Full Planning Application. Proposed Conversion of 11 Priory Road Keynsham, BS31 2BX to extend existing residential home. Design and Access Statement

Transcription

1 Full Planning Application Proposed Conversion of 11 Priory Road Keynsham, BS31 2BX to extend existing residential home. Design and Access Statement Black February 2014 gcp Chartered Architects Suite 10, Corum 2, Corum office park Crown Way Warmley BS30 6FJ t mail@gcparch.co.uk

2 Design and Access Statement Page 1 Introduction This statement has been prepared by gcp Chartered Architects to support a full planning application for the proposed conversion of 11 Priory Road to extend an existing care home currently occupying No s 9 and 10 and the construction of a link building on three floors between no 10 and 11 and ancillary external works. This statement explains the key design and access principles that have been used to develop details of the scheme and should be read in conjunction with the drawings submitted as part of the application. Figure 1: Site Location The site is located between Bristol and Bath in Somerset, South-West England.

3 Design and Access Statement Page 2 Description of site The site is located in the town of Keynsham, within the boundary of Bath and North East Somerset Council jurisdiction. The site area is 0.1 hectares and currently has one six bed, three storey dwelling ( No. 11 ) as well as the St.Philip and James Retirement Home and ancillary garden and parking area. The surrounding area is largely residential with the majority being semi-detached housing. The high street is nearby with a good range of shops, community facilities, places of worship, a railway station and car parking. The local doctor s surgery is located adjacent to the railway station within five minutes walk from the proposed site. Figure 2: Aerial Photo 1 Figure 3: Aerial Photo 2

4 Design and Access Statement Page 3 Details of Proposal The proposal is to purchase the residential dwelling currently known as no.11 Priory Road convert it to provide extra space for the care home. The conversion will provide level access to 9 new bedrooms, provide a dining room with washing facilities and a lounge area. The link building between no 10 and 11 Priory Road will be a three storey building which will provide the extended care home with a disabled lift to all floors, 2 additional bedrooms with en suites, a small reception area, three assisted bathrooms and a secure medication room. The single storey extension to rear of the existing care home will prove a food store and a laundry area. The Internal layout of the existing care home will change very minimally with an assisted bathroom / sluice room replacing the laundry room. The amount of development proposed for this site is considered to be appropriate bearing in mind the size of the site, its location, accessibility and surroundings. This has also been guided by the pre application advice received. The aspiration is to achieve a high quality and well-designed layout whilst having a positive visual impact on the surroundings. These proposals follow pre-planning discussions with Bath and North East Somerset Council, pre application no. 13/05445/PREAPP. Figure 4-Site Plan

5 Design and Access Statement Page 4 Figure 5: Proposed Link Extension Elevations The proposed layout responds directly to the constraints of the site without compromising the quality of the local environment.

6 Design and Access Statement Page 5 Figure 6: Proposed Site Plan Appearance The proposed extension will present a modern appearance contrasting with the existing character of the street scene. The infill extension will be set back from the existing frontages so maintaining their appearance when viewing from both the front and the rear. The proposed external appearance will consist of render finish, with timber cladding and traditional vertical sliding sash, doubled glazed windows. The infill roof will be flat roof formed from flat roof joists with a single membrane finish which will match the existing roof of the residential home. Landscaping The gardens of 9-11 Priory Road are home to a variety of trees and shrubs and it is intended as part of the proposals that these will retained wherever possible. Close boarded timber fences will surround the new hard surfaced car parking facility. The rear access to the care home will be wheelchair accessible; a large decking area will provide a level entrance to the reception area. However as much of the site as is practical will be given over to garden.

