Supporting text

The Neighbourhood Plan and Town Centre Masterplan promote redeveloping the land around the westbound platform station building for residential uses with car parking for station users and new residents, of a scale, massing and layout that enhances the gateway function of this area along with enhancing the setting of existing heritage assets and landmark structures could be appropriate.

A site assessment report is included in Appendix B. In respect of site 1, only upper floor development to enable the new Cultural and Community Hub (Policy NM7) on the lower floors, is included and in relation to site 15, this site would only be released for redevelopment where the Library is relocated within the Cultural and Community Hub or accessibly located elsewhere within New Milton.

Attention is also drawn to the fact that Sites 2, 3, 5 & 6 are included within the proposed Area of Special Character and development on these sites will therefore need to illustrate how they have responded to policy NM25 (Area of Special Character) as follows:

Station (Site 2)

With the Area of Special Character in place, some modifications may be necessary to:

• specify the ‘heritage assets and landmark structures’
• identify key views
• be clearer about the relationship between building orientation, massing and height(s) and conserving an effective setting to the station buildings that enables them to continue to be enjoyed when arriving at the station by train and from within the town
• identify design cues from the prominent buildings in the ASC to inform the architectural detail in terms of features, materials and motifs, not to lead to a pastiche of the Domestic Revival period to but offer a subtle connection between the old and the new.

Station Road North (ex-‘Manor Road’) (Sites 3 and 5)

The Neighbourhood Plan promotes redeveloping two areas comprising parcels of industrial, storage and commercial land between the railway line, Manor Road and Station Road for a mixed use commercial/residential scheme. It identifies the opportunity to ‘improve the gateway (to the town centre) from the north’ and to create a ‘stronger visual connection across the railway line with the Water Tower using a ‘larger scale, built form’.

With the Area of Special Character in place, it will be necessary to:

• identify the importance of retaining the view south to the Water Tower from along Fernhill Lane
• maintaining a strong building line to the Station Road frontage for its continuation after the road bridge and to gradually reveal No.10 Station Road around the curved bend in that frontage
• retain the original Nos 25-27 building in the frontage but allowing for the redevelopment of its single storey showroom adjoining the railway line on the existing set back building line to show the gabled roof of Milton Hall

Osborne Road (Site 6)

The Neighbourhood Plan and Town Centre Masterplan promote redeveloping the public car park in Osborne Road for residential use. Taking account of the Area of Special Character the design principles should be:

• maintaining the building line formed by Nos 2-8 Osborne Road
• building heights no greater than the Station Road frontage or Osborne House opposite, so as not to compete with the adjoining Water Tower
• no obstruction of the glimpse view of the Water Tower from the station bridge
• using design cues from the prominent buildings in the ASC to inform the architectural detain in terms of features, materials and motifs, not to lead to a pastiche of the Domestic Revival period to but offer a subtle connection between the old and the new.

Overall, this policy seeks to respond to the desire to enhance the Town Centre and broaden its appeal, particularly to younger households, through unlocking development potential to fund future investment in public realm, community, cultural and heritage facilities and to increase footfall in this highly sustainable location. An increase in the number of younger people living and working in New Milton over the plan period will increase their demand for goods and services, which, if met by new town centre businesses, may in turn increase the attractiveness of the town for such households. A Town Centre Masterplan has been prepared to support this policy and can be found in Appendix C.

This policy also encourages the inclusion of these sites into Part 2 of the NFDC Brownfield Register which will trigger a grant of Permission in Principle for that land providing the statutory requirements set out in Town and Country Planning (Permission in Principle) Order 2017 (as amended) and the Town and Country Planning (Brownfield Land Register) Regulations 2017 are met.

This would further de-risk the sites by not just including them within the Neighbourhood Plan but in such a grant of permission would provide landowners with confidence invest in a technical details consent with the principle of development already being agreed.

Whilst the Order is clear that Permission in Principle (PiP) does not apply to Habitats Development, which given the location of New Milton may be assumed for these purposes, recent case law[1] has indicated that these sites may not be considered Habitats Development, even though they are located within an SAC zone of influence. This is on the basis of an Appropriate Assessment being carried out and Unilateral Undertaking drawn up by the developer to comply with the mitigation requirements, in this case, those contained within the New Forest Mitigation for Recreational Impacts SPD (2021). This overcomes the inability for a PiP to be conditioned if the applicant is willing to enter into the undertaking to secure the obligation. The modified Neighbourhood Plan is also accompanied by a Habitats Regulations Assessment.

The sites may also be suitable for consideration as Brownfield Passport sites, recently consulted upon by government with the aim of “reducing uncertainty and risk to developers will help encourage and underpin better use of urban land”[2]

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[1]  (ref. APP/C1625/W/23/3329704) and (ref. APP/A1910/W/22/3303737)

[2] Brownfield Passport: Making the Most of Urban Land