Planning (UK) articles from April 2003

Planning (UK) archives from April 2003

Improvements earn councils beacon status.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... Beacon status has been awarded to Chelmsford Borough, West Dorset District and Cambridge City Councils for their work improving the built environment. The authorities, among 58 beacon awards announced this week, will each receive a share...

Scots to examine third party rights.
April 4, 2003... Plans to consult on introducing third party rights of appeal in planning have been unveiled by the Scottish Executive. In a white paper published last week, the executive says it will carry out a full consultation during the year 'to...

Agency warns of 'inevitable' housing boom.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... Up to two million homes could be built in rural areas over the next 20 years, according to a report by the Countryside Agency this week. Migration from urban areas, intense global competition and the drive for renewables will lead to...

Blaze joins list of West Pier's setbacks.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... The redevelopment of Brighton's West Pier hit another setback last week when fire tore through the structure, leaving only the frame of the theatre standing. The blaze comes just a month after Brighton and Hove City Council approved plans...

Overall council performance improves.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... Councils' performance at processing major planning applications slipped in the last quarter of 2002, despite a slight improvement overall. ODPM statistics released last week reveal that 67 per cent of decisions were made within eight weeks...

Society sets guidelines for exemplary planning.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... Planning services should aspire to be accessible, transparent and focused on quality, according to a definition of excellence in guidance published this week. The Planning Officers Society's (POS) set of 'aspirational documents' contains...

Authorities' office attitude censured.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... One of the country's leading mixed-use developers has lambasted some local authorities for displaying an offensive attitude towards office development. Speaking at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors' planning and development...

March Library scoops Civic Trust award.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... March Library in Cambridgeshire scooped the Civic Trust market towns award at a ceremony held at the Imperial War Museum North in Salford this week. The library, designed by Bernard Stilwell Architects, is one of nine special award winners. A...

New guidance points to sub-regional role.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... Sub-regional planning will be critical in developing the growth areas outlined in the ODPM's sustainable communities plan and for tackling low housing demand, government guidance published this week insists. Supplementary guidance to PPG11...

Draft housing bill to outline extra powers.(to improve standards for rented accommodation)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... Extra powers for local authorities to license private landlords are among measures in the draft Housing Bill, published for consultation this week. The bill aims to improve the standard of rented accommodation, protect vulnerable tenants...

Rural lobby slams airport expansion.
April 4, 2003... The economic benefits of aviation are seriously exaggerated and represent 'poor value for money', according to a report published this week. The study, written by Professor John Whitelegg from the University of York and published by the...

Government bestows listings on communication buildings.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... London's BT Tower was listed by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport last week along with a lighthouse, an equatorial telescope and a television mast. The tower, which has dominated the London skyline since the early 1960s, is one of...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Treasury plans in danger of stalling.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... Treasury plans to shift the burden of taxation from 'goods' to 'bads' are in danger of stalling, according to a Commons environmental audit committee report this week. The MPS are highly critical of the government's approach to promoting...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Heritage expert calls for reform.
April 4, 2003... A leading heritage expert has branded the current system of listing and scheduling 'outdated and ineffective' and has called for reform. Simon Thurley, chief executive of English Heritage, told a conference of property developers and planners...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Public inquiry to be held into wind farm.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... A public inquiry will be held into an application for an offshore wind farm at Scarweather Sands in Swansea Bay, Welsh Assembly Government environment minister Sue Essex announced last week. More than 3,100 objections were made to the assembly...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Good practice guide published by government.(planning access for disabled persons)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... A good practice guide on planning and access for disabled people was published by the government last week. It recommends that development plans should provide inclusive access policies at all levels supported by specific strategic policy. If...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Welsh Assembly minister launches consultation document.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... A consultation document on the future management of the historic environment in Wales was launched by Welsh Assembly Government environment minister Sue Essex this week. The document recommends putting in place a co-ordinating body to develop...

NEWS IN BRIEF: Young graduate planners invited to enter Peter Suttie Award.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... Young graduate planners in Scotland have been invited to enter this year's Peter Suttie Award, established by Aberdeenshire Council in memory of its former director of planning and development. The award, sponsored by the council and the...

NEWS IN BRIEF: North West Regional Assembly publishes guidance.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... The North West Regional Assembly has published guidance aiming to help farmers diversify and secure the survival of their businesses. The guide outlines how the planning system works and how to improve working relationships between local...

