Syresham Parish Council Chairman: Mrs Dorothy Dunkley, 31 Wappenham Road, Syresham, Northants, NN13 5HQ Telephone:

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1 Syresham Parish Council Chairman: Mrs Dorothy Dunkley, 31 Wappenham Road, Syresham, Northants, NN13 5HQ Telephone: Parish Clerk Mrs Lesley Sambrook Smith 29B Bell Lane Syresham Brackley Northants NN13 5HP Tel: Planning Objections for Abbey Road Development S/2014/1523/MAF Syresham Parish Council strongly rejects the current proposals to the above development for 30 houses on land on Abbey Road, Syresham despite the minor amendments made to the plan. The Parish Council feel that this is a wholly inappropriate proposal for development in what is designated a restricted infill village, lying as it does outside the confines, and destroys one of the better open-country views across the Great Ouse valley. The development is oversized and does not in any way fit in with the overall architectural features of the village and removes at least one highly valued Lime tree of significance which marks the sacrifices made by villagers in the Great War. The Lime trees are now subject to a Tree Preservation Order. South Northants Council s (SNC) Local Plan is being updated and the new plan has not yet been adopted. Nevertheless, SNC have adopted Syresham s Village Design Statement which covers many guidelines the Parish Council feel should be taken into account when a planning application is received by SNC. Listed below are the relevant sections of the VDS which have been yet again ignored by the developer. The Parish Council strongly urge the Planning Department to use the material considerations when making their final decision. Contradictions to Syresham VDS (VDS guidelines are in italic): Appearance (design, materials etc) Construction materials (stone, stone and render, brick) a) House walls should be constructed in honey coloured brickwork or honey coloured limestone to complement adjoining properties b) Red brick should not be the first building choice. Where red brick is proposed, it should be used with discretion to ensure that it does not become a dominant feature The amended proposal plans to have 21 out of 30 houses built in red brick. It is noted that the type of red brick has also been modified to a paler shade of red, however 70% of the proposed houses would be constructed using red brick. This is completely contradictory to 1

2 sectionss (a) and (b) of the VDS. Syresham Village has h 278 properties (nott 340 as written by the developer) and the following chart show the relative percentages of each type of building material used in the 278 dwellings. Type of building material 7% red brickk stone stone and render 24% 27% stone and brick render render and brick beige brick 6% 17% 7% 5% wood wood and brick render and wood painted brick As can be seen, only 7% of the current housing stock uses red brick, b the proposal of 21 out of 30 of the new houses in red brick is completely out of character of the village. Syresham Parish Council strongly objects to the developers choice of building materials. Traffic, parking or access problems New developments b) Where development provides neww or affectss existing footpaths, the design and layout should reflect r the rural character and sense of space. The proposed new footpath in Abbey Road cuts into the deep grass g verge and will reduce the rural feel of Abbey Road Two off street parking spaces aree to be planned for every new build; garagingg should be included where there is space. The affordable units do not have any garages associated with them, however alll market houses do which does not comply with VDS (b) There shouldd be no noticeable difference in market housing and affordable housing external appearance. 13 of the 30 plots have single file parking spaces. It can be expected e that only one car will park on the drive and the other will park on the road to avoid having to move cars when blocked on the drive. This will cause congestion in the proposed development and may cause issues for emergency vehicles. Abbey Road is essentially one way due to cars parked on the side s of the road. Access to the village at rush hour times will be problematic. Cllr J Nash has h carried out a survey on the number of parked cars: 2

3 Date Fri 11/4/14 Sat 12/4/14 Sun13/4/14 Mon 14/4/14 Wed 16/4/14 No. Parked Time cars 07: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : :30 8 Whilst this is effectively a snapshot of the parking situation, it is clear that there are always parked cars on Abbey Road increasing significantly at school pick up and drop off (however it should be noted that the data collected above was taken during the school holidays). VDS At times parked vehicles create obstacles to the regular bus service and other larger delivery vehicles passing through the village. This is especially so at the sharp narrow corner of Abbey Road and High Street. The proposed new development has only one access road into the development from Abbey Road which will add traffic flow to an already congested Abbey Road. As currently proposed the entrance to the development will also constitute an interruption on a key aesthetic feature of village street scenery the line of historic trees (discussed in more detail in the next section). Effect on character of an area b) Protect open spaces and views (for example, view from Abbey Road and view from Wappenham Road to the Jubilee Tree) c) Preserve existing open spaces and potential new open spaces protected to maintain the rural character of the village b) Mature trees should be retained where possible, and tree roots should be protected by fencing during building work c) Abbey Road and the old A43 at the junction with High Street have avenues of trees bordering adjacent farmland. The replacement of diseased or uprooted trees along these routes will help to maintain the visual impact Green Spaces a) The entrances to the villages should be preserved as green spaces to maintain Syresham s rural appeal. 3

