Planning (UK) articles from April 2006

Planning (UK) archives from April 2006

Agenda.
April 7, 2006... DIARY TO 21 APRIL 20 April: Sustainable Suburbs. Organiser: RTPI. Venue: London. Fee: pounds 315 + VAT. Details: (tel) 0845 120 9602. FORWARD DIARY 24 April: Waste Strategy Seminar. Organiser: Chartered Institution of Wastes...

Listed barns offer creature comforts.(Dogs Trust Harefield)(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... Television presenter Trinny Woodall swapped the catwalk for a dog walk this week when she opened a state of the art dogs' home in west London. The co-presenter of the BBC's What Not to Wear officially opened Dogs Trust Harefield. The Dogs...

Cobblers comment fuels traffic row.
April 7, 2006... Transport minister Stephen Ladyman has become embroiled in a war of words with anti-road campaigners after a Sky News feature on a scheme to widen the M1. Roadblock spokeswoman Rebecca Lush, angered by Ladyman's dismissal of her comments...

Cardboard box shop hits high street.
April 7, 2006... Domino's Pizza is considering applying for planning permission for a store selling cardboard boxes that just happen to contain hot pizza. The fast food giant is using the first anniversary of the changes to the use classes system to...

Appointment at David Wilson Homes Northern.
April 7, 2006... Nigel McGurk has been appointed as strategic land director by David Wilson Homes Northern. He previously spent seven years leading sustainable community and regeneration partnerships in the north of England for Countryside.

Appointment at Atkins.(appointment of Carole King and Mike Kinsey )(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... Carole King has joined Atkins in London as a consultation specialist in the consultancy's transport and rail planning team. She was previously a regional planning manager at the Strategic Rail Authority. Mike Kinsey has been recruited by Atkins...

Appointment at TPS.(appointment of Shaun Carter)(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... Shaun Carter has been appointed as managing director at TPS, part of Carillion Business Services. He has worked for Carillion for more than ten years and was previously programme director for Carillion Health. Carter will be based in TPS's...

Appointment at Rowland Homes.
April 7, 2006... Emma Nicholson has been appointed as a land manager by Rowland Homes. The company is strengthening its land team and has plans to launch developments over the next six months. Nicholson was previously a land manager at David McLean.

Appointment at JMP Consulting.
April 7, 2006... Daniel Moran has joined JMP Consulting in Leeds as a senior transport planner. He was previously a transport planner at Arup. Kevin Blakey has joined JMP in Liverpool as a senior transport planner. He was previously a graduate at Cambridgeshire...

Appointment at Ryden.
April 7, 2006... Paul Williamson has joined Ryden as a senior planning consultant in Aberdeen. He graduated in 2000 and previously worked as a development control planner at Aberdeen City Council.

Appointment at David McLean Development.
April 7, 2006... Firas Alnaimi has been appointed as operations director by David McLean Developments. He was previously commercial manager of special projects at United Utilities. Alnaimi brings more than 22 years of procurement and contract experience.

Appointment at LDA Design.
April 7, 2006... Paul Connelly has joined LDA Design as director of regeneration. Brendan O'Neill has joined the firm as director of urban design and architecture.

Appointment at Lawrence Graham LLP.
April 7, 2006... Owen Willcox has joined Lawrence Graham LLP as an assistant solicitor. He was previously head of legal services at Harlow District Council. Avril Smith has joined the firm as a solicitor from the London Borough of Camden.

Appointment at Herbert Smith.
April 7, 2006... Matthew Bonye has been made a partner in the real estate department at Herbert Smith. He specialises in property litigation. Construction specialist Tracy London and commercial real estate specialist Nick Turner have also become partners.

Preparation is a must for framework process.
April 7, 2006... The local development framework process should take a leading role in the spatial planning agenda, says Steve Quartermain. In a month that has seen Planning magazine lead with a story from the 'right-of-centre Policy Exchange' calling for a...

Enforcement no longer Cinderella of profession.
April 7, 2006... The launch of the National Association for Planning Enforcement's working group is a boost to the sector, insists Sue Taylor. The RTPI has received considerable interest from enforcement officers wanting to become members of the National...

Travel with the Planning Summer School 2006.
April 7, 2006... If you enjoy international travel and meeting people and want to broaden your experience of planning, then apply for a Planning Summer School travelling scholarship worth up to pounds 2,000. Two scholarships will be awarded in 2006. The...