Guidance published for the North West.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... A moratorium on greenfield housing development in the North West would undermine the successful delivery of new affordable housing in areas of identified need, the government argued this week. Publishing the final version of regional...

Track operator pledges to boost failing network.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... Britain's railway network is fragile, prone to regular failure, struggling to meet demand and increasingly costly, the organisation that runs the infrastructure has admitted. In its business plan published this week, Network Rail, the...

Better results won by West Somerset.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... A west country council has improved its planning service from a poor rating, Best Value inspectors have found, but still needs to set itself clearer aims for further improvement. In a report published last week by the Audit Commission,...

Manchester City Council agrees to redevelopment.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... Manchester City Council's executive committee agreed to the redevelopment of Ossington Walk and Ossington Court in the Northern Moor area of the city last week. The scheme, based on a design proposal by Ian Simpson Architects, will be carried...

Government rejects green belt measure.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... Proposals to stop travelling communities building on green belt land have been rejected by the government, it emerged last week. Extra enforcement powers for local authorities and authorised sites for travellers are among the measures...

Draft strategy sets blueprint for the future.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... A draft strategy to guide development in Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire over the next 13 years was placed on deposit this week. The draft joint structure plan (JSP) for the area promotes concentrated growth in a relatively limited...

REGENERATION NEWS: Renewal body for Newport unveiled.(Newport Unlimited will develop a vision)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... A pounds 30 million body to lead the regeneration of Newport in south Wales was launched last week by Welsh first minister Rhodri Morgan. Newport Unlimited, Wales's first urban regeneration company (URC), will develop a vision to bring job...

REGENERATION NEWS: Plan will transform Doncaster's centre.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... Doncaster's town centre is set for a transformation after a masterplan to guide development in the town over the next 25 years was endorsed by councillors. Urban Initiatives' masterplan includes proposals to restore the town's market and...

REGENERATION NEWS: Major facelift for St Austell in the pipeline.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... The proposed redevelopment of the Cornish town of St Austell was granted outline planning permission last week. Restormel Borough Council's planning committee unanimously voted to grant the scheme outline consent, paving the way for design...

REGENERATION NEWS IN BRIEF: Report on disadvantaged neighbourhoods published.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... Religious communities should be engaged more fully in the regeneration of disadvantaged neighbourhoods, according to a report published this week. The study, commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, identifies barriers, including a lack...

REGENERATION NEWS IN BRIEF: DTI publishes survey of deep mines.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... An independent survey of deep mines in the UK has been published by the Department of Trade and Industry. The review of the remaining reserves at deep mines, carried out by consultancy IMC, gives an analysis of each pit's characteristics,...

REGENERATION NEWS IN BRIEF: Former A L Dunn site to be redeveloped.(Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council and Advantage West Midlands enter into a partnership)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... A former car parts factory in the West Midlands is to be redeveloped for business uses in a partnership between Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council and regional development agency Advantage West Midlands. The former A L Dunn site in Nuneaton,...

REGENERATION NEWS IN BRIEF: Plans for CICs unveiled by government.(community interest companies)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... Plans to encourage the establishment of companies that use their assets for the public good were unveiled by the government last week. Community interest companies (CICs) will bring together voluntary sector expertise and private sector...

REGENERATION NEWS IN BRIEF: English Partnerships expands coalfields division.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... Following the unveiling of the government's sustainable communities plan, English Partnerships is expanding its coalfields division with three appointments. Chris Hughes has been appointed as senior development manager for the coalfields and...

REGENERATION NEWS IN BRIEF: Award ceremony held in London.(Waterways Renaissance Awards)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... An award ceremony recognising the achievements of bodies involved in the regeneration of the UK's canals and waterways was held in London last week. Winning projects in this year's Waterways Renaissance Awards included Birmingham's Mailbox...

REGENERATION NEWS IN BRIEF: Council consults Basildon residents on plans for business zone.(Basildon District Council)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... Ideas for a business park that could create up to 8,000 jobs in south Essex have been outlined in draft supplementary planning guidance published last week by Basildon District Council. The council is consulting Basildon residents on plans for...

REGENERATION NEWS IN BRIEF: Plans to regenerate Fishguard launched.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... A plan to regenerate Fishguard and north Pembrokeshire, drawn up in the wake of last year's closure of the town's Dewhirst factory, was launched last week. The pounds 30 million package, launched by Welsh Assembly Government economic...

