Proposals for land off
Welcome
Thank you for taking the time to visit this consultation website for our proposals for Packsaddle Way, Frome.
The purpose of this website is to provide you with information on our plans and seek your feedback.
We strongly believe that public consultation is a really important part of any planning process. Residents and stakeholders should always be consulted with and offered opportunities to give their views and feedback, before any planning application is finalised and then submitted.
Throughout this website, we have included information on different parts of our proposal. Please do take some time to read all the information available.
We welcome your feedback as it will help to inform our proposals. This can be submitted by using the feedback form available on the ‘Give us your feedback’ on the website.
Alternatively, you can provide feedback by contacting our community consultant, Alice Jenkins, on: alice.jenkins@foundationcommunications.co.uk or 07896 004355.
Background
The 3.34-hectare site is located on the northern outskirts of Frome, east of the A3362 and south of Cuckoo Lane. Currently the land is divided into four field parcels and is predominantly scrub land.
The site is owned by Somerset County Council and has historically been safeguarded for future use as an area for development of a school. The County Council have now confirmed that they no longer require the site to be used for a school.
The site is in one of the key settlements in Mendip District Council’s area. Any new homes constructed here will be able to access the local services and facilities in the town. The site is surrounded by existing homes on three sides and includes a public footpath which runs along the northern boundary.
Any planning application will need to address key planning considerations including landscape, design, amenity, fly nuisance, odour, sustainability, ecology, drainage, highways and trees.
We are aware that the site has been allocated a Asset of Community Value and included within the Green Spaces SPD.
What is being proposed?
LiveWest intends to submit a full planning application in Spring 2023 for 74 homes and a Somerset, Children with Disabilities (CwD) Home which will be managed by Somerset County Council (soon to become Somerset Council). The full planning application will seek to gain permission for both the principle of development, as well as the detailed matters of the planning application, such as design and location of the houses and green space.
36% of the site will be greenspace. Included within our proposals will be a community orchard, areas of public open space, a play area, a public footpath link and ecological areas for Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems.
All new developments are required to provide a certain number of affordable homes. Mendip District Council require affordable homes. These will be a mix of rent, Shared Ownership (where the residents own a percentage of the home themselves) and First Homes which are available to first time buyers.
Key facts about our proposals:
- 74 new homes;
- A mix of dwelling types and sizes, ranging from 1-bedroom homes to 4-bedroom homes;
- Affordable homes;
- A children’s residential facility (for Somerset County Council);
- Public open space;
- 36% of the total development will be green space;
- Local areas for play; and
- Public footpath linking the development to the existing network.
Highways, access, travel and transport
Access
The new homes will be accessed from Packsaddle Way, using the existing spur that was installed for any future development. This will create a T-junction with Packsaddle Way.
Highways
New developments will always create additional usage on the existing highway network. This is unavoidable. We are in the process of undertaking a number of highways surveys to ensure our proposals are safe and cause minimum impact.
As part of our application Somerset County Councill, as the local highways authority, will be consulted on our proposals and give feedback as to whether they believe there will be a detrimental impact on the infrastructure already in place.
We have proactively reached out to Somerset County Council to try and minimize and mitigate and potential adverse impact that our development may have on the network. If planning permission is approved, we will continue to liaise with them to ensure that existing residents are not serviced by our development.
Construction Traffic
A Construction Environmental Management Plan will be developed to inform and manage any potential construction impacts during the construction phase of our development. This plan would be agreed with the local authority as condition of the application and be in place prior to any work starting on site. This would include limiting any construction activities to hours agreed with the local authority and would be in full compliance with Health and Safety Executive regulations.
Parking
Somerset County Council has a long standing and well-developed Parking Strategy. Within this strategy the standards of parking for new residential developments is separated into 3 Zones (A,B and C) and the requirements for parking spaces are given accordingly. Frome falls into Zone B and as such, the parking provision that will be provided for the new homes we aim to build we be in line with these policies:
- 1-bedroom dwelling – 1.5 car parking spaces
- 2-bedroom dwelling – 2 car parking spaces
- 3-bedroom dwelling – 2.5 car parking spaces
- 4-bedroom dwelling – 3 car parking spaces
In addition to this, 28 visitor spaces will also be included throughout the development, which is more than required within Somerset’s Parking Strategy.
Ecology
Landscaping and ecology are really important to ensure our new homes integrate carefully and sensitively with the living environment.
We are looking to achieve this at Packsaddle Way through retaining existing trees and hedgerow, and the introduction of generous green infrastructure and open space provision 36% of the site will be green space.
Although the area of proposed development is not subject to any nature conservation designations, we are aware that a component roost of the Mells Valley Special Area of Conservation (SAC) lies 1.9km to the southwest. We have looked to respond appropriately through our design which includes creating a dark corridor for foraging bats along the eastern boundary.
Ecology
The masterplan for the site is being designed to enhance ecology and biodiversity through a variety of measures. We have been conducting various ecological surveys and assessments in order to decide how we do this. These survey results will be submitted with the planning application alongside and Ecological Management Plan which will identify how we will manage the site during the construction stage and in the long term for the benefit of the existing wildlife.
During our survey work, Somerset Council cleared the site, which we know has concerned some residents. The clearance of the site has had a small impact on the ecology survey and assessment work that we had already commissioned. This work was partially completed however, and so the site clearance is not considered to have affected the validity of the survey results or the assessment of the sites value for protected species.
