Landscaping Because parts of the development will be visible from some houses, roads, public footpaths and other locations south east of Peterborough, Gazeley will minimise any impact by designing the buildings to blend in with the environment. The nearest houses will be around 200 metres away, across the landscaped wetland park and wet wood which will be on the land between Kings Dyke and the edge of the development.

The buildings that will be visible will be mostly screened by trees and colour graded from darker at ground level, to lighter where they meet the sky, helping to reduce their visual impact and integrate them into the landscape. At our development at Lutterworth we planted the one-millionth tree on the site six years ago.

Gazeley wants to start the landscaping at the earliest opportunity after planning permission has been awarded and, whilst it will need to fit in with the construction programme, there might be opportunities to plant some of the trees to screen the development at an early stage. Flood Risk We know that the site is on a flood plain area. As a major responsible development company we will not commit to this level of investment without first having total confidence in all aspects of the project. The future occupiers of the buildings will also need similar assurance.

So before any kind of planning permission can be

given for our proposed development the Environment Agency – who deal with issues around flooding – insist that we carry out a Flood Risk Assessment. This is a statutory process which will consider the effect of the development on the extent of flooding, the risk posed to the development from flooding and the engineering measures to be incorporated to provide the necessary protection, such as raising floor levels.

The Flood Risk Assessment will also consider the capacity of the existing drainage system and the potential for the use of ‘Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems’ to achieve suitable drainage and run-off rates. As well as enhancing and reinstating the biodiversity, the wetland park will provide water management. There is also an existing long-term programme to raise the banks on Kings Dyke which we’d be keen to help with.