Before drawing up initial proposals for the land at Windmill House, we undertook our own assessment of the site to identify any potential constraints or opportunities, highlighted in the following plan:

 

Plan showing potential constraints and opportunities

This exercise identified the following points:

 

• Windmill House, outbuildings and hardstanding: The existing Windmill House, its associated outbuildings and outdoor tennis court currently take up a lot of the site frontage along Windmill Hill.  We intend to remove these structures to enable development across the site.

 

• Access from Windmill Hill: The existing access off Windmill Hill is too narrow to provide a suitable access for a development of new homes.  However, there is sufficient frontage to provide a safe new access off Windmill Hill to the specifications required by Hampshire County Council.

 

• Adjacent properties on Curtis Road: The site shares a boundary on its western side with five properties on Curtis Road, and although there are mature trees in the rear gardens of these properties, the boundary to some of these properties is relatively open at present.  Development of the site will be sensitive to these properties.  

 

• Woodland in south-eastern corner: There is an area of woodland in the south-eastern corner of the site, which includes several trees subject to a Tree Preservation Order (TPO) adjacent to the site boundary.  It is intended to retain this area of woodland in its entirety.

 

• Long-distance views into the site: The site slopes to the east and is visible in some long-distance views from the valley to the east, looking towards Alton.  Any potential impact of the site’s development on these views from the east will be assessed in greater detail.