WELCOME WELCOME TO OUR SECOND PUBLIC EXHIBITION ON THE FUTURE OF THE FORMER GASWORKS SITE This exhibition is being held by St William Homes to update the local community on how our early concept design has developed following our first exhibition in July 2017 and to receive your feedback on the revised proposals. The proposals have been re-examined in all respects since the last exhibition and it has been found that many principles of the proposals are robust and have thus been built upon. This process also identified that some important changes were required and these have now been incorporated in the revised proposals in line with the feedback received. St William is a joint venture between National Grid and the Berkeley Group. Our goal is to transform industrial sites from a bygone age into beautiful places which people call home. Backed by the strength and commitment of National Grid and the Berkeley Group, St William will unlock some of the most technically complex regeneration sites at the heart of communities across London and the South of England, creating homes for everyone. Lower Village Rd Woodend Dr Lower Village Rd Upper Village Rd Truss Hill Rd Sunninghill Rd St Mary s Hill Queen s Rd Bridge Rd The Site Kings Rd Rise Rd Bagshot Rd Cavendish Meads Brockenhurst Rd Hancocks Mount First Life, Then Spaces, Then Buildings St William adopt a landscape-led approach to development which can be summarised as First life, then spaces, then buildings. When designing, we think first of people, for example; how people will relate to the site as residents (existing and new) as visitors and those for whom the site may be part of a stroll around the village. Then we look at the sort of spaces which will accommodate and encourage this activity and the landscape structure which will bring those spaces to life. Only then do we conceptualise the design and disposition of buildings which will become the development. In essence, this is the First Life, then Spaces, then Buildings approach. Building upon the ethos of the Berkeley Group, St William is underpinned by the Berkeley Group s Our Vision Our vision is to be a world-class business generating longterm value by creating successful, sustainable places where people aspire to live. To help us achieve this, we use a framework and self imposed targets structured around five key areas: Customers: Provide exceptional service to all of our customers and put them at the heart of our decisions. Homes: Develop individually designed, high quality homes with a low environmental impact. Places: Create great places where residents enjoy a good quality of life, now and in the future. Operations: Be carbon positive by reducing our operational carbon emissions by 10%. People: Promotion of apprenticeships and vocational training.
THE SITE y s ar M t ll i H S Tru ss Qu Hill ee Rd Brid n s R d Kin gs R d ge R Bag sho tr d d Cav end ish Me ads The former Sunninghill Gasworks at Bridge Road has been decommissioned for 4 years and presents a unique opportunity in this location, for St William to deliver new homes on a sustainably located brownfield site. The 5.8 acre former Gasworks largely comprises areas of hardstanding and self sown foliage with the former gasholders having been deconstructed and the voids infilled. The site is bound by the Reading to London Waterloo railway line to the north and the rear gardens of residential properties on Cavendish Meads to the east and south. To the west playing fields used by St Michael s School and residential properties off Bridge Road and Charters Lane can be found. The existing site access is from Bridge Road which is privately owned by National Grid. History of the Site The site was first established as a fully functioning Gasworks in 1883 when it had only two gasholders, a tar and liquor storage tank, a gas retort house and purifiers. An electricity generation station was also located on the site and was part of the Ascot and District Gas and Electricity Company. A fourth gasholder was erected by 1937. Gas production on the site ceased in 1963 however the final gasholder and associated gas governor house were only demolished in 2013 with the site s Hazardous Substance Consent revoked in November 2015. The site will be prepared for redevelopment through a careful combination of demolition, remediation and the relocation of infrastructure. The remediation works will need to be undertaken in collaboration with the relevant regulating authorities to make the site suitable for residential development and publicly accessible open space. TIMELINE 1883 1937 1963 2013 2015 Fully Functioning Gasworks Fourth Gasholders Erected Gas Production Ceased Decomissioned and Last Gasholder Demolished Hazardous Substances Consent Revoked
CONSTRAINTS & OPPORTUNITIES There are a number of constraints affecting the site including, but not limited to: Contamination resulting from the former Gasworks use of the site. Further site investigations have now been undertaken and have confirmed that full remediation is required; SSE substation to be retained to the north east; Railway line binding the site to the north; Pressure Reduction Station to be retained to the north west; Diversion of High Voltage and Low Voltage electricity cables through the site; Foul water and surface water sewers; and Various easements and routes running under and across the site. Pressure Reduction Station to be Retained Tree Preservation Order (TPO) Existing Gas Main SSE Sub-Station to be Retained High Voltage + Low Voltage Electricity Cables to be Diverted Private Road Foul + Surface Water Sewers Tree Preservation Order (TPO) Site Wide Decontamination and Remediation However, there are a number of opportunities that St William will seek to realise as part of the redevelopment including, but not limited to: Create a new high quality and attractive open space and landscaping; Improve connectivity to Sunninghill High Street and the surrounding area from a publicly inaccessible site; Create new high quality homes to meet local demand Create new pedestrian and vehicular accesses; on a sustainably located brownfield site; Provide a mix of homes for the community including Bring a vacant and decommissioned former gasholder local families, first time buyers and down sizers; and site back into active use; Deliver homes that are self sufficient with regards to car Deliver a high quality development that responds well parking to the local character and context;
