Council’s controversial plans to build on Tufa Field get the green light

The controversial council plans to build 16 supported living units on a rare ecological site in the south of Bath have been approved.

Bath & North East Somerset Council’s planning committee yesterday, Wednesday 25th September, voted in favour of the plans for the site, known locally as the Tufa Field, behind Englishcombe Lane.

The site behind 89 to 123 Englishcombe Lane adjoins Stirtingale Farm, which is a Site of Nature Conservation Interest (SNCI) and that designation extends to the land that will be developed.

It contains Tufa flushes, a rare type of limestone spring, and is home to a variety of wildlife. It is also the natural drainage slope for the hill of Odd Down.

The principle of development was accepted in 2020 when the planning committee granted permission, subject to completion of a legal agreement and compliance with 34 planning conditions, for 27 open-market homes.

The council subsequently decided not to pursue that, instead changing course and announcing plans for the site to become a “flagship” supported living development for people with autism and learning difficulties.

Councillor Ian Halsall (Oldfield Park, Lib Dem) stressed as the meeting got under way that the planning committee is a regulatory body that would scrutinise the plans, and approval was “not a given” just because the council was the applicant.

The council received 46 objections and five comments of support to the proposals.

The key points of concern were that it is an unsuitable location for proposed use; harm to ecology and biodiversity; loss of trees; harm to the area’s appearance, character and heritage; increased flood risk; overlooking and harm to neighbours’ amenity; highway safety issues on Englishcombe Lane; issues with the storage and collection of bins; crime and security concerns; and the possibility that it will pave the way for future development.

The report to the planning committee said the council’s conservation, landscape, archaeology, highways, ecology, arboriculture, drainage and flooding, sustainable construction, environmental health and contamination teams had all reviewed the application and raised no objections.

There will be 10 one-bedroom single-storey houses, five two-bedroom houses (one single-storey and four two-storey) and one three-bedroom single-storey house.

The homes will have flat roofs to reduce their impact and will be grouped in two clusters to the east and west of the site.

Grassland habitat with a drainage water cascade feature and pond will separate the two clusters. This area will be crossed by a vehicle access route to the north and a raised pedestrian walkway to the south. A communal hub will be built in the north west of the site.

The development will be surrounded by species-rich grassland for biodiversity value. The central southern part will be retained and protected as riparian grassland.

Eight car parking spaces are proposed plus six cycle spaces.

The access will be a revised version of the existing one from Englishcombe Lane, at the north-east corner of the site, between numbers 87 and 89. Nine trees will need to be removed and there will be build-outs to improve visibility. Parking restrictions will be introduced near the access.

Senior planning officer David MacFadyen told the meeting that the site is bound by the rear gardens of Englishcombe Lane and Stirtingale Road and Stirtingale Farm; water enters the site from the farm above and watercourses meander down the centre of the site as the underground channel is blocked.

Overland flow will be retained with a new drainage system designed to mitigate impacts and improve flooding of neighbouring properties which will “futureproof” the site. He said Wessex Water had been consulted and was happy with the proposals.

Mr MacFadyen said the plans are in accordance with council policy and the “unique qualities” of the site will be retained.

He said the long-range views in Bath would not be affected and an assessment had found the impact on homes in Englishcombe Lane and Stirtingale Road would be mitigated by tree planting. A total of 126 new trees will be planted on the site.

The officer said that solutions had been identified for most issues raised, and conditions could address others.

He explained that the road on the new development must be lightweight to minimise ecological impact, therefore collection vehicles will not drive on to the site.

Instead, staff will have to take bins between 100 and 200 metres to the kerbside at Englishcombe Lane for collection. He admitted this is “not ideal” but to preserve ecology “some compromises” have to be made in certain areas.

Architect and planner Christopher Pound, speaking on behalf of Richard Cartwright at No 89 Englishcombe Lane, told councillors that these bins close to his client’s front door is a “wholly unacceptable intrusion”.

“Would you like this outside your front door?” he asked committee members.

Mr Pound added that the loss of the nine trees is “very regrettable” and could be avoided with a redesign. He also said the council has the chance to buy No 89.

Committee member Councillor Toby Simon (Bathwick, Lib Dem) said he felt the mention of the sale of the property was an “inappropriate representation”.

But after the meeting, Mr Cartwright, who has put his semi-detached house on the market after being widowed recently, said he genuinely thought the council might want to buy it and suggested it could be the site office and then the manager’s home when the site is finished, or turned into social housing.

He has lived there for 45 years and said he is selling it at a “reduced price” because of the new development and a problem involving the roots of the council’s trees damaging foundations which needs to be resolved.

Ward councillor Jess David (Moorlands, Lib Dem), who is also the council’s member advocate for green infrastructure and nature recovery, told the meeting of the “underlying disagreement” about the suitability of this site for development. She shared concerns that it is unsuitable due to its value for nature and underlying geological and hydrological characteristics.

