08/01552/FUL ERECTION OF FOUR DETACHED DWELLINGS WITH ASSOCIATED PARKINGAT Land At, Tattenhoe Bare Farm, Whaddon RoadFOR Mr Will Tiley

INTRODUCTION

The 8-week target date for the application is the 4th November 2008.

This is an application for the erection of four detached dwellings with associated parking on a 0.44 hectare site adjacent to Tattenhoe Bare Farm. Tattenhoe Bare Farm contains a group of three dwellings including the two-storey Farmhouse (a grade II listed building) and two single storey dwellings (Billy's Barn and Powells Barn). The access to the site and the existing dwellings is off Whaddon Road. To the east and south is open land with outline permission for a large residential development (Tattenhoe Park) which includes schools, a local centre and community facilities. To the north is a newly constructed parkland area which separates the application site from the Kingsmead South development. To the west is the boundary of Milton Keynes with Aylesbury Vale and open countryside.

CURRENT APPLICATION

The proposal includes four two-storey detached dwellings in the form of a farmhouse and associated courtyard. The 'farmhouse' (plot 1) would be a 5-bed property with sufficient space to park at least two vehicles within the driveway to the front of the double garage. The three dwellings arranged around the courtyard would include one 5-bed (plot 4) and two 6-bed (plots 2 and 3) properties each with a double garage with parking for two vehicles to the front and an additional 'visitor' parking space within the courtyard. The proposal includes the Poplar tree covered by a Tree Preservation Order retained within the garden of the 'farmhouse'.

MAIN ISSUES

1. Impact on the character and appearance of the area. 2. Impact on the setting of the grade II listed building Tattenhoe Bare Farmhouse. 3. Impact on the amenity of the neighbouring residential properties. 4. The impact on highway and parking. 5. The impact on existing trees and hedgerows including the Poplar tree covered by a tree preservation order.

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RELEVANT PLANNING HISTORY

Application Site

08/00773/FUL - Refused by Committee Erection of seven terraced and one detached dwelling with associated parking Reasons for refusal: 1. The height and mass of the proposed buildings would not relate well to the character, setting and appearance of the surrounding area and in particular the existing buildings at Tattenhoe Bare Farm including the grade II listed Farmhouse. The application is therefore contrary to Policy D2 (ii) of Milton Keynes Local Plan 2001-2011. 2. The access to the proposed residential development off Whaddon Road is inadequate to serve the proposed residential development due to its location on a sharp bend with limited forward visibility. The application is therefore contrary to Policy D1 (vi) of Milton Keynes Local Plan 2001-2011.

07/00047/FUL - Permitted Erection of two detached dwellings and associated garages on land adjacent to Tattenhoe Bare Farm off Whaddon Road, Kingsmead

Tattenhoe Bare Farm

02/00134/LBC and 02/00116/FUL - Consent granted and permission granted Listed Building Consent and Planning Permission for Retention of existing farmhouse and conversion and extension of barns to two dwellings

Tattenhoe Park housing development

06/00856/MKPCO - Permitted Tattenhoe Park outline permission for residential development of up to 1310 dwellings a mixed use local centre of up to 200 sq m, site for primary school, community facilities, hotel and public house, public open space and associated landscaping and infrastructure

06/01545/MKPC - Permitted Tattenhoe Park construction of phase one infrastructure primary roads, footways, redways, services and utilities, sustainable urban drainage system and associated works

RELEVANT PLANNING POLICY

The most relevant policies in the Milton Keynes Local Plan 2001 - 2011 are:

D1 - Impact of Development Proposals on Locality D2A - Urban Design Aspects of New Development D2 - Design of Buildings HE5 - Development Affecting the Setting of a Listed Building T10 - TrafficT15 - Parking Provision

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H7 - Housing on Unidentified Sites H8 - Housing Density

CONSULTATIONS AND REPRESENTATIONS

Whaddon Parish Council

The site adjoins Whaddon Parish and the Parish Council (WPC) objects to the proposal on highways grounds. The comments of WPC have been summarised as follows:

1. A plot a land remains between the existing farmyard development and the proposed development. WPC asks whether this potential extra dwelling has been accounted for within the appraisal of the current application as this could impact on the capacity and design of any access roadway.

