Land to the south-east of Bluebell Road and east of Rudgeway Lane
Introduction
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Bloor Homes is preparing a development proposal in respect of land to the south-east of Bluebell Road and east of Rudgeway Lane, which lies within Ashchurch Rural and Wheatpieces Parish Council areas. The intention is to submit a planning application to Tewkesbury Borough Council for the development of up to 250 dwellings, multi-use outdoor sports pitches, community sports pavilion, public open space, and associated infrastructure.
This website provides you with an opportunity to engage with the pre-application consultation process, and sets out initial details of the proposal. We welcome your views, which can be provided via the Feedback Survey at the end of this page.
Site Details
The site measures 15.14 hectares and lies to the east of the recently constructed Bloor Homes Tewkesbury Meadow development. The site is situated to the south of the recently consented new office development, with Jenny’s Field and the existing Wheatpieces development beyond to the north. To the east and south of the site are agricultural fields, and immediately west is Rudegway Lane.
Bloor Homes considers that the site in a highly sustainable location to deliver new housing and community facilities, and that it forms a logical extension to the existing Wheatpieces development. The proposal will help to meet the local housing needs of the town by providing a range of market and affordable homes.
Bloor Homes is actively engaged in pre-planning application discussions with Tewkesbury Borough Council, Gloucestershire County Council and National Highways (formally Highways England) with a view to bringing forward the planning application in due course.
Masterplan
The masterplan design for the site has been informed by a carefully considered response to the site’s existing features and its wider context in the landscape.
The existing vegetation along the site boundaries will be retained and enhanced wherever possible. Landscape buffers will be provided to the proposed development particularly to the east and south where the site adjoins the countryside and to the southwest where listed buildings at Rudgeway Farm are located. The development will be set back from recently constructed dwellings to the west of Rudgeway Lane.
The internal field boundary hedgerows within the site will be incorporated as far as possible within green corridors through the proposed development, breaking up the built form and providing wildlife corridors. The proposed development will be designed to enhance existing on-site habitats and to establish new habitats through tree and shrub planting and grassland creation and management. The gas main easement which crosses the northern portion of the site provides an opportunity to establish a wide swathe of public open space reflecting the layout of the Tewkesbury Meadow development to the west. Further new habitats will be created through the incorporation of a sustainable drainage system to include drainage basins in the east and north of the site.
Access into the development will be provided via the recently constructed junction from Bluebell Road to the north.
The proposed development will retain the existing public right of way which runs through the north of the site and will include new pedestrian and cycle connections between the proposed development and the existing recreation ground and residential area to the north as well as onto Rudgeway Lane to the west.
Community Sports Pavilion
Within the green spaces of the site a number of new sports pitches will be provided, and these will be accompanied by a new community sports pavilion building. It is intending that the pavilion will include changing facilities as well as space for wider community use, and will be served by a dedicated car park. The pitches shown on the masterplan show pitches suitable for junior football and cricket.
Bloor Homes considers that these community facilities will meet identified local needs.
In Summary
The proposal comprises:
- Up to 250 homes.
- 40% of the total number of dwellings as affordable homes, in accordance with Tewkesbury Borough Council’s affordable housing policy.
- A mix of housing types and tenures, likely ranging from 1 to 4 bedroom properties.
- The provision of new community sports facilities, in the form of outdoor sport pitches and pavilion to meet the needs of local sports team.
- Retention of existing public rights of way with new cycle and pedestrian connections.
- Vehicular access at the northern boundary of the site, via Bluebell Road.
- The retention of existing trees and hedgerows.
- The provision of high quality public open space and green infrastructure.
- A number of new equipped children play facilities.
Technical Approach
Technical survey work is in progress in order that the application proposal is informed by existing site conditions. The site features provide a series of opportunities and constraints which will influence the form that development will take.
