Strategic Planning Sites in the Amesbury Area
To receive a presentation from Sarah Hughes, Senior Spatial Planning Officer.
Minutes:
The Chairman introduced Sarah Hughes (Senior Planning Officer, Spatial Planning) who was in attendance to give a presentation on Strategic Planning Sites in the Amesbury Area.
Sarah gave an overview of the following four key development sites in the Community Area:
Archers Gate – This site had planning permission for 550 houses, of which the majority were now complete. A local commercial centre was currently being completed on the site, next to the Bowman Centre. As part of the development, a school had been built on the site, with scope to expand, and an additional 170 houses were currently being built on the white land.
Kings Gate – This name had been given to the second phase of the Archers Gate development, to differentiate from the completed phase. This larger development would consist of 1300 houses including 40% affordable homes. Essential infrastructure would be installed along with the dwellings, including a new primary school, play areas, green spaces, community facilities, and contributions towards doctors’/dentists’ surgeries.
Solstice Park – The majority of this site had detailed planning consent, with only some of the smaller plots still available. A detailed plan of the site was available on the Solstice Park website.
Durrington H12 – Outline planning permission had been granted for 120 houses on this site. A reserved matters application on the detail of the development had been submitted and was under consideration.
The Chairman thanked Sarah for her presentation and invited questions and comments. The following points were made:
· Concerns were raised regarding the ability of the existing highways infrastructure to cope with up to 2000 extra cars from the future development at the Kings Gate site. It was also noted that the nearby development at Old Sarum had already increased the volume of traffic on the road network. Sarah commented that transport was a key component of the Core Strategy for development in South Wiltshire. In addition the Local Transport Plan would set out anticipated demand and proposals to encourage use of transport other than cars.
· Councillor Fred Westmoreland commented on the need for the community to be more active in demanding infrastructure and contributions to local investment from developers. A significant level of development would be taking place in Amesbury over the next few years, offering a unique opportunity to add to existing community facilities, and local infrastructure. Even smaller developments in surrounding villages could result in capital schemes to benefit the community. Councillor Westmoreland considered that now was the time to identify what was needed, and that early intervention by elected Members was crucial to securing the required outcomes from developers.
· It was noted that the previous government had been developing a scheme to require a “Community Infrastructure Levy” from developers for each new dwelling built. However, this was under review by the new coalition government, as they looked at the potential for other public services (e.g. Education, Fire and Rescue) to benefit from the levy.