OVERVIEW
Thank you for taking the time to visit this public consultation website.
This website gives you the chance to view our client, Oakford Homes’, plans for the redevelopment of land at Kiln Lane, Brockham with 33no 2, 3, 4 and 5-bedroom homes including bungalows and chalets. Oakford Homes are proposing to submit an outline planning application in June 2022, which will seek permission for the principle of development, the proposed vehicular access and the layout of the development. You can help shape our emerging scheme by providing us with your feedback. Please take your time to look through the proposals and complete the on-line comments form.
ABOUT OAKFORD HOMES
Oakford homes is a privately-owned medium sized house builder based near Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire that provides quality homes in the South East of England. Some of the company’s recent developments can be found in aspirational locations such as Chichester, Henley-on-Thames, Midhurst and Beaconsfield. They are also currently in the process of delivering new developments at Chipperfield and Maidenhead.
You can learn more about Oakford Homes and its approach to the delivery of new homes at www.oakfordhomes.co.uk.
PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT
• A development of approximately 33 dwellings laid out in an informal fashion to respond positively to the village setting of the site;
• A mix of dwellings comprising 2 to 5-bedroom properties suitable for all household types, from first time buyers to larger families through to older households seeking to downsize;
• Dwellings of a range of storey heights, with an upper limit of 2-storeys, that seek to respond to the topography of the site with 1.5-storey chalet bungalows and single storey bungalows located on the upper slopes;
• An attractive scheme of soft landscaping throughout the site that will include the retention of the trees around the boundary whilst introducing pockets of green space throughout the street scene and in particular at carefully selected locations that ensure the proposed parking is broken up;
• In addition, a wide landscaped corridor from Kiln Lane through to the open countryside to the south that will provide the backdrop to the existing public right of way that runs along the southern fringe of the site;
• Then, the provision of a safe pedestrian crossing on Kiln Lane that links this right of way with the Big Field to the north;
• Generous residential garden space throughout that allows a high standard of amenity for future residents;
• Provision of both private and visitor parking spaces of a number in accordance with local parking requirements; and
• The provision of a single vehicular access point to the proposal comprising the retention of the existing access to the site.
SITE LOCATION
The site is a 2.1ha self-contained parcel of land, previously comprising a small holding, which represents a break in the built form at the eastern end of the village of Brockham. It is immediately adjacent to an existing housing estate on its eastern boundary which provides a clear residential context for the land.
An aerial photograph of the site is shown below:
The land rises to its southwestern point. It currently lies within the Metropolitan Green Belt and has a contiguous southern boundary with the Brockham Conservation Area. Otherwise, it is not covered by any existing landscape or environmental designations.
PLANNING BACKGROUND
The site was subject of three historic planning applications around a decade ago (one of which was appealed) which, whilst refused on the basis of lack of need to release Green Belt land for housing, identified no additional constraints that would preclude the site from accommodating a residential use.
More recently the site has been promoted towards the emerging Future Mole Valley Local Plan through a response to the ‘Greenfield Call for Sites’ in Winter 2017. Resultantly the site was identified as a draft allocation following the review of the Green Belt around the rural villages and first formally included in the Regulation 19 draft of the Local Plan in February 2020 with an estimated capacity of 44 dwellings. This was resultant of a clear recognition by Mole Valley District Council that the planning environment has moved on in the last decade and there is now a clear need to consider the release of Green Belt land to meet the district’s challenging housing targets.
Whilst the most recent draft of the plan has once again removed the site as an allocation (along with over 20 other sites across the district) it has similarly made it clear that without these sites coming forward only 77% of the district’s housing needs can be met.
The identification of the site as a draft allocation in the 2020 plan was positive. It confirmed the position that the site can accommodate a well-designed residential scheme that can meet the needs of both Brockham and the district. However, Oakford Homes analysis suggests that a lower figure of 33 dwellings is more appropriate. Based on an urgent requirement for new homes in Mole Valley, one of the most expensive districts in England, it is imperative that the Council does more than simply meet around three quarters of the district’s needs. Oakford Homes’ proposed application represents an excellent opportunity to secure a vital supply of new homes at an entirely sustainable location.
A copy of the proposed site layout, to be submitted to Mole Valley District Council for approval, can be downloaded by clicking the link below:
Proposed site layout
CONSULTATION LEAFLET
Please see below a link to download the brochure
