Site & Planning Background
About the Site & Its Surroundings
The site lies immediately to the east of St Ninian’s Road in the south eastern quadrant of the city. To the west and south west is residential development, to the immediate north east is a small scale commercial site and the land to the east is open countryside.
That open countryside between the site and the southern by-pass is the land designated as the location for one of the Government’s flagship Garden Villages, St Cuthbert’s Garden Village.
The land measures some 6.12ha and is divided into 2 distinct elements:
St Cuthbert’s Garden Village
Carlisle has been chosen to develop a new village under the Garden Communities Programme. The village, known as St Cuthbert’s Garden Village will house 10,000 new homes along with commercial, education and retailing services.
The Masterplan and the Regulation 19 Draft St Cuthbert’s Garden Village Local Plan is in the course of preparation by the Local Planning Aurthority.
The relevance to the site is that the Garden Village is contained between the proposed southern by-pass and the existing southern city boundary; the site lies directly adjacent to the land designated for the Garden Village.
1. 7 ACRES WITH A FRONTAGE ONTO ST NINIAN’S ROAD
The site was a former landfill site for inert material. It was filled by Cumbria County Council and the land was restored in a way to be suitable for residential use. That parcel of land has been the subject of extensive contamination testing by Arley Consulting Limited and their expansive Intrusive Investigations are available
A Remediation Strategy has been produced and is available. Minimal requirements have been proposed on extremely limited parts of the site and have been endorsed by the Environment Agency.
This section of the site has the benefit of outline planning permission with an agreed indicative layout for 132 houses and flats. The permission is subject to a Section 106 Agreement relating to Affordable Housing and maintenance of open space and whilst the Agreement has been signed by the Applicant, the decision notice cannot be issued until the issue of Nutrient Neutrality has been satisfied.
An indicative layout was submitted with the outline planning application to establish the number of dwelling units. Copies of the planning permission and the Section 106 Agreement are available.
Full road and drainage details have been prepared by ELLUC Limited and all plans, including the foundation details, are available on request.
The site meets the requirements of the NPPF in that it is immediately deliverable to make a significant contribution to the housing land supply, it is recognised a brownfield land within the settlement boundary and as the Development Concept indicates, it is an innovative scheme to enable housing ownership to be achieved in addition to the required affordable housing targets.
Other Reports submitted with the application:
- Habitat and Hedgerow Assessment (Open Space Ltd)
- Noise Assessment (Enzygo Ltd)
- Flood Risk Assessment (White Young Green)
- Topographical survey
- Transport Assessment (White Young Green)
- Interim Travel Plan (White Young Green)
Site Boundaries 6.12 Hectares
2. 8.5 ACRES (ROMILLY WASTE SITE) EAST OF ST NINIAN’S ROAD
The site was a former landfill site for less controlled material. The land has been the subject of extensive gas testing by Arley Consulting.
The Planning Department have been consulted over using the land for housing and an email has been received indicating that such a proposal would be acceptable. Those discussions have indicated that the site could accommodate in the region of 150 dwellings.
An outline application is due to be submitted to formalise the use of the land for residential use.
Meetings have been held with the Environment Agency (EA) over the proposed redevelopment of the site. A letter of agreement has been received setting out the details and method of remediation and the form of the development.
A more comprehensive amount of detailing and information is available of request. This elevated site on the existing edge of the City has extensive open views to the east over the northern Pennines.
Pedestrian and vehicular access access can be gained through the first 7 acres which has
a frontage to St Ninian’s Road and/or a secondary access through Cammock Crescent
which lies to the south west. A further pedestrian access is available through Brisco
Meadows.
The south eastern boundary of the site is marked by Cammock Beck which is a tributary of
the River Petteril.
The development which has been programmed to commence in 2025 has been curtailed by the need to resolve the Nutrient Neutrality issues in the Eden Catchment area. Whilst funding has been set aside for research into potential schemes, the recent Government announcement of a central fund for environmental and ecological improvement schemes is welcomed.
This will not only enable the Bailey Park Project to commence but will enable the St Cuthbert’s Garden Village to evolve.