Planning (UK) articles from April 2008

Planning (UK) archives from April 2008

Planning in the media.
April 4, 2008... There is nothing that the media likes better than a good old-fashioned fiasco involving a national project. The chaos that followed the opening Heathrow Terminal 5, with hundreds of flights delayed or cancelled and thousands of bags...

Diary.
April 4, 2008... One of the main jobs of protest groups is to... protest. So imagine how galling it must be when you plan a high-profile direct action event only for it to be overshadowed by incompetence from the very company you're protesting against. ...

Appointment at Wyre Borough Council.
April 4, 2008... Garry Payne has been promoted to director of planning and regeneration at Wyre Borough Council. Lydia Harper has joined as principal area planning officer, Kieran Birch as a planning officer and Louise Roberts as a planning assistant

Appointment at Key Transport Consultants.
April 4, 2008... Stephen Le Flohic has joined Key Transport Consultants in Bristol as a technical director from RPS Transport. Matthew McFeat moves from Colin Buchanan to become a principal transport planner at the firm

Appointment at RPS Planning and Development.
April 4, 2008... Anthony Setter has been appointed senior director at RPS Planning and Development in Newbury

Appointment at John Martin and Associates.
April 4, 2008... William Allwood has joined Cambridgeshire planning and development consultancy John Martin and Associates as a principal planner, moving from East Cambridgeshire District Council

Appointment at DPP.
April 4, 2008... DPP has appointed John Handley a partner and David Rodger a senior urban designer to spearhead its Edinburgh office, which opened in February. Both join from SMC Jenkins & Marr. Nathan Franklin has joined the team in Leeds as a planner from...

Appointment at White Young Green.
April 4, 2008... White Young Green in Southampton has recruited Melanie Bertie as an associate director and head of urban design. She joins from Pope Priestley. David Ramsay has joined as an associate planner

Appointment at Howes Percival LLP.
April 4, 2008... Environmental and planning lawyer Jenny Donoghue has joined the Leicester office of law firm Howes Percival LLP as an associate

Appointment at Ainscough-Johnston.
April 4, 2008... Nigel McGurk has been appointed managing director of Ainscough-Johnston in Lancashire. He was previously managing director of Wilson Bowden's strategic land company

Invest in profession's future as a membership assessor.(assessment of professional competence )
April 4, 2008... Can you contribute to benchmarking competence for a new generation of planners, asks Jacqui Ward. Introduced for those graduating from one-year masters degrees in 2005 and extended to all graduates from accredited qualifications in 2006...

Networks shape convention days.
April 4, 2008... Delegates can choose workshops from urban design to health and green belt issues, reports Linda Durtnal. One of the great advantages of attending the RTPI Planning Convention is the opportunity to participate in sessions run by its...

RTPI Bulletin Board.(Royel town planning institute)(Obituary)
April 4, 2008... - Former deputy secretary-general remembered Former RTPI deputy secretary-general Robert Williams died on 18 January in Sherborne, Dorset, aged 87. Williams served as deputy to Philip Rathbone and then David Fryer for 14 years -...

Sustainability drive puts Ayrshire at heart of Scotland's plan framework.
April 4, 2008... Despite missing out on designation as a priority economic zone to attract government funding South Ayrshire is pressing on with its own target of becoming a leading authority on green initiatives, explains Peter Convery. The passing of the...

Casebook: Agricultural development - Size leads to stables refusal in green belt.(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... The owner of land in the Bristol and Bath green belt has failed in a bid to secure permission for stables and other buildings because they were judged to be unacceptably harmful. The appellant owned around 1ha of grazing land with a manege...

Casebook: Commercial and Industrial - Play equipment sales held too commercial.(Essex inc)(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... The owners of a children's play equipment business at a farm in Essex have failed to quash an enforcement notice that required them to cease the operation. The inspector noted that the farm was located in attractive, gently undulating...

Casebook: Commercial and Industrial - Storage use agreed on scrapyard fallback.
April 4, 2008... Retrospective permission for the change of use of a scrapyard in Bedfordshire to storage and distribution has been permitted, an inspector finding that its lawful use was an important consideration. The site benefited from an established...

