TDLP PART 2 CHAPTER 10 - WINKLEIGH LOCAL CENTRE

Introduction

10.1 Winkleigh is the second largest village in the District. It is situated at the southeastern margin of the District, approximately 19 km (12 miles) from Great Torrington and 14 km (9 miles) from Okehampton, West Devon in the south.

10.2 The village has experienced considerable residential growth in recent years. During the period 1995 – 2001 150 houses were built in the Parish. The bulk of recent development has occurred on two significant sites. A site to the north of the village provided 51 dwellings and to the south a site of approximately 5.8 hectares, between Winkleigh village and the bypass, provided 99 dwellings. The outstanding commitment at April 2001, including sites with planning permission and under construction, amounted to 41 units in Winkleigh village.

Future Development

10.3 Winkleigh is identified as a Local Centre on the basis of the presence of a range of services, facilities, employment, and development opportunities. Winkleigh occupies an important strategic position on the eastern fringe of the District and it is the main village for a wide rural hinterland. The Plan's strategy seeks to support and encourage Winkleigh's rôle as a service centre that can provide employment, services, and community facilities for the surrounding area at a level that can sustain the local community.

Infrastructure

10.4 Winkleigh is situated on the A3124 and B3219, which provide good north-south road links. Winkleigh is deficient in respect of available sewerage infrastructure to accommodate further residential development and sewage treatment capacity. To remedy known treatment problems, interim sewage treatment improvements were completed prior to 1993, after which sewage treatment restraints were removed in 1996. Further substantial development will overload the existing sewage treatment works, which is approaching its design capacity.

10.5 The dilution afforded by Bullow Brook also limits the volume of effluent that can be discharged no matter what improvements are made to the treatment works. Additional development on new housing allocations will not be permitted unless deficiencies in sewage treatment and effluent discharge are resolved.

Winkleigh Airfield

10.6 The extensive site at Winkleigh Airfield, defined on the Proposals Map, is approximately 119 hectares. It contains a number of structures associated with its former use. In addition to supporting a wide range of economic uses comprising agriculture, manufacturing, and serviced based activities, the defined site WINK1 embraces a significant area of land that is derelict and degraded, an element of which also could be contaminated as a consequence of the site's former use.

10.7 Degraded, derelict, or contaminated land represents a wasted resource that through restoration and reclamation could be put to beneficial use. The District Council seeks the restoration and reclamation of such land at Winkleigh Airfield, through the release of development sites for appropriate uses. The existing uses granted on the airfield, within the WINK1 Proposal area, will not be unduly restricted from expansion as normally permissible within the terms of the policy for development in the countryside (Policy DVT2C).

10.8 A Development Brief agreed by the District Council is required before the site subject to Proposal WINK1 is released for development. The objective is to ensure the comprehensive restoration and reclamation of any contaminated land and sites subject to landscape degradation or dereliction, in step with land release for appropriate uses. Development schemes within the site WINK1 will be required to incorporate an appropriate level of reclamation and restoration prior to commencement, as determined by the Development Brief. Countryside recreation, agriculture, renewable energy and related employment, and any acceptable intensification and /or expansion of an established use are appropriate uses within the defined site. Housing is not an appropriate use and proposals for new general employment uses (Use Classes B1, B2, and B8) unrelated to renewable energy will not be permissible within the site.

10.9 The District Council will encourage proposals for renewable energy development. Interest has been expressed in a renewable energy project through the provision of a gasification power station, with associated employment at Winkleigh Airfield. The District Council supports the principle of the project. Detailed proposals for such a development would be considered on the basis of Policy ECD9 of the Local Plan and the requirements of the site Development Brief.

10.10 It will be necessary to conduct a conditions survey of the former airfield prior to the preparation of the required Brief. The extent of land use problems within the airfield site, the cost of restoring and reclaiming contaminated, degraded, and derelict sites and the appropriate treatment for contaminated land must be identified.

Proposal WINK1: Winkleigh Airfield

Proposals for appropriate new development that secures the comprehensive restoration and reclamation of contaminated land and sites subject to landscape degradation or dereliction on the site defined on the Proposals Map will be supported.

Conservation

10.11 In the older part of the village, there are a considerable number of Listed Buildings including the Grade I Listed Church of All Saints. Much of the centre of Winkleigh, between Court Castle Mount and the Croft Castle mound was included in a Conservation Area designated in 1971. The extent of the Conservation Area is defined in the SPG for Conservation Areas. Consideration will be given to an extension of the Conservation Area to include the whole of the centre of the village, which is considered to be of architectural and historic interest. Recognition of an enlarged Conservation Area will be dealt with outside the local plan process.

