Land Between 92 And 106, London Road West, Lower Swainswick, Bath, Bath and North East Somerset
Erection of 6 no. residential dwellings (Use Class C3) and associated infrastructure.
The proposal site is located within the World Heritage Site and the Bath city-wide conservation area and abuts the boundary of the Bristol and Bath Green Belt. To the north of the site, north of the highway (London Road West), is Bailbrook House Hotel, listed at Grade II*.
The character of buildings within the conservation area in the immediate vicinity of the site is varied and comprises dwellings of the nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The building density is lower when compared with the city further west and the un-developed site is a ‘rural fringe’, a marked transitional area between the city and Batheaston.
Given the existing character, we would strongly urge the Local Planning Authority (LPA) to ensure that robust landscaping plans, details of hard and soft landscaping, species and planting, are suitably secured in order to mitigate the impact of the development and strengthen the notion of a garden suburb. This may need to be subject to legal agreement if the landscape strategy includes land outside of the red line of development, but within the blue ownership line.
If the LPA issues a positive decision, then given the proximity of the line of the Roman Road, consideration should be given to attaching an archaeological ‘watching brief’ condition to the decision notice.
We would also suggest that a suitable condition relating to lighting be attached to any permission, as the lighting report alone may not be suitably specific and may not be subject to being an approved document – of course at the discretion of the LPA.
Further, we would recommend that any positive decision includes a condition that suitably ensures the maintenance of any green roofs.
In summary the principle of development is broadly acceptable; however, the LPA should ensure that the development is secured as an evident small garden suburb, in order that the transitional character can be suitably maintained.