Transport
- To the west of the site, Bluebell Road connects to the bypass which provides onward connections to Tewkesbury town centre, the M5 via the A438 and Gloucester to the south. Bluebell Road will join up with Starling Road to the north of the site, providing a vehicular link into the Wheatpieces development.
- There are footways provided alongside the surrounding local roads with crossings at key junctions. There are a number of local amenities within walking distance of the site, including a local centre. The John Moore Primary school and local greenspaces in Tewkesbury Nature Reserve and the Wheatpieces playground.
- The site is also well located for access by cycling. There is a shared footway/cycleway along Bluebell Road which provides a connection from the development to the traffic-free cycle route which runs alongside the bypass. Rudgeway Lane is no longer a through route and is a low-trafficked pedestrian and cycle connection to the north of the site, via Wheatpieces local centre. Using this route, residents of the site can also access National Cycle Route 41 which provides a link to Ashchurch Railway Station, where national rail services are available.
- Regular bus services can be accessed from Monterey Road, which is within a short walking distance of the site. Bus services call hourly and travel to key local destinations, such as Tewkesbury, Cheltenham, Ashchurch and Gloucester. There is potential to incorporate bus access into the proposed development.
- It is proposed to submit a Travel Plan with the planning application. This document will encourage the use of sustainable modes of travel to and from the proposed development by residents.
- Vehicular access to the site will be via a priority-controlled T-junction with Bluebell Road. The proposed site access road will have footways on either side of the carriageway and also provide access to the recently approved office development to the north of the site.
- A series of pedestrian and cycle access points will be provided from the boundary of the site, linking the internal pedestrian and cycle network to the external routes outlined above.
- An assessment of the impact on the highway network at key local junctions will also be undertaken within the Transport Assessment. This is currently being consulted on with GCC and National Highways.
- Traffic calming along Bluebell Road will investigated as part of the transport assessment.
Sustainable Design
Bloor Homes is committed to ensuring that all its developments accord with the latest regulation requirements to provide a high quality sustainable design. Bloor Homes will incorporate measures to reduce the carbon footprint of the development through sustainable construction measures, including:
- Improved energy efficiency through careful building siting, design and orientation
- PV (Photo Voltaics)
- Sustainable Drainage systems (SUDs)
- Fabric efficiency in the design of buildings
- Use of building materials capable of being recycled
- An element of construction waste reduction and recycling
- Lighting controls
- Electric vehicle charging, and
- Reduction in water usage
Drainage & flood risk
The Environment Agency Flood Map identifies that the site as being located within Flood Zone 1. Within this zone residential development is considered acceptable from a flood risk point of view. Two unnamed watercourses are located to the east of the site which flow in a northerly direction, towards the Tirle Brook. Site specific hydraulic modelling of these watercourses has confirmed that the fluvial flood risk to the site is low.
Environment Agency data has identified that the site is predominately at very low risk of pluvial (surface water) flooding.
Surface water runoff from the development will be directed towards the eastern watercourses, as existing. The discharge rate from the development will be limited to the equivalent greenfield (pre-development) rate. This will ensure that the runoff rate leaving the site will not increase as a result of the development. As the development proposal require a restricted runoff rate, it will be necessary to provide attenuated storage in the form of drainage basins. Sufficient surface water storage will be provided to accommodate the 1 in 100-year storm including an allowance for future climate change.
Through the application of Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS), multiple stages of treatment will be implemented to provide protection to the water quality in the wider area. Wherever possible, SuDS features will be above ground to also provide amenity and biodiversity benefits.
It is expected that foul drainage from the development will be directed to the new public sewers to the west of the site in the Tewkesbury Meadow development.
Additional Technical Matters
Further technical assessment work relating to Landscape, Arboriculture, Noise, Heritage, Ecology and Air Quality is being undertaken. A comprehensive suite of technical documents will accompany the formal planning application.
HOUSE TYPES GALLERY
Images of other Bloor Homes developments.
Next Steps
Feedback Survey
The public consultation on the proposal has now closed. Bloor Homes and the project team will consider all of the responses received.
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