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S&A Produce (UK) Limited
Planning Applications at and adjoining Brook Farm,
Marden, Herefordshire
Spatial Planning Statement
S&A Produce (UK) Limited
Planning Applications at and adjoining Brook
Farm, Marden, Herefordshire
Spatial Planning Statement
Four Planning Applications submitted to
Herefordshire Council
Our REF: APA/SANDA/14/1350
Author APA
Checked by BR
Status FINAL
Rev. no. -
Date September 2016
S&A Group – Planning Applications at and adjoining 1 Spatial Planning Statement Brook Farm, Marden, Herefordshire Aspbury Planning Limited September 2016
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 This Spatial Planning Statement has been prepared in support of four separate, but
simultaneous and related, planning applications on land at and adjacent to Brook Farm,
Marden, Herefordshire, submitted by S&A Produce (UK) Limited. The applications are:
i) A Full Planning Application for: the phased Clearance and Redevelopment of an
existing Seasonal Agricultural Workers’ Accommodation Site (Comprising
Caravans & Demountable Buildings [Granted Planning Permission under
Herefordshire Council reference DMCW/092985/F, dated 17 March 2010]) to
provide up to 69 (Large) Houses In Multiple Occupation (Sui Generis), together with
ancillary facilities for the Accommodation of Agricultural Workers, with a new
Vehicular Access, Private Internal Access Roads, Ancillary Car Parking, off Road
Footway, Amenity Open Space and Landscaping;
ii) An Outline Planning Application for: Residential Development (With all Matters
Reserved Except Means of Access) for up to 75 Family Housing Units (UCO Class
C3) (Comprising Open Market and Affordable Housing [including Starter Homes]),
together with supporting infrastructure and facilities, including on-plot Car Parking,
Public Open Space and Landscaping;
iii) A Full Planning Application for: the Demolition and Clearance of existing operational
buildings and the erection of a new Headquarters/Administrative Office Building
(UCO Class B1), including ancillary Staff Canteen facilities, dedicated Staff and
Visitor Car Parking and the creation of two separate Vehicular Accesses (to the
New Offices and to the operational Farmstead/Pack House);
iv) A Full Planning Application for: the Demolition and Clearance of the existing Public
House (‘The Volunteer Inn’) and the erection of a New Family Public House with
Rooms (UCO Class A3/A4), together with a Customer Car Park and new Vehicular
and Pedestrian Accesses.
1.2 This Statement has been prepared having regard to the contents of the other
documents submitted in support of the four Planning Applications, including the
covering letter.
S&A Group – Planning Applications at and adjoining 2 Spatial Planning Statement Brook Farm, Marden, Herefordshire Aspbury Planning Limited September 2016
1.3 The Statement addresses: the provisions of the development plan for the purposes of
Section 38(6) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 and Section 70(2) of
the Town and Country Planning Act 1990; national planning policy as set out in the
National Planning Policy Framework 2012 (NPPF or, ‘The Framework’); and, any other
material planning considerations.
2.0 THE PROVISIONS OF THE DEVELOPMENT PLAN
2.1 The development plan in this case comprises the Herefordshire Local Plan Core
Strategy 2011 – 2031 (LPCS) adopted in October 2015.
2.2 The relevant provisions of the LPCS are:
Policy SS1 – Presumption in favour of Sustainable Development Policy SS2 – Delivering new homes
Policy SS3 – Ensuring sufficient housing land delivery Policy SS4 – Movement and transport Policy SS5 – Employment provision
Policy SS6 – Environmental quality and local distinctiveness Policy SS7 – Addressing Climate Change
Policy RA1 – Rural Housing Distribution Policy RA2 – Housing in Settlements outside Hereford and the market towns
Policy RA3 – Herefordshire’s countryside
Policy RA4 – Agricultural, forestry and rural enterprise dwellings
Policy RA6 – Rural economy Policy H1 – Affordable housing – thresholds and targets Policy H3 – Ensuring an appropriate range and mix of housing
Policy SC1 – Social and community facilities Policy OS1 – Requirements for open space, sports and recreation facilities Policy OS2 – Meeting open space, sports and recreation needs
Policy MT1 – Traffic management, highway safety and promoting active travel Policy E1 – Employment provision
Policy E4 – Tourism Policy LD1 – Landscape and Townscape Policy LD2 – Biodiversity and geodiversity Policy LD3 – Green infrastructure
Policy LD4 – Historic environment and heritage assets
Policy SD1 – Sustainable design and energy efficiency Policy SD3 – Sustainable water management and water resources
Policy SD4 – Wastewater treatment and river water quality
S&A Group – Planning Applications at and adjoining 3 Spatial Planning Statement Brook Farm, Marden, Herefordshire Aspbury Planning Limited September 2016
Table 1 below indicates which of the policies listed above is relevant of which Planning Application
TABLE 1: Local Plan Core Strategy Policies and their relevance to each Planning Application
Application PAi) PAii) PAiii) PAiv) Policy
SS1 Y Y Y Y SS2 Y Y SS3 Y SS4 Y Y Y Y SS5 Y Y SS6 Y Y Y Y
SS7 Y Y Y Y RA1 Y RA2 Y
RA3 Y Y
RA4 Y RA6 Y Y H1 Y
H3 Y SC1 Y Y OS1 Y
OS2 Y MT1 Y Y Y Y
E1 Y Y E4 Y
LD1 Y Y Y Y LD2 Y Y Y Y LD3 Y Y
LD4 Y Y Y Y SD1 Y Y Y Y SD3 Y Y Y Y SD4 Y Y Y Y
NB: The degree of relevance of each of the policies listed to the relevant applications will vary, as is made clear in the commentary below.
