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Plymouth and South West Devon Joint Local Plan Consultation

Response by The Dartington Hall Trust

Dartington Hall and Higher Barton, Dartington, TQ9 6EL

Site Reference: SH_14_26_16

Contents

Introduction 1

Site Description 2

Development Proposal and Context 3

Site Technical Assessment 4

Site Suitability Assessment 5

Planning Policy Review 7

Summary 12

Plymouth and South West Devon Joint Local Plan Consultation response by The Dartington Hall Trust

Dartington Hall and Higher Barton, Dartington, TQ9 6EL


Dartington Hall and Higher Barton, Dartington, TQ9 6EL1

Introduction

This document provides information related to the development potential for land and buildings around Dartington Hall, Barton Farm and Higher Close. It has been assembled by The Dartington Hall Trust (DHT) drawing on assessments prepared by a multi-disciplinary professional team and is produced in response to the consultation on the emerging Plymouth and South West Devon Joint Local Plan. This document specifically addresses the question of suitability and deliverability of the site area in terms of meeting identified housing and employment needs in the plan area and the proposed allocation of land in Totnes, including sites in Dartington and Berry Pomeroy. This analysis is provided to ensure that the Joint Local Plan is founded on a sound evidence base.

The work undertaken and reflected in this document supports the local planning authorities’ inclusion of the Dartington Hall and Higher Barton site in the Local Plan. Its key findings are:

• The Hall and Higher Barton campus area comprises 12.89 ha in a sustainable location.

• Regeneration in this area will support the heritage and charitable aims of the Trust and help meet the requirements of the Joint Local Plan and may accommodate up to 50 homes without affecting the integrity of the setting and heritage assets.

• The site is available and is being promoted for mixed use development including employment, residential, learning, cultural and leisure development.

• The site provides development opportunities free of technical constraints and is considered viable. However, the setting of important heritage assets will be a primary consideration in the scale and design of any new development.

• The allocation of this site in the Joint Local Plan would be compliant with National Planning Policy Guidance.

• A comprehensive site master plan will need to be prepared to guide detailed development in this area.



Site Description

This is a large development area site comprising 12.89 ha which encompasses Dartington Hall, Barton Farm, Higher Close and various car parks and outbuildings. The history of Dartington Hall is well known locally including both its medieval origins and the bold rebirth of the estate brought about by the Elmhirsts from 1925. This has created an eclectic mix of buildings including the restored medieval hall and courtyard which currently provides a centre for culture, learning, enterprise, homes and a hotel and conference centre. Housing built from the mid-1920s to mid-1930s, including Warren Lane and Park Road residences, reflects ‘arts and craft’ and the modernist experimentation of Lescaze. There is a range of listed and institutional buildings around the site, including Aller Park and Higher Close reflecting the former use of the site as a school and a college.

A collection of buildings, which includes a biomass boiler and solar array, lies to the west and north of the listed landscape parkland and gardens. To the west and north the land slopes upwards towards the Deer Park, which is a scheduled ancient monument.



Development Proposal and Context

The vision for development in this area is currently being refined through DHT’s Estate Framework process and ongoing engagement with the local community and stakeholders. The Dartington Estate Framework is a high level spatial plan and a set of clear design and development principles to support decision-making about the future use of land and buildings on the estate. The focus of development will be to reinvigorate the heart of the estate through a mixed use adaptation of some underused campus buildings, improvements to access and movement and redevelopment of some adjoining areas. Parking and access arrangements will be reorganised with particular emphasis on decluttering and improving the public realm to make the entrance to the Hall more inviting and reflective of its historic setting.

The site was identified in the 2016 Strategic Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment (SHELAA) as SH_14_26_16 (Hall, Barton Farm, Car Parks and Higher Close Area). The council’s appraisal of the site recognises the sensitive nature of the area and has identified delivery potential of ten homes. Working with heritage experts, we have identified additional opportunities and would seek to deliver a mixed use rural regeneration development of up to 50 homes through a sensitive, heritage-led design process with scope for attracting additional uses and the conversion and reuse of existing buildings.

