Description
This brownfield site of 0.48 hectares consists of two storey industrial and commercial buildings and surface parking areas. The buildings to the north of the site are currently in use, but are underused as car wash and storage facilities. Those to the south are in use for vehicle servicing and a print works. The site is bounded by Starling Road and Waterloo Road to its west, with existing and new housing on all sides. Land immediately to the south of the site facing Magpie Road has recently been developed for housing. The site is adjacent to the strategic cycle network which runs along Heath Road to the east of the site. A new traffic gyratory system has been implemented to the south and operates partly along Magpie Road.
Explanatory Text
The site provides the opportunity for new housing on a brownfield site in a predominantly residential area, with excellent access to employment opportunities and services in the city centre and neighbouring shopping facilities at the Anglia Square large district centre. The site is close to the northern city centre area, which has an area action plan, and its development will contribute to the area wide regeneration proposed in the plan.
Development should address the site’s constraints which include heritage issues, access arrangements, noise and contamination.
Development should be designed to integrate well with surrounding existing and new housing development. Street frontages to Starling Road and Waterloo Road should be reinstated. Although not in a conservation area, this site abuts the northern boundary of the City Centre Conservation Area and the terraced housing immediately to the south on Magpie Road which is locally listed; therefore any development will need to be designed to complement recent development in the area and the setting of the conservation area and be of an appropriate scale, form and massing and to take account of existing historic assets. The site is located close to the line of the former city wall and is within the Area of Main Archaeological Interest. An archaeological investigation will be required prior to its development.
Noise generation from road traffic to the south and between existing industrial / commercial users and new residential development must be addressed and due to previous industrial uses, a contamination assessment will be required.
Access to the development should be taken from Starling Road; however it is important that the number of access points on to this road are minimised.
Incremental development of the site should not compromise the future development of the remainder of the site.
The site lies within a Critical Drainage Catchment as identified on the Policies map. As such all development proposals involving new buildings, extensions and additional areas of hard surfacing should ensure that adequate and appropriate consideration has been given to mitigating surface water flooding in accordance with policy DM5.
Deliverability
The northern part of the site has outline planning permission for 22 flats, which has not yet been implemented. A further planning permission has been granted for 6 flats and 8 houses on the Enterprise Garage site in the centre of the allocation site, with joint access arrangements to the northern site.
The site is suitable and available for development.
POLICY R20: Starling Road – housing development
The site of 0.48 hectares is allocated for housing, to provide in the region of 45 dwellings.
Design of the development should ensure that:
- street frontages are reinstated to Starling Road and Waterloo Road;
- shared access points are provided to keep the number of access points to a minimum;
- noise impact from remaining commercial uses and road traffic is mitigated. A noise assessment will be required.
A surface water management assessment should be submitted with any application proposals involving new buildings, extensions, or hard surfacing to demonstrate that the proposed development:
a) would not increase the vulnerability of the site, or wider catchment, to flooding from surface water run-off from existing or predicted water flows, and;
b) would, wherever practicable, have a positive impact on the risk of surface water flooding in the wider area.