A full report will be prepared alongside the final submission of the planning application, however, below is a summary of the impact the clearance has had:
- No effect on the Extended UK Habitat Classification survey as the survey was completed at optimum time of year and prior to clearance.
- No effect on the breeding bird survey as the survey was completed at optimum time of year and prior to clearance.
- Bat activity surveys – 6 of 10 surveys were completed ahead of the clearance. Further surveys will be carried out in Spring 2023.
- Dormouse nest tube survey – A small percentage of the 50 dormouse tubes deployed on site were directly impacted by the clearance and were subsequently replaced. These had been checked for the presence of dormouse 3 weeks prior to clearance and no signs of dormouse were found. The final check in October 2022 did not record any signs of dormouse and it is considered that the species is absent from the site.
- Reptile presence/absence survey – 100 reptile felts had been deployed on site and at the time of clearance (which resulted in the loss of approximately half of the felts) five of seven surveys (standard number of surveys required to show presence or likely absence) had been completed and no reptiles had been detected. Two subsequent checks took place in Aug/Sept 2022 of remaining felts and no reptiles were recorded. Some residents have confirmed that adjacent gardens support populations of slow worms. It is possible that the abundance of other suitable cover and refuge opportunities (dilapidated dry stone walls) led to reptiles being under recorded however, suitable working methods will be put in place to ensure that any reptiles potentially present can be safeguarded on site.
Environment and biodiversity
Trees
Our application will retain many of the trees on site. Any trees that are removed are those that will have a limited impact on the character of the site and there will be replacement trees planted during the landscaping phase of the development to compensate for any trees that have to be removed, ensuring enhancement of the ecological value of the site in the long term. We propose to plant a high number of new trees across the site and to create a community orchard.
Landscaping
The proposals will include a detailed planting scheme to include new hedges, trees, meadow grass land, creation of new woodland scrub. Existing hedges around the boundary of the site will be retained and enhanced. A Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment has been commissioned to inform our design in relation to wider views of the site from the countryside to the north. The impact has been minimized by the proposed bank of new trees along the northern boundary and by siting the homes back from the ridge.
Air Quality
As part of the submission of the application a full Air Quality Assessment survey will be undertaken. This will look at the existing levels of quality and seek to clarify what sources of air pollution might be generated as a result of the development.
Initial findings indicate that he proposed traffic changes as a result of the proposal are well below the thresholds set in Government guidance.
Sustainability and Energy
LiveWest are committed to improving the energy performance of our existing properties and any new homes that we build.
The affordable homes for rent within the site will be Net Zero Carbon ready. This means that they will all have Air Source Heat Pumps, Solar Panels and all achieve a high energy efficiency rating. All these homes will also be ‘future proofed’ to avoid the need for any future upgrades once these homes and handed over for rent.
In addition to this, all homes on site will also have access to electric vehicle charging points in accordance with Somerset County Council’s Parking Strategy.
Drainage
Although the site falls in an area classified by the Environment Agency as a very low risk of flooding, the focus of the flood risk assessment will be of surface water run-off generated by the development. As such, the site is being designed with ecological areas in place for Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS).
Throughout the preparation phase of our planning application we have been liaising with Wessex Water, who have confirmed that there is sufficient capacity on their sewerage network for the new development.
We have also been liaising with the Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA) to set the surface water runoff discharge rate from the site and have achieved a better standard than required whereby the flow is restricted by a further 20%.
Character & design
Our contemporary homes reflect modern lifestyles and we want to ensure that they are sensitively integrated with existing homes in the area. We are looking to achieve this by using a simple pallet of materials that are similar to those used locally already.
Plotted sensitively within the existing landscape features, there will be access through the development to the countryside beyond.
The development has been designed so that private gardens are located on the boundaries with neighboring homes. Existing hedges and trees will be retained and a new wildlife corridor created along the eastern side of the site.
The development has been designed to maintain access through to the countryside via footpaths through the central green corridor which will retain much of the existing landscape features.
What happens next?
Thank you for taking the time to attend this exhibition. We hope you have found it useful and that your questions have been answered.
Please do take the time to fill in a feedback form – alternatively, if you wish to submit feedback using a paper copy, please get in touch on the contact details below.
After the consultation period ends, our team will review your comments and produce a report based on the feedback we have received. This report will be submitted alongside the planning application.
If you have any further questions regarding the proposals or would like to pass on any feedback directly, please contact our community engagement manager Alice Jenkins on: alice.jenkins@foundationcommunications.co.uk or 07896 004355.
Expected timeline
Give us your views
About LiveWest
We are LiveWest, a housing association in the South West of England who own and manage over 39,000 homes from Cornwall to Gloucestershire.
We were formed in March 2018 through the merger of Knightstone Housing and DCH, and since then we have built on the best of both organisations. We have ambitious plans to invest £1bn in the South West economy and to build more than 6,000 new homes in the region over the next five years.
We are leaders in our field, and care passionately about delivering high-quality developments and involving communities and our customers in our proposals from the very outset. Our vision is to deliver a home for everyone, and we will achieve that through providing quality homes, across a range of tenures, which are as affordable as possible to as many people as possible. We strive to create places where people want to live, which protect and nurture the environment, are efficient and sustainable, with excellent local infrastructure and which promote a healthy economy that provides opportunities for all.