Great Shelford Village in Cambridgeshire, England

Comments on plans for 93 units on Livanos House site, Granhams Road
S/1581/04/F

93 Residential units(new build and conversion of Livanos House) new access, internal roads and footways etc. Huntingdonshire Housing Partnership & MPM Properties Ltd

The Parish Council understand that under current Government and County planning policies densities of 30 to 40 dwellings per hectare are to be sought in locations close to a good range of existing services and facilities and where there is a good transport network. Great Shelford has been designated as a rural growth settlement and therefore there is a presumption of development on the site. However these policies all have conditions requiring that the development should be 'compatible with maintaining local character', 'should be sensitive to the character of the village, local features of landscape or ecological importance and the amenities of neighbours' and 'should be informed by the wider character of the local townscape and landscape........ should achieve high quality design'. Policy HG 10 also states that the District Council supports the preparation of village design statements to achieve these aims.
The Parish Council consider that in certain aspects this development is contrary to conditions in these policies and advice contained within the Village Design Statement.

DESIGN AND LAYOUT

The V.D.S. has several conclusions and guidelines relating to the layout and design of estate development. These cover scale (predominantly domestic) character (diverse and distinctive), importance of design quality of buildings, layout, (to achieve the increased density required by government guidelines) landscape and floorscape; the avoidance of standardised mass housing and placeless estate development and the need to reinforce the palette of colouration from local materials. These expand upon policy HG10.
· The four storey blocks of flats are not domestic in scale, their layout does not relate well to the local features of the site and the surrounding landscape. Their design does not relate to the character of the village, for example the watermill constructed in Cambridge whites and slate has a simple balanced design without architectural ornamentation; the flats in contrast have pantiled roofs and arches which are not working elements of the building.
· The style of the flats applies to all the other dwellings on the site producing standardised housing.
· The layout on the western and northern parts of the site of semi-detached dwellings beside an access road with parking adjacent or in the immediate vicinity is reminiscent of many of the cul de sac developments of the past 30 or 40 years. The site requires a more imaginative scheme linking buildings and avoiding the large visible areas of hard surfacing necessary for car parking.
· The density proposed of more than 50 dwellings per hectare is greater than that recommended in Government guidelines and the layout and type of buildings necessary to achieve this density is unsuitable for a wooded site at the edge of the village.
· Buildings H7and H8 will adversely impact on 5a Granham's Road and their siting needs reconsideration.

OPEN SPACE

· In order to achieve the density of more than 50 dwellings per hectare it has been necessary to build flats and not to provide any public open space which means the development does not comply with open space standards. As it is likely that couples with young children will buy the private houses some provision should be made for them on the site. It should not be assumed they will use the open space across a busy road and railway crossing

TRAFFIC

· We believe that the traffic model used under-estimates the projected flow to and from the site and the impact on the build up of traffic where queues already occur due to the closure of the crossing. Significant queues are likely to result from more cars wanting to turn right into the site or at the High Green - Granhams Road junction.

TREES AND LANDSCAPE

· The landscape setting of the village is an important part of the local heritage. This part of Granham's Road has been identified as a gateway to the village because of trees in land on both sides, creating a sense of enclosure. The V. D. S. recommends that the features that mark gateways (trees and hedgerows) should be protected. The loss of 14 significant trees many with a tree preservation order (T.P.O.), and 35 other trees especially along the southern and western boundary of the site where they form a backdrop to the site and their replacement by smaller, shorter living native and ornamental trees is contrary to this advice.
· The loss of the same trees would remove the present screen for the occupiers of Granhams Close and 5a Granhams Road and is therefore detrimental to their amenities.
· The site layout clearly shows 12 existing large trees on the western boundary but David Brown in his landscape report states that due to the inherent difficulty of retaining them during construction or their unsuitability for retention within the amenity space of the private houses proposed, 8 of these trees must be felled including a Category 1 Walnut tree. It would give an accurate representation of how the site would be if these trees were removed from the site plan and the model. In landscape terms we would prefer that the layout were amended to permit the retention of significant trees and the planting of similar trees to retain the landscape character of this area.
· This wooded character which flows into meadow land and then agricultural land forms a soft blended edge to the village.( The V.D.S. noted the harsh edge of The Hectare and suggested planting to screen it). The necessity of constructing a 3 metre high fence along the boundaries with the railway lines to reduce the noise level on the site to one that is acceptable for development, will create a harsh intrusive edge to the village.
· This intrusion will be compounded by the siting of a long building made up of 2 four storey blocks of flats immediately behind the fence and an additional building made up of 1 four storey and 2 three story blocks to the north of the first, clearly visible in the long view along Granhams Road. This is clearly contrary to the local policy that requires developments to be sensitive to local features of landscape.
· Block B built within the crescent of Horse Chestnut trees has flats whose main windows face north directly into the branches of these trees. This situation is surely not good for the long term viability of the trees in their present form as residents will request their removal.

CONCLUSIONS

The Parish Council accept the site is suitable for housing and that the developers are proposing a mix of housing in accordance with local planning policies. However we do not think the proposed scheme is acceptable in terms of density, design and layout, impact on trees and landscape and open space, and we would hope the scheme would be amended to overcome these objections.