This has been a mixed-use area since the 1920s and educational uses predominated from the 1930s. The Higher Close accommodation blocks are vacant for much of the year but are used as budget accommodation during key events such as the International Summer School and other festivals. A mix of business and leisure activities are now active on the site. These include DHT administration offices, squash courts and gym, and principally vacant residential blocks supported by a hectare of permanent and temporary parking.

All recent planning applications in the area have been directly related to Listed Building Consent and/or public facilities in support of DHT operations.



Site Technical Assessment

Access

The site is bisected by Park Road and is accessed from the A385 via Dartington Lane which is a rural single carriageway road with a width of approximately 4.5 m. Access to Park Road and Warren Lane is currently achieved directly off the lane and there are a number of opportunities to provide alternative vehicle access to improve the Hall entrance area.

There are a number of permissive and public footpaths across the area. Adequate provision for service vehicles can be achieved within the site and access arrangements for the biomass boiler operations will need to be considered.

Utilities

The Dartington Hall Estate has its own access point to the electricity grid and a private water network which already serves the estate and a large number of properties in the village of Dartington. The estate uses a range of heating sources including biomass boilers.

Surface water drainage for any additional development can be achieved through soakaways (where ground conditions permit) and attenuation. The systems will need to ensure the existing network downstream of the site remains operational during extreme events and is functional for the surrounding area which will remain connected to the systems. A foul drainage system is present within the developed areas of Dartington Hall central area and provides the necessary connection for foul drainage from the greenfield areas as well as the brownfield areas of the site.

Delivery

The results of the technical assessment work confirm that there are no physical constraints to prevent delivery of the site and its ability to contribute to the district’s identified housing and employment requirements. The site is fully within DHT’s ownership. This is a complex site which will involve the delivery of several discrete developments which will need to be progressed in phases to ensure that disruption to ongoing DHT operations are minimised.



Site Suitability Assessment

Location

The site is uniquely situated at the heart of a mixed use development, which offers services for employees, volunteers, visitors and residential and commercial users. The site is served by a regular bus service (hourly) which could be enhanced in response to development and increased activity. Totnes railway station is 1.3 miles away and can be reached by footpaths and a cycleway. There are restaurants, leisure facilities and employment opportunities on site. The site is a mile long, safe walk from Dartington C of E Primary, and Park School independent primary is adjacent to the site. The secondary school is just over a mile walking or cycling via quiet lanes and off road cycle paths.

Flood Risk

The whole of the central Dartington Hall area is located on higher ground and is at low risk of flooding (Flood Zone 1). There are no formal watercourses noted within the site.

Ecology

The site does not lie within any statutory designated areas but is adjacent to a County Wildlife Site that extends from Higher Close and the Hall to the River Dart. Aller Park fields are currently used by dog walkers and for relaxation by campus users and visitors.

A strategic flyway for Greater Horseshoe Bats runs along the River Dart but does not extend to the site itself.

There are a number of potential protected species associated with the site. As such, development proposals need to be informed by further survey and assessment. An Ecology overview report has been produced which outlines a scheme of detailed assessments to support mitigation considerations in detailed scheme design including:

• Extended Phase 1 Habitat Survey.

• Ecological Impact Assessment (EcIA).

• Bat Roost Survey of buildings.

• Invertebrate Survey.

• Bat Activity Survey if indicated.

• Possible other surveys if indicated (reptiles, amphibians, breeding birds).

Based on the desk-based environmental assessment, no overriding ecological constraints to development have been identified. Appropriate on site mitigation and enhancement will be required for any notable species.



Heritage Impacts

A detailed assessment of heritage impacts will only be possible when the site(s) for development have been defined firmly and their nature and layout have been planned. Depending upon final proposals, some heritage assets may experience direct physical impacts from development, but, in the majority of cases, it is likely that impacts on significance will be those resulting from changes to the settings of heritage assets. The heritage assets in the Hall area have been identified and assessed in the estate’s Heritage Management Overview (which accords with Step 1 in the structured approach to the assembly and analysis of relevant information when managing change affecting heritage assets, as set out in paragraphs 6 of Historic England’s Historic Environment Good Practice Advice in Planning: 2 and paragraph 12 of its Historic Environment Good Practice Advice in Planning: 3). That assessment shows that there are 21 designated heritage assets (made up of three scheduled monuments, a registered park and garden and seventeen listed structures of varying grades) in the Hall area.