2. Maximum of five units should be allowed off a private drive particularly as WPC contend that the access is onto a dangerous 90 degree bend. Five is believed to be the generally accepted rule of thumb principle adopted by many highway authorities and one which should not be tweaked especially where questions of highway safety arise. The previous application permitted two units only making a total of five units off this private drive; whilst not ideal WPC accept two extra homes would probably have had a minimal additional highway impact. MK Highways Authority should be asked to investigate the situation.

3. The site is bounded to the north by Kingsmead South (450 homes approx plus local centre) and to the east by Tattenhoe Park (1300 homes approx plus local centre, primary school, etc.) WPC have at every consultation stage of these major developments made representations to Milton Keynes Partnership on various issues but most importantly the question of highway safety. WPC have successfully campaigned for traffic calming measures along the MKC length of Whaddon Road. Unfortunately the continuation of Shenley Road to Whaddon is not subject to the same improvements and traffic is unrestricted along this length. This situation is not helped by the recent intensification of agricultural use at Bottlehouse Farm (on the next 90 degree bend). It was also agreed with MKP that no new vehicular access points are being allowed onto Whaddon Road from the western edge of Kingsmead South and this fact alone should provide a precedent against upgrading the existing private drive arrangement serving Tattenhoe Bare Farm.

4. WPC contend that new development within this remaining sector of Milton Keynes should be better and properly directed onto, and served by, the much safer and more convenient purpose built city grid road system. WPC request a clear and precise explanation as to why the additional development of four homes is not properly served by the new city estate road already constructed to within 7 metres of the site to the rear. Not only would this relieve the ongoing cumulative impact on the Whaddon Road helping to keep accident figures down, it would also ensure that construction traffic could be

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directed through the city grid system which MKP are keen to exploit on all their development in an attempt to reduce the short-cutting and improve safety through Whaddon Village.

5. WPC have already accepted the principle of developing the site residentially, but are concerned that the highway authority and developers are not adopting a common-sense approach and acknowledging that this site should be properly and sensibly served off the existing city infrastructure that could readily be made available on the site's eastern boundary. WPC suggests that MKC as planning authority could broker further discussions with the developer as to how best to develop the site bearing in mind local and national policy in regard to density, design and access.

Crime Prevention Design Advisor

Comments have been submitted detailing how lighting and the installation of windows and doors to the Secured by Design standards should be used within the development to assist in minimising crime opportunities.

Environmental Health

The Scientific Officer (Environmental Protection) recommends that a condition be imposed for an assessment of ground conditions prior to any development taking place to ensure the land is suitable for its proposed use.

Landscape

The Council's Senior Landscape Architect and Arboriculture Officer have no objections to the proposal subject to the following conditions: the submission of a landscaping scheme, the protection of existing trees and hedgerows during construction, and the access road to be of raised construction within the root protection area of the Field Maple (considered to be visually very prominent and strongly contributing to the visual amenity of the area) which overhangs the northern boundary of the access road.

Design and Conservation

Tattenhoe Bare Farmhouse is a grade II listed building. The farmhouse forms the southern wing of the courtyard and the former barns are now largely rebuilt in brick and have the outward appearance of modern buildings. The setting of the farmhouse has been severely compromised by the re-development of the former farmyard. The key issue is considered to be whether the proposal preserves the setting of the listed building and respects the design of the nearby development. A mature protected poplar tree within the site is an important feature within the current landscape setting.

The proposal is for four detached houses loosely grouped around a courtyard. The houses have substantial footprints but typically have narrow plan depths and are uncomplicated in design, in part taking reference to features found on

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traditional farmyard buildings. Facing materials are predominately brick with some timber boarding and roofing materials limited to natural grey slate.

The farmhouse and former farm buildings, now dwellings, currently enjoy some isolation, but planning permission already exists for a pair of modern houses. The existing residential conversion of the former buildings has had some effect on the setting of the farmhouse and the conversions themselves have affected the character and special interest of the former barns. There has been some new build immediately adjacent to the farmhouse which has further eroded its setting. In this case, and taking into account the above factors and that the character of the wider area is set to change, there would still remain reasonable separation from the existing farmhouse and associated buildings and it is unlikely that the development now proposed would adversely affect their setting.

