Land to the north of Hanham Way, Nailsea.
NSC planning application, 23/P/2322/OUT submitted by Vistry.
Nailsea Action Group’s response
Nailsea Action Group, whose aim is to protect promote open green space in the town and protect its residents from building developments in inappropriate locations, objects to this application and requests that NSC reject it for the reasons given below:-
- the single access point is at the extreme (southerly) end of the site and is on a narrow and awkward junction. An alternative could be the National Grid haul road from the site onto Hanham Way if the DCO (Development Consent Order) requiring it to be restored to its original status can be reversed as it has been for other nearby sites in the town. Even if, however, National Grid do reinstate, the access from Hanham Way would be better;
- a site of this extent and north-south length should have a second access point, for which there is an option at the north end of the site via Fryth Way;
- traffic to and from the development will have to negotiate either the narrow nearby lanes including the notoriously overused Causeway or travel along a residential road for much of its length reduced to single track working owing to parked vehicles, and/or past two large schools on Pound Lane, where the same applies due to cars parked on both sides of the schools;
- notwithstanding that this is an outline application only at this stage, it is not clear how the substantial open space on the site will be managed and who will pay for the management of these, the SuDS and the extensive green space that is part of the planned development;
- by the same token it is not clear where the substantial SuDS (Sustainable Drainage System) ponds drain/overflow. If any excess drains to the east it will replicate the current situation where the gardens on the west side of Causeway View already flood. If it is into Parish Brook, this could unbalance the delicate equilibrium that keeps the rhynes from flooding the moors between Nailsea and Clevedon;
- the whole site lies low particularly at its southern end next to Watery Lane, the name of which is an indication itself of the proximity of flooding potential for the properties there, which will be increased by the rainwater run-off from the development in a southerly and south easterly direction;
- there will be a significant impact of the enlarged population and its associated traffic at this end of the town on local residents particularly those in Kingshill Gardens which are homes for the elderly, the position of the access to which already makes it difficult to see far enough to exit safely whether on foot oy by car;
- although the application avers that the consequential biodiversity gain over the whole acquired site will be good, the countryside is inevitably pushed further back away from the town with the associated ecological loss of flora, fauna and fungi;
- although this application is for outline permission, if permitted, it will make it less easy to resist a full application at a later date;
- Nailsea Town Council, on behalf of its townspeople, does not support this application.
- Very significantly, the application for this development on this land should be refused because:-
- its flood risk assessment of tidal flooding falls well short of conformity with current guidance;
- Section 6.3.2 of the Flood Risk Assessment & Sustainable Drainage Strategy documents says “The site is allocated within NSC’s Core Strategy and Site Allocations Plan as part of ‘Land at North West Nailsea.’ Therefore, it has been assumed that the Sequential Test was applied at the plan-making stage as part of the Sustainability Appraisal”. That assumption is incorrect. The current Site Allocation Plan (SAP), was adopted in line with previous Guidance. At the examination of the SAP, it was made clear by the inspector that the presence of an allocation in the SAP does not mean that the site is suitable for development. At that time no flood assessment had been carried out;
- the only tidal flood risk assessment of the Land to the north of Hanham Way that has been carried out in conformance with current planning guidance is to be found in the supporting documents of the current local plan consultation. That assessment has led to a reduction, in the consultation plan, of the area and capacity of the proposed allocation of the Land at North West Nailsea.
- the current Guidance in “Flood risk and coastal change” says “The Sequential Test should be applied to ‘Major’ and ‘Non-major development’ proposed in areas at risk of flooding, but it will not be required where the site has been allocated for development and subject to the test at the plan making stage”. As no such test was carried out at the plan making stage, that part of the guidance requires that a full sequential test is now carried out