20. TIPTREE

Introduction

20.1 Tiptree is facing considerable change over the next few years with the closure of the Tiptree Book Services premises in the Village Centre and major housing development occurring at Grove Road. These changes follow on top of a long period of continuing residential growth. Whilst there have been some additional amenities and employment development provided during this period, more still needs to be done, especially in respect of leisure and recreation provision. In particular, Tiptree is badly lacking in sufficient public open space and playing field areas. The plan, therefore, proposes no new major housing site allocations in Tiptree other than those previously committed (of which the Grove Road development is by far the most significant in size).

Objectives

20.2 The Plan’s objectives for Tiptree are as follows:

(a) To make provision for additional housing growth in Tiptree at Grove Road, amounting to some 400 additional units;

(b) To make provision for some further local employment opportunities at Kelvedon Road;

(c) To improve the attractiveness of the main shopping area, in particular through the implementation of a traffic calming scheme and the provision of additional car and cycle parking facilities;

(d) To encourage and assist the provision of additional amenities and services, particularly open space;

(e) To safeguard and protect valuable countryside resources surrounding the settlement, in particular Tiptree Heath and the Tiptree and Messing Countryside Conservation Area;

(f) To prevent the coalescence of Tiptree with the adjoining settlements of Inworth, Messing, Layer Marney and Tolleshunt Knights;

(g) To secure the appropriate redevelopment of the Tiptree Book Services site and, in particular, to use the opportunity to improve local amenities and the environment of the principal shopping street.

Policies

DEVELOPMENT CONTROL CONSIDERATIONS

20.3 It is important to note that all policies contained within this chapter must be read alongside the overall Development Control Policy (DC1). This policy sets out the standard planning criteria applicable to all forms of development. The relevant criteria will be used to assess the suitability of any proposal in addition to the following detailed policy guidance.

Tiptree Central Area Enhancement Scheme

20.4 The Borough Council, in conjunction with Tiptree Parish Council and other interested parties, has prepared a comprehensive enhancement scheme for the Village Centre. The Tiptree Central Area Enhancement Scheme aims to improve the general appearance and vitality of the Church Road area, particularly in respect of its various shopping facilities, but also through the identification of potential improvements to areas such as the Tiptree Book Services (TBS) site including its frontage onto Church Road (see Policy TIP2) and to car and cycle parking facilities (see policies T10 and T2 respectively). The scheme also considers the implementation of traffic calming measures, landscaping and tree planting.

20.5 It is intended that the enhancement scheme will soon be adopted as Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPG). Applications for development within the boundaries of the enhancement scheme area should improve the general appearance and commercial viability of Church Road (including via inward investment opportunities). Particular attention will be paid to the retention of trees and other environmental attributes. Proposals should be beneficial to pedestrian and cyclist safety, should strengthen the Rural District Centre and will be expected to conform with the SPG document. TIP1 Any proposal for development within the boundaries of the Tiptree Central Area Enhancement Scheme should encourage new services and facilities, support the existing facilities and improve the general appearance of Church Road and strengthen its role as a Rural District Centre.

 

TIP1 Any proposal for development within the boundaries of the Tiptree Central Area Enhancement Scheme should encourage new services and facilities, support the existing facilities and improve the general appearance of Church Road and strengthen its role as a Rural District Centre.

Tiptree Book Services Site

20.6 The Tiptree Book Services (TBS) premises off Church Road, Tiptree, are located in the Village Centre and are 4ha in size. The site has been mostly vacated and is highly likely soon to become totally redundant when the final operations are transferred to the company’s new factory elsewhere in Essex. The loss of such a major source of local employment has been seen as a considerable blow to the economy of Tiptree. However, given the site’s landlocked position, in between residential and retail properties, it is not believed to be realistic to expect it to attract new employers capable of creating a similar number of jobs. Consequently, it is considered that a mixed redevelopment scheme would be appropriate for this site. This should include a combination of the following: retail, residential, office, employment (including “start up” business units) and community/ leisure uses. At present there are two outline planning permissions approved on the site, the first for a residential scheme and the second for a supermarket. Further detailed guidance on the redevelopment of this site will be set out in the Tiptree Central Area Enhancement Scheme SPG.

