Tidbury Green,
Solihull

Sustainable Design

Bloor Homes is committed to ensuring that all developments help address the climate change emergency through the commitment to provide a high-quality and sustainable design.

The proposed development will reduce carbon emissions during the construction and operational stages of the development beyond the requirements of the updated Building Regulations and interim Future Buildings Standard and Future Homes Standard. This will be achieved through the implementation of the following measures:

• Improved energy efficiency through careful building siting, design and orientation;
• Improved building fabric efficiency to reduce the demand for heat and power through a well-insulated, energy efficient building fabric and services.
• Generation of on-site renewable energy through the installation of photovoltaic (PV) panels to all dwellings;
• Specification of high energy efficient equipment that will use less energy.
• EV Charging points to all dwellings.

The proposed development will also be designed to ensure the buildings are resilient to the effects of climate change and will incorporate the following key design measures:

• Sustainable Drainage Systems (SUDs);
• A range of water efficiency measures to reduce water consumption;
• Measures to reduce any potential overheating in buildings through minimising heat generation, passive cooling measures and the use of active cooling using the lowest carbon option.

Transport

A key focus for the proposed development is to improve pedestrian accessibility between the Site and key local amenities, offering a benefit to residents at the Site and to existing residents of Tidbury Green. In particular, focus has been given to improving pedestrian access to Tidbury Green Primary School, local bus stops, Wythall and Witlocks End railway stations.

The main vehicular access to the Site is to be from Tilehouse Lane via a new priority junction. This will provide vehicular access to the whole development, designed in accordance with relevant local and national design guidance.

A comprehensive Transport Assessment will be prepared to accompany the planning application, which will assess the impact of the proposed development on the local highway network and establish whether any off site improvements are required to ensure that the development does not have an unacceptable impact. The application will also be accompanied by a Travel Plan to encourage access to the Site by sustainable modes of transport and to reduce the number of single occupancy car trips generated by the Site.

Arboriculture

An Arboricultural Assessment has been carried in accordance with national guidelines which set out a structured assessment methodology to assist in determining which trees would be deemed either as being suitable or unsuitable for retention along with recommendations for considering the relationship between existing trees and how those trees may integrate into designs for development.

In summary, the report concludes that the Site consists of six pastural field parcels that are defined by well maintained, agricultural hedgerow that house established, mature individual trees. For the most part, these trees are English Oak. The tree cover is positioned along the outer periphery of the Site and the internal boundaries that demarcate the field parcels. A mixture of native, naturally colonised species is found throughout the Site, with an Ancient Woodland block being located to the south eastern edge of the Site.

Across the Site, a total of seventy-five individual trees, six groups of trees, nine hedgerows and one woodland were surveyed as part of the Arboricultural Assessment of which thirty-eight trees and one woodland were considered to be high in quality and category A. Eighteen trees and three groups of trees were recorded as moderate quality and category B. Six trees were considered unsuitable for retention, category U, and the remaining trees or groups of trees low in quality and retention category C.

To facilitate the proposed development, a constraint led approach to design will be undertaken to minimise the potential arboricultural impacts. Category A and B trees will be retained and incorporated into the proposals to create a residential development situated amongst established tree cover. Where vegetation is likely to be removed, this will be low quality material that can be mitigated for through a robust new tree planting scheme and the development of green open space.

Drainage and Flood Risk

A desktop assessment of the flood risk and drainage potential at the Site has been carried out by PJA to understand the probable risks with regard to flood risk and conceptualise the proposed drainage strategy. The Environment Agency Flood Map for Planning confirms that the Site lies wholly within Flood Zone 1. From a review of the publicly available, Long-Term Flood Risk - Flood Risk from Surface Water Map, the majority of the Site is at Very Low Risk from Surface Water Flooding, with a surface water flow route identified in the north-east of the Site and along the southern boundary.

Ground Conditions

From a review of the British Geological Survey (BGS) Mapping Bedrock Geology, the Site is underlain by a bedrock of mudstone. From this initial desktop assessment of the Site's geology it is considered that the ability to infiltrate surface water is highly unlikely to be suitable for the Site.

Sustainable Drainage Strategy

The disposal of surface water from the proposed development will follow the hierarchy set out in Part H of the Building Regulations and the SuDS Manual C753, where the reuse of water will be advocated first. Where viable, surface water will be drained to ground in line with best practice. However, where this is not achievable, it is proposed that surface water is discharged to the existing Severn Trent Water sewer network. This discharge will at a greenfield runoff rate and restricted to this rate for all storm events up to and including the 1 in 100 year plus 40% climate change critical duration storm event.

The provision of surface water attenuation will be provided through a system of open attenuation features, as a means of site control, in addition to other SuDS features, to provide enhanced water quality and biodiversity benefits before surface water runoff is discharged in a controlled manner to the ditch network. The type and form of SuDS to be incorporated into the development will be defined as the masterplan is progressed.

Any exceedance flows will be routed away from vulnerable development and vital infrastructure both on and off site and towards areas of green and blue infrastructure. The FRA and Drainage Strategy will ensure as far as practicable that the development remains safe from flood risk for the lifetime of the development.

Landscape

Initial Landscape and Visual Site visits have been undertaken to identify key opportunities and constraints, providing early inputs to the evolution of the masterplan.

These include, but are not limited to, the retention of internal and boundary hedgerows and trees where possible, large development setbacks from Birchy Leasowes Lane, and development setbacks with native tree planting along Dickens Heath Road. These measures are intended to maintain visual and physical separation from Dickens Heath and provide a positive approach to Tidbury Green.

A full Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment is being produced to accompany the planning application and will identify specific mitigation to reduce potential landscape and visual impacts where possible.

A substantial green buffer is proposed on the north-east of the Site, separating the edge of the Whitlock's End settlement and the properties on Birchy Leasowes Lane from the development.

Ecology

Initial ecological surveys have been undertaken in the form of a UK habitat classification survey, a Habitat Suitability Index survey for great crested newts, and a Ground Level Tree Assessment for bats (with other protected species surveys being scoped). An initial Biodiversity Net Gain Condition Assessment has also been completed.

Further surveys are being undertaken to determine the presence or likely absence of protected species on the Site and to inform the design of the proposed development. Initial feedback into the scheme design, based on the ecology data gathered to date, has advised the retention of hedgerows and grassland areas where possible, along with a buffer from the adjacent ancient woodland.

The results of further protected species surveys and the statutory biodiversity net gain metric for the Site will be included within an Ecological Impact Assessment (EcIA), to be submitted alongside the planning application. The EcIA will assess potential impacts of the development on protected species and habitats, and mitigation will be set out where necessary to ensure no long-term adverse impacts on ecological receptors occur.

At this stage, a minimum biodiversity net gain of 10% is targeted as part of the planning application, and it is likely that opportunities exist to enhance the Site for protected and priority species.

Additional Technical Matters

Additional disciplines are being assessed and will further inform the development proposal. This includes matters such as Heritage, Noise Impact and Air Quality. A comprehensive suite of technical documents will accompany the outline planning application being prepared for submission to Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council.