Parcel 4234, Combe Hay Lane, Combe Hay, Bath

While we recognise that that this type of application is published for information only’ and not available for comment, BPT as a local amenity society wishes to comment given that the development could have a serious impact on multiple heritage assets including the World Heritage Site and setting, Southstoke Conservation Area, and the Wansdyke SAM.

We emphasise and support the views of the Parish Council. It has always been the case that a Comprehensive Masterplan for the whole South Stoke Plateau should be approved BEFORE individual applications are made and considered. 20/00092/SCOPE is yet another example of an Application (although not technically a planning application) being submitted without a Comprehensive Masterplan with the result that development of this site is being allowed to proceed in a piecemeal manner, to the detriment of local character.

Given the succession of planning applications in this location it is now absolutely imperative that a Comprehensive Masterplan for the entire Plateau site is designed with stakeholder engagement and approved. The NPPF requires that there must be ‘effective engagement between applicants, communities, local planning authorities and other interested parties throughout the process’.

In their response as statutory consultees Historic England state, ‘the lack of a detailed Masterplan for the whole site means that it is difficult to assess the potential impacts of the proposal, therefore the scoping report must contain all the relevant information.’ In particular the setting of the Wansdyke SAM hasn’t been properly considered nor the use of the land nearest allocated.

BPT calls upon Bath and North East Somerset Council Planning Authority to involve and implement the scoping consultation responses from the Parish Council, Landscape and Conservation Officers and Historic England which identify the current failings in the scope of environmental assessment and landscape and visual assessments methodology.