It is not proposed to rehearse the content of these policies at length as they are already
set out in the LPCS and will be familiar to the Local Planning Authority, its consultees
and other stakeholders in the process of considering and determining these planning
applications.
S&A Group – Planning Applications at and adjoining 4 Spatial Planning Statement Brook Farm, Marden, Herefordshire Aspbury Planning Limited September 2016
Only the key elements of the policies relevant to the Applications will be highlighted and
discussed below, therefore.
2.3 Policy SS1 – Presumption in favour of sustainable development
2.3.1 This development reflects and effectively restates the presumption in favour of
sustainable development set out at Paragraph 14 of the Framework, to which it refers. It
also highlights the three dimensions and roles for sustainable development set out
paragraph 7 in the Framework.
2.3.2 The Policy states that, when considering development proposals Herefordshire Council
will take a positive approach that reflects the presumption in favour of sustainable
development contained within national policy. It will always work proactively to find
solutions which mean that proposals can be approved wherever possible and to secure
development that improves the social, economic and environmental conditions in
Herefordshire. Planning applications that accord with the policies in this Core Strategy
as a whole (and, where relevant with policies in other Development Plan Documents and
Neighbourhood Development Plans) will be approved, unless material considerations
indicate otherwise.
2.3.3 It is considered that all four proposals the subject of the Planning Applications the
subject of this Statement can be regarded as sustainable development, both separately
and combined, and that they improve social, economic and environmental conditions in
the County and in Marden (as set out in this SPS). It is further contended that they
accord with all the relevant policies in the LPCS as cited in 2.2 above. Attention is also
drawn to the Vision and Objectives at paragraph 3.5 to 3.16 of the LPCS and to the Core
Strategy Objectives set out in Figure 3.1 of the Plan, particularly Nos.: 1, 2, 4, 5, 8a, 9, 10,
11 and 12. Again, it is submitted that the Application Proposals accord fully with these
strategic objectives. Particular attention is drawn to Objective 8a in the context of the
proposals in question.
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Policy SS2 – Delivering new homes
2.4.1 This Policy states that a minimum of 16,500 new homes will be delivered over the period
2011 to 2031, including a minimum of 5,300 in rural settlements. There will be further
commentary on this threshold – which is clearly neither a ceiling, nor a target - below,
but in the meantime it is evident that Applications i) – the Agricultural Workers’
Accommodation, and ii) – the Family Housing Development, accord with this Policy. In
any event, the Applications contribute towards sustainable housing delivery.
2.4 Policy SS3 – Ensuring sufficient housing land delivery
2.5.1 This policy states that a sufficient supply of housing to meet the LPCS requirement set
out in Policy SS2 will be maintained. It is axiomatic that the granting of planning
permission to Application ii) – the Family Housing Development will contribute to
achieving this policy.
2.5.2 The monitoring of supply that this Policy requires will demonstrably require the
maintenance of a 5-year housing land supply in accordance with paragraph 47 of The
Framework. Herefordshire has suffered from a chronic under-supply of housing
recently, resulting in an inability to demonstrate the requisite 5-year minimum supply
under the terms of the previous development plan. It is for this reason that paragraph
3.41 of the supporting text to Policy SS3 accepts that for the calculation of the five-year
housing land supply, an additional buffer of 20% (5 years = 20% - effectively a 6-year
supply) is considered appropriate due to persistent under-delivery. It is quite possible,
therefore, that, at the time of the determination of Application ii) for the Family Housing
Development, the Authority will still not be able to demonstrate a supply of specific,
deliverable sites sufficient to provide six-years-worth of housing against the housing
requirement in Policy SS2. In that event paragraph 49 of the Framework is engaged and
the relevant policies of the Local Plan and of the Neighbourhood Plan (if adopted by
then) will be considered out-of-date.
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2.5.3 Notwithstanding the foregoing, the FHD proposal can also be regarded as a legitimate
‘windfall’ development. Paragraph 3.46 of the supporting text to Policy SS3 states:
3.46 In Herefordshire there is longstanding evidence that housing on ‘non-allocated’ sites has made a significant contribution to meeting housing needs and requirements. Such housing has not only come forward within urban parts of the County but also has been the major element of new housing in rural areas……..
2.5.4 It is clear, therefore, that windfalls have made and can continue to make a contribution
to housing supply in the County, although, as paragraph 3.47 of the supporting text in
the LPCS states, the preparation and updating of a SHLAA should mean that a higher
proportion of sites will be identified as part of the supply figures in future.
2.6 Policy SS4 – Movement and transportation
2.6.1 The Transport Statement, the Travel Plan and the Design and Access Statements
demonstrate that this Policy has been fully addressed in the Applications.
