Policy SPS5.6: East of Basingstoke

Local Plan Update (Regulation 18)
Closed22 Jan, 2024, 10:00 - 4 Mar, 2024, 23:59
6.90 The following vision for land to the east of Basingstoke sets the direction for the site-specific policies in the area including East of Basingstoke, Redlands Lodge and Sherfield Hill Farm.

Vision for Land to the East of Basingstoke

The area to the East of Basingstoke will be a healthy and sustainable place with a green character and excellent walking, cycling and public transport links and local facilities and services to meet the majority of people’s day to day needs. Adjoining and integrated with beautiful countryside, it will be a location with an identity and character which responds sensitively to the environmental characteristics of the surrounding area. It will create:

  • High quality transport infrastructure supporting connectivity to Basingstoke Town Centre (including Basingstoke Rail and Bus Stations) and surrounding communities, supported by public transport and active travel (walking and cycling) corridors to provide connectivity and support physical and mental health, and wellbeing.
  • High quality facilities and services for existing and future residents providing a supportive and sustainable environment to live, work and play.
  • An exemplar community that is aspirational and sustainable, combats climate change and supports healthy lifestyles.
  • Countryside and ecology corridors which contribute to the important wider green infrastructure and biodiversity networks. Development will protect and enhance the natural environment of the area including the River Loddon corridor, respect the character of the surrounding countryside, and connect and enhance green spaces and linkages.
  • High quality development which protects the character and identity of rural villages, the distinctive character of the landscape and the historic environment.

SPS5.6: Land to the East of Basingstoke

The site, as shown on the Policies Map, is allocated for a well-designed and sustainable development that will:

Amount and Type of Development

  1. Make Provision for:
  1. Approximately 900 homes;
  2. Specialist accommodation for older persons;
  3. 5% serviced plots for custom and self-build homes;
  4. Education facilities;
  5. A neighbourhood centre to meet the day-to-day needs of the community, providing a range of retail, leisure, cultural, community, health and service facilities;
  6. Permanent Gypsy and Traveller pitches, proportionate to the size of the site when considered in relation to the overall need for pitches as set out in the latest version of the Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessment.

Development Principles

Masterplanning

  1. Be in accordance with the principles set out in:
  1. The Concept Plan and the Land to the East of Basingstoke vision;
  2. The Masterplan included in Appendix XX (to be produced prior to the Regulation 19 edition of the Local Plan); 
  3. A Strategic Design Code in accordance with the Masterplan to be adopted as a Supplementary Planning Document prior to the grant of full planning permission or the first reserved matters;

Design and Landscape

  1. The siting, density, scale, layout, character and hard and soft landscaping of the development must respond positively to and take opportunities to enhance: the landscape qualities of the site and wider area; the context of the neighbouring built environment; and the local distinctiveness of the area. The design and layout of the development on its outward facing edges will enable a suitable transition to the adjacent countryside;
  2. Retain the physical and visual sense of separation between the development and Old Basing, and retain Old Basing’s separate and historic identity;  

Biodiversity

  1. Protect and enhance key species and habitats, prevent detrimental impacts and, where unavoidable, mitigate the impact on protected species and habitats, and secure the creation and management of linkages that provide high levels of habitat connectivity within the site and to the wider green infrastructure network. This includes the protection of adjacent ancient woodland, Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINCs), Pettys Brook and the River Loddon, through the provision of appropriate buffers;
  2. Achieve a minimum 10% biodiversity net gain secured via an approved site management plan;

Heritage

  1. Seek to preserve or enhance the significance, setting, character and appearance of the Old Basing Conservation Area, and to preserve the significance of nearby listed buildings including the Grade II listed Lodge Farm and barn, taking due account of the contribution made to their setting. Opportunities should be taken to better reveal the significance of heritage assets in the vicinity of the site, safeguarding important vistas and views;
  2. Assess the full extent of any archaeological constraints via analysis by specialist consultants and ensure that the layout responds positively to those constraints, and successfully mitigates any archaeological impacts. This includes providing for the retention and careful management of important archaeological remains within and adjacent to the site, including the Pyotts Hill Entrenchment Scheduled Monument along the western edge of the site and the Roman Road, in a manner appropriate to their significance, with a sensitive landscaping strategy;

