Frequently Asked Questions - Ash Lodge Drive Development
Questions and answers about the development south of Ash Lodge Drive. If your question is not answered there then you can send us an email at development@ashra.org.uk, use our contact form or post on our Facebook development discussion group. We will pass questions / issues on to the developers and update you as soon as we get a response. The responses will also be posted in the FAQ and on our Facebook page where appropriate.
You can send us (ASHRA) an email at development@ashra.org.uk, use our contact form or post on our Facebook development discussion group. We will pass questions / issues on to the developers and update you as soon as we get a response. The responses will also be posted in the FAQ and on our Facebook page where appropriate.
Whilst the site is subject to a TPO (tree preservation order), the grant of planning permission effectively grants consent to remove any trees required to implement the development. There is a tree protection and removal plan which identifies which trees and hedgerows are to be removed along with the tree protection measures for those that are to be retained. The Councils Arboricultural Officer visited the site at the start of the works and discussed matters with the developers arborist and will continue to visit the site to monitor progress. While the development does retain many of the trees and hedgerows there are also areas where trees and hedgerows will be removed.
The tree protection and removal plan can be seen via the links below (Dropbox links)
The planning approval for the outline permission allows the developers to work between the hours of 07:30 and 18:00 Monday to Friday and 08:00 to 13:30 on Saturdays. No work is permitted on Sundays or Bank or National Holidays. There may be vehicle movements outside of these times as the developers arrive for work and leave the site.
The site entrance is currently a temporary entrance where the original gates were on Ash Lodge Drive. Due to the initial conditions on site no heavy vehicles could access the site and they were either using the whole of Ash Lodge Drive (coming in one end and leaving the other) to avoid turning, or they were turning in Beverly Close. The site entrance has now been improved and does have limited hard standing. Delivery vehicles are encourage to back into the site and then leave the way they came. The easiest route for them is via Ash Lodge Drive / Manor Road but depending on parking on Ash Lodge Drive access can be difficult. In this case they will have to exit the site and then back into Beverly Close before leaving via the Manor Road end of Ash Lodge Drive.
The developers are aware of the issue and it will improve as the roads are developed and the site compound moves further into the site. For the moment it would be helpful if non-one parked within 100m of the site entrance during working hours. This would make it easier for the vehicles to exit to the left.
The site staff are encourage to park in the site compound but this cannot be enforced. They have however been told not to park in the layby between Beverly Close and Avon Close.
The works to re-align the road should be starting on the 19th Feb 2018. See the works update page for more information.
The developers need to complete parts of the spine road before any houses can be built. Bewley have said that the current plan is to start building houses sometime in March / April next year. They will be working from the site entrance on Ash Lodge Drive out towards the rest of the site. The intention is to complete much of the development in the first field before moving into the other fields. We have not received any information from A2Dominion yet, they "own" a small part of the site and will be setting up their own works in due course.
I can't post links directly to the documents as there are many that make up each granted permission. You need to visit the links below and then find the relevant documents. Note that some of the documents are updated during the approval process and you may find more than one document with the same title. Looks for the ones with the latest dates.
There are currently two main approved applications, one alteration permission approved and two applications in progress.
Outline Permission was granted under application 12/P/01973
The detailed permission was granted under application 16/P/00980
A variation on the house types was granted to A2Dominion 17/P/01373
A variation on two plots - 17/P/02432
Detailed permission to build 492 houses rather than the original 400 - 17/P/02592