2.7 Policy SS5 - Employment provision
2.7.1 Application proposals i) for the Agricultural Workers’ Accommodation and iii) for the
new Headquarters/Administrative Offices are on fully compliant with the first sentence
of the second paragraph of this Policy, to the effect that: “The continuing development
of the more traditional employment sectors such as farming and food and drink
manufacturing will be supported”.
2.8 Policy SS6 – Environmental quality and local distinctiveness
2.8.1 The assessments submitted with the Applications, particularly the Design and Access
Statement, Ecological Assessment, Arboricultural Assessment, and Landscape and
Visual Impact Assessment demonstrate full compliance with this Policy.
S&A Group – Planning Applications at and adjoining 7 Spatial Planning Statement Brook Farm, Marden, Herefordshire Aspbury Planning Limited September 2016
2.9 Policy SS7 – Addressing climate change
2.9.1 The assessments submitted with the Application, particularly the Design and Access
Statement, Transport Assessment, Travel Plan and Flood Risk Assessment
demonstrate full compliance with this Policy.
2.10 Policy RA1 – Rural housing distribution
2.10.1 This policy records that the minimum provision of 5,300 dwellings between 2011 and
2031 will be made in the County’s rural areas, contributing to the County’s housing
needs. It goes on to say: “The development of rural housing will contribute towards the
wider regeneration of the rural economy.”
2.10.2 The provision is distributed across seven Rural Housing Market Areas (RHMAs), with the
largest minimum provision (1,870 or 35%) being allocated to the Hereford RHMA within
which Marden is located. The indicative housing growth target in this RHMA is 18%, the
largest proportionate growth across all the RHMAs. Paragraph 4.8.15 of the Plan states
that 119 settlements (including [as listed in Figure 4.14] Marden) have been identified as
“the main focus of proportionate housing growth”. Within these settlements, carefully
considered development which is proportionate to the size of the community and its
needs will be permitted.
2.10.3 The proposed family housing development reflects the emphasis of provision in the
RHMAs on the Hereford RHMA. Marden is particularly well-suited to accepting growth,
given the good range of local facilities (which will be enhanced by Application iv) for the
new public house with rooms) and the presence of a large employer, that is, the
Applicant. The proposed housing development has been carefully considered and has
been the subject of extensive assessment which has established that it will not have a
detrimental impact on any spatial planning interest of acknowledged importance,
including environmental impacts.
S&A Group – Planning Applications at and adjoining 8 Spatial Planning Statement Brook Farm, Marden, Herefordshire Aspbury Planning Limited September 2016
Taken together with committed development, the proposed development would
exceed the indicative minimum growth level, but the terms in which that guide figure is
expressed in the LPCS clearly admits of such an excess. In any event, the recent grant of
planning permission for development at New House Farm, Marden has already resulted
in the indicative minimum growth level being exceeded and this was not seen to be an
obstacle to the grant of planning permission.
2.11 Policy RA2 – Housing in settlements outside Hereford and the market towns
2.11.1 This Policy states that sustainable housing growth will be supported in, or adjacent to,
those settlements identified in Figure 4.14 and Figure 4.15. As already noted, Marden is
included in Figure 4.1.4 within the Hereford HMA. The Policy states that the minimum
growth target will be used to “inform” the level of housing development to be delivered
in the settlements identified. Attention is drawn to the word ‘inform’ and it should be
noted that the Policy does not say that the minimum growth targets will be used to
regulate or limit housing development. Nor does it provide detail on how the RHMA
figure is to be apportioned to the various communities. Thus, the Policy states that
Neighbourhood Plans (NPs) – rather than a Site Allocations DPD - will allocate land for
new housing or otherwise demonstrate delivery to provide levels of housing to meet the
various targets. Once again the Policy does not (and cannot) say that they will be the
exclusive vehicle for the delivery of development, because it is accepted in local and
national policy and practice that development, especially sustainable development, may
also be brought forward through the development management system by approving
development proposals that accord with the development plan and The Framework.
Thus, housing provision in individual neighbourhood plans, including the Marden
Neighbourhood Development Plan, are pieces in a larger jigsaw and cannot be treated in
isolation.
2.11.2 The Policy sets out 4 criteria for housing proposals:
1. Their design and layout should reflect the size, role and function of each settlement and be located within or adjacent to the main built up area;
S&A Group – Planning Applications at and adjoining 9 Spatial Planning Statement Brook Farm, Marden, Herefordshire Aspbury Planning Limited September 2016
2. Their locations make best and full use of suitable brownfield sites wherever possible;
3. They result in the development of high quality, sustainable schemes which are appropriate to their context and make a positive contribution to the surrounding environment and its landscape setting; and
4. They result in the delivery of schemes that generate the size, type, tenure and range of housing that is required in particular settlements, reflecting local demand.
Specific proposals for the delivery of local need housing will be particularly supported where they meet an identified need and their long-term retention as local needs housing is secured as such.
Apart from criterion 2, all these criteria are met by Application Proposal ii). The
Application Site is clearly not a brownfield site, but then neither is the recently
permitted New House Farm Site in Marden. The Applicant proposes to make provision
for policy- compliant levels of affordable housing, including starter homes, within the
family housing proposal.
