Item 7 - Land fronting Udimore Road, Rye - East Sussex County ...

Agenda Item No. 7
Committee:
Regulatory
Planning Committee
Date: 10 October 2007
Report by:
Proposal:
Director of Transport and Environment
Outline: Residential development of 135 dwellings with vehicular
access from Udimore Road, including play space and landscaping.
Site Address: Udimore Road – land fronting, (rear of 39-129 Udimore Road, 69-83
Coopers Road and Tillingham Court), Rye.
Application No:
Applicant:
RR/2007/2365/P
Aroncorp Ltd
Strategic Issues: • Transport and Rights of Way
• Other Infrastructure
• Landscape and Archaeology
• Waste Minimisation
RECOMMENDATION:-
EAST SUSSEX COUNTY COUNCIL STRATEGIC REPRESENTATIONS
To resolve to inform Rother District Council that:-
This outline application for 135 dwellings at this location is supported in principle,
although the timing of its release is a matter for Rother District Council to determine.
However, the following matters relating to the provision of the County Council’s
services should be secured in consultation with officers of the County Council before
permission is granted:
a) contributions and measures required by the Highway Authority to deliver transport
improvements necessary to minimise traffic impacts and promote sustainable
travel patterns including a Local Sustainable Accessibility Improvement
Contribution (LSAIC);
b) contributions to education, library and household waste infrastructure in
accordance with the County Council’s adopted Supplementary Planning Guidance;
c) detailed aspects of the mitigation strategies for both archaeology and landscape
are agreed prior to development commencing (EN2 and S1(j)); and
d) detailed information on how construction waste is to be minimised and reused in
accordance with Waste Local Plan policy WLP11.
SUMMARY OF CONCLUSIONS ON KEY ISSUES
1. The Application
1.1 This is an outline application for 135 dwellings with associated works at land off
Udimore Road in Rye. This is a greenfield site which is not the subject of any nature
conservation or landscape designations but does border areas within the High Weald Area
of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is allocated as a reserve site for a minimum of 114
dwellings in the recently adopted Rother District Local Plan (RDLP) (2006), and in principle

the application, therefore, is supported. The Local Plan seeks to phase the site’s release
towards the end of the plan period (2011), but the precise timing of this is a matter for Rother
District Council to determine.
2. Transport and Rights of Way
2.1 Access to the development site and the traffic impacts arising from this outline
proposal are considered acceptable, subject to securing the detailed design of the
roundabout as recommended by the stage one safety audit. The County Council as Highway
Authority will require a Local Sustainable Accessibility Improvement Contribution (LSAIC)
from the development to spend on local measures in order to provide for the transport
demand that the development would create. Contributions will also be sought for
improvements to rights of way and bus services.
3. Other Infrastructure
3.1 The development will put additional demands on other County Council infrastructure
in the Rye area including nursery school, library and waste facilities. Contributions should
therefore be secured for additional County Council infrastructure requirements, as advised in
detail by the County Council’s Development Contributions Co-ordinator.
4. Landscape and Archaeology
4.1 The proposal is generally acceptable in landscape terms provided the illustrative
layout accompanying the application is maintained in subsequent detailed applications. In
order to secure the new landscape structure, which mitigates impact on the wider AONB
landscape, the developer should enter into a section 106 agreement with Rother District
Council to contain the development and fund the on going management of the landscape
areas. County Council officers are happy to provide advice as the detailed application is
developed. The development could potentially reveal archaeological remains therefore a
suitable condition should be sought to secure a detailed archaeological mitigation scheme to
be developed between the applicants and Rother District Council.
5. Waste Minimisation
5.1 Any development on this site should minimise waste generation arising from
construction in accordance with policies in the Waste Local Plan and the Construction and
Demolition Waste Supplementary Planning Document. The applicant, therefore, must
provide a site waste management plan to ensure that as far as possible construction and
demolition waste can be dealt with on site or can be recycled and reused.
RUPERT CLUBB
Director of Transport and Environment
2 October 2007
Contact Officer: Ellen Reith 01273 481708
Local Member: Councillor Keith Glazier
BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS
East Sussex and Brighton & Hove Structure Plan (1991-2011)
East Sussex and Brighton & Hove Waste Local Plan (2006)
Email from Senior Landscape Architect – 14/09/07
Email from the County Ecologist – 17/09/07
Email from the County Archaeologist – 19/09/07
Development Contributions Coordinator’s response to Rother DC – 21/09/07
Highway Authority HT401 – 28/09/07