RTPI Bulletin Board.(Royal Town Planning Institute)
April 7, 2006... MEMBERSHIP ELECTIONS At the meeting of the membership panel on 20 January, 151 candidates were elected to corporate membership, together with applicants for other classes of membership. Those successfully elected to corporate membership...

Community initiative aims to bring on the champions of Planning Aid.(Planning Aid Community champions )
April 7, 2006... Community champions will help promote Planning Aid services and develop stronger relationships with local communities. Local authorities across England have been asked by the government to appoint a councillor or officer to act as a...

Casebook: Development Control Casebook Forum.
April 7, 2006... New queries Is a river a 'highway' for the purposes of planning control? My authority has a large navigable river running through its area and someone wishes to extend their dwelling towards it and within 20m. Would this require express...

Casebook: Key industrial area deemed unsuitable for housing plan.
April 7, 2006... A residential development on a key industrial site in the West Midlands has been refused on the grounds that the land should be retained for employment use. The 0.94ha site comprised two areas. One contained a large vacant industrial...

Casebook: Appeal cases - Agricultural development - Agricultural occupancy condition breached.
April 7, 2006... An inspector has allowed an appeal and issued a lawful development certificate (LDC) after finding that two appellants had continuously breached an agricultural occupancy condition imposed on a farm dwelling in Wiltshire. The bungalow,...

Casebook: Appeal cases - Commercial and industrial - Hospital bed refurbishment allowed in rural setting.
April 7, 2006... The continued use of an agricultural building in Kent to store and refurbish hospital beds has been allowed on the grounds that the use did not harm the countryside's character or appearance. The inspector was satisfied that the use of the...

Casebook: Appeal cases - Commercial and industrial - Building allowed to contain shot-blasting activity.(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... A workshop for shot-blasting heavy goods vehicles in rural Cheshire has been allowed after an inspector found a distinct advantage in reducing noise and dust by enclosing the activity in a building controlled by conditions. The inspector...

Casebook: Appeal cases - Community facilities - Security fittings rejected at doctor's surgery.
April 7, 2006... Retrospective permission for the retention of building and engineering works at a doctor's surgery in Essex has been refused after an inspector decided that they harmed the area's character and local residents' amenity. The appeal site...

Casebook: Appeal cases - Community facilities - Mobile home and workshop foiled at wildlife centre.(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... A mobile home and workshop and storage building at a wildlife centre and fishery in Devon has been denied after an inspector ruled that they would detract from the local environment. He determined that the centre's remote location and...

Casebook: Appeal cases - Food and drink uses - Basement bar and restaurant pass amenity tests.
April 7, 2006... The use of part of the basement of a hotel in a central London conservation area as a bar and restaurant has been allowed to continue after an inspector decided that it would not cause unacceptable harm to residential amenity or the quality of...

Casebook: Appeal cases - Gypsies and travellers - Need for accommodation justifies green belt site.(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... Permission has been granted for the retention of a Gypsy caravan site in the South Yorkshire green belt after an inspector held that there was an overriding need for the development. The site comprised 1.3ha of land occupied by ten Gypsy...

Casebook: Appeal cases - Housing, new build - Earth-sheltered bungalow judged inappropriate.
April 7, 2006... Alternative proposals for an earth-sheltered bungalow in the Bath and Bristol green belt have been rejected because they would cause material harm to the surrounding area's character and appearance. The inspector noted that PPG2 specifies...

Casebook: Appeal cases - Housing, new build - Sheltered flats found adequate in design terms.
April 7, 2006... McCarthy and Stone has secured permission for 33 sheltered apartments together with a house manager's office and communal facilities in a Surrey town after an inspector decided that the scheme would significantly enhance the area's character...

Casebook: Appeal cases - Housing, new build - Bungalow permission extant after trench digging.
April 7, 2006... A bungalow in Lancashire has been granted a lawful development certificate after an inspector decided that a lawful start had been made to a planning permission issued 15 years ago. Outline permission had been granted in January 1991 and...

Casebook: Appeal cases - Housing, new build - Limited renewal benefits thwart housing scheme.
April 7, 2006... An inspector has dismissed an appeal to develop 23 dwellings on a site in Greater Manchester after finding that it would fail to make a positive contribution to the area's environmental enhancement. The site comprised a large bungalow with...

Casebook: Appeal cases - Housing, new build - Window condition judged unnecessarily restrictive.
April 7, 2006... An inspector has allowed an appeal and granted costs to the appellants after ruling that a condition imposed on a permission for a housing scheme in south Wales was unnecessarily restrictive because it sought to impose minimum distances between...

