Planning (UK) articles from February 2007

Planning (UK) archives from February 2007

Agenda.
February 2, 2007... DIARY TO 16 FEBRUARY 7 February: One Planet Living. Organisers: British Urban Regeneration Association and Berkeley Group. Venue: London. Fee: pounds 45-pounds 65 + VAT. Details: (tel) 020 7539 4030. 7 February: Planning Gain...

Apoplectic drivers get party started.
February 2, 2007... Government plans to introduce road user charging have come under attack from a variety of sources in recent days. A petition posted on the Downing Street website attracted hundreds of thousands of signatures calling for the plans to be...

Green belt caught in crossfire again.(Brief article)
February 2, 2007... The Policy Exchange's latest offering on the way that the planning system should go has attracted responses ranging from outrage to derision. The RTPI, the Town and Country Planning Association, the Campaign to Protect Rural England and...

Hotel set to offer a night in the cells.
February 2, 2007... Hotels often soar in popularity when frequented by the rich and famous. But how about a room that may have hosted Dr Crippen, the Krays or General Pinochet? Tourists will have a chance to find out for themselves what kind of...

Appointment at King Sturge.
February 2, 2007... Matthew Walton has been appointed as a senior associate by King Sturge in the firm's London planning department. He specialises primarily in retail, leisure and commercial developments.

Appointments at Drivers Jonas.(Rod Bowers, Tom Dewey and Chris Husband)(Brief article)
February 2, 2007... Rod Bowers, Tom Dewey, Chris Husband, Nick James, Katie Johnson, Dave McArthur, Lindy Nassar, Adam Rhead, Charlotte Dale Skinner, Hannah Thorne and Leo Zielinski have joined Drivers Jonas as surveyors. Richard Bailey, Neil Lucas, Kerry McGuire,...

Retirement announced from South Shropshire District Council.
February 2, 2007... James Caird has retired from South Shropshire District Council, where he was head of planning for 22 years. He is now practising as Caird Consulting.

Appointment at RPS Transport.
February 2, 2007... Bruce Bamber has been promoted to associate at RPS Transport. He works in the consultancy's Newbury office.

Appointment at Steer Davies Gleave.
February 2, 2007... Kirsty Davison has been made a senior consultant by Steer Davies Gleave in the firm's Glasgow office. She was previously a transport planning officer at Stirling Council, where she produced and managed the local transport strategy.

Appointment at Purcell Miller Tritton.
February 2, 2007... Chris Betts, the partner responsible for Purcell Miller Tritton's Colchester operation, has been appointed equity partner at the firm. He joined in 1992 and has worked at the company's offices in London and Colchester.

Appointment at the London Borough of Ealing.
February 2, 2007... Pat Hayes has been made the London Borough of Ealing's first executive director for regeneration and housing. He was previously director of borough partnerships at Transport for London, where he worked on Crossrail and the Thames Gateway...

Appointment at Chase & Partners.
February 2, 2007... Huw Williams has joined Chase & Partners as director of planning. He will focus on planning matters across the country for both the public and private sector. Williams previously worked at Cushman & Wakefield.

Appointment at RPS.
February 2, 2007... Savreen Patel has joined RPS in Cambridge as a planner. William Nichols has joined as a senior planner.

Appointment at the Green Edge.
February 2, 2007... David Balcombe has left Essex County Council, where he was built environment head, to team up with Jonathan Frank of Lexden Restorations to form renewable and micro-energy firm the Green Edge.

Promotions at GVA Grimley - Correction.(Correction notice)
February 2, 2007... Correction: We reported that Fred Drabble, Christopher Hill, Christina Naulls, Daniel Rose and Sheery Sassoon had all joined GVA Grimley as assistant planners and that Katie Allison, David Bloy, Catherine Connell and Gavin Barr had all joined...

Volunteer inspired by background in planning.
February 2, 2007... Work to tackle deprivation in Zambia lets volunteers draw on skills developed in planning careers, writes Fiona McKay. My background in town planning underpins my interest in promoting equality and combating deprivation. More recently, my...

Involving communities at earliest stage of plans.
February 2, 2007... Producing a statement of community involvement ensures early stakeholder engagement, advise Jon Lord and Louise Waring. All local planning authorities in England have a statutory duty to produce a statement of community involvement (SCI) as...

RTPI Bulletin Board.
February 2, 2007... RTPI ELECTIONS Following the RTPI elections late last year, Martin Willey has been appointed junior vice-president for 2007. He will become senior vice-president in 2008 and president in 2009. Alan Wenban-Smith's candidature for junior...

Adopting a positive outlook on our ability to deliver change worldwide.(Column)
February 2, 2007... Planning has a great deal to offer in tackling global issues such as poverty and climate change, maintains Jim Claydon. The lead-in period before becoming RTPI president is two years. Plenty of time, you would think, to prepare for the...

Casebook: Development Control Casebook Forum.
February 2, 2007... 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...

Casebook: Design and height concerns block high-rise apartments.
February 2, 2007... A proposed 12-storey block of flats in Portsmouth has been rejected after an inspector ruled that its design and height would harm the area's character and appearance. The inspector cited advice in Better Places to Live - By Design...