Historic England’s Historic Environment Good Practice Advice in Planning: 2, referred to above, observes:

Development proposals that affect the historic environment are much more likely to gain the necessary permissions and create successful places if they are designed with the knowledge and understanding of the significance of the heritage assets they may affect. The first step for all applicants is to understand the significance of any affected heritage asset and, if relevant, the contribution of its setting to its significance.

A detailed assessment of the settings of the 21 designated heritage assets in the wider Hall area is currently being prepared to accord with Step 2 of guidance in paragraph 12 of the Historic Environment Good Practice Advice in Planning: 3. Critically, in the Hall area, the dispersal of heritage assets is so widespread that their settings overlap into a web that covers almost the entire area. Generally, the underlying South Hams landscape and mature tree screens form critical components in the settings to most of the estate’s built heritage assets. The landscape comprises a distinctive dissected plateau co-existing with intimate rounded undulating forms and, together, these dictate that, on the one hand, a dominant characteristic of Dartington’s heritage is visual connectivity, while almost alongside, paradoxically, the viewer will also experience a sense of tight enclosure and unexpected diversity and surprise. These contrasting characteristics are especially strong and important across the entire Hall area and will inevitably dictate the placement of new development. As noted, a detailed assessment of the settings of these assets is ongoing at the time of writing; early indications are that there may be scope within the overall Hall area of the estate to create a series of small highly distinctive, sustainable groupings of new development with acceptable levels of impact upon the significance of heritage assets in the locality.



Planning Policy Review

The consultation document issued on the South West Devon Joint Local Plan indicates that outside of Plymouth planning policy aims set out to focus development on the market towns where employment, transport and community services are available. The Hall and Higher Barton site represents an opportunity to deliver sustainable development which supports the sustainability objectives promoted by the council(s).

DHT shares with the council the overarching aim to produce a sound Local Plan in order to guide development in a sustainable way over the coming years. This planning assessment includes reference both policy compliance for proposed development and plan-making compliance for the forthcoming pre-submission Draft Local Plan.

Under Section 38(6) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 the local development plan provides the primary guidance in consideration of planning proposals. However, this consultation is intended to inform the content of the new Joint Local Plan for the area so initial consideration of appropriateness of allocations and policies is based on the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and National Planning Practice Guidance (NPPG).

This review includes reference to both policy compliance for proposed development and plan-making compliance for the forthcoming pre-submission Draft Local Plan.



National Policy – Planning Balance

Development on this site presents a unique opportunity to advance the objectives of the NPPF including social, environmental and economic aims, and emerging proposals clearly comply with the balance of requirements set out in the NPPF underpinned by the presumption in favour of sustainable development.

NPPF 7 notes that there are three dimensions to planning: economic, social and environmental. This proposal provides an opportunity to deliver housing in a well-located area as part of a mixed-use development which features significant employment, leisure and community use, which avoids more sensitive environments. This also provides an opportunity to support the charitable aims of DHT and to link to significant employment opportunities nearby.

NPPF 17 identifies core principles including to “proactively drive and support sustainable economic development to deliver the homes, infrastructure and thriving local places that the country needs”. This includes reference to “encourage the reuse of existing resources, including conversion of existing buildings” and within this site there are many opportunities for conversion.

NPPF 24 requires consideration and sequential testing for planning applications for main town centre uses that are not in an existing centre. Any proposals for expansion of guest accommodation and facilities will be in relation to the existing hotel offering and will be related to the needs and offering of the Dartington campus. As an important visitor attraction, enhancing facilities on campus will encourage more visits and longer stays, which will support business and tourism in Totnes town centre and the wider South Hams.

NPPF 55 sets out the need to support rural development and enterprise. It refers to the Exceptional Quality Homes test, and whilst this proposal features exemplar and exceptional homes they would neither be in open countryside nor isolated, and as such this clause is not material.

