severn trent water limited proposed access …€¦ · severn trent water limited new lay-by kings...

SEVERN TRENT WATER LIMITED

PROPOSED ACCESS IMPROVEMENTS

BIRMINGHAM ROAD SEWAGE PUMPING STATION

KINGS COUGHTON

PLANNING SUPPORT STATEMENT

June 2014

Wardell Armstrong Sir Henry Doulton House, Forge Lane, Etruria, Stoke-on-Trent, ST1 5BD, United Kingdom Telephone: +44 (0)845 111 7777 Facsimile: +44 (0)845 111 8888 www.wardell-armstrong.com

Wardell Armstrong is the trading name of Wardell Armstrong LLP, Registered in England No. OC307138.

Registered office: Sir Henry Doulton House, Forge Lane, Etruria, Stoke-on-Trent, ST1 5BD, United Kingdom

UK Offices: Stoke-on-Trent, Birmingham, Cardiff, Carlisle, Edinburgh, Greater Manchester, London, Newcastle upon Tyne, Penryn, Sheffield, Truro, West Bromwich. International Offices: Almaty, Moscow

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY

INFRASTRUCTURE AND UTILITIES

LAND AND PROPERTY

MINING AND MINERAL PROCESSING

MINERAL ESTATES AND QUARRYING

WASTE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

DATE ISSUED: June 2014

JOB NUMBER: ST11947

ELECTRONIC REFRENCE:

REPORT NUMBER: 001

SEVERN TRENT WATER LIMITED

ACCESS IMPROVEMENTS

BIRMINGHAM ROAD SEWAGE PUMPING STATION

KINGS COUGHTON

PLANNING SUPPORTING STATEMENT

June 2014

PREPARED BY:

Ben Parkins Planner

APPROVED BY:

Stephen Stoney Technical Director

This report has been prepared by Wardell Armstrong LLP with all reasonable skill, care and diligence, within the terms of the Contract with the Client. The report is confidential to the Client and Wardell Armstrong LLP accepts no responsibility of whatever nature to third

parties to whom this report may be made known.

No part of this document may be reproduced without the prior written approval of Wardell Armstrong LLP.

Severn trent water limited New Lay-By kings coughton planning support statement

st11947/001 June 2014

CONTENTS

Introduction 1

The Need for Development 1

Site Location and Description 1

Development Proposal 2

Environmental Considerations 3

Planning Policy Context 4

Conclusions 6

DRAWINGS

Location Plan 70060.031-A-002

Visibility Splay 70060.031-B-002

Existing Site Location Plan 70060.031-C-002

Proposed Site Layout Plan 70060.031-D-002

Supporting Information

Phase 1 Habitat Survey (AMEC)


st11947/001 June 2014

Page 1

1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Wardell Armstrong LLP has been commissioned on behalf of Severn Trent Water

Limited (STWL) to seek planning permission for a new lay-by on land adjacent to the

Sewage Pumping Station (SPS) off Birmingham Road, Kings Coughton.

1.2 The proposal will allow safe access to the SPS by STWL personnel whilst undertaking

routine maintenance activities. In this case, the works involve third party land,

highway land owned and controlled by Warwickshire County Council; therefore

planning permission is required.

1.3 A Design and Access Statement is no longer required to be submitted to support this

application under the Town and Country Planning (Development Management

Procedure) (England) (Amendment) Order 2013 Section 8 Part (1) as the

development is minor in nature.

1.4 The design of the lay-by has been informed by pre-application advice provided by

Warwickshire County Council and is in conformity with planning policy.

2 THE NEED FOR DEVELOPMENT

2.1.1 At present, operational vehicles are required to reverse onto the land fronting the

SPS and park on the highway. This is an unsafe activity which compromises the

health and safety of road users, pedestrians and STWL staff undertaking their

statutory function.

2.2 The proposed lay-by would allow for safe off-road parking for STWL vehicles, thereby

improving health and safety for the operatives, other road users and pedestrians.

3 SITE LOCATION AND DESCRIPTION

Nearest Postcode: B49 5QQ

Grid Reference: 410872, 259044


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3.1 The proposed lay-by is to be located on the grass verge fronting the Birmingham

Road SPS. The site is directly opposite residential properties.

3.2 The location of the lay-by has been restricted by the location of the existing sewage

pumping station. Due to the location of the SPS and the operational constraints

involved in the necessity for tankers to be in close proximity to the SPS equipment,

there is no other alternative location for the proposed lay-by.

3.3 The lay-by has been designed to be of sufficient width to allow for safe parking off

the public highway whilst ensuring maximum highway safety for road users.

3.4 Please refer to Site Location Plan 70060.031-A-002 for more details.

4 DEVELOPMENT PROPOSAL

4.1 The proposed development involves the creation of a new lay-by off Birmingham

Road. The lay-by will to allow for STWL operational vehicles to park safely off the

public highway whilst carrying out routine maintenance activities at the SPS.

4.2 The works are considered as an essential engineering operation which will improve

service access to the SPS.

4.3 The lay-by has been specifically designed in order to accommodate the largest

maintenance vehicles which will visit the SPS whilst ensuring optimal highway safety.

4.4 The lay-by will measure 6 metres wide up to the gated entrance to the existing SPS

and 24.4 metres in length along where it fronts the highway.


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4.5 The lay-by will be surfaced with grasscrete with 150 x 125 bull nose kerbs set 25 mm

above road level. Grasscrete is considered to be environmentally sensitive whilst

being robust enough to withstand operational usage.

