Meeting documents
Cabinet
Wednesday, 5th March, 2003
1 THE ISSUE
1.1 The area known as Western Riverside to the west of Bath city centre is one of the most of significant regeneration sites within Bath and North East Somerset and the sub region. Western Riverside is allocated for major comprehensive mixed use development under Policy GDS.1 (site B1) of the Bath and North East Somerset Local Plan, Deposit Draft 2002. Its implementation is pivotal to the success of the Plan. The Local Plan reflects, to a large extent, the proposals set out in the Regeneration Framework published December 2001.
1.2 The Deposit Draft Local Plan was placed on deposit for six weeks commencing January 2002. A substantial number of representations were received in relation to Western Riverside. This report details these representations as well as recommended responses for Members' consideration. Proposed changes to the Deposit Draft Local Plan emerging from the responses are also set out for Members' consideration for inclusion in the Revised Deposit Draft Local Plan.
1.3 The Revised Deposit Draft Local Plan is to be considered in its entirety by the Executive and Full Council in July for approval and placing on statutory deposit expected in the Autumn. The policy requirements relating to Western Riverside are being considered separately in order to help progress this major regeneration scheme and to provide a policy basis for the preparation of Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPG) for the site. This SPG will supplement the Revised Deposit Draft Local Plan. The SPG is considered elsewhere on this agenda in draft form for publication for consultation purposes.
2 RECOMMENDATION
2.1 That the Council Executive:
(1) Recommend the proposed change to Policy GDS.1, B1 as set out in paragraph 5.4 of this report to Council for its approval;
(2) Recommend the responses to the representations on the Deposit Draft Local Plan (attached as Appendix 1) to Council for its approval;
(3) Recommend the proposed changes to the Deposit Draft Local Plan (attached as Appendix 2) to Council for its approval for inclusion in the Bath and North East Somerset Local Plan, Revised Deposit Draft 2003.
3 FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
3.1 There are no direct financial implications arising from this report. However, the amended policy will form part of the Revised Deposit Draft Local Plan which will need to be published and placed on deposit for a six week period. Funds are available to cover these costs in the Local Plan budget.
4 BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT
4.1 Policy GDS.1 of the Deposit Draft Local Plan allocates Western Riverside for comprehensive mixed use development. The policy sets out requirements that need to be met in order for development to proceed. General site requirements that apply to all the sites allocated for development and to all allocated sites involving residential development are detailed. In addition, the policy lists requirements relating to individual sites, these are listed in the Local Plan under site B1 for Western Riverside.
4.2 The general site requirements relate to various issues including provision of affordable housing, access, design of development and community and recreational facilities provision. The requirements are derived from other generic policies of the Local Plan. These related policies and therefore, the general site requirements have been the subject of numerous representations. Representations and any necessary amendments to these policies and the general site requirements are not considered at this stage, but will be considered in July when the whole Revised Deposit Draft Plan is reported to the Executive and Full Council.
4.3 The representations considered in this report relate specifically to Western Riverside and the relevant detailed site requirements. Issues related to the provision of the transportation infrastructure associated with the redevelopment of Western Riverside are not considered in this report because further studies are being undertaken (see paragraphs 5.2 - 5.4 below). The representations to be considered and the recommended responses are detailed in the schedule attached as Appendix 1. The main issues emerging from these representations and an indication of the recommended direction of response are summarised in section 5 below.
4.4 The detailed Western Riverside site requirements listed in Policy GDS.1, B1 in the Deposit Draft Local Plan are primarily based on the Comprehensive Development Framework (and associated documents) endorsed by the Council's Strategy Committee in February 2000. Since that time consultants have been commissioned to produce the Regeneration Framework and various linked studies including Environmental and Transport Assessments. In responding to the representations these more recent documents have been relied on.