2.11.3 The proposed FHD (Application ii)) accords with Policies RA1 and RA2 and constitutes
sustainable development for the following reasons:
The scale of development is proportionate to the size of Marden and the facilities it
possesses;
The design and layout of the Proposal reflects the size, role and function of Marden
and is located on the edge of the village, but within the wider physical confines of
the settlement as determined by natural and man-made landscape features,
including topography, vegetation and the disposition of existing built development.
The proposed development would be neither prominent nor intrusive nor result in
the loss of genuinely open countryside.
Particular attention has been paid to the form, layout, character and setting of the
Application Site and its location relative to the rest of the Village.
The proposed development amounts to a high quality sustainable scheme which is
appropriate in context and makes a positive contribution to the surrounding
environment and its landscape setting.
The size, type and tenure of development proposed reflects local need and demand
and is relevant to the local market.
S&A Group – Planning Applications at and adjoining 10 Spatial Planning Statement Brook Farm, Marden, Herefordshire Aspbury Planning Limited September 2016
2.12 Policy RA3 – Herefordshire countryside and RA4 – Agricultural, forestry and rural
enterprise dwellings.
2.12.1 It is accepted that the extent of the settlement of Marden for the purposes of the
application of this policy will be determined by the Marden Neighbourhood
Development Plan, once adopted, as that document will define a Settlement Boundary
for the Village. This issue will be discussed further in Section 3 below, but on the face of
it the FHD proposal (Application ii)) conflicts with Policy RA3 on the basis that it lies
outside the settlement boundary as defined in the MNDP. In striking the planning
balance the decision-maker needs to decide how much weight should be accorded to
the conflict with this policy, having regard to the other material considerations in this
case including:
o The need to boost significantly the supply of housing at the national and local level;
o The need to deliver a wide choice of high quality homes and widen the opportunities
for home ownership and provide more affordable homes (including Starter Homes)
at the national and local level;
o The close physical and functional relationship of the Application Site to the rest of
Marden and to the sites of the other simultaneous proposals;
o The development plan needs to be read as a whole and it is not correct to assess a
planning application against conflicting individual policies;
o The development plan does not have absolute authority and is not meant to be
followed slavishly by a local planning authority;
o The Council is at liberty to depart from the local plan if material considerations
indicate otherwise.
o The economic benefits of the proposal, including the benefits to the local economy
and, specifically, the contribution it will make to securing needed and beneficial
investment in the Applicant’s business and the impact that will, in turn, have on the
local economy. Thus, the proposed development, both in isolation and together
with the other three application proposals will contribute significantly to the
maintenance and enhancement of the vitality of Marden;
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o The absence of demonstrable harm to interest of acknowledged spatial planning
importance, including to the environment, to the visual amenity of the area and to
infrastructure. As already noted above, because of the visually well-contained
setting of the Applications Sites and the disposition of existing development, none
of the four proposals will result in intrusion into and loss of genuinely open
countryside;
o The demonstrable compliance with all the other policies in the LPCS and in The
Framework;
o Enabling development, as constituted by the proposed FHD, is recognised as a
material consideration in law.
2.12.2 Clearly the proposed Agricultural Workers’ Accommodation meets an agricultural need
for workers to live permanently at or near their place of work at Brook Farm, albeit on a
significantly larger scale than anticipated by Policy RA3 and RA4. The sustained essential
functional need for the new accommodation is well established and was endorsed by the
grant of planning permission (Ref. DMW/092985/F, dated March 2010) for the existing
Seasonal Agricultural Workers’ Site. The rationale and justification for the replacement
accommodation is set out at length in the Background to and Amplification of the
Planning Applications (B&APA) and flows from the Applicant’s Strategic Development
Plan. The business is demonstrably financially sustainable.
2.12.3 The Applicant is prepared to accede to the imposition of a suitably-worded occupancy
control, either through the medium of a Planning Condition, or a Planning Obligation, of
the proposed Agricultural Workers’ Accommodation.
2.13 Policy RA6 – Rural economy
2.13.1 All four Applications clearly accord explicitly with this Policy in that they will:
support and strengthen local food and drink production;
support and/or protect the vitality and viability of commercial facilities of an
appropriate type and scale in rural areas, such as village shops, petrol filling
stations, garden centres and public houses;
S&A Group – Planning Applications at and adjoining 12 Spatial Planning Statement Brook Farm, Marden, Herefordshire Aspbury Planning Limited September 2016
promote sustainable tourism proposals of an appropriate scale in accordance with
Policy E4 - Tourism;
support the retention and/ or diversification of existing agricultural businesses.
2.13.2 They will also accord with the criteria in the second part of the Policy because they:
o are of a scale which would be commensurate with their location and setting;
o do not cause unacceptable adverse impacts to the amenity of nearby residents by
virtue of design and mass, noise and dust, lighting and smell;
o do not generate traffic movements that cannot safely be accommodated within the
local road network; and
o do not undermine the achievement of water quality targets in accordance with
Policies SD3 and SD4.
2.14 Policy H1 – Affordable housing – thresholds and targets
2.14.1 The proposed family housing development (Application ii)) will accord with this Policy
since it is proposed to accommodate the 35% Affordable Housing target for this RHMA.