Casebook: Commercial and Industrial - Depot expansion allowed with limitations.(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... An inspector has decided that expansion of a distribution warehouse in Coventry should be permitted because the appellants would otherwise be unable to operate within limited hours of use. The appellants used the building for non-perishable...

Casebook: Commercial and Industrial - Steel cladding held to harm street scene.
April 4, 2008... An inspector has rejected the facing of a carpet centre in West Yorkshire with metal industrial cladding because it would appear out of place in the street scene. The building was clad on its front elevation at a uniform height and an...

Casebook: Commercial and Industrial - Fence plans deemed to be short on detail.(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... An enforcement notice directed against metal palisade fencing at a unit on a business park in Gloucestershire has been upheld on the grounds that it was materially different from a fence shown on a previous planning permission. The...

Casebook: Gypsies and travellers - Occupancy permitted despite site impact.
April 4, 2008... A Gypsy family has won a five-year permission to live on a West Yorkshire green belt site after an inspector quashed two enforcement notices requiring them to leave. The inspector accepted that the scheme would cause significant harm to...

Casebook: Housing: New Build - Green belt occupancy condition justified.
April 4, 2008... The removal of a condition limiting occupation of a mobile home in the Staffordshire green belt has been denied on the grounds that it would lead to permanent encroachment into the countryside. Permission for a mobile home had been granted...

Casebook: Housing: New Build - Mobility bungalows secured on need basis.
April 4, 2008... Two bungalows for mobility-impaired people have been allowed on a housing estate in Northamptonshire on the basis of need, despite harm to the character and appearance of the area. The inspector observed that the grassed bank on which the...

Casebook: Housing: New Build - Demolition allowed due to evidence flaws.
April 4, 2008... In permitting the demolition of a Teesside dwelling to allow construction of two new houses, an inspector has agreed with the appellants that the council failed to produce substantial evidence to justify its concerns over adverse impact. ...

Casebook: Housing: New Build - Council plot distribution concern upheld.
April 4, 2008... A proposal for 102 dwellings in South Yorkshire has been refused permission, an inspector agreeing in part with council objections to the layout of certain plots on the estate. The inspector judged that the overall layout was designed with...

Casebook: Housing: New Build - Apartments judged to threaten character.
April 4, 2008... The demolition of a dwelling in Surrey to enable construction of an apartment block containing eight flats has been refused on the grounds that it would undermine the area's spacious character. The inspector noted that the three-storey...

Casebook: Householder Development - Conservatory removal condition backed.(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... An inspector has agreed that a condition imposed on a permission for a first-floor extension to a dwelling in the Essex green belt is reasonable in requiring the demolition of a conservatory. The condition stated that before beginning the...

Casebook: Householder Development - Security kit held to harm church integrity.
April 4, 2008... Planning permission and listed building consent have been denied for retention of closed-circuit television cameras and lights at a converted grade II listed church in Staffordshire because they would undermine its appearance and integrity. ...

Casebook: Leisure and entertainment - Golf academy found to reduce openness.
April 4, 2008... The development of a golf academy in the Essex green belt has been ruled unacceptable after an inspector determined that although it involved outdoor sport, it would undermine the openness and character of the area. The proposal involved...

Casebook: Listed Buildings - Loft conversion denied in roof decision.
April 4, 2008... In allowing a slate-tiled roof to be replaced on a grade II listed property in Devon, an inspector has refused works to create more loft space because they would harm the building's character. The appeal site comprised one wing of a...

Casebook: Minerals Development - Quarry site restoration condition deleted.(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... An inspector has allowed an appeal enabling the owners of a quarry in Suffolk to avoid undertaking interim restoration of the site due in part to the presence of great crested newts. The firm stated that final restoration of the site would...

Casebook: Mixed Use Development - Remediation allows scale of development.
April 4, 2008... The secretary of state has accepted an inspector's recommendation to grant outline planning permission for the remediation and redevelopment of a former colliery in Leicestershire for a mix of uses, finding that the benefits of the proposal...

Casebook: Next Week.
April 4, 2008... - Airport expansion allowed due to need The secretaries of state for communities and local government and for transport have allowed the expansion of Farnborough Airport, finding that it would not be possible to meet the need for weekend...

