Grand Design Planning – Stone Quarry – Parker Planning Services

The Project:

It’s a really innovative and sympathetic New Self Build Design, worthy of a Grand Designs appearance in the future! It’s one we’re honoured to have contributed to and achieved securing planning in a Cast Stone Quarry outside of the settlement boundary!

It’s a constrained site outside of the settlement boundary, adjacent to a Grade 2 listed building in a wooded area that required a strong planning statement to carry weight and gravitas with the council.

“With incredible design, it was a real novelty and something we really enjoyed working on.”

We worked with the innovative architects to produce their ecology and landscape assessments and produced the overall Planning Statement ready for application.

The proposal is for a 4 no. bedroom contemporary dwelling over two levels with a flat green roof, with horizontal glazing overlooking the Cliffside area. The dwelling will be part-subterranean, built into an existing cliff-side of the former quarry.  The site is in a disused quarry, presenting a planning risk, with a green roof and make use of the natural aspects and subterranean built into the face of the quarry, with solar panels.  The plans are certainly unique.

What did we do?

We initially provided a landscape and ecology assessment. The ecology assessed the habitat and mitigation risks. These proved there were important habitats and species on site and we needed to present mitigation risks and solutions to preserve these habitats.

The landscape assessment addressed how the design solution would impact the environment and presented with minimal impact.  The site was heavily wooded, so following this assessment some of the trees were taken out to allow access – the design stage with the architects followed this assessment.

We then provided a robust and extensive planning statement to present this application to council.  This carefully considered some of the following:-

• Where buildings are outside of the development boundary, a building needs to be of high design and standards to achieve the high standards of the exception part of Paragraph 79 of the NPPF which allows new homes to be built in locations that would be unacceptable for standard housing. This proposal successfully met that high benchmark.
• The self-build proposal has a contemporary design, using appropriate high-quality materials. Policy CS08 seeks to ensure sustainable development, and that all new development demonstrates a high standard of design, using modern construction and architectural methods to ensure energy efficiency, and reduce carbon emissions. The materials used where also carefully considered and reflected prior planning guidelines which we highlighted.
• The role small self-build housing sites play towards delivering housing units is clearly clarified in the National Planning Policy Framework paragraph 68 and example planning appeals whereby such appropriate developments should be supported to ensure housing delivery.
• The Planning Statement highlighted a range of previous appeal cases to help support this proposal. We also highlighted that this council had only delivered less than 75% of their annualised Core Strategy Target, therefore adding weight and verification to this application.