A new community for Great Totham

The submitted outline application proposes new market and affordable homes in Great Totham, alongside a significant amount of public open space, including play areas and allotments, new pedestrian and cycle routes, and biodiversity enhancements.

Following the submission of the application and the feedback received, Barratt David Wilson Homes has updated the scheme. The revisions reduce the number of homes to up to 150, repurpose the land previously safeguarded for a medical centre or community use and increase the area of public open space, which now includes allotments. The proposals have been amended to ensure important landscape views to the south are maintained.

The proposed site, covering around 15 hectares, is situated on eastern edge of Great Totham off Maldon Road. The site is currently mostly in agricultural use, and comprises a number of fields confined by hedgerow. The southeastern corner encompasses Spickets Wood which is a designated ancient woodland and a Local Wildlife Site.

The Bull Brook stream runs along the northeastern boundary of the site along which are a number of large trees and hedgerows and there are no existing public rights of way which cross the site.

Great Totham Village Hall, a locally listed heritage asset, and Great Totham Cricket Club sit adjacent to the northwestern part of the site and a Grade II listed public house, The Bull & Willow Room, is situated opposite on the northern side of Maldon Road.

The site benefits from good public transport links including bus services connecting Great Totham with Witham, Maldon, Tiptree and Colchester and this development will enhance the village’s connectivity through new and enhanced pedestrian and cycle pathways.

The proposals seek to deliver up to 150 high-quality new homes, in a range of house types including bungalows. The proposals will incorporate a variety of house sizes and tenures, seeking to address identified local need in Great Totham.

As set out above, the proposals will be submitted under an outline application to establish the principle of new homes in this location, with detailed design coming forward at a later stage as part of a Reserved Matters application. The new homes will be designed to not only complement the local area but also to allow the development to establish its own distinct sense of place, helping create a community.

As part of the proposals, 40% of affordable housing will be provided in varying sizes and tenures including affordable rent, shared ownership, and First Homes, offering a range of options for residents looking to get onto the housing ladder.

The proposals follow a landscape-led approach, that retain and nurture existing vegetation, in addition to introducing significant new public open green space for new and existing resident to enjoy, including allotments and two play areas, designed to foster community activities and recreational opportunities.

Barratt David Wilson Homes is looking to deliver the following as part of the proposals in order to help the proposed development achieve a 10% biodiversity net gain:

• Retention and enhancement of Bull Brook and associated trees within a landscape / ecological corridor.
• Protection of Spickets Wood Ancient Woodland.
• General retention and enhancement of existing hedgerow.
• Enhance the open spaces by new planting of native tree species, scrub and wildflower meadow.
• Provision of publicly accessible amenity open space with leisure walking routes, potentially Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace (SANG).
• The creation of new ‘naturalistic’ habitats which deliver ecological enhancement and biodiversity net gain above that of the previous agricultural field.

Our development is designed with health and well-being at its core, providing numerous opportunities for residents to lead active and healthy lives.

The proposals incorporate cycling and walking routes to help promote cycling and walking as primary modes of transport, enhancing connectivity and reducing the reliance on cars for those living within the development.

A proposed pedestrian and cycle route alongside Maldon Road will enhance accessibility to Great Totham including Great Totham Primary School.

Additionally, the location of the main access to the proposed development is in close proximity to existing bus stops on Maldon Road which provide connections to Witham, Maldon, Tiptree and Colchester encouraging the use of public transport.

The proposals have been designed to effectively manage surface. The proposed surface water drainage strategy will use sustainable urban drainage systems (SuDS) to capture, control and release water generated on-site, back to pre-development greenfield rates.

The system is designed to manage severe weather that happens very rarely, such as 1-in-100-year storm event and to account for climate change.

The proposed SuDS features include a variety of storage options: attenuation basins, swales, and permeable paving to provide storage during rainfall events, treatment, amenity, and biodiversity benefits.