Moreover, subject to the publication of Regulations to give effect to the Housing and
Planning Act 2016, the Applicant will provide for the appropriate proportion of Starter
Homes within the 35% target. If the development delivers the projected maximum of
75 homes, 26 of these would be Affordable, of which 15 could be Starter Homes if the
Regulations do require the 20% proportion trailed at the time the Act was passed.
2.15 Policy H3 – Ensuring an appropriate range and mix of housing
2.15.1 The family housing development will be delivered by a commercial housebuilder and it
will be for that company to agree the ultimate housing mix with the local planning
authority through the Approval of Reserved Matters process and subject to the
parameters of any planning permission granted. However, the Applicant sees no reason
why an appropriate range and mix of housing cannot be delivered in this case, subject
always to market considerations.
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The Illustrative Masterplan shows a range of family houses which are considered
appropriate to this location and the impact of the proposal has been assessed on this
basis. The description of ‘family housing’ was carefully considered by the Applicant and
thus the intention is to provide low rise terraced, semi-detached or detached houses all
with private gardens and on-plot parking.
2.16 Policy SC1 – Social and community facilities
2.16.1 Application iv) for the redeveloped family pub with rooms duly accords fully and directly
with this policy.
2.16.2 Dedicated social and community facilities for the Applicant’s employees, including
those occupying the proposed Agricultural Workers’ Accommodation, are provided
within the Brook Farm Site and they will not impose any additional pressure on local
social and community facilities (including the Village School) therefore. The Applicant’s
employees do, however, expend money in the local shops and the Economic Impact
Assessment estimates that this currently amounts to approximately £0.5 million per
annum, which is a significant economic support for these facilities.
2.16.3 Subject to meeting the relevant test set out in paragraph 204 of The Framework, the
Applicant is prepared to enter into a Planning Obligation to make appropriate and
reasonable contributions to meeting the additional demand for local social and
community facilities occasioned by the family housing development (Application ii)) in
accordance with adopted standards and criteria.
2.17 Policies OS1 – Requirements for open space, sports and recreation facilities and OS2 –
Meeting open space, sports and recreation needs
2.17.1 Dedicated open space, sports and recreation facilities for the Applicant’s employees,
including those occupying the proposed Agricultural Workers’ Accommodation, are
provided within the Brook Farm Site and they will not impose any additional pressure on
local open space, sports and recreation facilities (including the Village School) therefore.
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2.17.2 Provision is proposed for appropriate levels of informal open space and for children’s
play facilities within the family housing development Application Site. It is expected that
these areas would be adopted and maintained by the appropriate local managing agency
in due course and thus will be available for wider public use as well. These areas would
also be accessible and available to patrons of the proposed family public house with
rooms.
2.17.3 Subject to meeting the relevant test set out in paragraph 204 of The Framework, the
Applicant is prepared to enter into a Planning Obligation to make appropriate and
reasonable contributions to meeting the additional demand for formal sport and
recreation facilities occasioned by the FHD in accordance with adopted standards and
criteria.
2.18 Policy MT1 – Traffic management, highway safety and promoting active travel
2.18.1 The Transport Assessment and Travel Plan demonstrate full compliance with this
Policy.
2.19 Policy E1 – Employment provision
2.19.1 The proposals encompassed by Applications i), ii) and iv) are fully and directly compliant
with this Policy in that they enhance employment provision and help diversify the
Herefordshire and local economy. Furthermore they meet the criteria set out in the
Policy as follows:
they are appropriate in terms of their connectivity, scale, design and size;
they make better use of previously developed land;
they are an appropriate extension to strengthen or diversify an existing business
operation;
they provide opportunities for new office development in an appropriate location.
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2.20 Policy E4 – Tourism
2.20.1 The family pub with rooms proposal accords fully and directly with this Policy.
2.21 Policy LD1 – Landscape and Townscape
2.21.1 The Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment, the Design and Access Statement and
the Illustrative Masterplan together demonstrate that this Policy has been fully taken
into account and complied with. The Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment
concludes (at Paragraph 8.8) that:
“The proposed developments can be subsumed into the landscape without significant detriment to local residential properties, visual receptors and the wider landscape character and will have no significant cumulative impacts”
Minimal mitigation is required as part of the proposals given their impact in landscape
and visual terms
2.22 Policy LD2 – Biodiversity and geodiversity
2.22.1 The Ecology Impact Assessment, the Tree Survey and the Bat Surveys together
demonstrate that this Policy has been fully taken into account and complied with.
2.23 Policy LD3 – Green Infrastructure
2.23.1 The Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment, the Design and Access Statements and
the Illustrative Masterplan together demonstrate that this Policy has been fully taken
into account and complied with.
2.24 Policy LD4 – Historic environment and heritage assets
2.24.1 The Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment, the Design and Access Statements and
the Illustrative Masterplan together demonstrate that this Policy has been fully taken
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into account and complied with. The impact on the three listed buildings
within/adjacent to the Brook Farmstead complex has been adjudged to be marginal and
will certainly lead to less than substantial harm to the significance of these designated
heritage assets.
2.24.2 The Volunteer Inn is not a designated heritage asset, although it is of some age. The
Design and Access Statement for the pub redevelopment proposal addresses its
significance and concludes that, on a balance judgement, the loss of the existing
building would not occasion harm.
