Planning (UK) articles from December 2005

Planning (UK) archives from December 2005

Hull quiz reveals depth of influence.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2005... Deputy prime minister John Prescott displayed his local knowledge last week by getting a perfect score in a quiz on his home city of Hull. At a private parliamentary reception in London to promote the Humberside city to the capital's media...

House hit by environmental apathy.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2005... While planners may be upping their game on climate change, our elected representatives appear to have lost interest in the matter. The House of Commons downed tools during environment questions last week due to a lack of input from MPs. Speaker...

Author eyes slower traffic for Oxford.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2005... Turning into an Oxfordshire street and being confronted with a mocked-up living room would probably cause even the most speed-hungry driver to slow down. This is the principle behind the Road-Witch campaign, which is based on 'folk traffic...

Appointment at Urban Practitioners.
December 2, 2005... Mathieu Proctor has joined Urban Practitioners as a planning and regeneration consultant. He moves from Bennett Urban Planning, where he worked as a planning consultant. Proctor has also worked for Green Alliance, the Town and Country Planning...

Appointment at DLP.(Development Land and Planning Consultants)(Tim Hayman )(Brief Article)
December 2, 2005... Tim Hayman has been promoted to transportation director by Development Land & Planning Consultants (DLP) in Bristol. He joined the firm as an associate in 2003 and will now be responsible for managing and promoting the transport planning team....

Appointment at Freeth Cartwright.
December 2, 2005... Paul Brailsford has been appointed as principal planning manager by regional law firm Freeth Cartwright. He moves from Rapleys. John Rowe and Sophie Phillipon-Thomas have both joined Freeth Cartwright as senior associates.

Appointment at Smith Stuart Reynolds.
December 2, 2005... Laura Tilston has been recruited as an assistant planner by Smith Stuart Reynolds in Northampton, where she will work on projects in the East Midlands and East of England. Tilston recently graduated from the University of Sheffield with an MA...

Appointment at Brentwood Borough Council.
December 2, 2005... Russell Davies has retired after 33 years in local government, latterly at Brentwood Borough Council where he served as director of planning.

Appointment at Cluttons.
December 2, 2005... Bob Hull and Guy Calcutt have been promoted to partners by Cluttons LLP.

Appointment at Arup.
December 2, 2005... Sue Manns has been appointed by Arup to take charge of its planning, policy and economic team in the Midlands. She moves from regional development agency Advantage West Midlands.

Appointment at South Tyneside Council.
December 2, 2005... Paul Walker has joined South Tyneside Council as head of strategic and regulatory services, covering planning, environmental health and trading standards. He moves from Bridgnorth District Council.

Appointment at Huntingdonshire District Council.
December 2, 2005... Malcolm Sharp has been made director of operational services at Huntingdonshire District Council, moving from his post as head of planning services.

Appointment at Indigo Planning.
December 2, 2005... Clare Bland has been promoted to associate by Indigo Planning in Manchester. Kim Schlagel has been promoted to senior planner in the firm's London office.

Appointment at Tanner and Tilley.
December 2, 2005... David Williams has joined Tanner and Tilley as an associate. He was previously principal planning officer at Christchurch Borough Council.

Appointment at Urban Initiatives.
December 2, 2005... Jon Herbert has been promoted to associate by Urban Initiatives. He joined the company earlier this year, having previously worked for Llewelyn Davies.

Agenda.
December 2, 2005... DIARY TO 16 DECEMBER 5 December: Sustainability Appraisal. Organiser: British Urban Regeneration Association. Venue: Birmingham. Fee: pounds 45-pounds 75 + VAT. Details: (tel) 020 7539 4030 or (e-mail) info@bura.org. 6 December:...

RTPI concerned about planning grant reduction.
December 2, 2005... Reducing the planning delivery grant is a step backwards in dealing with under-resourced local authority planning. Planning policy manager David Barraclough says that for some time the RTPI has been underlining its view that local authority...

Integrating development and transport plans.
December 2, 2005... Rising fuel prices have been the focal point of a turbulent year for the transport planning sector, as Paul Clark reports. The Planning Officers Society (POS) has reorganised itself and as the transport topic group merges with the policy...

RTPI Bulletin Board.
December 2, 2005... PRESIDENT VISITS EAST LANCASHIRE In September, RTPI president Ron Tate visited Blackburn and toured the town centre with Pauline Roscoe from Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, director of regeneration Adam Scott, and Mike Eastham and...