Flooding and Pollution

  1. Avoid development and points of access within flood zones 2 and 3 and ensure that appropriate flood risk management measures are provided including considering the need for the expansion of the floodplain and the provision of sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) to avoid any polluting runoff into the watercourses;
  1. Ensure that noise impacts arising from the A33 and adjacent incinerator, sewage treatment works and industrial uses are successfully mitigated through suitable measures;
  2. Given the proximity of the energy recovery facility and sewage treatment works, robustly demonstrate and ensure that acceptable odour and air quality standards that are acceptable to the LPA, can be met within homes and amenity areas.
     

Infrastructure

  1. Provide an Infrastructure Delivery Strategy with each full or outline planning application to demonstrate that infrastructure requirements have been comprehensively planned and phased;

Energy

  1. Incorporate renewable and low carbon energy technologies including utilising the nearby incinerator for district heating;

Social and community

  1. Make on-site provision for a two form of entry primary school, expandable to a three form entry if required;
  2. Make on-site provision for a community centre which will meet the needs of the new development, as required by the council’s Infrastructure Delivery Plan;
  3. Provide on-site sports pitch provision as required by the council’s Infrastructure Delivery Plan;

Green Infrastructure

  1. Make on-site provision for suitable amounts of open/green space, including allotments and a Neighbourhood Park in the vicinity of the neighbourhood centre, in accordance with the council’s Green Space Standards, which is well related to the overall layout and character of the development taking account of how it relates to its surroundings. This provision will be set within a robust and effective green infrastructure network (incorporating pedestrian and cycle routes where appropriate) within and through the development (utilising appropriate planting in order to support their biodiversity and landscape function), and which links to the surrounding countryside, habitats and Public Rights of Way. The delivery of green space and play will need to be provided alongside development parcels in order that there are facilities for residents to use by the time that housing is occupied;
  2. Maintain as open space the higher ground along the site’s northern boundary and in the south west by the Pyotts Hill Entrenchment;

Transport

  1. Safe and convenient access must be provided for all users, prioritising active travel (walking and cycling), together with access to high quality public transport services that offer a genuine choice of transport modes, whilst also accommodating the vehicle movements associated with the operation of the adjacent incinerator and sewage treatment works;
  2. Ensure no severe adverse impact on the highway network including the A33 corridor and connecting routes, nor any unacceptable impact on highway safety, with the inclusion of suitable measures to mitigate any impacts;
  3. Include the submission of a comprehensive and robust Transport Assessment and supporting site wide Travel Plan which prioritises and promotes active travel and public transport use within and beyond the site. This will include:
  1. Provide suitable new and improved facilities for active travel (walking and cycling) that integrate with the existing movement networks in order to establish safe, suitable and convenient access to facilities within the site, including the school, and also to Basingstoke town centre, Basing View, Chineham district centre and other local employment opportunities, facilities and services;
  1. Provision of high quality public transport infrastructure (including bus priority measures, accessible and convenient waiting and boarding facilities, including a Mobility Hub(s) which is sensitive to its setting, and new high-quality developer supported public transport services and infrastructure, to access Basingstoke town centre (including Basingstoke Railway and Bus Stations) and other local facilities and services, which will be available to serve the residents and users of the first phase of the development and subsequent phases thereafter;
  1. Ways to reduce the need to travel (including access to digital services), and to prioritise and maximise movement by active travel and public transport services, including layouts, street designs and associated measures that give priority to active travel and convenient access to high-quality public transport services, to minimise the transport impacts arising from the development. This needs to include the provision of an active travel and public transport corridor, with suitable connections to the north (via the Redlands site and onwards to the Taylor’s Farm Roundabout (A33)) and the south (Pyotts Hill/Bartons Lane). This needs to provide a direct route, with the inclusion of suitable traffic management measures, including preventing access by general traffic with Pyotts Lane/Bartons Lane to the south and the Redlands site to the north;