2.24.3 A separate proposal for the restoration and conversion and change of use of the listed
Brook Farmhouse is before the local planning authority at present and has been taken
into account in drawing up the other Application Proposals.
2.25 Policies SD1 – Sustainable design and energy efficiency, SD3 – Sustainable water
management and resources and SD4 – Wastewater treatment and river water quality.
2.25.1 The Design and Access Statements, the Illustrative Masterplan and the Flood Risk
Assessments together demonstrate that these Policies have been fully taken into
account and complied with.
2.26 In summary, it can be seen that the Application Proposals comply fully and directly with
all the provisions of the LPCS, except Policy RA3 with which there is de facto non-
compliance by virtue of the alignment of the settlement boundary in the emerging
Marden Neighbourhood Plan. Having regard to the other material considerations, such
conflict should not in itself justify the withholding of planning permission in this case.
3 THE EMERGING MARDEN NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN
3.4 The Marden Neighbourhood Development Plan (MNDP) is at an advanced stage of
preparation, having been submitted, examined and recently (on 8 September), the
subject of a local referendum.
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It is probable that the MNDP will be adopted before the Applications the subject of this
Statement are determined. It is accepted, therefore that the Plan should be accorded
appropriate weight as part of the development plan.
3.5 The relevant provisions of the Plan are:
Policy M1 – Scale and Type of Housing Development in Marden Village
Policy M3 – Scale and Type of New Housing Development in the Countryside
Policy M4 – General Design Principles
Policy M5 – Ensuring an appropriate range of tenures, types and sizes of houses
Policy M6 – Protection/extension of Local Community Facilities
Policy M7 – New local employment opportunities
Policy M8 – Supporting enhancing and protecting existing local employment
Policy M11 – Landscape Character
Policy M12 – Flood Risk and Surface Water Run-off
Policy M13 – Public Rights of Way/Connectivity
The Proposals Map.
Many of these policies are similar to and have the same objectives in the LPCS and
where this is so the commentary in Section 2.0 above is relied upon.
3.6 Policy M1 - Scale and Type of Housing Development in Marden Village
3.3.1 This Policy should be read in conjunction with the Proposals Map. It is accepted that the
Application Sites for applications i), ii) and iii) all lie outside the Settlement Boundary as
currently defined on the draft Proposals Map and, as such, they conflict with the first
paragraph of the Policy.
3.3.2 However, the Agricultural Workers’ Accommodation is of restricted tenure, being
intended to accommodate agricultural workers only and primarily those employed by
the Applicant at Brook Farm, Marden.
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It is also intended to replace temporary and now unsatisfactory accommodation in
caravans and demountables that already has the benefit of planning permissions. It
therefore accords with Policy M3 of the Plan.
3.3.3 So far as the family housing proposal is concerned, it meets all ten criteria set out in the
Policy and is in accordance with the CSLP, as demonstrated above.
3.3.4 The Application Site was in fact considered as a candidate for allocation for housing at
an early stage in the MNDP-making process. It was ultimately rejected by a popular vote
predicated, it would appear, on the following:
o Only one major housing site was to be allocated in the village. This implies an
explicit ‘rationing’ of housing supply in Marden through a rigid application of the
LPCS;
o An alternative site, at New House Farm, was preferred. Although this decision did
not categorically determine that the Application Site is unsuitable on its own
planning merits, in practice that is how it has been interpreted by the Parish Council
and local residents;
o Such objective assessment of the candidates’ sites as was undertaken appeared to
be based on inaccurate and unsubstantiated technical assessment that the
Applicant criticised at the time and which is now effectively rebutted by the
material submitted in support of the Applications;
o Any further consideration of the relative merits of alternative housing sites in
Marden, including the Applications Site, was effectively prejudiced and pre-empted
by granting of planning permission to a planning application relating to the New
House Farm before the Plan was examined. This was evidently necessary on the
basis of an absence of 5-year housing land supply, thereby engaging paragraph 49
of The Framework;
o The MNDP failed, in accordance with PPG-008 to provide indicative delivery
timetables and to allocate reserve sites to ensure delivery of housing.
S&A Group – Planning Applications at and adjoining 19 Spatial Planning Statement Brook Farm, Marden, Herefordshire Aspbury Planning Limited September 2016
o The adoption of a settlement boundary and the explicitly tight drafting of that
boundary around the existing built-up area and the proposed housing
allocations/commitments. A settlement boundary and, specifically, a tightly-drawn
boundary are not required by the LPCS context. Indeed, on the face of it, such an
approach is at odds with the overtly flexible and permissive approach taken by the
strategic policies in the LPCS (and in The Framework generally). The decision to
apply a boundary and the particular drafting of that boundary in the MNP is clearly
informed by a predisposition to severely limit further housing development in
Marden beyond the provision already made and limited infilling. It evidently takes no
account of objective landscape considerations, nor does it encompass any
flexibility. If, therefore, it is also applied rigidly and inflexibly in the determination of
planning applications, without regard to other material considerations, which
appears to be the intention, this constraint has the potential to prevent legitimate
sustainable development, such as the family housing Application Proposal, solely
on the basis that sites capable of delivering such development lie outside the
boundary.