Care needs to be taken over detailing such as verge and eaves treatments and the expression of window and door openings. The colour of external timberwork is also important and should be controlled by condition. The courtyard should not be sub-divided and good quality materials are essential if the openness of the yard is to be successful. Therefore, the Conservation Officer recommends approval subject to conditions.

Design and Conservation - Archaeology

The proposed development is located directly to the north and west of an excavated Iron Age settlement site and therefore the Council's Archaeologist recommends a condition requiring the implementation of a programme of archaeological work.

Highways Development Control

The proposed four detached dwellings would be located to the east of three existing dwellings at Tattenhoe Bare Farm and will be served by the same access from Whaddon Road.

The design and access statement informs that the access will be mainly 3.7m wide increasing to 4.8m at the turning head. However, drawing no 07102 (2-) 200 shows the proposed layout with dimensions less than these. Given the number of dwellings that will be served from the access I would urge that the minimum recommended carriageway width of 4.1m be constructed to allow unhindered two-way traffic flows. This issue can be covered by a condition to any planning consent for the development.

The layout plans for the development show that the proposed dwellings have two on-plot parking spaces each independent of garages and one visitor space is shown. To comply with the current parking standards this development could provide a maximum of 10 car parking spaces including visitor spaces. An acceptable level of parking could be 9 spaces including one visitor space.

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The Highways Engineer is aware of the contents of a letter of objection sent by Whaddon Parish Council. The Local Plan does not contain any policy stating that a private road should serve a maximum of 5 dwellings; each case therefore has to be treated individually and on its own merits. An opinion has to be reached as to whether the access, private or not, can adequately serve the proposed level of development. Further the suitability of a highway to be adopted is not a material consideration in planning law and whilst we may stipulate that a road should be built to adoptable standards the actual adoption of highway is by agreement between the highway authority and the developer. It is the Highway Engineer's opinion in this case that the access is capable of adequately serving the proposal.

The question of the safety of Whaddon Road to the immediate west of this site was dealt with in a previous planning application for 8 dwellings on this site. At that time it was reported that there is no record of accidents. The Highways Engineer has sought an update on the records and after interrogation of the records for the last five years this remains the case. Whilst there may be anecdotal evidence that there is a high occurrence of damage only accidents at this location, as highway authority we cannot place any reliance or weight on evidence of this type and have to treat all planning applications with an equitable approach. Highways Development Control can only consider accident records that involve personal injuries under a strict collection mechanism. The Highways Engineer therefore reiterates that visibility is considered acceptable and that the emergence of vehicles onto Whaddon Road at this location does not present any undue risks.

The proposed access bell mouth will affect the access onto the North Bucks Way immediately to the south of the existing access. This area requires formalising and improving and plans are required showing the applicant's proposals of how this is to be achieved and the proposed resurfacing of the area. This area should also be included in a S278 legal agreement.

Therefore, the Highways Engineer has no objection to planning permission being granted subject to conditions.

CONSIDERATIONS

Character of the Area

The principle of residential development on the site accessed off Whaddon Road has already been granted permission by the approval of application 07/00047/FUL for the erection of two detached dwellinghouses. The current proposal seeks to double the number of properties from 2 to 4 and increase the density of the proposed development to a level of 9 dwellings per hectare. The density is below the 35 dwellings per hectare usually sought; however, in light of the existing permission for two dwellings and the relationship with the listed building and the impact on the amenity of the neighbouring residential properties at Tattenhoe Bare Farm the lower density is considered appropriate in this instance. The 'Farm Courtyard' design of the development includes a detached 'farmhouse' style building and three additional detached

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dwellings grouped around a courtyard designed to reflect the layout of the existing farmhouse and barns at Tattenhoe Bare Farm. It is considered that the proposal would produce a suitable transition between the existing dwellings at Tattenhoe Bare Farm and the large residential developments, which have been granted outline consent, for the land to the north, east and south of the application site.