APPENDIX
CONSIDERATION OF THE ISSUES
1. Site
1.1 This is a greenfield site on the western edge of Rye that lies within the local plan’s
defined development boundary and includes an allocation for housing development. The site
is bounded by existing residential development to the south east that follows the Udimore
Road (B2089) and to the north east by the Tillingham Estate. Part of the site at the southern
end has direct frontage to the Udimore Road itself. To the north and west of the site is open
countryside.
1.2 The site is in agricultural use, consisting entirely of pasture in fields divided by
hedgerows, some of which contain standard trees. The site is not the subject of any nature
conservation or landscape designations, but the north western part of the site adjoins the
High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).
1.3 The site falls gently from west to east and includes part of a minor valley with a water
course. The southern end of the site is the most prominent from the surrounding landscape.
2. The Proposal
2.1 The proposal is an outline planning application for 135 dwellings on 3.8 hectares of
the site which is 10.87 hectares in total. The dwellings will be at a net density of 35.5
dwellings per hectare and some 40% would be affordable homes. The remainder of the site
is proposed for play space, open space and landscaping. Permission is also being sought
for a new access from Udimore Road in the form of a lit mini roundabout.
2.2 The indicative layout of the site locates the housing mainly within the centre of the
site immediately north of residential development fronting Udimore Road and away from the
boundary to the west with the High Weald AONB. Layout, scale, appearance, landscaping
are to be dealt with at the subsequent reserved matters stage.
3. Comments / Appraisal
3.1 The key strategic planning issues of relevance to this application are:
• transport and rights of way
• other infrastructure
• landscape and archaeology
• waste minimisation
Development Plan Policy
3.2 The adopted Rother District Local Plan (RDLP) 2006 allocates 3.8 hectares of the
land north of Udimore Road for housing, (policy RY5). The local plan considers that the site
is suitable for a minimum of 114 dwellings to be at a density of at least 30 dwellings per
hectare, of which 40% are to be affordable. The remainder of the site is identified for
landscaping, amenity land and public open space. Access is to be provided via a mini
roundabout to Udimore Road.
3.3 The site is covered also by RDLP phasing policy DS6 which controls the release of
allocated residential sites for development. The site is identified as a reserve site that will
only be released if it is found necessary to meet the Structure Plan housing requirements up
to 2011. The underlying aim of the policy is to minimise greenfield land take if sufficient

ownfield windfall sites come forward. Rother District Council is currently assessing
whether a case exists for the site to be released now.
3.4 The outline application broadly accords with the requirements of the site specific
policy in the adopted local plan. The allocation of the site in the local plan forms part of an
agreed strategy that, if necessary, should be released to meet Structure Plan housing
requirements (policy H1). The principle of development of the site therefore can be
supported. The precise timing of the site’s release however, is a matter for Rother District to
resolve.
Transport and Rights of Way
3.5 Structure Plan policies S1(c) & (d), TR1(h) and TR3 require development proposals
not to create or perpetuate unacceptable traffic or transport conditions, that new
development should be accessible by a variety of modes of transport and that development
proposals should provide for the transport demand that they create.
3.6 The proposal conforms to RDLP site policy RY5 regarding access which states that
vehicular access should be from Udimore Road, opposite Cadborough Farm, and in the form
of a new mini roundabout. The Highway Authority is satisfied that the proposed roundabout
and will operate satisfactorily with the amount of traffic generated by the development,
subject to securing the detailed design of the roundabout as recommended by the stage one
safety audit.
3.7 To provide residents of the new development with access to a satisfactory public
transport service the Highway Authority requires contributions towards bus services and
improvements to bus stops along Udimore Road. Contributions will also be sought for the
upgrade of rights of way, both to provide safe and appropriate routes to and from the site
and to improve the existing rights of way network in the Rye area to accommodate the
general increase of use arising from the development.
3.8 The Highway Authority will require a Local Sustainable Accessibility Improvement
Contribution (LSAIC) to mitigate the transport impacts of the development. This will be spent
on measures identified in the Rye Local Area Transport Strategy including improvements for
pedestrians and bus users around Rye railway station.
Other infrastructure
3.9 The County Council’s Development Contributions Co-ordinator is providing detailed
advice on the infrastructure contributions required from this residential development to meet
the additional demands on County Council infrastructure in the Rye area (policy S3).
3.10 The County Council’s Director of Children’s Services advises that existing primary
and secondary schools are capable of accommodating the additional demands for places
that would arise from the proposed development. However, existing nursery facilities
serving the area would not have sufficient capacity available to accommodate children
arising from the new housing. Therefore, the proposed development should contribute
towards additional nursery places.
3.11 Contributions will also be sought towards library and household waste provision in
accordance with the County Council’s Supplementary Planning Guidance on Development
Contributions. Though the existing Rye Library would not be able to meet the demands from
the new development, there are proposals to relocate the service. Therefore, contributions
towards increasing capacity at the new library premises should be provided. Contributions
to improvements of facilities at Mountfield Household Waste Recycling site, which serves the
area the proposed development is within, are required to accommodate the additional
demands the proposed development would generate.

