SOCIETY RESPONSE
Basingstoke Road, 225 dwellings
The Alton Society strongly objects to this proposed development for the following reasons:
Local Housing Need
There is a strong local need in Alton for small one and two-bedroom houses for young couples and divorced families. This local need is specifically referred to in the adopted local plan under Policy CP11, which states that, along with maximising the delivery of affordable homes new development should ’provide a range of dwelling types and sizes to meet local needs’. However, like virtually all new developments around the town, the proposed development ignores this need in favour of the more profitable larger three to four-bedroom houses that are marketed to meet needs well beyond the local neighbourhood.
Alton’s Rural Setting
The development extends Alton beyond its natural valley setting. The Alton Town Design Statement of 2008 states in Design Guideline 3.5: "The skyline on the hills surrounding Alton is one of its most valuable and appreciated features. Development should continue to be contained from encroaching up and into the surrounding downland and onto the skyline" This is backed up by Policy CP19 of the adopted local plan which states ‘The only development outside settlement boundaries in the countryside will be that with a genuine and proven need for a countryside location such as that necessary for farming, forestry or other rural enterprise.’ This policy should apply as the development is in open countryside and outside the current settlement boundary.
The development also contravenes Policy CP 20, which states that ‘The special characteristics of the district’s natural environment will be conserved and enhanced’.
Sustainability
Policy CP 24 of the adopted plan states that ‘all housing built after 2016 should be built to ‘BREEAM excellent standard’. There is no indication in Brookbank’s Energy Statement that truly commits them to meet this standard. Brookbank’s statement appears to be a standard document which has been cut and pasted to fit the site in question. This assertion is evidenced on page 19 of their report, which mistakenly states: ‘4.3.0.7 Table 4-1: The baseline energy demand for the proposed 110 dwellings, calculated in accordance with the 2013 Building Regulations’ but is followed by a table that correctly refers to the 225 dwellings proposed.
Their report goes on to state that: If the site were heated by gas, the total heat demand would be 662MWh, which would meet the Building Regulations Part L 2021 but not the Future Homes Standard. Since they have stated elsewhere in the report that the future homes standard can only be met by installing air-sourced heat pumps in lieu of gas boilers, reducing the demand to 302MWh, they imply that unless mandatory Government policy changes, this will not be provided as heat pumps tend to be more expensive to install and run than gas-fired boilers. In view of the District Council’s planning policy and the climate emergency, no outline consent should be granted unless this information is given.
In conclusion, the Alton Society believes that the proposed development does not comply with the District Plan, the aspirations of the District Council’s declaration of a climate emergency or the Alton Town Design Statement, and if carried out, it would be seriously detrimental to Alton and its setting in the Countryside and should be resisted.
