Seaton Regeneration Area Plan :: Design and Access Principles

Assessments

The site

Introduction to the site

2. The Town of Seaton is located on the East Devon coast, between Exeter, to the west, and Dorchester, to the east and has a population of roughly 7,000 inhabitants. 2.2 The town is approximately 30kms east of the M5 motorway and has a range of amenities including leisure and retail facilities and schools.

2.3 Seaton is a traditional seaside town which attracts tourists throughout the year. One of the main attractions is the Seaton tramway which opened in 970, and runs to the nearby town of Colyton; the route to which was extended in 980. Another significant tourist attraction is the coastline which is part of the Jurassic Coast, a recently designated World Heritage Site, which runs for 95 miles along the coasts of Devon and Dorset. The Jurassic coast was also the first natural World Heritage Site to be designated in the United Kingdom.

2.4 The Masterplan area consists of an area of land that lies on the south eastern edge of the Town and the Application boundary extends to an area of 4.9 Ha within this area (see plan opposite).

The Masterplan area extends beyond the application boundary in order to demonstrate how the proposals relate to the wider context of the Regeneration Area designated in the Local Plan, and how this whole area could be developed comprehensively. There are a number of different land ownerships within the Seaton Regeneration Area, which are shown in section 8.0 of the adopted Development Brief for the site (March 2005).

2.5 Away from the immediate site area, Seaton has a number of places that exhibit a sense of quality in architecture and urban design. The context study images shown overleaf and throughout this document illustrate buildings, streets and spaces that can be found in Seaton and the surrounding area. Highways

2.6 A number of bus services currently serve Seaton and the surrounding area and there is a town bus service which runs along The Underfleet four times a day. There is also coach parking opposite the site along The Underfleet. The High Street itself is within easy walking distance of the site (200m from the western boundary).