4 The views around the village were carefully listed and, with SNC s permission, added to the map of Syresham. The proposed development will completely remove one important view and will impact the view from Church End. The lime trees were planted in memory of all who served in WW1, an appropriate complement to the Abbey Road War Memorial that leads the (currently) unbroken living line of tribute and remembrance. The Parish Council have listed the trees as important and have obtained a group TPO to protect the trees. As one lime tree and a maple tree would still have to be removed to allow access to the proposed development, the Parish Council are horrified that the entry to the proposed development was not re-considered. Syresham Parish Council strongly objects to the removal of trees on Abbey Road to allow access to the proposed new development. Residential amenity (noise, overshadowing, overlooking) The smallest plots on the plan are immediately adjacent to the northern boundary on Malt Lane. Whilst the developers planning statement (section 7.19) says the site layout confirms that the site can be developed whilst ensuring that the proposed properties are a sufficient distance away from existing properties to ensure that they do not adversely affect the residential amenity of existing properties to an unacceptable level, three two-storey properties will directly look into the rear of three existing two-storey properties on Malt Lane and three two-storey properties will overlook an existing bungalow on Abbey Road. This surely is an unacceptable adverse affect on residential amenity and one the Parish Council cannot support. General Objections: Syresham is a Restricted Infill Village which means development outside the boundary is not permitted. A development of 30 houses is wholly inappropriate on that site. The village and Parish Council have identified a preferred development site adjacent to the village hall (communicated to Mr A D Arcy and Mr A Colwell in September 2013), the Abbey Road site is not the preferred site for development therefore the Parish Council object to this site being developed. The VDS (Appendix 3) highlights the concerns of a number of residents with respect to odours from drains and sewers. The Utility Assessment provided by the developers goes into details of how fresh water would service the proposed site, however foul water is not referred to in this Assessment. The developer would need to give a report on the state of the existing facilities and confirm with Anglian Water that they could cope with a further 30 houses in the system well in advance of any building work being planned. As the current information stands, Syresham Parish Council does not support the development as the developer has not performed a full assessment of the needs of the whole village. Questions: Why has the substation been removed from the plan? Western Power Distribution would have to remove overhead cables and provide a new substation (as indicated in the Utilities 4

5 Assessment), have they confirmed that this will be built before the houses are ready for occupation? Syresham Parish Council request that this information is provided. BT has not confirmed that the network is able to take an additional 30 houses. Broadband is adequate in the village, but if capacity increased would the current network cope? Syresham Parish Council would like to see Superfast Broadband introduced into the village (VDS e High speed broadband should be encouraged as this would help businesses within the parish (based on NPPF paragraph 42)), is this something the developer could offer? Planning Statement Pg 26 section 7.26 refers to the removal of trees 5 and 4 to allow for main site access, this contradicts the Ecological Appraisal. Summary: The village and Parish Council have identified a preferred development site adjacent to the village hall (communicated to Mr A D Arcy and Mr A Colwell in September 2013), the Abbey Road site is not the preferred site for development therefore the Parish Council object to this site being developed. Syresham Parish Council strongly objects to the developers choice of building materials. Syresham Parish Council strongly objects to the removal of trees on Abbey Road to allow access to the proposed new development. Syresham Parish Council objects to the loss of residential amenity for properties on Malt Lane. To re-iterate, Syresham Parish Council strongly opposes and rejects the current proposals to the above development for 30 houses on land on Abbey Road, Syresham despite the minor amendments made to the plan. The Parish Council feel that this is a wholly inappropriate proposal for development in what is designated a restricted infill village, lying as it does outside the confines. The proposal still destroys one of the better open-country views for the village across the Great Ouse valley with an over-sized development which does not in any way fit in with the overall architectural features of the village, fails to take note of the widely expressed views of the local community in respect of building materials and design and removes at least one highly valued Lime Tree of significance which marks the sacrifices made by villagers in the Great War. The proposed alterations to the layout and appearance of the development do nothing to enhance this aspect of Syresham. However, without prejudice, if the planning application is granted, the Parish Council would like a contribution towards local leisure and recreation facilities. 5