TRANSPORT NEWS: Government warned of transport target failure.
April 4, 2003... More investment in the UK's rail network is crucial to enable the government to meet even its reduced transport targets, the Institution of Highways and Transportation (IHT) has advised. The IHT warned last week that investment is needed to...

TRANSPORT NEWS: MP rejects airport scheme as a bluff.(John Gummer is the Conservative MP)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... Former environment secretary John Gummer has dismissed the possibility of an airport being built at Cliffe in Kent. Following a speech last week at a conference organised by Kent County Council, the Conservative MP told Planning that Cliffe...

TRANSPORT NEWS: First section of roof at St Pancras Station has been built.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... The first major section of the roof that will cover new and extended platforms under construction at St Pancras Station in London has been built. The work is being carried out as part of Channel Tunnel Rail Link's refurbishment and extension of...

TRANSPORT NEWS: Figures show slower speed in rush hours.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... The average traffic speed in urban areas during 2002 was 21.4mph during peak periods and 25.7mph during off-peak periods, according to government statistics. The latest transport statistics bulletin, published last week by the Department...

TRANSPORT NEWS: Infrastructure shortcomings cited in report.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... Failure to provide the right transport infrastructure for London will 'seriously impact' on the capital's long-term status as a world city, according to a report published this week. A Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors report on...

BUSINESS BRIEFS: Taylor Young appointed by Chester City Council.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... Taylor Young has been appointed by Chester City Council to prepare a public realm strategy for the Brook Street-Hoole Way area of the town. The firm will prepare a design guide and masterplan to direct improvements to the public realm over the...

BUSINESS BRIEFS: JMP Consultants win contract with Brighton and Hove City Council.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... JMP Consultants have won a contract with Brighton and Hove City Council to help with its controlled parking zones (CPZs) strategy. The study will involve reviewing two CPZs in Brighton to ensure that there is consistency with other controls...

BUSINESS BRIEFS: Arup's annual report shows increase in turnover.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... Arup's annual report for 2002 shows a 17 per cent increase in turnover and an 11 per cent rise in staffing levels. The firm, which is owned by trusts, also recorded profits in excess of pounds 20 million for the period to 31 March 2002. The...

BUSINESS BRIEFS: Halcrow Group appointed by Glasgow City Council.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... The Halcrow Group has been appointed as lead consultant by Glasgow City Council to draw up an action plan for Byres Road, Partick. The plan is expected to offer a framework for development in the area, which has town centre status and will...

BUSINESS BRIEFS: RTPI and i-documentsystems to join forces.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... The RTPI and i-documentsystems, formerly the Planning Exchange, are to join forces to provide events and seminars on planning issues in Scotland. The partnership aims to meet the needs of the private and public sectors and all other bodies...

BUSINESS BRIEFS: James Barr relaunches as Mono Consultants.(James Barr Consultants)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... James Barr Consultants have relaunched as Mono Consultants, following a management buyout of the firm late last year. The new company has added facilities management to its other services. It will cover site search, acquisition, construction,...

BUSINESS BRIEFS: Eric Wright Civil Engineering chose as preferred contractor.(United Utilities is the chooser)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... Eric Wright Civil Engineering has been chosen as United Utilities' preferred contractor to carry out engineering works at its properties in Lancashire. The Preston-based engineering firm will work in partnership with FWB Engineering and VA...

BUSINESS BRIEFS: Speke Garston Development Co to fold.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... Liverpool's Speke Garston Development Company is to fold after seven years' work regenerating a former industrial area in the south of the city. The company was established in late 1996 as a joint initiative between Liverpool City Council and...

BUSINESS BRIEFS: Scott Wilson to open London office.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... Scott Wilson is to open another London office for its new buildings services division. The new service, to be based on Blackfriars Road, will complement Scott Wilson's mechanical and engineering department, based in Basingstoke. The buildings...

BUSINESS BRIEFS: Pro Vision and Paul Palmer and Smith merge.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... Planning and architecture firms Pro Vision and Paul Palmer and Smith merged into one practice this week. The new firm will operate under the name of Pro Vision from offices in Winchester, Wimborne and Newbury. There are plans to recruit more...

SCOTTISH NEWS: Guidelines look to help communities.(Highland Council is consulting)
April 4, 2003... Highland Council is consulting on draft guidelines that would encourage the developers of wind farms and other renewable energy schemes to make community contributions. The council will also press the Convention of Scottish Local...