NPPF 63 states that in determining applications, great weight should be given to outstanding or innovative designs, which help raise the standard of design more generally in the area. DHT has committed to enabling development that introduces more locally-responsive approaches to design and construction and this development presents a unique opportunity to fulfil this objective continuing in the tradition of the Elmhirsts.

NPPF 111 stresses that planning policies and decisions should encourage the effective use of land by reusing land that has been previously developed/brownfield land (PDL), provided that it is not of high environmental value. The car parks and some redundant buildings present opportunities to add to PDL development.

NPPF 118 notes that local planning authorities should aim to conserve and enhance biodiversity through avoidance, mitigation and enhancement. Supporting development in this site, bounded on two sides by the existing built up area, helps achieve the required housing needs for the district without incursion into areas of undisturbed or sensitive ecology.

NPPF Section 12 (paragraphs 126 to 141) highlights the requirements in relation to Heritage Assets. DHT considers conservation of its portfolio of heritage assets as fundamental. These have been considered through heritage assessment and have been reviewed with Historic England. The Elmhirsts’



ethos of innovative construction and design in homes is demonstrated as being as important historically as the physical assets produced. Among the specific considerations are:

• NPPF 128 and 129 require assessment of historic assets and potential harm. The Heritage Assessment confirms the importance of the highest significance assets (the Hall, Gardens and Deer Park) as well as the other listed buildings (including Aller Park) and undesignated assets.

• NPPF 131 notes the positive contribution new development can make in sustaining and enhancing the heritage environment. The development plans will set out changes to parking and movement that will restore and improve the quality to the entrance to the Hall which will have net positive benefits to experiencing the assets.

• NPPF 133 makes reference to proposals which will cause substantial harm but DHT will avoid such proposals and, as such, paragraph 133 will not be engaged.

• NPPF 135 notes the need to consider non-designated assets. NPPF 137 says Local Planning authorities should look for opportunities for new development within Conservation Areas and World Heritage Sites and within the setting of heritage assets to enhance or better reveal their significance. Proposals that preserve those elements of the setting that make a positive contribution to or better reveal the significance of the asset should be treated favourably.

NPPF 14 (and 197) highlights the presumption in favour of sustainable development. For decision-taking, this means:

In the absence of a robust plan the council should grant permission unless any adverse impacts of doing so would significantly and demonstrably outweigh the benefits... or specific policies in the Framework indicate development should be restricted.

Based on this appraisal it is clear that this site accords with the requirements of the NPPF and the principle of development on this site is supported in policy.

National Policy: Housing and Planning Act 2016

This act introduces the requirement for councils to develop and maintain a brownfield register and provides a ‘permission in principle’ (PiP) for PDL. The technical requirements have not yet been published, but around a quarter of local authorities (including Teignbridge) are currently piloting the process and reported to the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) in June 2016.

The Higher Close site and other smaller redundant buildings (eg garages) may represent an opportunity for reuse of existing buildings, which is a substantial material consideration in favour of development.



on sites controlled by volume housebuilders, an allocation of this site will help ensure ongoing balanced development.

• NPPF 47 – To boost significantly the supply of housing meets the full, objectively assessed needs for market and affordable housing in the housing market area and to identify a supply of specific deliverable sites sufficient to provide five years’ worth of housing and a forward look supply of housing beyond five years.

• NPPF 55 requires that to promote sustainable development in rural areas, housing should be located where it will enhance or maintain the vitality of rural communities. The council recognises that the market towns provide the most sustainable approach to meeting housing needs in the district.

• NPPF 126 – Local planning authorities should set out in their Local Plan a positive strategy for the conservation and enjoyment of the historic environment, including heritage assets most at risk through neglect, decay or other threats. A Local Plan, which supports DHT’s objective of reinvigorating the central campus directly, supports at-risk assets and contributes to ensuring that the nationally significant assets are retained by a charitable trust operating in the public interest will meet this criteria.

