Landscape Led Design & Connectivity
Landscape-led Design
A Landscape and Visual Appraisal has been carried out on the Site and its context to establish the key constraints and opportunities in landscape terms.
As well as considering the site itself, it is important to consider its local context. To the north
of the Site lies an established woodland that separates the field from the wider landscape to
the north. To the east is Brampton Road set at a lower level than the Site. This road corridor
already has houses set off it and the industrial units accessed from Netherton Road are
evident further to the east. To the south lies the existing residential area of Greytree with the
dwellings of First and Second Avenues the most closely associated with the Site. Finally to
the west lies another small field and the remaining housing of Third through to Sixth Avenues
and Blackthorn Close. All these areas also lie in the Wye Valley National Landscape.
Views from the north are largely screened by the existing woodland block positioned
adjacent to the Site. Views from the east are also largely screened by the existing tree
planting along Brampton Road. Views to the Site from the south are evident down First and
Second Avenue. These are the closest public views to the Site. Views from the west are
partially screened by the existing hedgerows that bound the Site and the adjacent field.
Views up from the Wye Valley Way are partially evident looking up the valley side to the Site
some 500m away. This view also takes in the existing housing area of Greytree to the south
of the Site.
The Illustrative Masterplan has evolved to ensure the existing boundary features of the Site are where possible retained and given suitable offsets to secure their longevity. This will help to improve habitat connectivity and ensure the site remains visually well contained. Open space has been situated to the north and west of the Site to allow potential connections to be provided alongside the existing landscaped setting. Landscape mitigation has combined with biodiversity and open space opportunities, to ensure the development is policy compliant in both Public Open Space and Biodiversity Net Gain.
View from south west boundary of the site looking back towards housing off First and Second Avenue
View west towards existing on site vegetation
View north along Second Avenue towards Site
View east looking across the site
Housing off Brampton Road, with industrial buildings behind domestic curtilage lying north east of the site
Site Access and Connectivity
Vehicular access to the site will be provided via Second Avenue. This will be designed to accommodate a range of vehicle types and will incorporate measures to ensure safe access for pedestrians and cyclists. The precise location and design of the access, along with associated off-site improvements, will be fixed at the outline planning stage.
A thorough preliminary site appraisal has been undertaken in the preparation of the proposals, to
consider the transport and highway implications of the site as well as possible opportunities for
enhancement. Speed and traffic volume surveys have been undertaken on both Greytree and Brampton Road, together with a peak hour manual classified tuning count and queue length survey at the junction of Second Avenue and Greytree. Results from the surveys show that Second Avenue is a low trafficked street with low traffic flows and an approximate 4.6m width. It is a residential road with a straight alignment flanking footways and street lighting.
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Residential properties have direct frontage access with off-street parking provided within the curtilage of each property and the highway is therefore generally free from on-street parking and congestion. Peak hour surveys confirm the low number of existing vehicle movements on Second Avenue and no queues recorded at its junction with Greytree.
The internal road network and parking arrangements will be finalised at the Reserved Matters stage and will comply with all relevant highway and design standards at that time.