5 REPRESENTATIONS ON THE LOCAL PLAN
5.1 The main issues raised through the representations on the Deposit Draft Local Plan and the recommended direction of response are summarised in the table below:
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MAIN ISSUES |
RECOMMENDED DIRECTION OF RESPONSE |
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· Dwelling capacity of Western Riverside should be greater - higher number of dwellings can be built during Plan period. |
· Dwelling figure of 620 during the Plan period set out in policy GDS.1, B1 was based on Comprehensive Development framework. This figure should be increased to 900 to reflect Regeneration Framework and information on delivery. |
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· Higher density housing should be promoted. |
· A range of dwelling types and sizes are to be provided at a high density in line with government guidance. |
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· Number of major constraints to development (e.g. contamination, flooding, fragmented ownership, infrastructure provision etc.) impact on viability and make development of 620 dwellings during Plan period unlikely. |
· Policy GDS.1 will be amended to reflect dwelling capacity set out above. Delivery is justified by assessments of development viability and housing construction/sales rates. |
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· Land should be allocated for significant retail uses, including bulky goods provision. |
· Bulky goods retail provision attracts car-borne customers which conflicts with underlying principle in regenerating the area of minimising car use. As set out in the Local Plan there remains a need for bulky goods provision in Bath and a number of options require further investigation, including potential for innovative solutions within the Western Riverside site. |
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· Redevelopment should include provision of performance arts venue. |
· The site may be suitable for a cultural events venue/exhibition centre and the SPG will allow for this. Such a facility may come forward through the Masterplan. |
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MAIN ISSUES |
RECOMMENDED DIRECTION OF RESPONSE |
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· Western Riverside should accommodate a major all-seater sports stadium. |
· Provision of a sports stadium as part of the redevelopment would not be financially viable and is therefore not promoted in the land use mix. |
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· Need for wider transportation impacts to be considered and necessary improvements to highway / pedestrian / cycling networks to be made. |
· Transportation impacts have been assessed through the Transport Assessment. Measures required can come forward through policy GDS.1, B1 detailed site requirements. |
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· Development form, including building heights should reflect context and World Heritage Site status of Bath. |
· Local Plan design policies will ensure this and detailed guidance on built form (including heights that are appropriate) will be set out in SPG. |
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· Redevelopment needs to take account of existing business. |
· This detailed implementation issue can be addressed at the Masterplanning stage. However, the Local Plan requires the relocation of existing uses where necessary to facilitate comprehensive redevelopment. |
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· Process of development needs to be capable of implementation, phased and flexible allowing individual landowners to implement their own schemes within comprehensive vision. |
· It is not appropriate to include details of the development process in the Local Plan. Development process will be outlined in the SPG and more particularly the Masterplan. Development will be phased and assessments show it is capable of implementation. |
Transportation Infrastructure
5.2 The redevelopment of Western Riverside is dependent upon the provision of an integrated transport system linking the site to the City centre and a park and ride facility at Newbridge. A number of representations on the Local Plan have been made in relation to this aspect of development focusing on the need to show the entire length of a more precise route for the proposed Rapid Transit Link and a revision to the Green Belt and allocation of a park and ride site at Newbridge. These representations are not summarised above and are not included in the schedule(Appendix 1).
5.3 A study is currently being undertaken to address transport issues relating to the site and it is due to be completed in the next few months. Once determined this transportation infrastructure provision will require amendments to the Local Plan, potentially including a revision to the Green Belt boundary at Newbridge. These amendments can not be considered at this stage and will need to be considered along with the rest of the Revised Deposit Draft Local Plan in July.
5.4 Whilst the necessary changes to other Local Plan policies related to this transportation infrastructure provision cannot be determined it is considered that the relevant development requirement under Policy GDS.1, B1 should be amended to reflect more closely the need for an integrated transport solution rather than any specific form of transport system.
5.5 Members of the Executive are invited to consider the responses to representations and proposed changes to the Deposit Draft Local Plan attached as Appendices 1 and 2 and to recommend them for approval by the Council.
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Contact person |
Vaughan Thompson, Policy, Environment and Projects Group Manager, 01225 477580 |
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Background papers |
Bath Western Riverside Regeneration Framework Report December 2001 Bath and North East Somerset Local Plan including minerals & waste policies Deposit Draft 2002 |
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