Foxby Lane, Gainsborough

West Lindsey

Outline application for a new residential quarter comprising up to 2,500 new homes with associated employment land, community services and facilities. Designed by Studio Real.

The use of models to develop and test the nature of a place in a masterplan of this scale and significance is highly commendable. We found the range of models particularly helpful in the explanation of the proposals and consider the masterplan to be amongst the best presented that we have seen.

Summary

The design team make a convincing case for the development of this site to form the first phase of housing growth on the southern edge of Gainsborough. We welcome the commitment of the landowner to ensuring that development is of the highest quality through its stewardship of the site over the long term. However, we would encourage the local authority to establish a clear vision for the town to determine how this development and future phases of growth should benefit Gainsborough as a whole. We welcome the thought given to connecting the development to the town although we think the proposed connections could be made even stronger. We welcome the use of the site’s topography and landscape character to help shape the masterplan layout and give the development a strong identity, but care should be taken to ensure that existing features such as hedgerows and woodland are used to create well connected and well functioning neighbourhoods with convincing streets and spaces. We applaud the use of tailored building typologies in the first phase although the extensive use of perimeter blocks elsewhere suggests an evenness of development that could undermine the potential for distinctiveness across the site.

In our view, further testing of the distribution of civic uses such as primary schools and churches should be carried out to ensure that they bring surrounding communities together, rather than separating them. We would also expect the proposals to set high standards of environmental sustainability from the start to set the tone for future phases. Overall, whilst we see considerable promise in the proposals presented, we think the masterplan requires further resolution in the areas noted above before planning permission is granted.

Managing the growth of Gainsborough

We recognise Gainsborough’s provisional growth point status, as reflected in the regional spatial strategy but, at the local level, it is critical that housing growth comes forward in the context of a wider vision for the town that maximises the benefits of growth for all its residents. We would encourage the local authority to bring this forward in preparation for the significant growth anticipated for Gainsborough in the coming years. Notwithstanding, the applicants make a compelling case for forming a new southern neighbourhood to the town. We support the principle of development on this site but, as a greenfield development, it is incumbent upon the applicants to ensure that social, economic and environmental sustainability is embedded in every aspect of the scheme.

Integration with Gainsborough

The degree to which Gainsborough’s southern neighbourhood is integrated with the town will not only determine its success in the long term, but will also shape the fortunes of the town at large. The masterplan shows a good understanding of this in its aspiration to provide strong physical, social and economic links to the town. We are pleased to note that the masterplan establishes a number of routes that link back to the town and seeks to strengthen ties by consolidating employment uses in a neighbourhood centre close to existing commercial activity around the Morrison’s foodstore. However, we think the masterplan could be even bolder in forging stronger physical links to the town, particularly by making a direct link to Gainsborough Lea Road station. The focus given to the greenway as the central east/west spine through the development suggests that it should connect directly with the station instead of terminating short of it. Whilst we acknowledge that existing development currently prevents this, for the greater good of the development, we think that such a move should be seriously considered.

Masterplan diagram

We acknowledge the efforts to use the site’s extensive natural assets and its constraints to inform the masterplan diagram. The design team confidently overcome the potential limitation of an underground gas main to create a positive feature in the form a new east/west greenway link. Equally, we are encouraged by the use of the site topography, watercourses, and landscape character to help determine the masterplan layout and embed character in the neighbourhood. However, care should be taken to ensure that existing features such as hedgerows, mature trees, and woodland are used to create well-connected and well-functioning neighbourhoods with a convincing hierarchy of streets and spaces. The risk remains that hedgerows and ditches, which are designed to form natural boundaries, may not survive on highways, particularly during construction, and will inhibit movement across the site, and that connections to the surrounding woodland remain only visual rather than the physical. If, as the design team suggest, hedgerows are intended to act as seams that enhance connectivity and encourage access to woodland, then this should be embedded more strongly in the masterplan to ensure such objectives are not lost or diluted in the next stage of development.

Whilst we enjoy the sensitivity and subtlety of the masterplan, in our view, its structure would benefit from a stronger sense of hierarchy and focus to the routes and spaces proposed to aid the sense of place and orientation. The relationship between the central points where key things happen and their physical representation in the masterplan is at times weak and unclear. For example, one’s eye is drawn to Mill Hill Park, which is less significant in terms of its function than areas such as the high street; however it seems over-formalised as a space and is therefore given more importance than it warrants. We think there would be benefit in considering further what will draw people to the spaces proposed in terms of their function, uses, and location, and examining how this can be more accurately reflected in the masterplan diagram and embedded in the parameter plans submitted. Further, whilst we acknowledge the generosity of green space provided within the masterplan, we think that providing opportunities for shared spaces within blocks is more likely to bind communities together than designing in large areas of open space within the development.

Development density and block typology

The local authority will need to satisfy itself that the density of development and scale of blocks proposed in the parameter plans is appropriate, given the key role both will play in defining a robust hierarchy of streets and spaces across the site. We applaud the exploration of tailored block typologies in the first phase but are disappointed by the extensive use of perimeter blocks elsewhere. In our view, the evenness of development that results from this common block size and type risks producing streets and intersections all of equal prominence, making it harder to ensure distinctiveness across the site. However, if the richness of character emerging in the first phase could be mirrored across the development, allowing the opportunity for architecture to signpost important moments or places in the neighbourhood, a more enduring and memorable place would result.

Planning for cohesive communities

We welcome the thought given to the needs of new and existing residents in the provision of social infrastructure within the masterplan. Civic and community functions play an important role in securing cohesive neighbourhoods. However, poorly sited facilities can be an impediment to the social and physical integration of a development of this scale. With this in mind, we would encourage the design team to further test its assumptions on the positioning of these uses, including the sports pitches and the primary schools. We feel that the school at the western end of the development could act as a dividing line between residents of the first phase and subsequent phases of development. We would ask the design team to reconsider the location of both schools to ensure they enjoy full engagement with the communities within which they sit. Equally, it should consider carefully which elements of community infrastructure will be critical to embed in the earlier development phases to ensure they can function as complete neighbourhoods in themselves, until the whole southern extension is built out.

Environmental sustainability

In our view, the environmental standards achieved by greenfield development should be exceptionally high to compensate for the resulting loss of land proposed. This level of environmental responsibility is not yet evident in the proposals submitted. In particular, we would expect the first phase of development to achieve a minimum of Code for Sustainable Homes Level 4. We think that there should be scope to consider a mini-district heating system for this first phase to help achieve this. This could perhaps be tied to the gas network that already exists under the site.

We welcome the use of balancing ponds as part of the SUDS strategy. However the residents may not accept a significant change in pond levels across the site, especially if closely linked to the public realm or back gardens. Such features will only work effectively if permeable surfaces are used throughout the areas likely to be affected by rising water levels. Reference to the low energy housing demonstration project in Ecolonia, Holland, a development focussed around water, might be of benefit in developing the strategy for Gainsborough. We would also recommend consulting CABE’s website, Sustainable Places, which gives expert advice on planning, designing and managing a sustainable place,

Conclusion

Ultimately the success of this new southern neighbourhood for Gainsborough will rely on the long term commitment by the client and landowner to ensure that the vision and principles established by this masterplan are realised on the ground. Therefore, we are pleased that the client has given its commitment to ensuring that design quality is carried through to the detailed development of this scheme and that the management and maintenance of the estate will be closely controlled and monitored. Whilst we think that the application should not be permitted in its current form, we have confidence in the design team to resolve the issues raised in this letter to create a development worthy of the aspirations of Gainsborough.