Land West of Princess Avenue, March, PE15 9SQ
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Technical Evidence
Design
The proposed scheme has been developed in accordance with the requirements and aspirations of the approved ‘West March Broad Concept Plan’ (2021), which provides the design guidelines and parameters for the entirety of the West March Strategic Allocation.
The layout of the scheme proposes a clear hierarchy of streets with a ‘main residential street’ extending westwards from Princess Avenue feeding into a network of more secondary roads and drives, offering a legibility to the scheme. As shown in the accompanying Illustrative Masterplan, the ‘main residential street’ is to be tree-lined with views towards the extensive Public Open Space in the west of the site, thereby drawing users of the site along the primary route. Safe pedestrian and cycle links will be delivered within the scheme as well as connecting out on to Princess Drive and also other future parcels of West March.
A central ‘focal green space’ provides unfettered views towards St Wendreda’s Church, allowing the spire of the church to maintain dominance over the proposed built form and ensuring that the scheme is subservient to the church and its setting.
The density of development within the site will be varied to ensure a consistent urban grain is achieved, with higher density development found within the central parts of the site and lower density development towards the periphery of the proposed built form, which will allow for a smooth transition to the formal and informal open space in the west and south-west of the site.
Highways
A Transport Assessment will be prepared to accompany the application, which will serve to assess the potential impacts of the proposed development upon the local highway network, including highway safety and junction capacity analysis. The Transport Assessment will make recommendations for the site access strategy and advise upon any highway improvements that would be required either to facilitate or as a result of the proposed development.
Vehicular access to the site is to be provided off Princess Avenue, effectively extending the road through the site in a westward orientation, as can be seen on the accompanying Illustrative Masterplan.
Pedestrian and cycle connectivity is also to be achieved by way of Princess Drive, in addition to the potential for implementation of pedestrian and cycle connections to future parcels of West March, as shown on the accompanying Illustrative Masterplan.
Flood Risk & Drainage
A Flood Risk Assessment will accompany the forthcoming application, which will serve to provide an understanding and assessment of the flood risk associated with the site from all sources.
A Drainage Strategy will also accompany the application that will provide the outline principles by which a detailed drainage scheme would need to adhere in order to ensure that the site can discharge water at greenfield rates, thereby ensuring that the proposed development does not increase flood risk elsewhere in the locality and beyond.
As can be seen on the Illustrative Masterplan, a development of the site has the ability to accommodate sustainable drainage features such as attenuation basins along the western formal and informal areas of open space, which have the dual ability to also support biodiversity habitat features.
Landscape
The site has the capacity to support a significant area of formal and informal landscaping, which has been directed along the western area of the site in accordance with the approved ‘West March Broad Concept Plan’ (2021), as this will enable the site to reflect and respond to areas of landscaping proposed to be implemented to the west of the site, including the “Proposed Active Trail” which is anticipated to be delivered through a future phase of West March.
Within the site, the Illustrative Masterplan demonstrates that the scheme can support greenspace amongst the proposed built form with landscaping serving to provide variation and interest to the streetscene.
Ecology
An Ecological Appraisal will accompany the forthcoming application, which will serve to provide an understanding of the extent and quality of habitat on and adjacent to the site, as well as providing a desktop assessment of the presence of protected species on the site. In turn, the Appraisal will make recommendations for biodiversity features to be implemented and, if necessary, what mitigation measures to be undertaken.
The scheme will achieve ‘Biodiversity Net Gain’, as is increasingly being expected through national planning policy and will likely feature as a key policy in the emerging Fenland Local Plan.
Heritage
A Heritage Assessment will accompany the forthcoming application and will primarily serve to detail any heritage assets which are located in the vicinity of the site and provide an understanding of the impact of the proposed development upon the setting and significance of these heritage assets. Naturally, the key focus of this will be understanding any impact upon St Wendreda’s Church, which is the most notable heritage asset to the south of March. The Assessment will make recommendations, where necessary, for the scheme to adhere to ensure that the setting and significance of the heritage asset is protected.