TIP2 Any redevelopment of the TBS site should be for appropriate mixed uses.

Employment Land

20.7 As mentioned above, given the loss of employment at the TBS site, the land has been allocated for mixed uses within this Plan (as opposed to an Employment Zone in the 1995 Adopted Plan). A replacement employment site is therefore considered necessary both to take account of this loss and to meet future population growth within Tiptree. It is considered that the modest expansion of the existing Tower Business Park Employment Zone allocation at Kelvedon Road (currently 3.09ha) is the most appropriate location for this. This could include “start up” business units and would provide an additional 1.04ha of employment land. Furthermore, the 5.15ha Employment Zone proposed nearby in the previously adopted Local Plan at the corner of Kelvedon Road and Grange Road is a roll-forward employment allocation. Taken together, these sites have a capacity in excess of 9ha of employment land, which should fully meet the employment needs of Tiptree for the foreseeable future. Proposals should seek to improve pedestrian and cycle links with the main residential areas within Tiptree. In the long term, the Borough Council may be sympathetic to further expansion occurring in between both these proposed Employment Zone allocations, which would in effect link them together within one large Employment Zone area.

20.8 At present, unemployment rates in Tiptree are significantly below the Borough average, the figure for Tiptree being 2% in April 1998 compared to the Borough unemployment rate then of 3.1%. The Plan makes provision for the expansion and encouragement of inward investment opportunities and the marketing of existing and new Employment Zone allocations.

 

TIP3 The Plan makes provision for the expansion of the existing Employment Zone allocation at Tower Business Park and also for a new Employment Zone at the corner of Kelvedon Road and Grange Road, Tiptree.

Free-standing Rural Business Sites

20.9 The Borough Council will accept, in principle, limited expansion or consolidation of warehousing/industrial uses at the small number of sites in the countryside designated as Free-standing Rural Business Sites as these provide important sources of local employment (see Policy EMP5 in Chapter 14, “Employment”). One such site is at Newbridge Road, Tiptree (see Tiptree Inset Map). This is currently occupied by Alexander Cleghorn Ltd. However, due to the overriding need to protect the amenity of neighbouring residential properties, highway safety and rural appearance of Newbridge Road, any permitted development at this site will be required to be located within the defined boundaries of the Newbridge Road Free-standing Rural Business Site. The former Tiptree Basketworks site, in Grange Road, has also been designated as a Free-standing Rural Business Site.

Open Space

20.10 At present, Tiptree’s open space provision of 0.60ha per 1,000 population (see Table 9 below) is well below the Borough Council’s target figure of 2.83ha (7 acres).

Table 9: Open Space Provision in Tiptree

Notes: 1. Colchester Borough Council’s rounded estimate based upon the 1996 Registrar General’s mid-year population estimates, vital statistics and 1991 Census of Population data.

2. Population estimate based upon the current housing land availability figure for Tiptree of 578 units (including 400 at Grove Road) x 2.62 people per household (the average household size in Tiptree at the time of the 1991 Census). However, as average household sizes are generally falling, this figure is likely to be an over estimation. Consequently, the total amount of open space available per 1,000 population would increase.

20.11 In order that Tiptree’s open space deficiency can be partially rectified, the Plan makes specific provision for new open space at Grove Road (see Policy L4). If all of these sites are provided before the end of the plan period (2011), Tiptree’s open space provision would be somewhere in the order of 1.59ha per 1,000 population which would be below the Borough Council’s target of 2.83ha (see Table 10 below). In addition, an area for informal recreation is proposed at Inworth Grange, amounting to 20.3ha.

Table 10: Proposed Sites for Public Open Space in Tiptree

Note: Figures based upon the projected population estimate for Tiptree of 9,600 by the year 2011 (see Note 2 from Table 9).