3.3.5 Although the MNDP has now progressed and it is accepted that the above-cited
matters cannot be revisited in the plan-making process and do not go to the soundness
of the Plan itself, they are, nevertheless, material considerations to be weighed in the
planning balance in the determination of the Application in question.
3.7 Policy M3 - Scale and Type of New Housing Development in the Countryside
3.4.1 See commentary at 2.12 above.
3.5 Policy M4 – General Design Principles
3.5.1 As the supporting documentation, including the Design and Access Statements and the
Illustrative Masterplan demonstrate, the proposed developments the subject of the
Applications in question comply with, or are capable of complying with (through the
Approval of Reserved Matters process in the case of the Outline Application) this Policy.
S&A Group – Planning Applications at and adjoining 20 Spatial Planning Statement Brook Farm, Marden, Herefordshire Aspbury Planning Limited September 2016
3.6 Policy M5 - Ensuring an appropriate range of tenures, types and sizes of houses
3.6.1 Again the Application Proposals demonstrate that this Policy is complied with.
3.7 Policy M6 – Protection/extension of Local Community Facilities
3.7.1 See commentary at 2.16 above and the Transport Assessment and Travel Plan. This
Policy is fully complied with.
3.8 Policies M7 – New local employment opportunities and M8 – Supporting, enhancing and
protecting existing local employment
3.8.1 The Application Proposals are consistent and compliant with these Policies for reasons
already cited in Section 2.0 above and in the supporting documentation for the
Applications, including the covering letter.
3.9 Policy M11 – Landscape Character
3.9.1 Compliance with this Policy is demonstrated by the Landscape and Visual Impact
Assessment.
3.10 Policy M12 – Flood Risk and Surface Water Run-off
3.10.1 Compliance with this Policy is demonstrated by the Flood Risk Assessment.
3.11 Policy M13 – Public Rights of Way/Connectivity
3.11.1 The existing public footpath running across the Application Sites is protected on its
existing alignment. Safe access to this footpath is provided by the new footways on the
C1120 and Walkers Green and by a new permissive footpath running between the
proposed new public house and the family housing.
S&A Group – Planning Applications at and adjoining 21 Spatial Planning Statement Brook Farm, Marden, Herefordshire Aspbury Planning Limited September 2016
3.12 In summary, it can be seen that the Application Proposals comply fully and directly with
all the provisions of the MNP, except Policy M1 (as applied in conjunction with the draft
Proposals Map) with which there is de facto non-compliance by virtue of the alignment
of the settlement boundary. Having regard to the other material considerations, such
conflict should not in itself justify the withholding of planning permission in this case.
4.0 GOVERNMENT POLICY - NATIONAL PLANNING POLICY FRAMEWORK
4.1 Relevant Government Policy as contained in the Framework is to be found at
paragraphs 7, 8, 9, 10, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 28, 29, 32, 34, 35, 36, 38, 47, 49, 50, 55, 56,
57, 60, 61, 66, 69, 70, 75, 95, 99, 109, 128, 129, 131, 134, 135, 186, 187, 188, 196 and
197. Once again, it is not proposed to exhaustively rehearse these policies since they
are now well-known and well-understood and the principle of sustainable development
is encompassed by the in the Framework taken as a whole.
4.2 The Application Proposals are demonstrably consistent with Government policy set out
in The Framework as cited above.
4.3 In particular, the Application Proposals will contribute to all three roles of sustainable
development – an economic, a social and an environmental role. Thus:
they provide for and, taken together, will facilitate the development of high quality,
fit-for-purpose, agricultural workers’ accommodation and modern, efficient
headquarters/administrative offices and staff canteen/mess facilities in attractive,
energy-efficient buildings at Brook Farm. These developments will significantly
enhance the already major contribution that the Applicant’s business makes to the
local economy as recorded in the Economic Impact Assessment, contributing
thereby to a strong and competitive economy and a prosperous rural economy in
particular, consistent with paragraphs 18 to 21 inclusive and paragraph 28;
S&A Group – Planning Applications at and adjoining 22 Spatial Planning Statement Brook Farm, Marden, Herefordshire Aspbury Planning Limited September 2016
they provide needed housing, contributing to both quantitative and qualitative
supply in accordance with paragraphs 47 and 50 and provide an appropriate and
proportionate level of additional housing in Marden, sustaining the vitality of the
community;
they provide a significantly improved community and tourism facility in the form of
the new public house with rooms;
the four applications taken together will deliver a comprehensive mixed use
package of complementary developments, providing and securing local
investment, employment, homes and community facilities;
they will be of a high design and landscape quality, be energy efficient and
incorporate a sustainable urban drainage system, consistent with paragraphs 56,
57, 60 and 95;
they will encompass and promote sustainable modes of transport and reduce the
need to travel, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, consistent with paragraphs 32,
34 and 36;
they will conserve and enhance the natural environment consistent with paragraph
109.
4.3 The proposals also comply with the core planning principles set out in paragraph 17 of
The Framework, notably the second, third, fourth, fifth, seventh, ninth, tenth, eleventh
and twelfth points.
4.4 Accordingly, and taken in context, having regard to the size and location of Marden and
the scale of the development proposed, the Application Proposals constitute
sustainable development and should attract the presumption in favour of such
development as set out in paragraph 14 of the Framework (and the corresponding
Policy SS1 of the LPCS).
