Working on behalf of Lovell Homes, Nash Partnership secured detailed planning approval for 412 new homes to be built on the Drummond Park site in Ludgershall, Wiltshire.
The development will create a high quality new neighbourhood, including a mix of 1, 2, 3 and 4-bed houses and maisonettes, with 25% being provided as affordable homes, on this 13.4ha of vacant land. The site was formerly owned by the MoD and is now in the hands of Homes England, with Lovell Homes being appointed as the developer for the site through a competitive tender process.
Support for the scheme
Although the site has been vacant for many years, plans to develop it for housing have previously stalled. The site was under military use for nearly 70 years and remained so until the early 2000s. An outline planning application for up to 475 homes was submitted in 2010 and resurrected by new owner Homes England, receiving approval in 2019. Nash Partnership was subsequently commissioned by Lovell Homes to provide planning and architectural services in securing approval for a detailed scheme, covering the reserved matters of layout, scale, appearance and landscaping. With the site’s long planning history, there has been widespread support in the town for the proposed new development and its potential to address local housing need.
Drummond Park character areas
As well as a mix of homes, the new neighbourhood will include a network of open spaces/play areas and will comprise three character areas:
- High Street – a principal urban street running east-west through the new neighbourhood.
- The Farmstead Clusters – an area of more informal character, drawing upon the building typologies on the peripheries of Ludgershall and in the surrounding villages.
- The Lanes – drawing on the character of the secondary streets of Ludgershall to help integrate the new neighbourhood with the existing settlement.
The design proposals for each of the character areas draw on the local context to create a new contemporary residential neighbourhood informed by the design characteristics of Ludgershall. In addition to variation in character, these areas help to provide a sense of place, identity and an appropriate relationship to the open countryside to the north and to the edge of the existing town to the south.
Overcoming phosphate and nitrate issues
Given the site’s location with the catchments of the Rivers Avon and Test, there was a need for phosphate and nitrate neutrality. The issue of nutrient loading from sewage and surface water run-off impacting areas of nature conservation importance is affecting an increasing number of localities across the country. However, Wiltshire Council has developed a strategic approach to delivering measures that will achieve phosphate neutral development. The agreed strategy ring fences Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) funds to mitigate phosphate discharge, including long term measures, such as large-scale habitat creation.
Nitrates from surface water run-off also posed an issue. To address this, a solution was negotiated for converting an area of council-owned farm land into a natural habitat, through a funding agreement linked to the development.
Next steps for Drummond Park
In parallel with the detailed scheme approval, Nash Partnership worked with Lovell and Wiltshire Council to clear all relevant planning conditions, enabling a recent start on site for delivery of this important mixed tenure new residential neighbourhood.
Commenting on the application’s success, Nash Partnership’s Planning and Regeneration Director Mel Clinton said: “This long-awaited new neighbourhood will play a big part in meeting local housing need. The close working between our planning and architectural teams, Lovell Homes and Wiltshire Council illustrates the benefits of a collaborative approach to achieving shared planning and design ambitions on major development projects. After previous false starts it is great that Lovell and Homes England are now making the new Drummond Park a reality.”