Casebook: Appeal cases - Housing, new build - Residential buildings rejected as out of character.
April 7, 2006... The siting, design and appearance of 197 dwellings in Somerset has been rejected because the use of three-storey buildings was out of character with the area. The appeal site lay in a large village south-west of Bath containing a range of...

Casebook: Appeal cases - Housing, new build - Flats deemed compatible with conservation area.
April 7, 2006... The demolition of a hotel and ancillary buildings to make way for the construction of 52 apartments in a West Midlands conservation area has been approved after an inspector agreed that the scheme would not undermine the area's character. ...

Casebook: Appeal cases - Housing, new build - Garage held lawful as single-bed dwellinghouse.
April 7, 2006... An inspector has issued a lawful development certificate for the continued use of a double garage in Sussex as a dwellinghouse. The appeal site comprised part of the garden associated with a dwellinghouse. A large workshop extension...

Casebook: Appeal cases - Housing, new build - Loss of nursing home held insufficiently justified.
April 7, 2006... The demolition of a vacant nursing home in North Yorkshire to make way for nine flats has been rejected because of insufficient evidence to justify the loss of the community facility. Council policy required an assessment of the viability...

Casebook: Appeal cases - Housing, new build - Need for affordable homes outweighs rural impact.
April 7, 2006... Two appeals involving affordable housing on two sites in Derbyshire have won support from an inspector who agreed that there was a strong need for the schemes. Both sites lay outside existing settlements. The inspector noted that a housing...

Casebook: Appeal cases - Householder development - Replacement boathouse ruled harmful to foreshore.(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... The replacement of a derelict boathouse on the banks of the River Teign in Devon has been denied because it would adversely affect the foreshore's character. The inspector noted that the replacement building would be sited in a small...

Casebook: Appeal cases - Minerals development - Condition's removal allows bigger blasts at quarry.(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... A condition imposed on a planning permission for the reopening of mineral working at a quarry in south Wales has been amended to allow larger explosive charges to be used in blasting operations. The condition restricted each blast at the...

Casebook: Appeal cases - Mixed use development - Dislike of modern design leads to costs award.(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... In allowing 14 apartments in a south Wales conservation area, an inspector has rejected the council's argument that only a traditional design was acceptable. The 0.03ha site was last used as a car park. The scheme involved erecting two...

Casebook: Appeal cases - Commercial and industrial - Enforcement action upheld against car storage.(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... An enforcement notice alleging that a material change of use had occurred at a farm complex in the Peak District national park has been upheld after an inspector ruled that a vehicle storage use had intensified within the past ten years. ...

Casebook: Appeal cases - Housing, new build - Apartment block refused in conservation area.
April 7, 2006... A scheme involving a block of 23 flats in a Kent conservation area has been rejected after its scale and massing was judged harmful to local character. The inspector agreed that there was no objection to a contemporary design and the...

Casebook: Downloading decisions.
April 7, 2006... Decision letters for all cases with a DCS reference number can be immediately downloaded from the DCS website for pounds 12 + VAT per case. Readers without a free entry code can apply through the site. The site may also be used to browse...

Casebook: Appeal cases - Householder development - Extension considered harmful to listed cottage.
April 7, 2006... Planning permission and listed building consent have been denied for an extension to a grade II listed cottage in Cambridgeshire because of the scheme's scale and impact on the building's character. The inspector noted that the cottage had...

Casebook: Appeal cases - Retail development - Food store thwarted at industrial location.
April 7, 2006... A proposal to relocate a Lidl food store in Ayrshire has been rejected after a reporter concluded that the retailer's existing site on an edge-of-centre retail park was preferable to the appeal site. The 0.5ha site contained a large...

Taking global responsibility.
April 7, 2006... A journey to the Planning Africa conference brought up issues including the escalating slum problem and planners' worldwide image, notes Cliff Hague. The water is off when I get to the hotel. There have been power cuts too. The hot, dry...

Blair admits climate defeat.
April 7, 2006... After missing his target to cut emissions the prime minister has opted for a planning policy statement. Huw Morris investigates. In the end, the government bowed to the inevitable. Speculation had been rife for months that its target for...

Sector targets obesity level.
April 7, 2006... How people use their environments sheds light on ways to tackle obesity, say Tim Townshend and Amelia Lake. Obesity is a problem that has reached pandemic levels. In the USA, undoubtedly the most obese nation in the western world, more than...

Focus falls on city recovery.
April 7, 2006... The first quarter of 2006 has seen the spotlight fall on urban renaissance projects across England, writes David Blackman. Since the start of the year, a series of reports from think-tanks and academics has put the prospects for England's...

