The major plans that will change Cranbrook forever

A plan for where the next 4,170 homes in Cranbrook will be built has been backed – and it will see homes built south of the old A30.

Planners have already given the go-ahead for a total of 3,580 new homes to be built in the new town of Cranbrook, with a total of 7,850 eventually set to be built.

East Devon District Council’s Strategic Planning Committee on Wednesday morning backed the Cranbrook Plan Development Plan Document (DPD) which outlines the land where a further 4,170 new homes will be built, and that it is expected that at least 100 new homes will be built in the town centre.

Four expansion areas, two of which are south of the A30, are allocated for development of the 4,170 new homes, as well as a neighbourhood centres, community buildings, open space, allotments, two primary schools, sports pitches, and land suitable for a place of worship and a cemetary.

The Cranbrook Plan also sets out policies to provide the supporting facilities that a sustainable new town needs; including reinvigorating a vision of a zero carbon development, together with the delivery of schools, shops, parks, open spaces, roads and services to meet the resident and visitor needs for a brand new 21st century town.

Development would take place at Bluehayes, to the west of the existing development, and include 960, Treasbeare, south of the existing development and south of the old A30, and include 915 new homes, Cobdens, to the east of the existing development, and include 1,495 new homes, and Grange, to the south of Cobden and south of the old A30, and include 800 new homes

BLUEHAYES

40 hectares of land at the Bluehayes Expansion Area is allocated for a mixed use development, which will include:

• Around 960 new dwellings
• Land capable of accommodating a community building
• Formal open space recreational land
• A 420 pupil place primary school (in the event that Bluehayes is delivered before Treasbeare)
• Formal play space with facilities for children and youth
• Allotments totalling an area of 0.55 hectare of land

The Bluehayes expansion area will comprise a mix of housing, community and commercial uses that will provide a key route through the town linking the Cranbrook railway station with the Treasbeare expansion area, Skypark, Exeter Airport and existing development at Broadclyst Station.

TREASBEARE

62 hectares of land at the Treasbeare Expansion Area is allocated for a mixed use development, which will include:

• Around 915 new houses
• Land capable of accommodating a community building
• A neighbourhood centre to provide at least 1500 square metres gross of groundfloor floor space, including shops and a range of business spaces
• A 420 pupil place primary school (in the event that Treasbeare is built before Bluehayes)
• Formal open space and recreational land
• Formal play space with facilities for children and youth
• A sports hub which delivers two senior rugby pitches, two junior rugby pitches, two football pitches, three junior football pitches, an all-weather pitch, four tennis courts, a sports pavilion, changing facilities and a club room
• Employment land
• Allotments totalling an area of 0.54 hectare of land.
• A Suitable Alternative Natural Green Space
• Land for an extension to the District Heating Energy Centre
• Five serviced permanent pitches for gypsies and travellers

The Treasbeare expansion area will comprise a mix of housing, education, community, sport, employment and commercial uses (together with safeguarded land for the energy centre) that importantly will provide a key location for activity in the town and act as a hub for education and sporting facilities in this area. The sports hub in Treasbeare will be the main hub in Cranbrook and provide a wider range of facilities than at the Ingrams Sports hub further to the east.

COBDENS

110 hectares of land at the Cobdens Expansion Area is allocated for a mixed use development, which will include:

• Around 1495 new houses
• A neighbourhood centre to provide at least 1250 square metres gross of groundfloor floor space, including shops and a range of business spaces
• A 630 pupil place primary school, 80 place early years provision and a room for community use
• A 50 pupil place Special Educational Needs school
• Formal open space recreational land
• Formal play space with facilities for children and youth
• An extension to the existing sports hub at Ingrams, through the provision of 1x youth 9v9 football pitch
• Allotments totalling an area of 0.88 hectare of land
• Ten serviced permanent pitches for gypsies and travellers
• Serviced land suitable to accommodate a place of worship and parsonage
• Serviced land (of at least 1 hectare in size) for a cemetery
• Development of the Cobdens expansion area of Cranbrook will require the undergrounding of the 132kv high voltage power line that crosses the site as indicated in the Cranbrook Masterplan.

This Cobdens expansion area will contain around 1490 new homes and social and community facilities. It will include provision for a neighbourhood centre and associated mixed and meanwhile uses as well as a large area of Suitable Alternative Natural Green Space (SANGS).

GRANGE

30 hectares of land at the Grange Expansion Area is allocated for a mixed use development, which will include:

• Around 800 new houses
• A community building
• A neighbourhood centre to provide at least 1600 square metres gross of groundfloor floor space, including shops and a range of business spaces
• Formal open space
• Formal play space with facilities for children and youth
• Allotments totalling an area of 0.47 hectares of land

The Cranbrook Plan allocates land for comprehensive development for the Grange expansion of Cranbrook.  Lying south of part of the Ingrams sports pitches serving the existing town and existing development to its north western edge, the area has a good relationship with the existing town and the Cobdens development proposed to the north.

The plan also safeguards land for a second railway station in Cranbrook, but only 15 per cent of the residential developments within the built-up area boundary of Cranbrook will be affordable houses, compared to the 30 per cent for the first phase of development, in order to make the plan viable to developers.

A policy to ensure delivery of the town centre, which includes a new town square, a health and wellbeing hub, a leisure centre, a civic centre, a library, a children’s centre, a youth centre, plus retail uses, is included in the DPD.

A town centre is considered a priority as since the original outline planning permission for the first 2,900 homes back in October 2010 was granted, only The Cranberry Farm pub has been constructed on the land and residential development of the town has now taken place both east and west of the Town Centre, leaving it as a void.

The committee heard that original plans for the expansion of Cranbrook included a limited amount of built development in the Green Wedge surrounding Rockbeare, but that land has since been taken out of the plan. Only one field that is in the green wedge remains in the DPD, on land in Clyst Honiton parish, but Ed Freeman, Service Lead for Planning Strategy and Development, told the committee it doesn’t conflict with their neighbourhood plan.

He added: “It would only have a minor impact and would not undermine the green wedge. We don’t believe the plan is contrary to the local plan so don’t see an issue in terms of process.”

Councillors did raise about the green wedge and that only 15 per cent of the houses would be affordable, but Mark Williams, the council’s chief executive said that it was due to the massive infrastructure build required to provide all that the Local Plan and this plan wants to see at Cranbrook.

He said: “The work that we have had commissioned looks at whether this is actually affordable and whether what we think is necessary is affordable. The only way if it is affordable is to reduce the percentage of affordable housing and to reduce the developers profit from 20 per cent to 17.5 per cent.”

Cllr Eleanor Rylance said that she liked the plan as it was ‘people and resident centred’. She said: “What I really like about the plan is that it is divided into neighbourhoods.”

But concerns about the DPD in its current form were raised by public speakers at the start of the meeting.

Jeremy Walden said that the Grange expansion was contrary the original idea where the A30 was the town boundary. He said: “This is will create unsafe areas that will have no real connection to Cranbrook as this proposed expansion is south of the old A30 which was promised not to happen,”

Nick Freer, on behalf of East Devon New Community Partners, said that the council was obliged to take into account responses from the consultation before submitting the plan to inspector for consideration, while Barry James, on behalf of Persimmon Homes, called for further scrutiny of the DPD so it was not rushed, adding: “We cannot with confidence tell members that we support this.”

The committee revised the recommendation to approve the Cranbrook Plan Development Plan Document for consultation and to recommend the Cranbrook Plan Development Plan Document to Full Council for submission to the Planning Inspectorate for Examination in public, subject to any necessary changes from the consultation being approved by the strategic planning committee first.