Our proposal looks to provide a mix of new, high-quality homes consisting of 10 no. four and five-bedroom, semi-detached dwellings and between 20-30 no. one and two-bedroom apartments within a single apartment block
The overall concept of the design is to create a sustainable development of the highest standard that works sensitively with the natural features of the site whilst being appropriate to the neighbouring context.
The quantity of built form proposed has been significantly reduced from that of the implemented scheme HS/OA/88/01323, with multiple gaps between dwellings to provide breathing space and to ensure the visual connections to the sea are retained.
Similarly, the emerging proposals include a reduction in building height and scale from that of the implemented scheme. Sympathetic use of the natural sloped topography allows the relative heights of the proposed dwellings to step down across the site and ensure that the development responds appropriately to adjacent neighbouring properties.
Our emerging proposals have been landscape led, with the strategy for the site being to reduce the amount of development, incorporate more and larger landscaped areas and to preserve, enhance and integrate the existing green open space and biodiversity. The natural topography has been utilised to provide raised planting bunds, creating strong landscaped buffers to conceal parking from the existing neighbouring properties on West Hill Road. A further 10m planting buffer and ecological zone is proposed to transition between the cliff edge and the proposed dwellings to the south.
The proposed development will involve the removal of artificially made up ground and return the Site to more natural levels. The topography has necessitated two building platforms, an upper platform for the houses and a lower platform for the apartments, each will have their own access point.
Access to the Site will be gained from West Hill Road. Access to the apartments will be provided through the existing access point to the west (opposite no. 1 Florida Court), a pedestrian / cycle access will be created in the centre of the Site opposite St Vincent’s Road. The existing access to the east (adjacent to no.3 Seaview) will be moved to the west away from the boundary and will be used for the houses.
A key design focus has been the consideration of neighbouring properties and the aspiration to considerably improve upon the relationship between new development and existing neighbours from that of the implemented scheme. This has particularly been the case along the Site’s western boundary, where dwellings 1-3 Sea View partially front the site and are in close proximity to the boundary. The proposed build form in this area has been set further away from the existing dwellings and has been significantly pushed back further into the site, in turn this has enabled a large area of open, enhanced green space to be provided to the front of the existing dwelling.
The proposed built form has been, in comparison to the implemented scheme, has been pushed back into the site, away from West Hill Road. This has led to a significant increase in the separation distance between the proposed development and the adjacent neighbours. Whereas the implemented permission presents as one large monolithic block, the proposed scheme provides multiple breaks in the built form improving outlook and substantially reducing the impact of the development on the neighbouring properties.
The development team has prepared supporting technical documents to accompany the planning application and the final submission will be informed by the recommendations of these reports. The work commissioned to date includes the following:
Experienced ecological consultants, Native Ecology, have been appointed to conduct a thorough assessment of the site. To date a preliminary ecological appraisal has been completed which uncovered the need for further survey works to be undertaken. These surveys are currently ongoing and the results of them will inform the final ecological impact assessment detailing required mitigation measures that will be incorporated into the final development proposals.
Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) is a statutory requirement that ensures habitats for wildlife are left in a measurably better state than they were before development. This site will deliver a biodiversity net gain of 10% resulting in a better-quality natural habitat. These assessments are ongoing.
A specialist structural engineer has been appointed to assess the impact the development will have on the cliff stability. The proposed development has been designed closely with the structural engineer’s input in order to ensure that the situation is no worse to the present state and that it will even provide a betterment by improving the site drainage and by removing significant amount of earth. The planning application will be accompanied by the full cliff stability assessment.
The highways authority has been consulted via pre-app and the principles of access and parking and other considerations have been agreed (subject to firming up the details).