Casebook: In depth - Takeaway use at bakery prompts support for enforcement notice.
April 4, 2008... The owner of a shop in south-east London has failed to overturn an enforcement notice despite claims that the primary use of the premises remained as a bakery. The appellant argued that the baker's catered in particular for the needs of...

Casebook: Advertisements - Notice overturned by amenity test.
April 4, 2008... An inspector has quashed a discontinuance notice directed against an advertisement at a former petrol filling station just outside a conservation area in south London on the grounds that it did not reach the higher test of being substantially...

Casebook: Agricultural development - Green belt access track found unlawful.(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... An enforcement notice requiring removal of an access track at a Bristol and Bath green belt farm has been upheld, an inspector ruling that it was not necessary for agricultural purposes. The appellants claimed that the track was permitted...

Casebook: Community facilities - Car park lighting held to harm green belt.
April 4, 2008... Car park floodlighting at a sports ground in the Oxford green belt has been rejected because it would constitute inappropriate development and would not be outweighed by the benefits of crime prevention. The proposal involved the erection...

Casebook: Food and drink uses - Longer pub hours granted on key days.
April 4, 2008... J D Wetherspoon has secured permission to open for longer hours at a west London wine bar on particular days of the year, an inspector deciding that this was reasonable. The firm contended that the existing hours, which limited opening to...

Casebook: Housing conversion - Cinema loss held to threaten diversity.
April 4, 2008... The change of use of a former cinema in an Oxfordshire town to eight one-bedroom flats has been refused on the grounds that it would harm the diversity of town centre uses. In spite of a decrease in admissions in its last years of...

Casebook: DC Forum.
April 4, 2008... Email your queries or your replies to earlier queries to casebook@haymarket.com or post them to Development Control Casebook Forum, DCS Ltd, Casebook Suite 1, Fullers Court, 40 Lower Quay Street, Gloucester GL1 2LW. Comment and post at...

How we did it... Record deal landed for barracks development.
April 4, 2008... Project: Disposal of Chelsea Barracks, used by the military for 150 years and home of the Queen's Guard. Background: The Ministry of Defence relocated its barracks to Woolwich and wanted to sell the site. Who is behind it? Drivers...

The things I know.(management of Cath Ranson head of strategic policy and plans, Snowdonia National Park Authority.)(Interview)(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... Cath Ranson, Head of strategic policy and plans, Snowdonia National Park Authority. - What skills did you have when you graduated? A degree in geology from University of Wales Swansea gave me three-dimensional spatial awareness, a...

Places for women.
April 4, 2008... Women are making their mark in the planning profession but the approach they can bring to designing the built environment is still not fully appreciated, Susanna Gillman suggests. Women hold more positions of power than ever before. Yet in...

Road to confrontation.(political activity of Rebecca Lush Blum in anti-road building movement )
April 4, 2008... A thorn in the side of the DfT since helping to found the anti-road building movement 15 years ago, Rebecca Lush Blum tells Catherine Early why her passion for campaigning can only rise. With a CV that includes dropping out of university to...

Soil strategy sets nature over economics on growth agenda.
April 4, 2008... Just over a year ago, the then environment secretary David Miliband gave a speech to the Campaign to Protect Rural England asking what land is for and why we value it. The speech marked a welcome return to the debate by DEFRA, which had...

Fyson on... Blears's all-party planning principles that fall short on the detail of community engagement.(Town and Country Planning Act 1947)
April 4, 2008... It took communities secretary Hazel Blears more than six months to speak publicly about planning. When she finally did late last month the result was workmanlike rather than inspirational, despite quotations from iconic figures including...

Legal report - Justice delayed is justice denied in court time lag.
April 4, 2008... Anyone can start judicial review proceedings against a public body by lodging a claim form and the inevitable pounds 50 fee at the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand. Naturally, the proceedings may be doomed to fail. However, the main...

Bell on... tested way to win eco-towns.
April 4, 2008... If you want Micheldever to win, ring 1212. For Marston Vale the number is 1213 and Marley Hill is on 1214. Calls are 25p, including a 10p contribution to Shelter. The problem for the government is that the homeless are not sitting by their...

Disincentives to quality.
April 4, 2008... Increasing tax and legislative demands on industrial developers are having a negative effect on the high-quality built environment that the government is seeking, argues David Wood. While attention is focused on the implications of Alistair...