Utilities

  1. Provide or contribute to suitable infrastructure for sewerage (on and off site), foul water and other utilities.
6.91 This development will make provision for approximately 900 dwellings, which are to be provided via a range of dwelling types. The site already falls within the Settlement Policy Boundary of Basingstoke in the previous adopted Local Plan where the site was allocated for 450 homes as a first phase with a potential for a later phase of 450 homes being referenced in the policy. This allocation is for the whole site, or both phases, and the site should be delivered as a comprehensive development. It should also be considered in the context of other proposals to the east of Basingstoke as it is vital that development in the area is planned comprehensively and brought forward in a co-ordinated manner to ensure cohesive communities and a joined-up approach to the delivery of infrastructure.

Masterplanning and infrastructure principles

6.92 In advance of the Regulation 19 consultation on the Local Plan, the council will work with the site promoter to produce a masterplan for the site informed by the site promoter's emerging Sustainable Transport Strategy, including a site wide Framework Plan, Parameter Plans, Overarching Principles Document, Phasing Strategy and details of the infrastructure required (including on and off-site transport improvements), including its timing, funding and the responsibilities for its delivery. This document will be adopted as an appendix to the Local Plan, and will provide a more detailed framework to guide future planning applications. The masterplan will be supported by a Strategic Design Code to ensure that the development of the individual sites is planned in a comprehensive manner. The Strategic Design Code will be produced either by the Local Planning Authority (LPA), or the developer in agreement with the LPA, and adopted as a Supplementary Planning Document prior to the submission of the first full or reserved matters planning application. This approach will ensure consistent quality and delivery across the site by different developers.
6.93 Suitable infrastructure will be provided when it is required, alongside development and an Infrastructure Delivery Strategy will be submitted with any substantive application to demonstrate that infrastructure provision is coordinated and appropriately distributed across the allocation and linked to housing delivery on the site.

Landscape and design

6.94 The development will be distinctive and well-designed, responding to its environmental setting and wider spatial context. Any application will need to be supported by a Landscape and Visual Impact Appraisal to consider the landscape issues associated with the site in more detail. This should follow the Landscape Institute guidelines and the design and layout of the proposed development should respond to its findings. In particular it will be important to consider the topography of the site and how it impacts the design, layout and scale of development. Account should be taken of the importance to the setting of the site of higher ground along the northern boundary and along the south-western boundary by the Pyotts Hill Entrenchment and the need to maintain these areas as open space. It will also be necessary to consider how the development would appear in longer views from the surrounding countryside and from Old Basing given the need to maintain the strategic gap with Basingstoke to prevent coalescence in line with Policy ENV2. Tree and landscape buffers will be required to ensure protection of species/habitats and to minimise the visual impact of the development.  
6.95 In order to ensure there is an appropriate transition to adjacent countryside and to avoid a hard edge to development, the layout along the edge of the site should be of a lower density and scale with greater separation between buildings. New development should be predominantly 2-storeys in height with  limited potential for some 2.5 and 3-storey buildings, especially in the neighbourhood centre. Open spaces along the edge of the site should incorporate suitable levels of planting (including trees and hedging) to help provide a soft transition to the countryside. Development will need to face out to the countryside to provide active frontages, with no rear gardens facing outwards; layouts should avoid prominent parking areas on the edge of the site.