Fervent campaigner.(Kevin McCloud)
April 7, 2006... Television presenter Kevin McCloud is happy to stir up controversy when it leads to people taking more control over their local environment, Catherine Early discovers. Kevin McCloud positively bursts with enthusiasm about all things built....

Unresolved facilities issue refuses to die.(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... Barely a fortnight since the clocks went forward, it is already clear that we are in for a long hot summer. Hosepipe bans across southern England may or may not be testament to climate change, but one thing is certain - they heighten fears...

Fyson on ... social imbalance spreading to the road network.
April 7, 2006... The idea that motorists might pay a toll to drive in a less congested lane on a motorway may not be the same as demanding an end to the free at the point of delivery principle that underpins the health service, but for some people it comes...

Regional strategy sets international objective.(Northwest Development Agency)
April 7, 2006... The North West has set ambitious goals to boost the region's global status, notes Christina Papas. Bold plans to transform the North West's economic fortunes over the next 20 years are detailed in a strategy launched by the Northwest...

Halman on ... royal input in the debate on rural affordability.
April 7, 2006... The Prince of Wales has recently stepped into the planning limelight again, this time on the issue of affordable rural housing and its design. His anxiety over architecture and design is well documented and while the national tabloids have...

Birds delay housing delivery.
April 7, 2006... Attempts to protect birds from housing plans have opened a can of worms, says Susanna Gillman. Getting housing developments though the planning system in parts of the South East can be difficult at the best of times. But in the Thames...

Pylon plans face inquiry prospect.(power transmission)(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... Plans for a 217km line of electricity pylons from Inverness to Stirling are set to be opposed by Highland Council, raising the prospect of a public inquiry. At a meeting next week, members will be recommended to reject the proposal by...

Adviser sanctions marine park areas.
April 7, 2006... Five areas in Scotland have been shortlisted for designation as Europe's first coastal and marine national park. Last week Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) submitted its recommendations to ministers, who will announce details of a...

Trust director aims to reuse old buildings.(Cockburn Association)(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... The new director of Edinburgh's Cockburn Association wants to see more of the city's old buildings back in use. Moira Tasker, the first female director in the civic trust's 150-year history, also wants to improve the transport network and...

Gillespies prepares masterplan to revamp Twickenham Stadium.
April 7, 2006... Gillespies is preparing a masterplan to revamp Twickenham Stadium for the Rugby Football Union (RFU). The plan aims to allow the stadium to host events such as concerts as well as major rugby fixtures. Existing facilities and functions are...

GVA Grimley provides urban design and masterplanning advice.
April 7, 2006... GVA Grimley is providing urban design and masterplanning advice to Harrow Estates on its proposals for the 33ha former Bayer CropScience site at Hauxton near Cambridge. The land has been used to manufacture agro-chemicals since the 1940s and...

White Young Green acquires Farningham McCreadie.(White Young Green acquired Farningham McCreadie )(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... White Young Green (WYG) has acquired planning consultancy Farningham McCreadie to expand its planning service into Scotland and Ireland. Farningham McCreadie has offices in Edinburgh and Belfast and carries out work for a range of public...

Colin Buchanan to continue project management support.
April 7, 2006... Colin Buchanan will continue to provide project management support to implement the first phase of a network of red routes on main roads in the West Midlands. The network, which aims to tackle increasing congestion and delays on strategic...

Halcrow celebrates tenth annivarsary in Worcester.(Halcrow celebration)(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... Engineering and environmental consultancy Halcrow celebrated the company's tenth anniversary in Worcester last week. The firm arrived in the city in 1996 with 55 staff and a primary role of providing operational support to Hereford and...

Capita Symonds chosen by London Borough of Ealing.(London Borough of Ealing)(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... Capita Symonds' sport and leisure team has been chosen by the London Borough of Ealing to prepare outline business plans for sports facilities in the borough. Projects include a swimming pool with fitness facilities on the site of the existing...

David Simmonds Consultancy Ltd commissioned to develop project.
April 7, 2006... David Simmonds Consultancy Ltd has been commissioned to develop an updated version of the London and the South East Region (LASER) land-use and transport interaction modelling package. The project, in collaboration with MVA and Heriot-Watt...

Stonehenge options slated by alliance.(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... None of the options for improving highways around Stonehenge reflect the significance of the world heritage site, environmental and archaeological groups complained last week. Nine organisations including the Council for British...

