Adastral Park Vision - Martlesham `Made for Innovation`

Adastral Park Vision
The regeneration of Adastral Park and
development of surrounding land
Update: April 2009
Adastral Park has been home to innovation and technology since BT relocated its main
research centre from Dollis Hill in London to Martlesham Heath in 1969. At that time,
a new and exciting facility was developed to provide the very best place for engineers,
scientists and researchers to pioneer ground-breaking communications technologies.
BT is now seeking to secure the long-term future of Adastral Park with a visionary
masterplan for a truly 21st Century sustainable development. Following three phases of
public consultation, BT submitted an outline planning application to Suffolk Coastal
District Council (SCDC) in September 2008. Detailed discussions were then held with
SCDC and other consultees. The plans were subsequently amended and a revised outline
planning application submitted in April 2009. A decision is expected by autumn.
Visualisation of Adastral Park indicative master plan proposals looking east from the A12
Our vision for a truly 21st Century community
Since it opened in 1969, Adastral Park has been a centre for innovation, research and development
for BT. Supporting over 4,000 jobs and bringing more than £800 million into the local economy
each year, BT is now seeking to secure its future for the next 40 years and beyond.
To maintain its position as a leading development centre for innovation and technology on a global
stage, BT’s vision is to create a pioneering, sustainable and integrated community that is fitting for
the 21st Century.
Developing our land will create a unique opportunity to provide a new living and working
environment with jobs and homes side-by-side, and to support a regenerated research and
development facility in Martlesham.
BT, working with a team of master planners, landscape architects, engineers, ecologists and
transport specialists has developed proposals for the regeneration of Adastral Park and surrounding
land.
The resulting outline planning application submitted to Suffolk Coastal District Council (SCDC)
followed more than 18 months of extensive consultation with, and feedback from, stakeholder
groups including local residents and parish councils alongside a sequence of showcase events held in
communities close to Adastral Park in Spring 2008.
Visualisation of Adastral Park indicative master plan proposals looking north east from the A12
Woodbridge
A12
Martlesham
Kesgrave
Ipswich
Martlesham
Heath
Ri
ve
r
D
eb
en
A12
Adastral Park
and adjacent site
A14
A1
4
River
Orwe
ll
Felixstowe
River Stour
Harwich
The strategic location of Adastral Park and the adjacent site
The Main Proposals
Adastral Park covers nearly 100 acres, and BT owns a further 250 acres
of surrounding land, the indicative proposals for which include:
• An on-site energy centre to provide renewable
heat and power, reducing our dependency on
the National Grid and providing options for
renewable energy 2
BT’s proposals will deliver a fully-regenerated Adastral
Park, able to maintain its position as one of the world’s
foremost centres for technology and innovation in the
decades to come. It will also help to meet the District’s
need for new homes in the most sustainable way
– by placing jobs and homes side by side and through
intelligent masterplanning which encourages more
sustainable lifestyle choices.
3
• A hotel to cater for business visitors and tourists
• An expansion of the University presence at
Adastral Park to help counter the ‘brain drain’
caused by young people leaving Suffolk to study
and then to work
4
• Comprehensive new infrastructure and services
to serve the new residential community, including
appropriate education provision, a health centre,
sports and leisure facilities, community hall, and
local scale shops and restaurants
1
• Public spaces and a central park with the
potential for an open air amphitheatre for public
performances
3
3
• Upgrades to existing employment floorspace
and the creation of up to 60,000 square metres of
new employment floorspace
4
• A residential community of up to 2,000 new
homes on surrounding land
2
Evolution of the proposals
The following outlines revisions to the application following
detailed discussions with SCDC and other consultees between
September 2008 and April 2009. These improvements were
included in the revised application, submitted in April 2009.
• Significant development of the existing transport
infrastructure, including improved access to the
A12 and public transport provision
• The creation of some 2,000 new jobs at Adastral
Park
2
1 R
elocating large areas of green open space and playing fields to
the eastern edge of the site closest to the village of Waldringfield.
5
2 S ignificantly increasing the planting along the boundary of the
site, including new native trees and shrubs. The depth of all
perimeter planting has now been increased to at least 20 metres,
and in some cases up to 30 metres.
3 I ncreasing the number and depth of ‘Green Corridors’ across
the scheme, providing a comprehensive network of landscaped
links through the site.
4 I mprovements to the routes of the internal access roads to
enhance the setting of the proposed new residential areas and to
simplify internal circulation.
5 A
lternative links to the Foxhall Roundabout through
improvements to the former Felixstowe – Woodbridge route
located to the south west of the site.
The Indicative Masterplan for Adastral Park and the Surrounding Land
Community and Environment
As a responsible UK business and an ongoing stakeholder in the future growth of Suffolk, BT is
committed to a sustainable development that meets the diverse needs of the whole community, to
ensure BT can remain at Adastral Park, and to contribute to a thriving East of England economy.