SCOTTISH NEWS: Tunnel proposed to add to rail capacity.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... A tunnel under the River Clyde and Glasgow city centre has been proposed as the best way to increase rail capacity in the west of Scotland. In a report for the Scottish Executive, consultancy Steer Davies Gleave say that a tunnel is the...

SCOTTISH NEWS: Minister gives approval for power plants.(Lewis Macdonald is deputy enterprise minister)(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... Two new hydro-electric power stations have been approved by deputy enterprise minister Lewis Macdonald. Kingairloch in Lochaber, to be developed by Scottish and Southern Energy, and Innogy's facility at Braevallich in Argyll will generate...

ANALYSIS: Staving off historical crises.
April 4, 2003... Conservation teams are grappling with growing workloads and few resources, says Marino Donati. The picture of conservation officers labouring under 'impossible workloads and inadequate resources' that emerges from a survey published last...

Helping cash flows in a stricken rural economy.
April 4, 2003... Former city dwellers are making a major contribution to rural economic prospects, reports Rosie Niven. For urbanites stuck in a traffic jam on the ring road or jammed into a packed commuter train, the thought of packing it all in and...

Salter on ... delivering humanitarian aid in a war zone.(Column)
April 4, 2003... With much international fanfare, the UK auxiliary ship HMS Sir Galahad has finally docked in Iraq's southern city of Umm Qasr. Unfortunately, it may be many days before the so-called military planners actually decide where the ship's cargo of...

OPINION: Fyson on ... an award scheme for sustainable communities.(Column)
April 4, 2003... The deputy prime minister's announcement of an award scheme for sustainable communities, so soon after the February launch of the sustainable communities action programme, is intended to publicise examples of past achievement rather than to...

EDITORIAL: Interest hits a peak in spite of curiosity.(Editorial)
April 4, 2003... Ask any planner with links to professionals overseas and they will say that interest in UK planning from abroad has never been higher. Yet, as the latest move by the Scottish Executive shows, the concept of UK planning is gradually becoming a...

INTERVIEW: Making plans for life.(Jane Healey is interviewed)(Biography)
April 4, 2003... Reforms of the system and more cash injections offer fresh hope for planners and incentives for younger entrants to the profession, Jane Healey tells David Dewar. Despite being only four years into her planning career, Arup senior planner...

From rundown to boomtown.(Grainger Town regeneration is discussed)
April 4, 2003... As one of the UK's most successful heritage-led regeneration projects draws to a close, Chris Oldershaw takes a look at its achievements. It took Richard Grainger six years to create his masterpiece of Tyneside classical architecture in...

NOTEBOOK: Lost in spatial planning fog.
April 4, 2003... Cliff Hague's private dick was used to making his living investigating sordid infidelities and petty theft, until a bigger challenge came along - to pinpoint strategic spatial planning CHAPTER ONE There was something odd from the...

CASEBOOK: Release of greenfield site held to meet urgent need.
April 4, 2003... A called-in proposal for up to 250 dwellings on a greenfield site in Bedfordshire has been allowed after the secretary of state concluded that it would not prejudice policies set out in the emerging local plan for the area. A consortium of...

CASEBOOK: Beer garden ruled not to trigger a change of use.
April 4, 2003... An enforcement notice directed against the use of land at the back of a public house in Buckinghamshire as a beer garden has been quashed after an inspector concluded that the site fell within a single planning unit that had a lawful use as a...

CASEBOOK: Court cases - Gypsy site allowed without personal restriction.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council has failed to overturn an inspector's decision to grant temporary permission for a mobile home and caravan in the green belt, following a High Court ruling that there was no need to impose a personal...

CASEBOOK: Court cases - Fines slashed on humanitarian grounds.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... A Leicestershire man who was fined for breaching two enforcement notices has seen the penalty drastically reduced following a Criminal Court of Appeal ruling that the original fines were excessive. Blaby District Council had issued two...

CASEBOOK: Court cases - Structure plan Gypsy policies withstand challenge.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... Gypsy living in the former Avon area has failed to persuade the High Court to quash a structure plan policy relating to new sites, which it was alleged departed from the recommendations of an examination-in-public panel. Following the...

CASEBOOK: Court cases - Court confirms demolition of original house.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... A planning condition requiring demolition of a house in Somerset following construction of a replacement has been upheld by the High Court even though it would leave the owners of the property homeless. The owners had initially been granted...