She said: “I am grateful that the previous development plan was scrapped. This was based on an untested scheme to recreate and translocate habitat to a separate site, which had no connection to the field or the local community.

“The council is now proposing a smaller, more targeted social housing scheme for adults with learning difficulties, which offers much greater social value and, I hope, lower environmental impact than the previous scheme.”

Councillor David said the strategy for managing both surface water and groundwater is “complex” and that residents remain concerned about the ongoing maintenance of these features.

She said the development will rely on a system of sustainable drainage features which must be inspected and maintained as frequently as every three months.  These will not be adopted by Wessex Water and so must be “rigorously maintained” by the council, or a contracted company.

She added that there are also concerns about the risk of infiltrated water remerging downslope.

Addressing the committee, Councillor Steve Hedges (Odd Down, Lib Dem), representing the houses that back on to the site from Stirtingale Road, said he was pleased the previous plans were not going ahead but would have preferred no development.

He said he hoped the ecology on the site would be enhanced and it was not just “lip service”.

Councillor Hedges said that had members gone up to the site earlier this week they would have seen the whole field was a “bog” and “you’d be over your ankles in water” after two months of rain fell in two days. He doubted whether the proposed flood prevention would be substantial enough.

Committee member Councillor Duncan Hounsell (Saltford, Lib Dem) proposed the scheme be granted permission.

He said: “The principle of developing this site is established. The public benefits, social value, is absolutely immense in this proposal.”

He added: “I can’t think of any other proposal that I’ve encountered that’s had so much attention to detail and been so sensitive to the issues.”

Councillor Hounsell said the drainage scheme “sounds very, very thorough” and may ultimately be of benefit to existing residents as well.

He also welcomed the planned biodiversity net gain of up to 20%.

Councillor Lucy Hodge (Lansdown, Lib Dem) seconded the motion. She said the scheme will fulfil an important need, thorough consideration has been given to the environmental impacts, and the council is meeting its policy of net zero emissions.

Councillor Tim Warren (Midsomer Norton Redfield, Conservative) said he had concerns about the proposals including about 16 bins being outside the front door of No 89.

He abstained during the vote, as did Councillor Dr Eleanor Jackson (Westfield, Labour). Although she described the development as “worthy” she voiced “disquiet” about drainage and the ecological impact, the refuse situation, and that the police report security had not been discussed.

During the consultation, safety and security concerns had been raised by an officer at Avon & Somerset Police responsible for crime prevention through environmental design projects.

He had highlighted the lack of a “robust perimeter treatment” which could lead to crime such as burglary and anti-social behaviour and was also critical of the car park’s “remote and secluded location”, low-level lighting on pathways and that a CCTV plan had not been submitted.

After the meeting, Englishcombe Lane resident Frank Kenny said that historically developers have tried to build various projects on the site but failed because of the same issues and it has been too expensive to develop.

He said the access road is “inappropriate and inadequate” and certainly for wheelchair access, the steepness of the lane is of “serious concern”.

He said the worrying thing with the water is that infiltration is not something that is easily discerned. He said the chances are the water will flow down and his house and Mr Cartwright’s are “right in line with one of the soakaways”.

Mr Kenny said there had been other situations caused by properties built on that slope, citing Moorlands School which had a serious flooding issue some years back that tallied with development further up.

Some locals have told the Bath Echo they believe the cost of the development will be “astronomical”. One said a £6 million budget had been mentioned but that £10 million is more likely.

We’ll hold council to account, say campaigners

Tufa Field campaigners say their focus now will be to scrutinise every detail of the development work as it gets under way.

The Tufa Field website – https://tufafield.com/ – announced: “Today, 25th September 2024, Bath and North East Somerset granted itself permission to develop the Tufa Field SNCI (Site of Nature Conservation Interest) site.

“The development will provide supported housing for neuro-diverse residents.

“Local people had argued for the council to fulfil its commitment to action to combat the ecological emergency in the area and support the fight against human-induced climate change. Instead, the unique nature of this site will be lost.

“So our focus now switches to holding the council and its developers to account to produce the ecological mitigation plans they have put forward.

“Every detailed plan will be scrutinised, every action undertaken during and after construction will be monitored and every deviation will be followed up with the full force of available remedies. Expect the Health and Safety Executive and Planning Enforcement officers to be busy.

“Preliminary site work is expected to begin immediately with the removal of trees and clearing vegetation.

“As always, you will be able to follow this work here (https://tufafield.com/cameras-at-the-tufa-field/) via our live cameras and daily blogs.

“As a consequence of this development, it has come to light that the local Moorfield Sandpits stream will be severely curtailed, since its main source is to be diverted as part of the work. This has given great pleasure to many children over the years and will be sorely missed.”