10
RURAL AREA DEVELOPMENT CONTROL COMMITTEE – 1ST AUGUST 2007
DC/07/0890/OUT
REFERENCE
LOCATION
15/6/07
Three Willows
EXPIRES
Outline
Garden Centre, St.
APPLICATION TYPE
Mr. P. Watts
John’s Road,
APPLICANT
Bungay
Bungay
PARISH
th
Follows Members’ site meeting on 16 July 2007
STATUS
14 residential units
PROPOSAL
SUMMARY
The garden centre is relocating along the Flixton Road and residential redevelopment of the
existing site will help to enable this. Judged to fit well into a mainly residential area, this well
conceived scheme raises few issues, now that vehicular access has been clarified.
PARISH COUNCIL RECOMMENDATIONS
No objection in principle, but there are problems related to the proposed access onto Southend
Road which will need to be resolved. Traffic leaving the site should not be permitted to travel west
up Southend Road as this road is unsuitable for through traffic.
BUNGAY SOCIETY
Does not believe Southend Road can be made wide enough to take the extra traffic, will create
extra movements into/off St. John’s Road, which are already difficult enough. Direct acces onto St.
John’s would solve this and the risk of increased use of the narrow part of Southend and
Laburnham Roads.
SUFFOLK PRESERVATION SOCIETY
Design and density have merit. But grave concerns re the access. A better route would be direct
onto St. John’s Road, although even that may be far from ideal.
NEIGHBOURS
Being an outline application, some residents needed to reserve judgement on details or voice
concerns in advance. Issues raised :
-Risk of overlooking/loss of privacy (as two-storey houses proposed),
-maximum of two storeys please,
-no street lights shining into our windows please,
-access opposite our drive = possible danger,
-will rear access to my therapy business be retained?,
-proposed access path rear of units 12-14 could affect our security/privacy,
-widening Southend Road/introducing more traffic will change character of this quiet, ‘village-like’
lane
-risk of Southend Road becoming a ‘rat run’ (to/from destinations west), could harm safety, create
congestion, better if access direct off the better road, St. John’s.
-if east part of Southend Road improved, should allow two vehicles to pass and have footway on
both sides.
-parking inadequate at 1.5 spaces per house, in spite of policy guidelines – better here would be
family houses with 2 spaces each, including a garage
WAVENEY DC (Housing)
3 dwellings out of the 14 should be Affordable, specifying, from those proposed, a 1 x 3 bedroom
for social rent and 2 x 2 bedroom for shared ownership. (Applicant has agreed to the principle of
30% on-site provision.)
SUFFOLK CC (Highways)
No objections to the proposed access. Specifies the junction radii, footway and verge widths and
other details. Access to plots 2 and 3 direct off Southend Road is not acceptable – should be off
the internal site road, as per all the others.
SUFFOLK CC (Archaeology)
Ask for a pre-development archaeological survey. Site is close to town’s medieval core and a
medieval chapel site, in particular.
ENVIRONMENT AGENCY
Low environmental risk. Ask for sustainable construction and drainage methods.
ANGLIAN WATER
Foul drainage can be accommodated by existing public sewer. Surface water should go to
soakaways or a SUDS system. In either case the Env. Agency’s consent is required. Ask for
condition to reserve details (not the principle) of site drainage.
PLANNING POLICY
Together with the adjacent Charlish commercial garage, the site is allocated for mixed use
development in the Interim Local Plan under policy R2. It is between the original Conservation Area
to the west and the recent additional area, which covers the St. John’s Road frontage properties to
the east, and therefore includes the proposed corner plot at the Southend Road junction. H6
requires that development within the towns should be on ‘brownfield’ sites only, H4 that density
should be 30-50 per hectare, H5 that 30% should be affordable dwellings, preferably on-site, if in a
sustainable location.
PLANNING CONSIDERATIONS
The adjacent Charlish garage continues to flourish, so the policy’s regeneration-through-mixed use
pipe dream for the site is not immediately deliverable, except in the crude sense of two different
uses co-existing side by side. But officers cannot recall any past noise or other nuisance problems
from this garage, which already adjoins houses.
After negotiations, the scheme consists of two storey houses, continuing the terraced character
along Southend Road, and the detached ‘villa’ forms which adjoin on this section of St. John’s
Road. An internal access road snakes through to enable the site to be developed in depth, with two
more terraces of 3. This accessway is punctuated by parking courts (in lieu of on-plot spaces). This
zig-zag layout and constantly changing road surfaces would ensure short, interesting vistas,
dispelling any ‘estate layout’ feel and increasing the sense of pedestrian priority.
The layout achieves approx. 35 units per hectare and avoids overshadowing of existing adjacent
dwellings and can avoid overlooking, depending on the placement of windows and screening at the
detailed design stage. There is only 15m back-to-back with 14-18 Bardolph Road, and a special
design, including the option of single storey, should be reserved by any issued permission. Parking
at 1.5 per dwelling is appropriate for this site which is out-of-centre, but still well related to shops
and services and public transport.
It is fair to say that the proposal to widen the east part of Southend Road, to serve as vehicular
access has drawn the most comment. This was negotiated early on along with the Highway
Authority, being seen as one-time opportunity to improve this poor junction with St. John’s Road for
the benefit of existing residents and industrial users in Southend Road. The narrowness of
Southend Road and other roads to which it leads to the west, their parked cars and jutting garden
walls are a firm deterrent to any serious risk of rat running. It is hard to think of any but a very few
driver’s destinations which would not be more swiftly and safely reached via St. John’s Road, from
here. The alternative of a direct access onto St. John’s Road would only add to a confusion of
closely spaced junctions and there is no available gap in which to site it, other than immediately
next to Southend Road, which would simply be too dangerous. Suffolk Highways support the
proposals. A further plan has been received confirming that there would be a 2m footway on both
sides of the widened section of Southend Road, whilst still ensuring a two-way passing width for
vehicles. This will help to ensure pedestrian safety.
RECOMMENDATION
Approve subject to a S106 agreement to secure affordable housing (on-site), public open space
contributions (off-site) and conditions to reserve details of house design, surfaces, boundary
treatments, landscaping, drainage, highway improvements and archaeological investigation.
BACKGROUND PAPERS
CONTACT
Case File held in Planning Office, Mariners Street, Lowestoft
Andrew Norton, Planning Officer, Development Control,
01502 523053