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CHARACTER AREA STUDY
The site is positioned at the southern end of Lymington settlement within the rural lanes character area of the settlement. The site is positioned between two such lanes; Lower Pennington Lane and Ridgeway lane, forming its western and eastern bounds respectively. To the south of the site lies further undeveloped Greenfield land within the Green Belt.
Between the eastern boundary of the site and Ridgeway Lane sits a ribbon of residential development, comprising large detached dwellinghouses in spacious plots. These dwellings front on to the lane with individual driveways and soft landscaped frontages. There is no public footway in this location but grass verges to both sides of the public highway. This absence of urbanising features is fundamental to the character of the rural lane.
An existing public footpath runs to the south of Greencroft property which is at the lower south corner of SS6, and provides access from the site to Ridgeway Lane, forming part of the existing footpath network. The proposals will see diversions made to the existing footpaths, but none will be extinguished, and the extent of diversion will be minor and will provide more legible routes for pedestrians through the area.
To the north, the site adjoins a broader pattern of residential development at this southern end of the settlement comprising a mix of dwelling types and a mix of densities. The development at Forest Gate Gardens to the north-east corner of the site comprises smaller detached properties set within modest plots about a cul-de-sac. At the southern end of the group of properties is an open piece of land which is provided generally for recreation and a dense line of conifers separates this from the application site. To the west of Forest Gate Gardens sit some larger detached dwellinghouses including a recent pattern of infill development at Hightrees with detached dwellings set in similar sized plots to those at Forest Gate Gardens.
The eastern side of the application site shares a boundary with Oakhaven Hospice, an end-of-life care provider. The hospice is separated from the site by a mature treeline which envelops the facility on three sides. The eastern side of the site currently stands fairly open on to the horticultural nursery forms part of the application site. The nursery will be demolished as part of the development and a new substantial landscaped buffer provided as part of the development to preserve the peace and tranquillity of the nursery.
To the south the side adjoins open pastureland, separated into paddocks by native hedgerows and trees. The land is in use for the purposes of agriculture and forms part of the broader area of land in the same ownership as the application site.
The land is moderately timbered with lines of mature trees lining the perimeter of the existing paddocks. The site is however surrounded on all sides by an established line of mature trees and hedgerow of mixed native species which significantly limits views into the land from the adjoining public highways. The tree groups and hedgerow lines are valuable in terms of their contribution to landscape character but also have significant value in biodiversity terms. The trees and hedgerows form defined natural constraints for the development on site and the masterplanning strategy has been developed with the need for their retention in mind.
The site has two principal points of access, one from Lower Pennington Lane, and one from Ridgeway Lane. The access from Lower Pennington Lane is more formalised, comprising a made and surfaced track and serves both the in-patient unit at Oakhaven Hospice and the existing horticultural nursery on the application site. The access from Ridgeway Lane is a typical agricultural access, comprising a metal field gate, set back from the highway. The route of the access is however well defined and leads directly into the fields comprising the main body of the site allocation.
The existing uses of the site are solely agricultural, for the mixed purposes of land in use for horticulture and land used for cereal grain crop and grazing on a seasonal rotation basis. The land has been intensively used for agriculture therefore in the past.
The site is not subject to any protected environmental designations and there are no issues of flooding or contamination on the site. The site is located within the blanket designation Flood Zone 1 and, as such, is subject to a less than 0.1% chance of flooding occurring each calendar year. The site also sits outside of critical drainage areas and there are no known significant surface water drainage issues. It is noted however that, as the British Geological Survey (BGS) confirms, the site sits on a strata of clay, silt and sand, so specific ground and drainage conditions may very across the site.
In topographical terms there is a general sloping gradient across the site from the north to south. The wider area similarly slopes in general terms from higher ground to the north down towards the mud flats along the coastline to the south. The site however sits down into the landscape and any development would not appear unduly prominent within the wider area or cause harm to the setting and character of the settlement.