The Hall and Higher Barton site forms one of DHT’s campus development sites which is clearly deliverable through a number of conversions, brownfield development and carefully designed exemplar developments in the central campus area.

National Policy Plan Soundness

The NPPF sets out a number of requirements for plan making and NPPF 182 summarises the tests of soundness as being: positively prepared, justified, effective and consistent with national policy. The introduction of a policy and allocation for the Hall and Higher Barton will contribute to South Hams District Council meeting its assessed housing and economic needs in a policy-compliant way whilst working in cooperation with the local community and stakeholders.

Specific Plan Making issues include:

• NPPF 15 highlights that policies in Local Plans should also follow the approach of the presumption in favour of sustainable development.

• NPPF 28 requires Local and Neighbourhood Planning policies to support economic growth in rural areas including support for businesses and enterprise in rural areas, diversification of land-based rural businesses and sustainable rural tourism and leisure developments. Allocating this mixed use development and regeneration directly supports that requirement.

• NPPF 35 requires that plans should ensure development is located where it can exploit opportunities for the use of sustainable transport modes for the movement of goods or people etc. This site provides ready access to the NCN2, public transport and the strategic rail network.

• NPPF 37 seeks to ensure planning policies should aim for a balance of land uses within their area so that people can be encouraged to minimise journey lengths for employment, shopping, leisure, education and other activities. In light of the difficulty in delivering a mix of uses



Local Policy Analysis

South Ham District Council is in the process of updating its Local Development Framework which was put in place in 2006. Site allocations which flowed from the Core Strategy in Totnes and Dartington have largely been taken up or are in the process of progressing. The Joint Local Plan is required to provide for new homes and employment to 2034 which necessarily requires additional sites to be brought forward. Much of this is being focused on Plymouth and the urban fringe. The market towns and area centres of South Hams and West Devon remain the focus of development needs. With limited land now available within the parish boundaries of Totnes, local policy is necessarily looking to the adjoining parishes of Dartington and Berry Pomeroy to meet the objectively assessed needs in this part of South Hams.

The site at Dartington Hall has been put forward by DHT following a review of its strategy as a means of maintaining its charitable activities which provide significant employment and a key focus for visitor and cultural activities in South Hams. The scale and location of development envisaged will enable new homes and employment to be accommodated whilst maintaining the rural character of the parish and protecting identified heritage and ecology interests.

Neighbourhood Planning

Dartington Parish is a designated Neighbourhood Plan area. DHT has been actively engaged with the Neighbourhood Plan process for Dartington Parish and aims to align the Trust’s development opportunities with the objectives of the local community. As emerging Neighbourhood Plans will be required to be compliant with Adopted Development Plan Documents (DPDs), development of this allocated site will be factored into neighbourhood engagement.



Summary

The information and analysis contained in this document demonstrates that allocation of this site for development is appropriate and the principle of development on this site should be accepted. Review of technical and design issues makes it clear that, subject to ongoing work and engagement, the scheme is deliverable.

Proposed Delivery Programme

Years one to twenty – up to 50 homes through a programme of individual projects.

It will be for the council to determine the specific allocations and wording. However, in light of the constrained nature of the site, we would recommend that this allocation be made in the form of ‘up to 50 dwellings’ to provide a measure of certainty for Historic England that proposals will be of a suitable scale so as to not impact the setting of the nearby heritage assets.

A policy requirement for a comprehensive site framework plan (or masterplan) to be agreed prior to approvals is anticipated given the nature of this site.

Consultants

The appraisals have been prepared by The Dartington Hall Trust with support and advice from specialist consultants including:

Planning advice – Prof Chris Balch, Professor of Planning, Plymouth University

Planning advice – Mary Elkington, Figura Planning

Masterplanning and Estate Framework – Studio Partington

Heritage – Stephen Bond, Heritage Places

Transport Assessment – Hydrock

Surface and foul drainage infrastructure – Jubb Consulting Engineers

Ecology – EAD Ecology



Figure 1: Site Location PlanScale 1:5000 @ A3

0 50 100 150 200 M

Development Area

10.07 ha

Dartington Hall

Car ParkW

arre

n La

ne

Park Road

Upper Drive

Rive

r Dar

t



Figure 2: Site Photographic Survey Key to Photographs

A Dartington Hall begun in the later fourteenth century for John Holand, Duke of Exeter. Medieval buildings considerably restored post-1925, when the estate was acquired by Leonard and Dorothy Elmhirst. Extensive 1930s institutional buildings eastwards from Dartington Hall. The tower of Dartington Old Church, 30 m to west, forms a visual element in the landscape scheme.