7 Design and Access Statement Page 6 A drawing indicating the location of the existing trees is included within the application. Access and Travel St Philips provides a community home for elderly residents. There are five main travel groups: Residents, family and friends, medical, services and staff. Residents enjoy the proximity to the High Street and nearby community buildings and travel there on foot and by wheelchair, often accompanied. Family and friends take them on longer trips, predominantly using cars due to their restricted mobility. Some trips are social but a significant number are medical. The Home also operates one MPV for social trips. None of the residents drives a car and it is not anticipated that this will change. Family and friends regularly visit residents, as individuals and in groups. Visitors do walk and use buses but the main mode of transport is by car. A significant number of these trips relate to picking up and dropping off residents from hospital, dental and opticians appointments using their car. Medical visitors include District Nurses, Community Psychiatric Nurses, Occupational and Physiotherapists, Social Workers, Nutritionists, Podiatrists and Doctors, to assess and treat residents, and hospital equipment services and pharmaceutical supplies. With the exception of GPs from the local surgery all these visitors use cars or vans. Due to the residents restricted mobility it is much more effective for the medical practitioners to visit residents rather than the residents attend surgeries and clinics. Medical visitors need parking facilities next to the Home because they are peripatetic workers and need access to equipment and supplies in their cars to carry out their work. It is anticipated that medical visitors to care homes will increase because of the national policy of reducing hospital based medical provision for this age group and increasing multidisciplinary care provision for them in homes and care homes. Services include kitchen supplies (Busses Greengroceries, Reakes Eggs, RDS Dairy and Tesco Grocers), non-medical equipment (furniture, carpet fitters and cleaners), maintenance workers for the building and its equipment (electricians, gas fitters, plumbers, fire alarm servicing personnel, nurse call, lift engineers, hoist engineers) and additional services for the residents (musicians, hairdressers and exercise coordinators). Due to the nature of these services, car and van use is the main mode of transport. Staff numbers are currently 43 with 9 full time and 34 part time. The total full time equivalent (FTE) is staff (9 FT FTE PT). The Home operates 24/7 so there is always at least one care assistant on duty. From 7am to 10pm every day there are between 4 7 staff on duty. Travel to work arrangements are a 50:50 mix of car and walking/public transport, car sharing is used whenever practical. One member of staff must have access to a car for carrying out home and hospital visits at short notice.

8 Design and Access Statement Page 7 Projected increases. The number of residents will increase by a maximum of 11. Note that 100% occupancy is rarely achieved and during the past 3 years St Philips has had 93 97% occupancy. The total maximum residency will be 32 but is a more probable typical level of occupancy. This will require an increase in staffing of up to 50% to 14 FT and 51 PT (likely to be approximately 30 FTE). Reduced use of cars by staff will be encouraged by the installation of secure cycle storage and a staff changing room with shower. Current parking. The current car park at the rear of the site can accommodate 5 cars with adequate clearance around each of them for moving in and out. There is one disabled bay marked up on the road in front of the site. The road is not passable for other traffic when a car in that space is being accessed. Proposed parking The proposed parking is for eleven spaces and despite the reservations raised in the response to the pre-application regarding the level of parking being too high it is vital that the home should remain a good neighbour and attempt to accommodate the vast majority of its parking requirements on site. Attached to the application is a travel survey which has been carried out recently and demonstrates the current underprovision. Data on groups and the mode of transport was gathered using a survey carried out on three consecutive days in January The bus route link to Keynsham Church is within 250 metres of the site but the services are very limited in scope and the timetable is also attached, The care home is about a five minute walk from Keynsham High Street where there is a supermarket, a large range of shops a post office and several pharmacies but even this is not a trip which can be negotiated by many residents. Similarly the train station is also very close but again the routes are very restricted and the station itself is only easily accessible to one platform. Trains are an unsuitable form of transport for the majority of user groups for the reasons outlined above. Waste St Philips has a general waste wheeled bin, a garden waste wheeled bin, recycling containers and a medical waste container. The general, recycling and medical waste are off loaded each week. The medical waste consists primarily of continence management products. These are held in clinical waste sacks in the rear garden corner and put out on the kerbside on collection day. On average 5 8 clinical waste sacks are used each week.

9 Design and Access Statement Page 8 Flood Risk Assessment Please see attached environmental agency flood risk map and key for keynsham. Conclusion The comments raised in the response to the pre-application have been carefully considered but so had the proposal. An increase in parking provision is a vital part of the application for the reasons stated above. Setting the link extension back from the frontage to the railway line would result in the loss of two communal bathrooms which would need to be accommodated elsewhere in the plan and bedroom accommodation would be lost. The development is extremely sensitive financially and any decrease in bedroom provision is likely to render the scheme non-viable. Much of the financial information is commercially sensitive but the applicant would be content to share it with the Authority but the information would have to be confidential and not made publically available and therefore does not form part of this application at this stage. The appearance of the link building could be subject to further discussion but the Submission has been redesigned to be in accordance with the views expressed during the pre-application consultation. Prepared by James Pilling Checked by Jeremy Pilling Issue date February 2014 Revision 1/C

10 Design and Access Statement Page 9 Appendix 1. Site Photographs 2. Pre-application report 3. Wessex Water Drainage Plan 4. Flood Risk Assessment 5. Bedroom accommodation schedule 6. Bus Route Information 7. Parking Survey 8. Staff timesheet record