As many of you will know, we held a consultation about our proposed social housing scheme at Ulwell Road/Washpond Lane on Wednesday September 3rd. Here’s the report from Swanage News.
Thank you for those of you who were able to come. There is still an opportunity to look at the plans and comment on them here http://www.hastoe.com/swanage until September 26th.
We received very positive feedback from people who attended, both on the need for social housing and on the layout and design of the site.
Two main areas of concern were raised: the potential for flooding on the site and footpaths/road safety.
Potential for flooding on/around the site can be divided into two areas: the stream along the rear of the site and flooding from surface water.
- As outlined in the architects’ designs, flood engineers, who have examined the stream’s flooding potential, have established a 1,000 year flood line from the stream, which is seen as a red line on the plans. Before a full planning application is prepared, a further robust flooding report will be commissioned which will be submitted as part of the application – and therefore be available for public scrutiny- to substantiate the engineers’ initial findings. The design will then be amended to take their findings into account where necessary.
- With regards to flooding from surface water, again there will be further investigations that will shape the design of drainage and foundation levels of housing on the site. Detailed plans will be submitted and interrogated by the Dorset Planning Department as part of the planning process.
With regards to issues about footpaths and road safety, we will work in close collaboration with Swanage Town Council and Dorset Council who control these. We have sited the vehicular access to the development in the safest location. If the councils plan in the future to add footpaths or pavements adjacent to the site, we will be happy for the site to be accessible to pedestrians as part of any scheme.