RTPI news - RTPI guidelines clarify community involvement and consultation.(Royal Town Planning Institute)
December 2, 2005... The work that led up to the publication of the new guidelines faced a number of challenges, reports Rhion Jones. The Consultation Institute was delighted to work with the institute to develop the RTPI Guidelines on Community involvement and...

Casebook: Development Control Casebook Forum.
December 2, 2005... E-mail your queries, or your replies to earlier queries, to casebook@haynet.com. Alternatively, post them to Development Control Casebook Forum, Development Control Services Ltd, Suite 1, Fullers Court, 40 Lower Quay Street, Gloucester GL1 2LW...

Development Control Casebook: Strategic need given weight over green belt designation.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2005... The deputy prime minister has rejected one scheme involving the development of 5,000 homes in the Hertfordshire green belt but is minded to approve another for 3,600 dwellings subject to the submission of a redrafted legal agreement. The...

Casebook: Appeal case - Advertisements - Discontinuance notice found incorrectly served.
December 2, 2005... An inspector has quashed a discontinuance notice directed against a 48-sheet advertisement in the West Midlands after concluding that a copy had not been served on the owners of the site. The council had served copies of the discontinuance...

Casebook: Appeal case - Agricultural development - Stables ruled out due to doubts over viability.
December 2, 2005... The construction of a stable block at a farm in Buckinghamshire has been ruled out by an inspector who expressed doubts over whether it would be financially viable. The scheme comprised a U-shaped brick building with a slate roof and was...

Casebook: Appeal case - Agricultural development - Turkey farmer fails to justify temporary housing.
December 2, 2005... The use of a portable building as residential accommodation for a farm worker at a turkey-rearing enterprise in Essex has been rejected after an inspector found that the enterprise did not appear to be financially sound. The appellant...

Casebook: Appeal case - Commercial and industrial - Notice held fatally flawed by notification error.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2005... An enforcement notice directed against the use of land in Cornwall for repairing and storing minibuses has been quashed after an inspector decided that it had not been correctly served on all who had an interest in the land. The site...

Casebook: Appeal case - Gypsies and travellers - Site retention blocked despite lack of alternatives.
December 2, 2005... In rejecting a scheme to retain a Gypsy site in the Kent green belt, the deputy prime minister has ruled that the shortage of suitable sites did not outweigh the harmful impact on the area's openness. The site lay in the Kent Downs area of...

Casebook: Appeal case - Housing: new build - Replacement agreed for rundown canalside site.
December 2, 2005... The demolition of a derelict factory alongside the Grand Union Canal in a Middlesex conservation area has been approved after an inspector agreed that apartments and live-work units would enhance the area's appearance. The factory...

Casebook: Appeal case - Housing: new build - Flats allowed despite renewal strategy conflict.
December 2, 2005... The demolition of two dwellings to make way for 21 apartments in Liverpool has been approved by an inspector despite an acknowledgement that the city council's objection was supported by previous appeal decisions. Under its designation as...

Casebook: Appeal case - Housing: new build - Council bid for recreation payment turned down.
December 2, 2005... In renewing a permission for a house at a Somerset farm, an inspector has ruled that the appellants do not need to make a financial contribution towards improving children's outdoor playing space and sporting facilities. The council had...

Casebook: Appeal case - Housing: new build - Green belt housing scheme given short shrift.
December 2, 2005... Scottish ministers have accepted a call-in inquiry reporter's advice that a housing development proposed in the Glasgow green belt is unjustified and should be refused. The council had resolved to grant permission for the scheme against...

Casebook: Appeal case - Housing: new build - House held unacceptable in conservation setting.
December 2, 2005... The deputy prime minister has accepted an inspector's recommendation to withhold planning permission and listed building consent for a three-bedroom house in the grounds of a grade II* listed building in Wiltshire due to harm to a conservation...

Casebook: Appeal case - Housing: conversion - Barn conversion agreed despite adjacent uses.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2005... The conversion of redundant farm buildings in Wiltshire to two homes has been allowed after an inspector found that they were suitable for the purpose and would not conflict with adjacent uses. The inspector agreed that the site's location...

Casebook: Appeal case - Leisure and entertainment - Council faces costs over amusements objection.
December 2, 2005... The change of use of a shop in Liverpool city centre's main shopping area to an amusement centre has been allowed with costs awarded to the appellant. The appellant produced empirical evidence from surveys at other amusement centres to...