D Flop Park, a hilly field with a covered reservoir at the south-western end adjoined by Barton Farm to the south-east and an archaeological remains of the deer park to the north-west. It is not visible from the surrounding area.

B Sloping main visitor car park serving the heart of the estate adjoined by Dartington Hall courtyard entrance to the south-west and Higher Close to the south-east. Higher Close is an early 1960s educational building that optimises site levels to minimise landscape and visual impact. The building has been under used for many years and a detailed study has confirmed that it is not capable of economically viable reuse.

E Warren Lane comprising a group of listed International Style houses designed by Swiss-born American architect William Lescaze and Robert Hening in the 1930s including Warren House designed for Jooss Ballet founder, Kurt Jooss. The houses are generously spaced apart and are viewed from Warren Lane against a rural backdrop of the paddock behind.

C Brownfield area that used to be the site of Barton Farm barns used for overflow car parking when festivals and events are taking place. However, the parking layout is inefficient and the site is under-used or empty at other times.

F Park Road comprising three listed International Style boarding houses designed by William Lescaze and Robert Hening and Aller Park, an early 1930s Domestic Revival Style nursery and primary school designed by Delano and Aldrich of New York with ceramic tiles by Bernard Leach in the fireplaces. Aller Park was vacated in 1987 when Dartington Hall School closed.

A

B

CD

E

F



Figure 3: Site Constraints PlanScale 1:2500 @ A3

Key to Site Constraints Plan

0 25 50 75 100 M

Scheduled monument

Non-statutory wildlife sites

Listed buildings

1:5 gradient

gradient

1:6 gradient

1:18 g

radien

t

1:8 gradient

1:9 gradient

1:9 gradient

1:9 gradient

1:9 gradient

1:9 gradient

1:9 gradient

Grade I listed restored Medieval mansion and scheduled monument

Grade II* listed park and gardens



Scheduled monument

Listed early 1930s Domestic Revival school

Three listed Modern boarding houses

Listed Modern houses on

Warren Lane

Rural setting of Warren Lane houses

Early 1960s education building in poor repair

Parking

Brownfield area/overflow festival or event parking

Flop field: adjacent to archaeological area but not visible from surrounding area

Brow of hill

Reservoir

Park Road

Upper Driv

e

Steep gradient, arrow points in direction of fall




Figure 4: Site Historic Character PlanScale 1:2500 @ A3

0 25 50 75 100 M

Key to Site Historic Character Plan

Streets

Character areas

Brownfield area / parking

Threshold / gateway

Views over landscape

GatewaySheltered landscape area

Threshold to Warren Lane houses

Archaeological area &

buffer z

one

Listed school overlooks landscape

Cottages create cluster of buildings on ‘street’

Listed boarding houses overlook landscape

Rural setting of Warren Lane houses

Early 1960s education building in poor repair

Parking

Brownfield area/overflow festival or event parking

Flop field: adjacent to archaeological area but not visible from surrounding area

Brow of hill

Reservoir and service area Cottages and estate

service buildings

Park Road

Upper Driv

e

Landscape edge



Figure 5: Indicative Development AreasScale 1:2500 @ A3

Key to Indicative Development Areas

0 25 50 75 100 M

New woodland buffer to

archaeological area

Exemplar homes site

Development to relate to

slope

Expansion site to Aller Park

Expansion site to Aller Park

New

sett

ing

to D

artin

gton

Hall

gate

way

bloc

ks tr

affic

Views to landscape

New

‘stre

et’

Potential new woodland to rear of Warren Lane

Possible attenuation pond area

New woodland to brow of the hill

New entrance