Our commitment to the environment and climate change are also key drivers in the creation of our
masterplan. The proposals submitted will provide a high quality of life within an environment that
is safe and inclusive, well-planned, built and run, and offer quality of opportunity and good services
for all, whilst being sensitive to the environment.
The ‘green features’ of the development will improve the landscape surrounding Adastral Park,
which over the past century has been utilised as an RAF airfield and more recently for industrial
sand and gravel extraction. The plans for a large park at the centre of the new residential
community – following the precedent set at Martlesham Heath – will be the centrepiece of a
network of public open spaces incorporating areas of heathland. The preservation of heritage
sites and the expansion of woodland areas will provide the right environment for the local habitats
to flourish.
The proposals also make efficient use of energy and maximise the amount of energy that is
generated and used on-site to minimise the carbon footprint of the new living and working
community.
About the Adastral Park Vision
The provision of new homes
Creating new homes and jobs side-by-side makes good planning sense: at Adastral Park there is a
unique opportunity to create a truly integrated living and working community, and a genuinely
sustainable development to help meet the local need for new homes.
In addition, building a new residential community on BT’s land is an essential part of BT’s
regeneration of Adastral Park, enabling BT to upgrade ageing facilities and make the changes
necessary for it to maintain its position as a world-leading centre of technology and innovation in
the decades to come.
Significant investment in local roads
BT’s proposals for the regeneration of Adastral Park and surrounding land will involve significant
investment in the local transport infrastructure and minimise any increases in traffic. New access
will be created linking the site to the A12, and significant investment is planned for the A12 itself
to ease current and future congestion. BT’s proposals also include plans for a network of bus stops
linking all parts of the site, and BT will work with local public transport companies to discuss
the provision of bus services linking Adastral Park and the new residential community to other
destinations in the area. Placing jobs and homes side-by-side will also have an impact, with less
need to travel by car.
Ensuring local services can cope
BT’s proposals will provide extensive new infrastructure to serve the regenerated Adastral Park and
new residential community, and seek to avoid placing increased pressure on existing services. Local
roads and public transport infrastructure will be improved; health and educational facilities will be
provided, or funding will be provided to help these services adapt to the change; and the masterplan
for the new community integrates plans for new public open spaces, community, sports and leisure
facilities, and shops.
A commitment to the environment
BT’s proposals will not only conserve areas of heathland close to the site and enhance areas of local
woodland, heathland habitats will be the theme for a vibrant network of green open spaces focused
on a large central park at the heart of the new community.
Benefiting the local community
BT’s proposals will involve big changes to the local area, but will bring with it significant new
benefits – some 2,000 new jobs will be created and new homes will be provided to help meet the
growing need in the District. The A12 lies adjacent to the site and it is close to existing towns and
suburban areas including Woodbridge, Kesgrave and Martlesham Heath. Landscape and the use
of land levels within the site will minimise the visual impact of new development and the range of
recreation facilities will encourage more use of this land and less use of surrounding, sensitive areas.
BT and Suffolk Coastal District Council
BT will support Suffolk Coastal District Council by providing any additional information it may
need to determine the outline planning application. The land surrounding Adastral Park has been
identified as the preferred option for housing growth as part of the Local Development Framework
process. BT believes its outline planning application demonstrates why this is the right option for
the future community growth in the Suffolk Coastal area.
The planning application
Contact details
BT submitted an outline planning application to SCDC in September
2008. Detailed discussions were then held with SCDC and other
consultees. The plans were subsequently amended further and a revised
outline planning application submitted in April 2009. A decision is
expected by autumn.
BT welcomes contact from those
interested in the regeneration of Adastral
Park. If you have a query please email
info@adastralvision.com
The planning application is accompanied by a comprehensive set of
supporting documents. These include:
• The Planning Statement which sets out the planning policy
arguments for the development proposals
• The Design and Access Statement which describes the
development in more detail
• A full Environmental Statement that examines all impacts of
development and shows how they are to be dealt with
• A Transport Assessment and Travel Plan which explore how
access to the site can be made and traffic impacts minimised
• A Sustainability Statement and Energy and Carbon Statement
which look at the long term legacy of these development proposals
• An Employment Statement which covers the role of the proposals
in the local and regional economy.
However, now that proposals have been
submitted to the council, any views and
feedback you may have on the proposals
must be submitted in writing to SCDC. If
you wish to submit your views, write to the
Head of Planning at:
Suffolk Coastal District Council
Melton Hill
Woodbridge
Suffolk
IP12 1AU
Alternatively, you are welcome to visit
www.adastralvision.com for more
information on the future vision for
Adastral Park.
Once the planning application has been registered and validated
by SCDC, the planning documents will be available to view at
the council offices. The documents will also be made available
on BT’s website for the development: www.adastralvision.com
Kesgrave
Martlesham
Heath
A12
Adastral Park
Aggregates
Quarry
The Adastral Park Planning Application Boundary