Casebook: Appeal case - Listed buildings - Extension denied due to loss of historic fabric.
December 2, 2005... The deputy prime minister has accepted an inspector's recommendation to reject a first-floor extension to a grade I listed house in Bath because it would not preserve the historic plan form. The two-storey mews house was at the rear of a...

Casebook: Appeal case - Mixed use development - Centre mix approved despite sequential concerns.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2005... The deputy prime minister has granted permission for a mixed retail, leisure and housing scheme next to a Lancashire town centre after ruling that a qualitative need had been proven, despite doubts over whether the sequential test had been met....

Casebook: Appeal case - Mixed use development - Town centre scheme design held inadequate.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2005... A Somerset town centre redevelopment has been rejected despite the appellant and council having reached substantial agreement on a wide range of planning and highway matters. The 1.5ha site contained significant hardstanding areas and a...

Casebook: Court case - Health club decision reinstated by higher court.
December 2, 2005... The Court of Appeal has struck down a High Court decision to support a developer's complaint that an inspector had been wrong to dismiss an appeal for a health and fitness club in an employment building in Hertfordshire. The inspector had...

Casebook: Court case - Gypsy site rejection sent back for reconsideration.
December 2, 2005... The High Court has struck down the deputy prime minister's decision to reject an inspector's recommendation to permit the stationing of caravans for use by various Gypsy families in the Bedfordshire green belt. The inspector accepted that...

Casebook: Ombudsman case - Council delay criticised after use wins immunity.
December 2, 2005... The local government ombudsman has censured Swindon Borough Council for failing to properly investigate and take prompt action against a builder's storage yard despite complaints from local residents. The local authority had received...

Casebook: Appeal case - Housing: new build - Flats held no threat to employment land supply.
December 2, 2005... A block of 44 flats has been allowed in West Sussex on the basis that it would provide satisfactory living conditions without undermining the supply of employment land or putting pressure on nearby industrial premises to curtail their...

Casebook: Appeal case - Housing: new build - City fringe project rejected on visual grounds.
December 2, 2005... The redevelopment of a former Guide Dogs for the Blind Association residential training centre in Exeter for housing has been rejected on the grounds that it would harm the landscape. The site had once formed part of the grounds of a...

Casebook: Downloading decisions.
December 2, 2005... 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 for...

Casebook: Appeal case - Listed buildings - Modern windows rejected at listed cottage.
December 2, 2005... In the light of advice from English Heritage, the deputy prime minister has rejected an inspector's recommendation to remove an 18th century cottage in Derbyshire from the statutory list and upheld a listed building enforcement notice directed...

Casebook: Appeal case - Retail development - Mixed success for rival food store proposals.
December 2, 2005... Scottish ministers have rejected one food store proposal in an Aberdeenshire town after agreeing with a reporter that it would not be accessible by a choice of transport but endorsed a scheme on another site subject to a legal agreement. ...

Time to turn talk into action.
December 2, 2005... Bureaucracy, buzz words and an inability to move on are interfering with the progress of planning, as Cliff Hague found out on overhearing this exchange. 'Forty dwellings a hectare? Minimum? Is he out of his mind? Come back councillor...

Entries show renewal class.
December 2, 2005... The shifting geography of regeneration is clear from the first selection of this year's RTPI award finalists, Anthony Fyson discovers. The Midlands and north have a reputation for spectacular renewal projects, but the South East is the...

Rogers' wish list provokes densities row.
December 2, 2005... Calls for tougher brownfield targets and higher housing densities have split industry opinion, says Chris Baker. Last week saw Lord Richard Rogers publish his Urban Task Force's reaction to the past seven years of regeneration work in the...

Appraisal fails expectations.(strategic environmental assessment )
December 2, 2005... Strategic environmental assessment's potential to create better plans is not being fully realised, argues Lisa Palframan. After years of discussion, the strategic environmental assessment (SEA) directive finally became UK law last year,...

Expansion specialist.
December 2, 2005... Bidwells planning chief Mike Carpenter believes that a merger last year allowed it to capitalise on market growth without compromising ideals, reports David Dewar. Last year's merger between Norwich-based Carpenter Planning Consultants...

System swipe belies valid transport point.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2005... There is more than an element of deja vu about this week's criticism by the CBI of the state of UK transport. While spending has risen, there is a long way to go to make up for decades of under-investment. The business community also makes...