Landscape and archaeology
3.12 The site, though not within the High Weald AONB, does adjoin it and the site’s
topography also means that any development here has the potential for visual impact on the
surrounding AONB. The Structure Plan requires that the quality and character of the AONB
landscape is to be conserved and enhanced (policy EN2). This includes minimising the
impact of any development close to them and affecting their setting. Also development will
be carefully controlled that would have a significantly adverse effect on established views
(policy EN3).
3.13 A Landscape and Visual Assessment of this outline proposal accompanies the
application and I consider the scheme is generally acceptable in landscape terms. However,
to minimise its impact on the wider AONB landscape it is essential that the development is
contained and an appropriate landscape buffer zone is provided and maintained within the
application site. Therefore, it is recommended that should the District Council be minded to
approve this application, the developer should enter into a section 106 planning agreement
with Rother District Council to secure an appropriate new landscape structure, to prevent
any future development and to fund the on going management of the landscape areas.
3.14 Whist it is acknowledged that this is an outline application with layout and
landscaping being reserved for subsequent detailed applications, there is concern that the
positioning of the access road, shown on the illustrative layout, would unnecessarily impact
adversely on the surrounding AONB. Consequently I would advise that the road should be
realigned closer to the new urban edge to reduce its visibility. County Council landscape
officers are happy to provide further advice as the detailed application is developed.
3.15 A habitats survey accompanies the application. I agree with its overall conclusions
and am satisfied that all the necessary surveys have been undertaken. Rother District
Council should satisfy itself that the any approval complies with guidance under Planning
Policy Statement 9 and the duty under Section 40 of the Natural Environment and Rural
Communities Act 2006 to enhance biodiversity.
3.16 No archaeological assessment has been provided with the application. County
Council records show that there are presently no recorded archaeological sites within the
development area. However, there is a general level of archaeological remains in the
surrounding area, so it is possible that development on the site could impact on potential
archaeological remains. Consequently a standard condition should be attached to any
permission to ensure that no development shall take place until the implementation of a
programme of archaeological investigation which has been agreed by the Rother District
Council in consultation with the County Archaeologist, (policy S1(j)).
Waste minimisation
3.17 Construction activity generates a considerable amount of waste and the
management of such waste should be an active feature of all development. Any proposal of
development on this site should require the developer to minimise waste generation arising
from construction as far as practicable and consider its reuse on site. Waste Local Plan
policy WLP11 and the Construction and Demolition Waste Supplementary Planning
Document clearly establish the requirements for developers to minimise waste generated by
development. Before permission is given the applicant must provide information on how
construction waste is to be minimised.

Paragraph 7 Consultation
RR/2007/2365
´
Application site
Gibbet Marsh
Cadborough Cliff
Development
boundary
Location Plan
Cadborough Cliff
Site
Scale Scale 1: 1:5000
Rupert Clubb
BEng (Hons) CEng MICE
Director, Transport and Environment
East Sussex County Council
Scale 1:50000
Reproduced from the Ordnance Survey mapping with
Reproduced from the Ordnance Survey mapping with the
the permission of the Controller of Her Majesty's
permission of the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office
Stationery Office © Crown Copyright.
© Crown Copyright. Unauthorised reproduction infringes
Unauthorised reproduction infringes Crown copyright
Crown copyright and may lead to prosecution or civil proceedings.
and may lead to prosecution or civil proceedings.
East Sussex County Council, 100019601, 2007
East Sussex County Council, 100019601, 2007