CASEBOOK: Court cases - Demolition of farm buildings rejected in green belt.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... Jewson Holdings Ltd has failed to overturn an inspector's decision to refuse listed building consent and planning permission for the demolition of farm buildings in Oxfordshire and the erection of new offices. The scheme involved the...

CASEBOOK: Court cases - Tree order found to comply with human rights.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... The High Court has rejected claims that a tree preservation order (TPO) issued by Bromsgrove District Council breached an individual's private life and property rights under article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Mr Justice...

CASEBOOK: Court cases - Gypsy site need overruled by green belt policy.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... A Gypsy who claimed that a local plan policy failed to deal with the need for additional sites has lost a High Court challenge to an inspector's decision refusing permission to site three caravans in the green belt. Mr Justice Collins held...

CASEBOOK: Appeal cases - Advertisements. Officers held to lack delegated enforcement power.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... A discontinuance notice issued by a west London council against an advertising display has been quashed after it emerged that planning officers had no delegated authority to issue it. The council claimed that a committee report in 1992...

CASEBOOK: Appeal cases - Agricultural Development. Farm worker condition retained on plot for sale.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... A bid to remove an agricultural occupancy condition imposed on a planning permission for a dwelling in north Wales has been rejected after efforts to sell the site as a building plot produced no result. Planning permission had been granted...

CASEBOOK: Appeal cases - Commercial and Industrial. Scrap material storage judged harmful to river.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... Two enforcement notices requiring the removal of scrap material, plant and vehicles from agricultural land beside the River Avon in Hampshire have been upheld after the storage operation was judged to be unacceptably visually harmful. The...

CASEBOOK: Appeal cases - Community Facilities - Hostel allowed to take homeless from other areas.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... A condition imposed on a hostel restricting its occupation to homeless people from a particular London borough has been varied to allow the owners to accept people from other areas. The condition required that the premises should be used...

CASEBOOK: Appeal cases - Food and Drink uses. Reduction in pub size ruled threat to viability.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... A scheme to convert part of a grade II listed Wiltshire village pub to residential use has been ruled unacceptable on the grounds that the reduced sales area was more likely to lead to its complete closure. The appellant claimed that by...

CASEBOOK: Appeal cases - Food and Drink uses. Conditions fail to meet objections to take-away.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... The change of use of a butcher's shop in a Gloucestershire village to a Chinese restaurant and take-away has been rejected because the hours of operation would be materially different and harmful to the amenities of nearby residents. The...

CASEBOOK: Appeal cases - Housing: New Build. Larger dwelling judged inappropriate to green belt.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... An enforcement notice directed against a replacement house in the Hertfordshire green belt has been upheld on the grounds that the size and scale of the structure materially harmed the openness of the area. The site had originally contained...

CASEBOOK: Appeal cases - Housing: New Build. Power line health threat claim turned down.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... Plans for ten affordable homes on land in close proximity to an overhead power line in Cornwall have been rejected even though claims of possible adverse effects on the health of future occupants were set aside. The council and local...

CASEBOOK: Appeal cases - Housing: New Build. Village benefits fail to outweigh locational harm.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... A proposal for 34 houses and new community facilities in a Wiltshire village has been rejected after an inspector concluded that it represented an excessive amount of unsustainable development. The site included a school playing field and...

CASEBOOK: Appeal cases - Housing: New Build. Caravan permitted while building in progress.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... The stationing of a caravan on land in Cornwall has been held to be permitted development because it was occupied by a person who was carrying out of a barn conversion. While accepting that the conversion had commenced at the time an...

CASEBOOK: Appeal cases - Housing: New Build. Pair of houses held to fail local plan infill policy.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... A proposal for two detached houses on garden land associated with an existing dwelling in Hampshire has been rejected because it did not comprise infill development within the meaning of a local plan policy. The local plan permitted...

CASEBOOK: Appeal cases - Housing: New Build. Larger dwelling justified due to enhancement.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... A replacement dwelling in Surrey has been allowed because it would enhance the character and appearance of a conservation area, even though it was judged inappropriate in a green belt area. The proposed floor area of the new house was 196...

CASEBOOK: Appeal cases - Housing: New Build. Fears of urban sprawl lead to rejection of house.(Brief Article)
April 4, 2003... The erection of a house and garage in a field adjacent to a weaving mill in west Wales has been rejected as likely to lead to a sprawl of ribbon development in the area, thus harming the countryside. The area contained a mix of uses,...