Borders hits out at rail funding charge.(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... Planners in the Scottish Borders have hit back at accusations that they could be jeopardising the reopening of the Waverley rail line. Housing industry body Homes for Scotland claims that Scottish Borders Council's poor record on deciding...

Cities urged to unite work.(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... Planners in Edinburgh and Glasgow should work together to boost their economies, according to the Scottish capital's former architectural adviser. Sit Terry Farrell has criticised the lack of co-operation between the two cities in the...

Date set for Trump golf course inquiry.(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... The public inquiry into Donald Trump's plans for a golf resort north of Aberdeen will last three weeks and hear from about 30 witnesses. A pre-hearing last week set 10 June as the start date for the inquiry, which will be held at the...

Online now ..
April 4, 2008... Visit PlanningResource.co.uk Today for what UK regeneration professionals can learn from their counterparts in the USA and vice versa Also online this week Interview with Barnsley Borough Council leader Steve Houghton Second Opinion on...

Planning stats.(briefs)(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... 8.5 million The amount of carbon in tonnes that will be emitted by developers up to 2016 because they have longer to meet environmental standards than housing associations, according to the National Housing Federation. 5,000 The...

DTZ signs for City offices.(Hammerson PLC)(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... DTZ is to take up residence at the redeveloped London Stock Exchange building at 125 Old Broad Street in the City of London. The site will be the company's UK and global headquarters after it signed a lease agreement with developer...

JMP rebrands green skills.(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... JMP has rebranded by shortening its title and putting greater emphasis on its expertise in sustainability. Formerly JMP Consulting, the company has changed its logo and presentation and relocated its Birmingham office to larger premises to...

Firm supports process study.(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... Pre-applications talks are taking more time in the process of getting planning permission, Rolfe Judd director Keith Hills has claimed. He was responding to the government's announcement last week of a review to speed up the planning...

Urban Vision to vet gateway proposals.(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... Urban Vision's planning team has been drafted in to help Halton Borough Council process planning applications for the pounds 390 million Mersey Gateway Bridge. The company, set up by Capita Symonds, Morrison Highways Maintenance and...

GVA leads Manchester health quarter initiative application.
April 4, 2008... GVA Grimley has submitted a planning application for a huge scheme in east Manchester being billed as the Harley Street of the north. The development on a 15.4ha site close to Piccadilly station will feature a health mall of integrated...

Report lauds city progress.(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... A report into Liverpool city centre regeneration concludes that the impacts have been mainly positive and form a valuable blueprint for the next ten years. Written by government urban affairs adviser and academic Michael Parkinson, it...

Barking poised for homes partnership.
April 4, 2008... The country's first new-style local housing company (LHC) will be unveiled in Barking and Dagenham later this month, Planning has learnt. Nottingham is also expected to be in the first wave of four LHCs. The public-private joint venture...

Greenwich zero carbon project plans go in.
April 4, 2008... Urban regeneration developer First Base has submitted plans to turn the former Greenwich District Hospital site into one of London's first zero carbon schemes. Working with English Partnerships it plans 645 homes, 50 per cent affordable,...

Rogers slams poor designs.(Lord Rogers)(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... Lord Rogers has told the House of Lords he fears that the current house building boom will spawn the slums of tomorrow. Rogers, one of the world's most prominent architects, singled out the Thames Gateway as guilty of producing average...

College sets revamp plan.(Bradford College)(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... Bradford College has published phase two proposals for its campus and the city's learning quarter. A learning and development centre will be at the heart of the pounds 120 million project. Green technologies will feature highly and...

M4 monorail idea mooted.
April 4, 2008... An electric monorail system running above the M4 is the latest scheme proposed to ease congestion on the section to Heathrow Airport. The Thames Valley Economic Partnership (TVEP) presented the idea to business leaders and MPs at the House...

Street layout in rethink call.(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... Creating streets that share space should be a priority for planners, the government's urban design champion CABE said this week. In a report on making streets civilised places, the body argues that in England the car still dominates. It...

A1 upgrade plan agreed.(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... A scheme to provide the missing link of motorway between the M1 and Tyneside has been given the go-ahead by transport secretary Ruth Kelly. The Dishforth to Barton scheme in North Yorkshire will upgrade 38km of the A1 dual carriageway to...