Social and Community Services

10.12 Winkleigh acts as a focal point for the surrounding rural community and it is well served by facilities and services. The village benefits from a general store, a butcher's and a post office, there is also a discount store on the airfield. Other facilities include car repair and sales, a number of public houses, and a village and a community hall, which are considered adequate for the village's current needs. Within the village there also is a primary school and pre-school facilities, a part-time bank, and a part-time doctors' surgery.

10.13 A football pitch, a bowling green, a play area, a tennis court and an equipped playground provide formal recreation provision in Winkleigh. The District Open Space and Recreation Strategy identified a deficiency in open space and recreation provision in Winkleigh. Appendix 5 of Part 1 of the Plan confirms the established needs for the village, which include recreation space, playing pitches, and play areas. The Parish Council also has identified a shortage of indoor sport facilities. The Strategy recommends investigating the possibility of upgrading the tennis courts to a multi-use games area and it supports the development of a proposed community sports hall. Where there is a community need, the LPA seeks to negotiate appropriate contributions for leisure and recreation provision from new development. The scheduled major site, Proposal WINK4 to the southeast of the village, may generate the need for off-site built sport facilities to serve the area. An appropriate contribution toward the provision of such facilities may be negotiated.

10.14 Additional and enhanced provision is being pursued by the Parish Council on the Winkleigh War Memorial Fields, which is defined for recreation on the Proposals Map. The Parish Council seeks to provide a new community sports centre providing for a wide range of activities, new tennis courts, and a multi-use games area on this site.

Proposal WINK2: War Memorial Fields

A site at Winkleigh War Memorial Fields as defined on the Proposals Map is allocated for recreation uses.

Employment

10.15 In addition to employment provided by service industries within the village, a range of manufacturing based industries operate from the nearby industrial estates of Seckington Cross and of Winkleigh Airfield.

10.16 The employment sites at Seckington Cross, at Winkleigh Airfield and at the former Inches Cider site to the west of Winkleigh Village, as defined on the Proposals Map are designated General Employment Areas within which development proposals will be subject to Policy ECD2. There are a number of small sites available for development, amounting to approximately 1.7 hectares within the General Employment Areas at Seckington Cross and at Winkleigh Airfield. It also is considered appropriate to maintain and safeguard the former Inches Cider site for employment use. The site remains suitable for employment uses.

Housing

10.17 It is appropriate that additional provision be made to accommodate housing development during the plan period, to provide a choice of sites in support of the settlement's designation as a Local Centre. Development is constrained as a consequence of identified infrastructure deficiencies that require resolution before development can proceed on previously unallocated sites.

10.18 The development boundary has been drawn to reflect outstanding commitments including on an undeveloped area of land to the to the south of the village. Together, these sites are considered sufficient to accommodate the needs of the village during the plan period.

10.19 –10.21 [No text]

10.22 A site of approximately 1.8 hectares, to the south of the village is allocated for housing. The site subject to Proposal WINK4 and the substantial adjacent site were identified for development on the basis of the agreed Development Brief ‘Land South of Winkleigh Village' (February 1992). The adjacent site now is under construction. It is considered appropriate to pursue the development principles agreed in the Development Brief, in the development of the WINK4 site.

10.23 To address the previously identified need for additional parking, Proposal WINK4 requires the safeguarding of an area for a small village car park that would accommodate at least 15 parking spaces. The siting of the car park within the proposed site will be a matter for determination after consultation with the Parish Council. The site's development should provide a layout that enables an access road to link with development on the adjacent site. Necessary play and open space provision will be required on site. A pedestrian link from Shute Lane into the village also must be provided.

10.24 [No text]

10.25 To reduce the impact of the development of this prominent site, substantial boundary treatment must be provided on the site's southern and eastern boundaries and appropriate landscaping will be incorporated within the site.

Proposal WINK4: Southeast of the Village

A site to the southeast of the village as defined on the Proposals Map is allocated for housing development subject to the provision of:

(a) safeguarded land for a 15 space village car park; and

(b) a landscaped frontage to the A3214 and B3219; and

(c) pedestrian access from Shute Lane into the village; and

(d) a contribution to the cost of built sport facilities if needed to serve the area.

10.26 It has been estimated that Winkleigh's contribution to the strategic housing requirement 1995 – 2011 will amount to 244 residential units, which is considered to be an appropriate level to address housing need and support the village's Local Centre designation.

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