Biodiversity

6.96 Ensuring the achievement of 10% biodiversity net gain (calculated using the DEFRA metric) is a key requirement. This will need to be achieved in a manner which reflects the mitigation hierarchy (avoid, minimise, remediate, compensate). The main ecological constraints are the ancient woodland SINCs adjacent to the site and Pettys Brook, a tributary of the River Loddon, which flows through the site and forms part of the River Loddon valley. These features link up to provide ecological networks across the site and into the wider countryside. They allow for the dispersal and migration of species, as well as food and shelter. Consideration of these features should include direct or indirect impacts on habitats and species and this must be addressed in detail as part of the ecological surveys and mitigation measures.

Flood risk and sustainable drainage

6.97 A Flood Risk Assessment will be required, which will need to accord with the requirements set out in Policy ENV10 and national guidance. The site is not affected by significant flood constraints, but there are small areas of the site within flood zone 2 and 3 where development should be limited. Sustainable  Drainage Systems must be incorporated in a manner which is well related to the rest of the development and which takes the opportunity to provide other benefits such as biodiversity enhancements and open space.

Heritage

6.98 The southern and western boundary of the site abuts the Old Basing Conservation Area and is in close proximity to a number of listed buildings within the conservation area (including two Grade II listed buildings to the west of the site (Compton Close and Hill Rise Cottage). The Pyotts Hill Entrenchment Scheduled Monument (also known as Park Pale), which runs along the western site boundary is an important feature of the conservation area. Lodge Farm farmstead which includes Grade II listed Basing Lodge Farmhouse and an associated barn, which is separately listed as Grade II, lies in the south eastern part of the site. The design and layout of the development will need to preserve the significance of this farmstead.
6.99 Opportunities should be taken to better reveal the significance of heritage assets in the vicinity of the site, taking due account of important vistas and views identified in the Old Basing Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Plan (2021). Proposals should also ensure that any development in proximity to the listed buildings within the site is sensitively designed through consideration of suitable positions and design and/or the provision of a buffer to preserve the significance of such assets, and to allow for the appreciation of those assets. It is desirable that the listed buildings within the site are integrated into development proposals and their setting enhanced by the removal of buildings of poor quality in the vicinity.
6.100 Any development should also respond positively to the archaeological heritage assets within the site including the Scheduled Monument and its setting. Opportunities for the interpretation of the Pyotts Hill Entrenchment Scheduled Monument and Roman Road should be explored to determine how these features can be incorporated into the layout of the development and the green infrastructure network. The advice and opinion of Historic England will be needed and archaeological assessments must be undertaken before an application is submitted.

Noise and odour

6.101 The neighbouring incinerator and sewage treatment works are a notable noise and odour source affecting the site and successfully mitigating these impacts will be vital for the quality of life of future occupants and ensuring the delivery of healthy communities. Robust technical and comprehensive noise, odour and air quality assessments must be submitted by the applicant, prepared in consultation with relevant infrastructure providers. In this regard it is likely that a significant buffer between the sewage treatment works, incinerator and the edge of the built form will be required to ensure acceptable noise and odour standards can be met within new homes and amenity areas. The Concept Plan shows the 1.5 OUE/m3 contour outside of which sensitive uses such as housing and schools are to be located. Also, to encourage use of the neighbourhood park, it should also be located outside of the 1.5 OUE/m3 contour.

