Page 304 - All files for Planning Inspectorate update

 Detailed landscape plan including boundary treatments.
 Facing materials including windows
 The rainwater discharge arrangements
 The design and layout of solar panels and lift-housing on the roof

Layout

The layout represents a significant improvement upon the previous refused scheme:

A modest-sized open space has been positioned where it will have maximum impact
at the front of the site and is well overlooked by building frontages on the south and
east side. This incorporates a small play area to provide the layout with some central
focus / meeting point for the future community.

The main spine road appears to have sensibly been designed as shared space and
features generously soft landscaped thresholds that also provide a good level of
separation / defensible space (3 to 5m) for the ground floor flats (NB: there is
nevertheless some inconsistency between the landscape plan and the site layout as
the former suggest separate pathways in front of the buildings which should not be
needed and crucially reduces the amount of soft landscaping while also undermining
the privacy of the ground floor flats).

Most of the existing trees along the Lewes Road boundary are shown retained
enabling the sylvan quality of this frontage to be maintained and providing a soft
backdrop for the parking adjacent to the site entrance.

Consistent building lines provide coherent shaped spaces and well defined street
edges.

The four blocks of flats on plots 1-12 and 43-54 have been pulled away from the
woodland on the eastern boundary providing them with better separation. Conflict
with the retained trees on this boundary has also been avoided as the buildings have
mostly been organised without habitable rooms facing this tree-lined boundary; the
exception is the living rooms on plots 47-50 where the balconies might benefit from
being re-positioned so they principally face southwards. These four blocks also
incorporate generous separation gaps (accommodating parking) between them that
enable the woodland to be a more visible backdrop to the spine road. The block with
plots 7-12 unfortunately does not have any planted buffer along its flanks; some
defensible space needs to be provided here.

The southern boundary now incorporates the required 15m buffer zone to safeguard
the ancient woodland along this edge.

The rear courtyard behind the blocks (with plots 13-42) on the southern / western
corner now benefit from being smaller and less hard-edged.

Elevations

The blocks of flats have a contemporary design softened by predominantly brick
facades that are subdivided by a circulation core with a contrasting metal-clad finish.
The frontages benefit from further vertical articulation generated by grouped windows
and balconies. The latter not only provide the flats with private outdoor amenity
space (missing in the previous refused scheme) but also provide structural depth and
elevational interest.