Business chiefs appeal for national framework.(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... The government must develop a 30-year national framework for transport backed up by investment, according to the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC). The BCC launched a campaign to press for the framework at its conference this week,...

Strategy identifies issues for province.
April 7, 2006... A blueprint for developing transport networks in Northern Ireland over the next decade was launched by the Department for Regional Development last week. The draft sub-regional transport plan identifies improvements needed for walking,...

Cash promise brings Mersey bridge closer.(Halton Borough Council planning to bridge)(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... Proposals for a second bridge across the Mersey moved a step forward last week after the government pledged funding of pounds 209 million. Halton Borough Council will now be able to progress the scheme. The bridge is planned to run from...

Brunel revival proposed for canal access.
April 7, 2006... Plans to reconstruct Isambard Kingdom Brunel's first iron bridge across the Grand Union Canal as a public footbridge were submitted to Westminster City Council last week. British Waterways has worked with the Waterways Trust, English...

Smart car used by TfL.(Smart car used by Transport for London )(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... A Smart car equipped with digital technology is being used by Transport for London (TfL) to combat illegal parking on red routes. The vehicle's deployment this week forms part of TfL's moves to replace analogue systems with digital updates. The...

Study highlights renewal hazards.
April 7, 2006... A lack of infrastructure and stifling bureaucracy are rendering the high-profile redevelopment of Greater Manchester and the Thames Gateway unsustainable, a report warned this week. A study by Tim Dixon, a professor at Oxford Brookes...

Report backs more powers in the regions.(British Urban Development Ltd.)(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... Stronger local government and a rationalisation of quangos and delivery vehicles would strengthen regeneration in the regions, a report claimed this week. A study by the British Urban Regeneration Association (BURA) has concluded that...

Outline planning application for scheme in Manchester.(mixed-use scheme )(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... An outline planning application for a pounds 100 million mixed-use scheme in Manchester was submitted to the city council this week. It features 500 homes near Victoria station and commercial space on a 1ha site in the Irk Valley. The area is a...

Former Ravenscraig site approved for housing development.
April 7, 2006... The first housing development at the southern gateway to the former Ravenscraig steelworks site has been approved by North Lanarkshire Council. The pounds 25 million scheme will comprise 164 homes in a mix of two-bedroom apartments and...

Demolition of Westgate House in Newcastle.(Westgate House )(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... The demolition of Westgate House in Newcastle, recently voted one of the UK's ugliest buildings, will begin this month. Regional development agency One North East has received a pounds 1 million grant from the city council to carry out the...

Plans to transform the Barrow-in-Furness waterfront.(Barrow-in-Furness Borough Council )(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... Plans to transform the Barrow-in-Furness waterfront advanced this week under a pounds 5 million funding package from the Northwest Development Agency. The money will be channelled through West Lakes Renaissance urban regeneration company...

Conservation and regeneration scheme for Bo'ness.(Heritage Lottery Fund)(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... A pounds 5 million conservation and regeneration scheme for the historic Scottish town of Bo'ness was launched this week. The Bo'ness Townscape Heritage Initiative has been bolstered by a pounds 1.3 million grant from the Heritage Lottery...

Extension of Market Cross shopping centre in Selby approved.(shopping centre extension has been approved)(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... The pounds 16 million extension of the Market Cross shopping centre in Selby, North Yorkshire, has been approved. The scheme will see the construction of 2,650m2 of shops and an expansion of the existing Morrisons supermarket from 4,500m2 to...

Scheme to regenerate Britol's business quarter.(regenerate Bristol's business quarter)(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... A pounds 150 million scheme to regenerate Bristol's business quarter at St Mary le Port could begin within 18 months. Landowners Bristol City Council, Morley Fund Management and Strand Street Properties have announced Deeley Freed Estates...

Redevelopment plan for East Kilbride.(South Lanarkshire Council)(Brief article)
April 7, 2006... A pounds 400 million redevelopment plan for East Kilbride has been granted outline consent by South Lanarkshire Council. The scheme would include an arts and culture complex, a 500-seat conference centre, a 1,000-seat stadium, a museum and...

Central Trains will submit planning and listed building consent.
April 7, 2006... Central Trains will submit planning and listed building consent for the redevelopment of Nottingham station next week. The plans include refurbishing the existing booking hall and platform buildings, a new concourse and car parks and a link to...

Newcastle City Council minded to approve application.
April 7, 2006... Newcastle City Council is minded to approve an application for two housing projects in the Walker Riverside regeneration area of the city. The 35-home schemes, designed by Xsite Architecture for Bellway Homes and Enterprise 5 Housing...