Infrastructure

6.102 A local neighbourhood centre is to be delivered which will need to provide a sufficient range of facilities and services to ensure that the community’s day to day needs can be met. New infrastructure will need to be suitably phased to ensure it is accessible to new residents.
6.103 A new primary school will be provided on the site. The school will be planned to allow expansion from two to three forms of entry if required. It will be delivered in a comprehensive manner with suitable walking and cycling links. The full details of the mechanisms for delivering the new school will need to be agreed with HCC Children’s Services.
6.104 The provision of Gypsy and Traveller’s pitches will be required and will be based on the overall need for pitches as set out in the latest version of the Gypsy and Traveller Accommodation Assessment.
6.105 Opportunities presented by the nearby incinerator to provide district heating will be expected to be investigated fully by the applicant to determine feasibility and viability. This would be a positive aspect of any proposal in terms of ensuring that development is sustainable and responds to the council’s declared climate emergency. If feasible and viable across the lifetime of the development, it will be vital to ensure that this is successfully delivered and done so in a manner which ensures effective connection between the power generated and the new development. At outline planning application stage, information is to be submitted setting out the feasibility of providing district heating and, if feasible, sustainable and viable, the timescales for provision along with a detailed method statement clarifying the technical aspects in terms of connection to the new development.
6.106 With regards to potential highway impacts, the proposal will need to provide safe, suitable and convenient access for all users from the A33, whilst also satisfactorily accommodating the vehicle movements associated with the operation of the adjacent incinerator and sewage treatment works, together with associated transport infrastructure to mitigate its impact upon the local and strategic highway networks. A robust and comprehensive site-specific Transport Assessment will be required, supported by a site wide Travel Plan, that seeks to minimise the need to travel, and prioritises and promotes active travel and public transport use within and beyond the site, to minimise the transport impacts arising from the development.
6.107 The scheme as a whole, including the internal layout, street designs and associated measures, must prioritise travel by active travel (walking and cycling) and public transport services to serve the residents and users of the first phase of the development, and subsequent phases thereafter. This needs to include the provision of an active travel and public transport corridor with suitable connections to the north (via the Redlands site and onwards to the Taylor’s Farm Roundabout (A33)) and the south (Pyotts Hill/Bartons Lane).  This needs to provide a direct route, with the inclusion of suitable traffic management measures, including preventing access by general traffic with Pyotts Lane/Bartons Lane to the south and the Redlands site to the north.
6.108 To encourage travel by active travel and public transport services, the proposal needs to provide high quality dedicated pedestrian and cycle networks throughout the development that integrate with the existing pedestrian and cycle networks, including the Public Rights of Way network, the National Cycle Network Route No. 23 (Pyotts Lane/Bartons Lane), etc., together with the operation of suitable public transport services, including accessible and safe boarding and waiting facilities including a Mobility Hub(s). The Mobility Hub(s) needs to provide high quality and accessible facilities that act as a focal point(s) for public and shared transport, including supporting facilities such as car club parking, EV charging facilities for visitors, secure cycle parking and other measures to provide access to attractive public transport services for travel within and beyond the site. Hubs should be sensitive to their setting in terms of design and layout and incorporate green features to minimise hard standing.
6.109 To minimise the transport impacts arising from the development, the high quality active travel and public transport networks need to provide safe, suitable and convenient access to on and off-site local facilities and services to meet the day-to-day needs of residents and users, as well as connectivity with neighbouring developments and communities, local employment opportunities, Basingstoke town centre (including Basingstoke Railway and Bus Stations) and other key destinations such as Basing View and Chineham District Centre.
6.110 Existing public rights of way run north-south adjacent to Pyotts Hill Entrenchment and north-south adjacent to the eastern boundary adjacent to the river Loddon. These rights of way must be protected during development and incorporated within the development.

Figure 6.7: SPS5.6: Land to the East of Basingstoke Concept Plan

Map - Land to the East of Basingstoke Concept Plan

Click to enlarge map

 

Representations

19 representations have raised comments relating to this chapter

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Comments
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Dear Sir/Madam Please find attached an additional representation to the above consultation in relation to Policy SPS5.6: Land to the East of Basingstoke. I would be grateful if you...
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Following the feedback session at Old Basing Cricket Clubhouse, here are questions, comments and suggestions having seen the latest Development Master Plan. Thank you for the opportunity to...
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I attach my comments on the plan Yours sincerely Alan Tyler 1) Section 3.2 Vision and Objectives I believe the approach being taken for the Borough is correct and I...
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East of Basingstoke should not be delivered in its current form.  The sewage works and incinerator were located in this area to avoid being near to residential buildings.  It is not a...
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