Fyson on the ambiguous outcomes of the task force report.
December 2, 2005... The latest effusion from Lord Rogers of Riverside is puzzling in both its genesis and some of its conclusions. Apparently, Rogers himself asked the Urban Task Force to reconvene to consider progress six years on from its final report. ...

Fyson on the ambiguous outcomes of the task force report.
December 2, 2005... The latest effusion from Lord Rogers of Riverside is puzzling in both its genesis and some of its conclusions. Apparently, Rogers himself asked the Urban Task Force to reconvene to consider progress six years on from its final report. We...

Shire districts fall short on travel plan proposal.
December 2, 2005... Councils' failure to devise travel plans sets a bad example to private firms, says David Hurdle. More than 90 shire districts will still not have produced a travel plan by 2006, eight years after the government urged them to come up with...

Gummer on the dangers of a failure to accept modern priorities.(Town and Country Planning Association)
December 2, 2005... Now we are past the immediate fallout, it seems sensible to revisit the knee-jerk reaction of the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) to the recent report on the future of the countryside from the Council for the Protection of Rural...

All eyes turn to the gateway.
December 2, 2005... The significance of London's eastern renewal cannot be overestimated, says Christina Papas. No-one who attended the Thames Gateway Forum last week can have left the event in any doubt about the scale of the task of delivering Europe's...

Edinburgh revises renewal proposal.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2005... Major changes are being proposed to one of Scotland's largest urban renewal projects. Revised plans were lodged last week to create an extra 350 homes and a large public square as part of the Quartermile development on the former Royal...

Airports offer spare land for development.
December 2, 2005... Land at airports across the north and west of Scotland is to be made available for development after being declared surplus to operational requirements. Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd (HIAL), which operates ten airports including those...

Wind farm scheme in leasing dilemma.
December 2, 2005... Uncertainty surrounds plans for Europe's largest wind farm after the Scottish Executive announced last week that it is seeking a court ruling on the legality of interposed leases. Deputy rural development minister Rhona Brankin has asked...

Special task force set up by GVA Grimley.
December 2, 2005... A specialist task force has been set up by GVA Grimley to offer advice to clients with interests in the Thames Gateway in the run-up to the 2012 Olympic Games. The team includes staff across planning, industrial, valuation, building surveying...

Leeds City Council in its final stages of agreeing.
December 2, 2005... Leeds City Council is in the final stages of agreeing a strategic design alliance with international design consultancy Jacobs Babtie. The partnership aims to ensure that the council continues to have access to 'best in class' architectural...

Hyder Consulting carries out scoping work.
December 2, 2005... Hyder Consulting is to carry out scoping work for the sustainability appraisal of local development frameworks (LDFs) for five Lancashire councils. The work will contribute to the emerging LDFs for Blackpool, Fylde, Wyre, Ribble Valley and...

CMPM appointed to work on the first phase of L1 development.(CM Parker Browne)(Brief Article)
December 2, 2005... CM Parker Browne (CMPB) has been appointed to work on the first phase of the flagship L1 development in central Liverpool. Located next to Kings Waterfront, the aim is to construct the mixed-use development in three phases over five years,...

Midas Construction is to develope a office complex.
December 2, 2005... Midas Construction is to develop a pounds 4 million office complex to create job opportunities as part of a proposed urban village in St Austell, Cornwall. Midas has been appointed by the South West of England Regional Development Agency as...

Mayer Brown receives a grant from the DTI.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2005... Transport planning firm Mayer Brown has received a grant from the DTI to help one of its staff develop transport modelling and analysis skills. The Knowledge Transfer Partnership grant is aimed at enhancing the development of a business by...

Fareham Borough Council appoints Enfusion Ltd.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2005... Fareham Borough Council has appointed Enfusion Ltd to prepare a corporate sustainability strategy. The aim of the exercise is to provide an overarching framework that will draw together various initiatives with close linkages to the council's...

Lobby group slates gateway car focus.
December 2, 2005... Regeneration work in the Thames Gateway growth area will be 'overwhelmingly' based on roads and cars, Transport 2000 complained this week. The pressure group wrote to communities minister David Miliband claiming that government figures...

Business chief calls for transport cash injection.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2005... The government must inject pounds 1 billion into the UK's overloaded transport system and reform a 'decrepit planning regime', the CBI said this week. The business leaders' organisation urged the government to spend an extra pounds 300...