Impact on the amenity of neighbouring properties

The proposed dwellings would be separated a minimum distance of 19 metres from Billy's Barn (the nearest of the existing dwellings at Tattenhoe Bare Farm). The rear of plot four would face towards Billy's Barn; however, the only windows above ground floor level would be two roof lights serving a first floor landing. Plot 3 would have a ground floor door but no windows facing towards Tattenhoe Bare Farmhouse. Guideline separation distances of 22 metres rear to rear and 14 metres rear to side are used to protect the outlook and privacy of neighbouring properties. Whilst the rear of plot 4 would face towards Billy's Barn the proposed fenestration means that the elevation would be more akin to a side elevation. Therefore, subject to suitable boundary treatment between the new dwellings and the existing dwellings at Tattenhoe Bare Farm and restrictions on the creation of additional openings above ground floor level it is considered that the proposed dwellings would not have a significant enough impact on the privacy and outlook of Billy's Barn and Tattenhoe Bare Farmhouse to warrant a refusal of permission.

The proposed access road would run approximately 6 metres away from Billy's Barn and it is considered that the increase from 2 to 4 dwellings would increase the impact on the occupiers of Billy's Barn and Powells Barn in terms of noise and disturbance. Suitable boundary treatment and the creation of a hedgerow on the boundary between the access road and Billy's Barn would be essential in protecting the privacy of the occupiers of Billy's Barn; this would be the case whether the development was for 2 or 4 dwellings. On balance it is considered that, whilst there would be an increase in the impact, this would not be significant enough to warrant refusal of permission in light of the separation distance and the previous permission for two dwellings on the application site.

Impact on the listed building

The Conservation Officer considers the setting of Tattenhoe Bare Farmhouse to have been severely compromised by the existing re-development of the former farmyard. Therefore, subject to conditions recommended by the Conservation Officer regarding detailing and materials (to be confirmed within a verbal report to the Committee) it is considered that the proposal would not have a significant impact on the setting of the grade II listed Farmhouse (see Design and Conservation comments above under 'Consultations and Representations').

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Highways and Parking

The Highways Engineer has carefully considered the proposal in regards to the level of parking provision, the access road, and the access onto Whaddon Road and has concluded that the proposal is acceptable on highway grounds subject to conditions (see the comments from the Highways Engineer in the section headed 'Consultations and Representations' above).

Whaddon Parish Council have requested that the site be accessed off the road system constructed as part of the adjacent residential development and consider that the development of four dwellings would impact on highway safety and increase traffic through Whaddon village. The Highways Engineer considers the proposal to be acceptable in regards to highway safety and therefore the application should be assessed on its own merits and as submitted. In addition it is considered that the minor development of four dwellings would not have a significant impact on the level of traffic using Whaddon Road and is fundamentally different from the major housing developments on the adjacent land.

Landscape

The proposal allows for the retention of the Poplar tree (covered by a Tree Preservation Order) on the site and the Arboriculture Officer considers the relationship between the tree and the development to be acceptable. As part of the development the existing boundary hedgerows should be strengthened with native species including, where appropriate, additional tree planting; this should be covered by an appropriate landscape condition and a condition restricting the creation of future gaps and removal of the hedgerows.

In addition a tree overhanging the northern boundary of the access road is considered by the Council's Landscape Architect to be visually very prominent and strongly contributes to the amenity of the area and has requested appropriate construction details around and over the root area to mitigate root damage. The requirement to submit details of appropriate construction of the access road within the root area can be imposed by condition.

RECOMMENDATION

It is recommended that planning permission be granted subject to conditions regarding duration of permission, samples of materials, levels, an assessment of ground conditions, archaeology, boundary treatments, landscaping (to include the provision of additional native hedgerows and tree species on the boundary of the site and between the access road and Billy's Barn), protection of retained trees and hedgerows during construction, restrictions on the future removal of hedgerows, submission of construction details of access road to mitigated impact on roots of tree, details of the private access road, construction of access road and parking prior to occupation and their retention thereafter, the submission of plans showing the proposed reinstatement of the approach to the North Bucks Way, the removal of permitted development rights regarding extensions and alterations including additional windows and

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outbuildings, and any additional conditions recommended by the Conservation Officer regarding detailing and materials.

Report author / case officer – Anna Holloway Contact details - 01908 252271 anna.holloway@milton-keynes.gov.uk

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