Landscape impact alarm sinks Welsh road widening proposal.(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... Controversial proposals for a pounds 60 million seven-lane highway in Flintshire have been scrapped by the Welsh Assembly Government. The widening of the 4km Drome Corner to Ewloe section of the A494 at Queensferry would have required the...

Bristol shifts busway view.(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... Controversial plans to use a popular cycle path in Bristol to create a guided busway have been shelved by Bristol City Council. The council and the West of England Partnership proposed the busway to link north and south Bristol. Three...

Heathrow AirTrack link delay slammed.
April 4, 2008... Local authorities across the South East have called for better public transport links to Heathrow Airport after Terminal 5 opened with two unused rail platforms. The platforms are reserved for the Heathrow AirTrack service, which is not...

Flood action role stressed.
April 4, 2008... Some 65km2 of England lost to the sea and salination of the Norfolk Broads are worst-case scenarios of climate change, Natural England has predicted. The agency's comments came at a seminar on climate change adaptation this week....

Carbon code takes effect.
April 4, 2008... Housing associations have complained that they must cut emissions at a faster pace than private developers. The code for sustainable homes, which came into effect this week, obliges associations to reduce carbon emissions from new homes...

Kingsnorth developer eyes up carbon capture exemplar race.(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... The government is to hold off making a decision on controversial plans for a coal-fired power station at Kingsnorth in Kent at the request of developer E.ON. The power company asked the DBERR to consider its application later in the year...

Green grant time added.(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... Government plans to extend a scheme encouraging homeowners to invest in green technology will only make 'a failing programme fail over a longer period' critics claim. The low carbon buildings programme (LCBP), which offers grants of up to...

Act sets energy pressure.
April 4, 2008... Councils that fail to propose ways to increase the provision of clean energy under the Sustainable Communities Act should be scrutinised, a Conservative MP has said. MP for Ruislip and Northwood Nick Hurd introduced the act as a private...

Mayor asked to pool skills base in capital.
April 4, 2008... Specialist planners from the Greater London Authority (GLA) should be seconded to support local boroughs on major projects and applications, the RICS has urged. The proposal comes in the body's manifesto on what it wants to see from a...

Playing field effort urged.(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... The DCLG is under pressure to change planning legislation covering community playing fields to protect more open space. Fields in Trust (FIT) - formerly the National Playing Fields Association - wants the definition of a playing field...

Transport failings stymie East Midlands housing development.
April 4, 2008... The Highways Agency has blocked plans for a mixed-use scheme including 3,000 homes in the East Midlands after uncovering fundamental transport drawbacks. Overseeing authorities South Northamptonshire Council and West Northamptonshire...

Agenda.(Brief article)(Calendar)
April 4, 2008... 14-15 April: National Planning Aid Conference Organiser: Planning Aid Venue: Cambridge Fee: pounds 195 + VAT Details: www.planningaid.rtpi.org.uk 15 April: Eco-Town Seminar Organiser: Town and Country Planning Association Venue:...

East Midlands road scheme costs rise.
April 4, 2008... Further road scheme cost increases have come to light after it was recently revealed that the government has already approved pounds 1 billion worth in the past year. The Campaign for Better Transport (CFBT) unveiled the figure last month...

Gypsy space push pledged.(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... Ministers have made clear that they will act if councils fail to plan sufficient Gypsy and traveller pitches. The DCLG this week took advice from an independent task group that the government should direct councils making inadequate...

Existing homes set for carbon cut funds.
April 4, 2008... Environment secretary Hilary Benn has announced plans to give 100 neighbourhoods a green makeover to fend off criticism that home emissions are being ignored. To receive a share of pounds 10 million from the environmental transformation...

Long awaited Marine Bill.(Brief article)
April 4, 2008... The long-awaited Marine Bill was set to be unveiled by environment secretary Hilary Benn after Planning went to press this week. The draft bill will contain powers to better protect, regulate and manage the UK's seas, including a nationwide...

MPs vote for sustainability in housing.
April 4, 2008... An amendment to the Housing and Regeneration Bill has put sustainability on an equal footing with the supply and quality of future housing after MPs voted for the move this week. DCLG minister Iain Wright said it is important that new homes...