted that these are temporary jobs and unlikely to include local Bramley people in need of work.  Construction jobs will be created by development no matter where it occurs in the Borough, this is not a specific benefit to Bramley parish.  The planning statement refers to the generation of new homes bonus, CIL monies and council tax as a benefit.  Such benefits would similarly accrue no matter where development occurs in the Borough.
13. The applicants’ reference to the NPPF and in particular the five year land supply are merely there to put pressure on BDBC.  It must be clearly understood that Bramley parish is already committed to 625 dwellings with a further 385 most likely and therefore believes it has made a significant contribution to the land supply in Basingstoke and Deane.  Opportunistic applications such as this, seeking to play upon the BDBC shortfall in land supply should not be approved at the expense of the Bramley community who have experienced significant expansion in recent years without improvement in structural, social and recreational infrastructure. 

In conclusion  

Bramley parish council objects to this application as it would clearly exacerbate the existing strain on resources and all types of infrastructure which Bramley is currently experiencing.  The housing need in Bramley as identified in the emerging local plan process is already met and exceeded within the parish by approved planning applications.  Development of the site offers no tangible benefits to the local community and would represent a further deterioration of the quality of life for existing residents and those who will come to live on the already committed development sites.  The Bramley community calls upon the Borough Council and our MP to support us by not approving further inappropriate and unsustainable development such as proposed in this application.