Tiddington Fields, Stratford-on-Avon
The site of 0.71 ha was a former psychiatric unit with short-term residential care accommodation in a large village on the outskirts of Stratford-on-Avon. The health services transferred to new accommodation more centrally located in Stratford and the site became surplus to requirement. Initial proposals for open market housing ran into opposition and the client, a local company managing extra-care sheltered housing throughout the country, obtained a conditional contract based on an extra-care sheltered housing scheme of 48 units. The application was refused as contrary to housing and settlement policy, contrary to a moratorium on new housing permissions, on visual impact grounds and because of a failure to provide affordable housing. Planning permission was eventually granted following an appeal and Public Inquiry where the Inspector found that, because of the provision of care, the proposed use was a C2 (residential institutional use) rather than dwellings, and that affordable housing policy did not apply.
Following this decision, planning permission was granted for 6 extra-care sheltered bungalows on adjacent land.
DPDS Involvement
- Planning consultancy services in relation to the planning applications
- Negotiations on affordable housing
- Providing expert evidence on demographics, planning and health policy and the use class issue at Public Inquiry
- Expert evidence on visual impact at Public Inquiry
- Instructing Counsel and Public Inquiry administration
