More detail
- The new application nearly doubles the density of housing units in this phase compared to the overall master plan given Outline Planning Consent in 2019 (from 108 to 203 units) – if approved this may set a precedent for similar increases in density in the remaining phases. It is worth noting that the Preliminary Ecological Appraisal included in the papers for the current Application show what appears to be a breakdown of the property types and numbers of bedrooms for the entire site – and does indeed show some increases in density for subsequent phases; increasing the proportion to be built as apartments from 20% to 40%, increasing the total planned population by more than 25%, and increases the number of units in the phase that includes the greenfield element from 20 to 49, potentially requiring more green fields to be sacrificed to the profit of the developer.
- In order to gain the original Outline Consent, the developer has made a number of pledges (some via S106 agreement, others as a non-contractual commitment). As yet, some major items have not been delivered – in particular the proposed transfer of three fields (see Section 5 below) to ownership of the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust. We are concerned that the developer will continue to push delivery of these into future phases, and that they may never be completed. We are particularly concerned about protecting the Fields from future development if they remain in the ownership of the Developer.
- The impact of the increased density is understated in the application as currently submitted, as the application is incomplete and many documents (eg the traffic data and the Geotechnical / Environmental Report which dates back to 2016) are very much out of date. These documents need to be replaced by current and up to date submissions.
- Other things being equal, because of the significant increase in housing density this application should be much more profitable for the developer than the approved Outline Plan –there should be a fresh assessment of the financial contribution made by the Developer, and a fresh assessment of whether the developer should be required to include affordable Housing.
- We are concerned that the application is about building housing units that suit the developer and not about meeting the housing need from the local community.
- We are concerned that there have been no steps taken by the Developer thus far to comply with the Local Plan provisions to direct ALL traffic from the site away from the old Snitterton Road through Snitterton and Oker, which is a narrow country lane – not a main road.
- We do not object to developing what is predominantly a brownfield site – but increasingly what we are seeing from the developer is surburbanisation creeping into the countryside, increased traffic volumes, and over-intensification of the site. We want to encourage officers to recalibrate the proposal towards something that more closely aligns with the original vision approved in 2019.
- There is significant history in relation to the Quarry site which is important background in understanding our concerns about the current application. Read more about the history here.