Assembly seeks inquiry as Kiley quits.(Bob Kiley)(Brief Article)
December 2, 2005... The London Assembly is considering holding an inquiry into last week's resignation of Bob Kiley, the capital's transport commissioner, it was announced this week. The assembly will decide whether or not to call Kiley in for an interview at...

Study reveals enthusiasm at Crossrail plan.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2005... Most Londoners and councils in the capital support plans for the Crossrail scheme, according to latest research. A review of Crossrail's consultation programme shows that support for and awareness of the proposed network has grown. Since...

Kent gateway set for launch of guided bus.
December 2, 2005... A guided bus service to link new and existing communities in the Kent Thameside growth area will be launched in the new year. The Kent Thameside Delivery Board said last week that phase one of the Fastrack scheme will be the first...

Assembly warned over finance deals.(London Assembly )(Brief Article)
December 2, 2005... The London Development Agency (LDA) must do more to highlight the financial incentives for redeveloping brownfield sites, a London Assembly committee has warned. A report by the environment committee, published last week, claims that the...

Ebbw Vale site set for major overhaul.
December 2, 2005... The former Ebbw Vale steelworks site is set to be transformed into a thriving community after a pounds 15 million programme of reclamation work began last week. Two million tonnes of material will be excavated from the 80ha site, formerly...

Link-up set to boost design in the gateway.(Housing Corporation partnered with government)(Brief Article)
December 2, 2005... A partnership has been formed between the Housing Corporation and the government's design watchdog to improve design in the Thames Gateway. The corporation announced plans to use the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment to...

Urban Splash chairman is to chair steering group.
December 2, 2005... Urban Splash chairman Tom Bloxham is to chair a steering group for the centre for cities at the Institute for Public Policy Research. The group will oversee the strategic direction of the centre, which was set up to look at the economic drivers...

Macfarlane Wilder to design Paddington Central scheme.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2005... The public realm for the flagship Paddington Central scheme in west London is to be designed by Macfarlane Wilder. The first phase of 162,575m2 of commercial development at the Old Goods Yard site was completed in 2002. Development Securities...

Plans for revamp of the Brotherhood Retail Park.
December 2, 2005... Plans for a pounds 50 million revamp of the Brotherhood Retail Park in Peterborough have been submitted to the city council. The proposals involve knocking down three retail stores to make way for four units comprising 3,700m2. A fitness club...

Sunderland Arc launches a campaign.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2005... Urban regeneration company Sunderland Arc has launched a campaign to appoint a developer for a pounds 120 million shopping and leisure development on the Holmeside Triangle site in the city. The developer will work with the company and its...

Shortlist of developers announced for Elephant and Castle project.
December 2, 2005... The shortlist of developers for the Elephant and Castle regeneration project was announced by the London Borough of Southwark this week. Key Property Investments, Lend Lease Europe and Oceancrest are in the running for one of the country's...

Report for the ODPM.(Office of the Deputy Prime Minister )(Brief Article)
December 2, 2005... Partnerships set up as part of the New Deal for Communities (NDC) programme are providing successful models for neighbourhood renewal, according to a report published last week for the ODPM. The report says the department's NDC programme has...

Royal London Hospital gets a kick-start for refurbishment work.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2005... The Royal London Hospital in north-east London will receive pounds 4 million to kick-start the first phase of refurbishment work, housing and planning minister Yvette Cooper announced last week. The North East London Strategic Health Authority...

Leicester councillors are aked to back a lottery bid.(Brief Article)
December 2, 2005... Leicester councillors are being asked to back a pounds 25 million lottery bid to regenerate the city's market area. Cabinet members will consider a report outlining the proposals when they meet on Monday. If approval is granted officers will...

Purbeck cautioned over customer care.(Purbeck District Council)(Brief Article)
December 2, 2005... Purbeck District Council's planning service is good but its prospects for improvement are uncertain, an Audit Commission report said this week. The Best Value inspection gives the council two out of three stars for providing up-to-date...

Airport extension plans slated by campaigners.(Aberdeen Airport)(Brief Article)
December 2, 2005... Plans for a pounds 10 million runway extension unveiled by Aberdeen Airport this week have been described as 'environmental madness' by campaigners. Airport owner BAA's 25-year masterplan for the site outlines a pounds 50 million programme...