4.6 Please see Proposed Site Layout (70060.031-D-002) for more design details.

5 ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS

5.1 The development of the improved works has been informed by the need to improve

service access to the SPS. However, consideration has also been given to the need to

address a range of other issues.

5.2 Flood Risk

5.3 The proposed development is located outside Floodzones 2 and 3, and is not

considered to have an impact upon flood risk in the area. Consequently, in

accordance with the National Planning Policy Framework, a flood risk assessment is

not required for this development.

5.4 Ecology

5.5 A Phase 1 Habitat Survey was carried out by AMEC Ecology in December 2013 which

indicated the development will not have an adverse impact upon any ecology either

within or surrounding the site. The full report is attached to support this application.

5.6 Traffic

5.7 The SPS will be visited by small maintenance vehicles such as Land Rovers and

occasionally by an 18 tonne articulated tanker. The site will only be visited

approximately four times per year for routine maintenance and will also be attended

to if an emergency should occur. Therefore it is not considered that the proposed

development will make a material increase to the traffic flow in the area.


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5.8 The lay-by will improve the overall safety of the public highway as it will allow for

operational vehicles to park safely off Birmingham Road (A435).

5.9 There is good visibility from the SPS along Birmingham Road, allowing for 48 metres

visibility splay each way. Please see visibility splay drawing 70060.031-B-002 for

more details.

6 PLANNING POLICY CONTEXT

6.1 This Planning Application has taken into account both National and Local planning

policy. The following policies have been assessed and are considered to be relevant

for the proposed development at Birmingham Road.

6.2 National Planning Policy

6.3 National Planning Policy Framework

6.4 The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) came into force on 27th March 2012,

replacing all Planning Policy Statements (PPS) and Planning Policy Guidance (PPG)

with the exception of PPS10 Planning for Sustainable Waste Management.

6.5 In terms of decision making, the NPPF highlights that;

Development proposals that accord with the development plan should be

approved without delay; and

Where local development plans are absent, silent or relevant policies are out-

of-date the permission should be granted unless:

o Any adverse impacts of doing so would significantly and demonstrably

outweigh the benefits, when assessed against the policies of the NPPF

as a whole; or

o Specific policies in the NPPF indicate development should be restricted.

6.6 Part 7 of NPPF (Requiring Good Design) attaches the importance of “good design” to

new developments. The proposed lay-by has been designed in order to achieve

optimal highway safety.


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6.7 Local Planning Policy

6.8 Stratford on Avon Local Plan (Saved Policies from 2007)

6.9 The District Local Plan sets out the Council's policies and proposals for the

development and use of land for the period up to 2011. It is used as a basis for

considering all planning applications, including those for new housing, industrial and

commercial development.

6.10 The Local Plan Review expired on 14 July 2009. However, most of the policies and

proposals it contained have been ‘saved' and can continue to be applied. They will

remain in force until they are replaced by the Local Development Framework Core

Strategy.

6.11 The following Local Plan policies are relevant for the proposed lay-by:

6.12 Policy DEV. 4 (Access) states that “new or improved access arrangements to serve

development will be treated as an integral part of the overall layout.” The safety of

all users is paramount when providing access to the development. Careful

consideration of the environmental effects of access arrangements is also important.

6.13 The proposed lay-by does not constitute an entirely new access; however the

development will change the layout of the existing access to the SPS. Therefore,

Policy DEV.4 is still applicable.

6.14 According to this policy, the layout of the access is required to meet a range of

design criteria. Table 1 (below) demonstrates how the proposed lay-by is in

accordance with the relevant design principles of this policy.


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Design Criteria How the Proposed Development meets this

Criteria

1. Ensure safety of all road users and

pedestrians are not impaired

Currently, STWL vehicles are required to park on

Birmingham Road during visits to the SPS which is

an unsafe activity for both STWL operatives and

road users. The proposed development is

designed to improve health and safety as vehicles

will be able to park off the highway during

routine operational activities.

Pre-application discussions with Warwickshire

County Highways indicated that the proposal is

considered to be acceptable in terms of health

and safety.

2. Minimise impact on the landscape,

existing properties and features of

ecological and historic importance

The lay-by has been designed to the most

appropriate size within operational constraints.

The Phase 1 Habitat Survey shows that the

development will not have a significant impact on

any ecology within or surrounding the site.

Table 1: How the proposed lay-by accords with Design Criteria of Policy DEV. 4 of Stratford on Avon Local Plan

6.15 Overall, the new lay-by is considered to be in accordance with National and Local

policy in terms of design, layout and safety.

7 CONCLUSIONS

7.1 STWL operatives currently attending the sewage pumping station for operational

maintenance purposes currently have to park their vehicles on the highway, creating

a health and safety hazard for both operatives and other road users.

7.2 The proposed lay-by will remove the need for maintenance vehicles to park on the

public highway whilst carrying out routine maintenance activities at the SPS. The

provision of the lay-by will therefore allow vehicles to park safely off the highway

which will improve highway conditions.


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7.3 The lay-by has been designed in accordance with pre-application advice gained from

Warwickshire County Highways and accords with policy.

7.4 This Statement promotes the essential need for the proposed lay-by in improving

highway safety when STW vehicles are required to visit the SPS for essential

infrastructure maintenance activities.


st11947/001 June 2014

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