YOUR FEEDBACK AND OUR RESPONSE As part of our programme of public consultation, an initial public exhibition outlining our development proposals for the former gasworks site was held in July. Since then, we have been closely examining the feedback we received and revising our plans for the site. The most commonly raised issue was that of site access. Many local residents felt that the exclusive use of Cavendish Meads as an access point to the site placed an excessive burden upon Cavendish Meads in terms of additional vehicle movements. As such we have revised our plans to address this point by introducing an additional site access on Bridge Road. This will serve the two apartment buildings located to the north of the site, comprising 24 homes, and ease reliance on Cavendish Meads as a vehicular access route, which is now limited to 57 homes. The internal street layout ensures that there will be no vehicular link between the two accesses and no through traffic. Other important issues raised by the local community included car parking and local infrastructure. Our proposals are policy compliant with regards to car parking and a significant financial contribution will also be made to local infrastructure through the Community Infrastructure Levy. Members of the project team are happy to talk through these and any other issues with you in further detail. Previous Layout Revised Layout Site activity during August During August St William undertook site investigation work to help us prepare for the redevelopment of the site. This involved digging a number of trial pits and boreholes to provide further detail on the level of remediation that the ground will require. These trial pits and bore holes covered all parts of the site and in each location contamination from the former Gasworks use was observed and recorded within chemical testing results. The Site Investigations have concluded that remediation will be required across the site, including in the woodland area to the south east corner of the site. This will require the removal of all existing trees on site. All off site trees will be retained and the landscaping proposals will include extensive replanting. If you d like to know more about this work our team would be happy to help.
REVISED LAYOUT PROPOSALS 2 3 4 4 5 6 5 8 1 7 Plan Key 1. Access from Cavendish Meads 5. Improved landscaping/planting to street 2. Secondary access from Bridge Road 6. Improved landscape buffer around sub-station 3. Parking from Bridge Road 7. Village Green 4. Apartment building set back from railway line 8. Homes orientated to provide views onto Village Green Building Heights: 1-Storey 2-Storey 2.5-Storey 3-Storey Dwelling Types: One/Two Bedroom Apartments Two-Bedroom Coach House Three Bedroom House Four Bedroom House Five Bedroom House
ELEVATION DESIGN Since the previous exhibition the design principles for the appearance of the buildings, across the three character areas, have been further developed to produce extended street scenes within each of the areas. The top street scene is facing onto the Village Green, the middle street scene faces the internal street, and the bottom street scene faces north towards the railway line. Indicative Aerial View Looking North from Cavendish Meads Character Area 1: Village Green Character Area 2: Victorian Village Street Character Area 3: Residential Pavilions Character Areas: Village Green Victorian Village Street Residential Pavilions
LANDSCAPE Landscape Strategy The layout of the proposed development has been designed to create two north/south tree lined avenues, with architectural end stops. Planting to the existing substation in the north-eastern corner will be maximised, including wildflower species rich grassland and tree planting. The landscape strategy includes the creation of a Village Green in the southern section of the site, with houses fronting the space to provide natural surveillance. The Village Green will include a play area, with the use of natural landscape features and timber play equipment to create an exciting play space. The southern boundary of the Village Green will include mixed native woodland planting and wildflower species rich grassland. Residential Pavilions Village Green Victorian Village Street Trees The illustrative landscape proposals include extensive tree planting and will utilise some of the species identified below. Tree Planting Plan
CONSIDERATE CONSTRUCTORS The Berkeley Group maintains the highest standards in construction and are committed to ensuring that our business activity has no adverse impact on residents and the local community. St William will seek to minimise the disturbance of construction on the local community. To assist this, a Construction Management Plan will be produced that will relate to both on site activity and the transport arrangements for vehicles servicing the site. The Construction Management Plan will need to be approved by the Council and the works will be undertaken in strict accordance with it thereafter. St William is registered in the Considerate Constructors scheme and abides by the Code of Considerate Practice, designed to encourage best practice beyond statutory requirements. Work will take place on site only within hours agreed with the Council and we would appoint a site manager whose contact details would be available to local residents and their representatives. We would also provide regular updates on the works progress. In 2015 the Berkeley Group became the first house-builder in Britain to have 500 sites registered by the Considerate Constructors Scheme and also won the prestigious title of Britain s most considerate construction site for Roman House, a development of 90 homes in the City of London. THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO VISIT OUR PUBLIC EXHIBITION In order to develop our proposals all feedback is valued and we welcome the opportunity to discuss our revised proposals with you today. We would be very grateful if you could take the time to fill in the feedback forms provided and hand them to representatives of the project team or place them in the feedback response boxes. Alternatively, you can complete the form at home and post it to us. Key Milestones Submission of Planning Application: End September 2017 Start on Site: Summer 2018