Green light for 61 new homes in Ludlow after council's concerns addressed
Permission has been granted to build more homes on the edge of Ludlow after a council’s concerns were addressed.
Pickstock Homes Ltd submitted revised details relating to the approval of reserved matters for phase three of the Rocks Green Sustainable Urban Extension development.
The developer secured permission for the scheme in 2018, with the hybrid application totalling 200 homes and split into phases.
The third phase consists of 61 properties (12 of them affordable) and sought to address design, landscape and highway matters that have been identified.
Representing the developer, Katherine Else, managing director of Claremont Planning Consultancy, said the layout has been designed to incorporate further landscaping and measures to address criticisms raised by Shropshire Council officers.
“It is considered that the amended layout responds to the feedback from the green infrastructure team, whilst maintaining the width of the western open space as that established through the hybrid consent,” said Ms Else.
“The surveillance over the western open space has been improved through pedestrian linkages provided in the layout from the adjacent residential roads and the placement of more gable windows in the homes adjacent.
“Further, the additional windows and access arrangements help to provide a double frontage design to the dwellings alongside the public right of way (PROW). The use of a mixture of boundary treatments alongside the PROW also helps to enhance the environment for pedestrians.
“In response to concerns raised about the distance of new houses to the main area of open space within the allocated site, a compacted stone path with timber edging is provided along the southern boundary that links to the SUDs [sustainable drainage systems] pond and is proposed to provide a new circular walk and north to the open space in other phases of the development.
“There are further benches spaces to be provided around the SUDs pond as well as trim trail of play facilities. It is requested that the details of the benches and trim trail facilities are agreed through planning conditions.
“To facilitate the walkways around the SUDs pond the existing post and ail fence will be relocated so that it is compliant with ROSPA [The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents] requirements and moved to the edge of the pond’s bank.”
Ms Else added that the housing will be accessed via a priority junction to the existing Knights Way extension. The route has been curved, she said, ensuring that traffic is slowed down to a proposed 20mph speed. There will also be new signage and road calming measures at the Knights Way junction, including a pedestrian crossing.
“Previous proposals for raised tables in the highway layout have been removed as requested,” said Ms Else.
“Through the curve of the access road, provision of pocket seating spaces, tree planting and provision of off-street parking bays, traffic calming will be achieved. The residential street will also be hedge-lined with street trees along the whole of the vehicular route that will be separated from the pavement by a grass verge.
“The resulting layout and landscaping effectively green the streets proposed, greatly enhancing the appearance of the development whilst contributing to calming traffic by identifying the residential context.”
Shropshire Council’s planning officers consider there would be no undue impact on highways or community safety as a consequence of the development, and that the layout, scale and appearance of represents a good design, “providing an appropriate level of pedestrian permeability and edge to edge connectivity with appropriately landscaped areas of public open space controlled by condition”.
