Land South of
Tewkesbury Meadow

Highways

Land to the South of Tewkesbury Meadow has been designed to seamlessly integrate with the existing infrastructure while prioritising safety and accessibility. The primary vehicular access will be from the newly created priority T-junction at Bluebell Road, connecting to the northern section of the site via Tewkesbury Meadow. This access road will form an internal loop from north to south and will feature a minimum 6.2-metre carriageway designed to accommodate a bus route, complemented by a 2.0-metre footway on one side and a 3.0-metre shared footway/cycleway on the other, ensuring ample space for both pedestrians and cyclists. Additionally, a bus gate and emergency access point will be established at the south of the development from Tredington Road, linking to the main spine road and restricted to bus and emergency service use only.

Pedestrian and cyclist connections are a key focus, with routes designed to tie into the Tewkesbury Meadow development and Bluebell Road. Connections will also be provided onto Rudgeway Lane and Tredington Road, adhering to the Manual for Gloucestershire Streets guidance to ensure routes are coherent, direct, safe, comfortable, and attractive. A North-South Greenway and a circular pedestrian route will link the development to the existing trim trail in Tewkesbury Meadow and green corridors from Tewkesbury Meadow will be continued throughout the development.

Drainage

The layout has been arranged to locate all built development within Flood Zone 1, (land at a low probability of flooding from rivers). A small watercourse is present just off the eastern boundary of the site, and detailed hydraulic flood modelling of this has confirmed that it also poses a low risk of flooding to the development.

Environment Agency flood mapping indicates the potential for surface water flooding to occur at several isolated points across the site. However, these areas are associated with local topographical low points in which runoff from within the site could pond. This will be resolved through the implementation of a formalised surface water drainage strategy which will intercept storm water falling on the development and store it with designated basins/ponds before it is discharged from the site.

The additional surface water runoff generated by the development will be managed through implementation of a sustainable drainage strategy. The discharge rate from the development to the adjacent watercourse will be attenuated at the equivalent greenfield runoff rate, thereby mimicking the existing (pre-development) conditions. The excess surface water will be stored within Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) which will be designed to accommodate the 1 in 100-year storm event with an uplift to account for future climate change. In addition to managing surface water quantity, the SuDS will provide treatment to the runoff from the development thereby also managing the quality of the surface water leaving the site. The SuDS will also provide opportunities to promote amenity and biodiversity benefits.

Surface water and foul water from the development will be drained separately. Foul water will be directed to the local public sewers. Bloor Homes will work with Severn Trent (the operator) to ensure that any necessary upgrades to the sewer network are implemented prior to occupation.

Heritage

With regards to built heritage, initial consideration has been made as to which assets might be potentially sensitive to residential development within the site. Initial consideration of Tewkesbury Abbey and the Church of St John the Baptist at Tredington concluded that they were not potentially sensitive, due to distance and the incidental nature of the intervisibilty of the site and the assets. Only the Listed buildings at Rudgeway Farm were considered to require detailed assessment of their settings.

Rudgeway Farmhouse and the Barn/Store which lie to the west of the site are Grade II Listed buildings. The Farmhouse is of 17th-century date, and the Barn/Store is of 19th-century date. The site is considered to contribute to the heritage significance of the assets through setting. The northwestern part of the site is understood to have formed part of the landholdings associated with the farmstead for a period of the farmstead's history, and the site is intervisible with the assets. The proposed development has been carefully designed to respect the setting of the assets, with a set back of built form in the north-western area of the site, behind the proposed orchard.

Ecology

A Preliminary Ecological Appraisal has been prepared which outlines baseline ecological features present on-site with reference to survey work that has been undertaken to date, and identifies the ecological opportunities and constraints associated with the proposed development.

The site comprises four grassland fields and one arable grassland ley field all enclosed by native hedgerows, several of which are associated with ditches. Additionally, the site features small areas of scrub and a pond bound by mature trees.

The arable habitat is considered to have limited ecological value whilst the grassland fields hold greater ecological interest, though this habitat is considered to be common and widespread in the local landscape. The pond, mature trees and native hedgerow network provide habitat opportunities for wildlife and offer connectivity to off-site habitats in the wider area.

Detailed botanical surveys of on-site habitats and protected species surveys for bats, reptiles and amphibians are underway or completed.

A Biodiversity Net Gain assessment will be prepared to support the scheme and identify the net change in biodiversity that will occur. Early considerations have been made to ensure that the proposals maximise biodiversity alongside development and achieve a 10% net gain, including the provision of new wildflower meadow, hedgerow, thicket and tree planting throughout the scheme as well as the delivery of new aquatic features on-site.