Agenda item

APPLICATION NO.

19/02899/OUTS

APPLICATION TYPE

OUTLINE APPLICATION - SOUTH

REGISTERED

09.12.2019

APPLICANT

Shorewood Homes And Diocese Of Winchester

SITE

Land East of Furzedown Road, Furzedown Road, Kings Somborne, KINGS SOMBORNE

PROPOSAL

Erection of 18 dwellings in Outline with all matters reserved except access Full - change of use of land to allotments with new access off Furzedown Road and erection of a storage building

AMENDMENTS

• Response to Allotment Association – 31^st March 2021
• Additional ecology info – 25^th January 2021
• Additional info nitrates – December 2020
• Additional info on highways and nitrates – June 2020
• Amended highway info received 24^th April 2020
• Amended proposal wording and amended and additional plans/detail received 26^th March 2020

CASE OFFICER

Miss Sarah Barter

REFUSED for the reasons:

1.

The proposed development results in the direct loss of an established, and well used allotment site that is meeting, and would continue to meet, local demand for this community resource. In considering the location of the proposed new allotment site, this site:

(i)  sits at a higher and exposed ground level (elevated topography);

(ii)  is proposed to be accessed by a convoluted and long torturous footway route through the new housing development;

(iii)  is proposed to also be accessed via Furzedown Road that does not, and will not, have a pedestrian footway separated from vehicular traffic; and

(iv)  is accessed via Furzedown Road that has a particularly steep incline;

means that the location of the alternative allotment does not represent an equivalent or better provision to that which it replaces. The result is that the new site is not as inclusive to the community taking into account age, disability or levels of car ownership/mobility. Consequently the loss of an established allotment site within the settlement results in the unacceptable loss of allotments to serve the needs of the community to the detriment of their health, welfare and leisure needs, contrary to Policy LHW1(f) of the Test Valley Borough Revised Local Plan (2016) and Paragraph 97 of the National planning Policy Framework. In reaching this conclusion the Council recognises the social, environmental and economic benefits that might otherwise arise from the proposal, including the delivery of both open market and

affordable housing to meet the general housing requirements of the Borough, but these factors are not sufficient to outweigh this principle issue.

2.

The proposed development by means of its nature, location and scale could have likely significant effects upon the nearby Solent and Southampton Water European Designated Site which is designated for its conservation importance. In the absence of a completed legal agreement securing the proposed off site mitigation, the applicant has failed to satisfy the Council that the proposal would not adversely affect the special interest of the Solent and Southampton Water European Designated Site, therefore the application is contrary to Policies COM2 and E5 of the adopted Test Valley Borough Revised Local Plan (2016) and the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 (as amended).

3.

In the absence of a legal agreement to secure the provision of new affordable housing, including their subsequent retention in perpetuity to occupation by households in housing need the development fails to comply with, and is therefore contrary to policy COM07 of the Test Valley Borough Revised Local Plan 2016 thereby exacerbating an existing need for such housing in the locality.

4.

In the absence of a legal agreement to secure the provision and future maintenance arrangements of new public open space (informal recreational space) at the site of the residential development the proposal fails to provide sufficient public open space required to serve the needs of the future population. The proposal will therefore result in unnecessary additional burden being placed on existing public open space provision adversely affecting the function and quality of these facilities, to the overall detriment of the area and users of the open space. The proposal is contrary to Policy LHW1 (a-c) of the Test Valley Borough Revised Local Plan (2016).

5.

In the absence of a legal agreement to secure the provision of new infrastructure at the proposed new allotment site (comprising a programme of soil enrichment to achieve a comparable growing condition to the existing site; stock fencing to the perimeter; 5no. functioning water taps; all weather paths and raised beds in certain location(s) to aid those holders with physical/mobility issues; landscaping; replacing sheds and polytunnels that are unable to be relocated, and professional support for 5 months to assist allotment holders to move to the new site) and the subsequent maintenance of the new allotments (comprising a financial contribution of £500 per annum for 5 years towards the cost of water supply) the development fails to comply with, and is therefore contrary to policy LHW1(f) of the Test Valley Borough Revised Local Plan 2016 and Paragraph 97 of the National Planning Policy Framework in that the proposed development would not provide for replacement allotment provision equivalent or better in respect of quantity and quality to that which would be lost at the existing allotment site. Without such Obligations the proposal would not provide suitable provision for the continuing needs of the community.