ARA Europe, on behalf of Straits Real Estate Pte. Ltd. (“SRE”), a subsidiary of the Straits Trading Company Limited, has submitted 4no. Reserved Matters Planning Applications to Tewkesbury Borough Council to develop Plots 1-5, five of the remaining six plots within the Park.
Gloucester Business Park benefits from an existing Outline Planning Consent for B1, B2 and B8 (office, research and development, light industry / general industry / storage or distribution) Development granted by the Secretary of State in March 1992. The outline consent provides unrestricted permission in terms of floorspace for these class uses across the site.
A pre-application meeting was held with Tewkesbury Borough Council (TBC) on 29th September 2022. This was followed by a public consultation event was held on 7th December 2022, along with a supporting consultation website page live from 5th to 12th December 2022.
Following feedback from TBC, the Parish Councils, local residents and occupiers across the park, the following points have been considered and addressed:
Highways impact
An additional traffic survey was commissioned, identifying that the majority of traffic entering and exiting the park is ‘through traffic’, with only c.25% of traffic related to trips to the park itself. This supports the conclusion that the remaining development at that Business Park would not result in an adverse impact upon the highways network.
Our independent highways consultant has prepared a Travel Plan which sets out this information and identifies the ways in which ARA Europe can encourage employees to travel sustainably.
Since the consultation, Stagecoach have engaged with the Park and identified that a new bus route is possible through the site (to commence from 17th February 2022) with a new bus stop on Hurricane Road.
In terms of parking, the design team has reviewed the proposed parking arrangements for each plot and it is considered that sufficient levels of car, cycle and motorcycle parking will be provided and will not exacerbate any off-site parking issues. The updated Travel Plan will also seek to address this. Service yards have been designed to allow HGV’s to enter and exit in forward gear to prevent any waiting on the business park estate roads.
The consultation event also raised the question of safe pedestrian crossing points within the park. We are therefore reviewing a potential pedestrian crossing between the two roundabouts on Pioneer Avenue.
Noise
Since the public consultation, a detailed Noise Assessment has been carried out for each plot, identifying the key sources and receptors of noise. Appropriate mitigation measures have been recommended and now incorporated into each design, to reduce the impact of noise, including:
- Noise attenuation barriers to relevant locations around the service yards. These will be between 2.5 and 4/5m, and designed to complement the landscape;
- Building fabric with enhanced u-values;
- Planting.
The configuration and layout of the development has been designed to ensure that all units are inward facing with the new buildings acting as a noise barrier between service yards and adjoining residential uses.
Building Heights and Appearance
The design of the new buildings have been reconsidered to assist in the visual transition between employment and residential. The new proposed colours include a green palate to soften the elevations of the new buildings with the surroundings.
The design of the office elements of the proposed buildings facing Buccaneer Avenue and Gambet Road aims to reduce the visual impact of this transition by:
- Stepping down /lower height at this elevation; and
- Providing a high-quality glazed frontage
Other
We are also reviewing how to: bring forward recycling / segregated waste bins; looking at the quality of signage throughout the park and reviewing the continued upkeep of landscaping.
If you have any questions regarding the proposed development at Gloucester Business park, please contact info@the-flashbulb.com.