S&A Group – Planning Applications at and adjoining 23 Spatial Planning Statement Brook Farm, Marden, Herefordshire Aspbury Planning Limited September 2016
5.0 OTHER MATERIAL PLANNING CONSIDERATIONS
5.1 The key other material considerations in this case are:
o the essential physical, functional, social and economic interrelationship between
the discrete proposals. In particular, as well as being appropriate and acceptable on
its individual spatial planning merits, the family housing proposal will play an
important role as ‘enabling’ development, particularly for the agricultural worker
accommodation (as discussed in paragraph 2.12.1 above). The developments have
also been planned in an integrated manner – informed by a masterplan – so that
their layout and design is co-ordinated and they complement each other, thereby
creating a mixed use development and contributing to the comprehensive planning
of this part of Marden. This approach will impose an important element of order,
visual unity and consistency on an area which heretofore has evolved in an ad hoc
manner.
o The impacts of the developments have been carefully addressed and assessed –
again, both individually and cumulatively – in a suite of thorough and authoritative
technical documents, which demonstrate that they will not cause harm to spatial
planning interest of acknowledged importance including: the environment; visual,
rural and residential amenity; and, local infrastructure, including utilities, transport
and foul and surface water drainage. On the contrary, the proposed developments
will secure a number of benefits in these fields which go beyond simply mitigating
their impacts, including:
- Localised improvements to highway conditions, mainly along the C1120,
through: the rationalisation of accesses, incorporating appropriate kerb radii
and visibility splays at junctions; the provision of new segregated footways and
footpaths; and, off-site junction improvements;
- Rationalisation and improvement of surface water drainage through a
comprehensive on-site sustainable urban drainage system;
- Significant new planting with native tree and shrub species;
- Specific measures to enhance bio-diversity.
S&A Group – Planning Applications at and adjoining 24 Spatial Planning Statement Brook Farm, Marden, Herefordshire Aspbury Planning Limited September 2016
6.0 CONCLUSIONS
6.1 The proposed developments substantively comply with the provisions of the
development plan which therefore support a grant of permission for all four proposals.
6.2 There is limited conflict with one policy in the Local Plan Core Strategy and with one
policy in the MNDP in respect of the family housing proposal. This conflict arises solely
as a result of the definition and alignment of a Settlement Boundary around Marden in
the MNDP, which leaves the family housing application site outside the boundary.
6.3 On the evidence, the location of this Application Site outside the settlement boundary
causes no demonstrable harm to spatial planning interests of acknowledged
importance. In particular, the development would not be prominent or intrusive in the
landscape – on the contrary, it is extremely well-contained. It would not lead to a loss of
genuinely open countryside which should be protected for its own sake, or of a valued
landscape and it would not result in detriment to the natural environment – indeed, once
again, there would be an overall benefit to biodiversity. It would not result in an
extension to the built form of the Village that would be incongruous or incompatible and
discordant with that form, which has, in any event evolved in a rather haphazard fashion
and lacks any strong, distinctive and coherent character.
6.4 The FHD is an enabling development which will allow the redevelopment of the Seasonal
Agricultural Workers’ Accommodation Site to proceed and will, thereby, underpin the
future development of the Applicant’s business, with corresponding economic benefits
to the local area. This is a material consideration which should be afforded considerable
weight.
6.5 Moreover, policy in The Framework and the other material considerations, including
those set out in Section 5.0 above and in other parts of the Statement and elsewhere in
the Application documentation, tell strongly in favour of the development.
S&A Group – Planning Applications at and adjoining 25 Spatial Planning Statement Brook Farm, Marden, Herefordshire Aspbury Planning Limited September 2016
6.6 In light of the above, the significance of the conflict with the two related provisions of
the two parts the development plan (the LPCS and the MNDP) for the decision on the
FHD application depends entirely on the weight to be accorded to it in striking the
planning balance.
6.7 It would be wholly appropriate and safe to accord the MNDP little weight in this case.
Granting planning permission would not set any undesirable precedent, nor would it
undermine the MNDP because of the particular circumstances and nature of these
proposals and the demonstrable benefits arising therefrom.
6.8 Notwithstanding the policy in the MNDP which limits the settlement boundary, the FHD
is a sustainable development which is deliverable within the plan period. It is an enabling
development which will act as the catalyst for the development proposed in the SAWA
and is a material consideration to be taken account of in the planning balance. Given the
FHD's significance in this regard it too is a development which supports the ongoing
commercial and employment needs of the Applicant's business. The Applicant
considers that this aspect of the interrelationship between the planning applications
should be given considerable weight and, taken together with the above commentary, is
justification for a departure from the MNDP (as part of the development plan).
6.9 All four proposals constitute sustainable development and should therefore attract the
presumption in favour of such development set out in Policy SS1 of the Herefordshire
LPCS and paragraph 14 of The Framework. Moreover, the material considerations
outlined in this SPS outweigh those limited provisions of the development plan with
which they conflict and support a grant of planning permission for each of the proposed
developments.
6.10 Having regard to the foregoing commentary, planning permission should be granted for
all four applications, subject to appropriate, NPPF paragraph 206-compliant Planning
Conditions and to an NPPF paragraph 204-compliant Planning Obligation.