Casebook: Appeal Case - Agricultural Development - Ostrich breeder secures home after viability ruling.(Brief article)
February 2, 2007... An agricultural worker's dwelling at an ostrich farm in the Essex green belt has won support from an inspector who found a functional need for the development and agreed that the business was viable. The council had granted permission in...

Casebook: Appeal Case - Agricultural Development - Harm to landscape quality rules out farm changes.(Brief article)
February 2, 2007... Various appeals relating to a farm in the Cotswolds area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB) have been dismissed because they involved development that would adversely affect landscape character. The farm buildings and farmhouse lay close...

Casebook: Appeal Case - Agricultural Development - Caravan storage farm diversification plea upheld.(Brief article)
February 2, 2007... A caravan storage area has been allowed at a farm in Lancashire after an inspector agreed that it would meet a recognised need and help to diversify the enterprise. The land associated with the farm was let for grazing and little animal...

Casebook: Appeal Case - Commercial and Industrial - Building society use passes shopping impact test.
February 2, 2007... The use of a vacant shop unit next to Birmingham's Bullring shopping centre as a building society office has been allowed on the grounds that it would not harm the area's character and appearance or the centre's vitality. The inspector did...

Casebook: Appeal Case - Commercial and Industrial - Batching plant retained as waste opportunity.(Brief article)
February 2, 2007... The retention of a disused concrete batching plant at a quarry in Essex has been allowed for a further three years after an inspector decided that the site could ultimately be used as a waste management centre and might require such a facility....

Casebook: Appeal Case - Commercial and Industrial - Carcass storage facility overcomes odour concern.(Brief article)
February 2, 2007... A fallen stock collection centre on an industrial estate on Anglesey has been allowed following findings that the amenities of nearby properties would not be affected by odour emissions. The appellant proposed that animal carcasses would be...

Casebook: Appeal Case - Housing: New Build - Insufficient affordable provision foils homes plan.
February 2, 2007... A proposal for 201 dwellings and public open space on land in Swindon has been refused after the secretary of state accepted an inspector's advice that insufficient affordable housing would be provided. The secretary of state agreed that...

Casebook: Appeal Case - Housing: New Build - Sheltered apartment building held too large for site.
February 2, 2007... An inspector has rejected a proposal for 36 sheltered apartments for the elderly in Essex because it would harm local residents' living conditions, although he found no harm to the area's character, appearance or wildlife. Although the...

Casebook: Appeal Case - Housing: New Build - Houses allowed despite partial loss of garden area.
February 2, 2007... An inspector has allowed an outline proposal for four houses in a Shropshire town after finding that they would be in character with existing development and would not significantly mar the area's natural beauty. The site lay in the...

Casebook: Appeal Case - Housing: New Build - Building line and tree damage scupper home plans.
February 2, 2007... A proposal to demolish a house in a predominantly residential area of Staffordshire to make way for new homes has been dismissed on the grounds that it would undermine the area's character. The appeal site lay on a tree-lined road. Although...

Casebook: Appeal Case - Housing: New Build - Single house ruled out by highway implications.
February 2, 2007... A five-bedroom detached house proposed behind two homes in Hertfordshire has been refused permission due to its proximity to a proposed turning area. The council was concerned that the proposal would jeopardise the future development of a...

Casebook: Appeal Case - Housing: New Build - Council fails to make traffic order payment stick.(Brief article)
February 2, 2007... An inspector has agreed to remove a condition imposed on a permission for three self-contained flats in an office building in West Sussex after concluding that it was unnecessary for the developer to make a financial contribution towards...

Casebook: Appeal Case - Householder Development - Tipped garden material held not to comprise waste.(Brief article)
February 2, 2007... A Surrey householder has won a ruling that the use of tipped material to raise the level of a garden in the green belt did not involve the importation of waste. The council served an enforcement notice alleging that the appellant had...

Casebook: Appeal Case - Householder Development - Ancillary residential use of outbuilding permitted.(Brief article)
February 2, 2007... A lawful development certificate has been granted for alterations and extensions to an outbuilding in the curtilage of a house in Hertfordshire after an inspector ruled that planning permission was not required. The appellants proposed to...

Casebook: Appeal Case - Commercial and Industrial - Factory judged not to harm living conditions.(Brief article)
February 2, 2007... A proposed employment unit on an industrial estate in Greater Manchester has been allowed despite council objections that it would adversely affect nearby residents' amenity. The council conceded that its initial concern about potential...

Casebook: Appeal Case - Commercial and Industrial - Taxi booking office given temporary permission.(Brief article)
February 2, 2007... The use of premises in a West Midlands suburb as a private hire car booking office has been allowed on a one-year temporary permission to allow the council to monitor the effects. The vacant premises were in a row of commercial units. The...

Casebook: Appeal Case - Commercial and Industrial - Local character failing foils tall office building.
February 2, 2007... A proposed office building ranging in height from two to seven storeys in south London has been rejected for failing to respect a conservation area's character. The site contained a group of industrial structures. The conservation area...

Casebook: Appeal Case - Housing: New build - Certificate service deemed a correctable error.
February 2, 2007... In allowing appeals on two different sites in Reading, an inspector has overruled the council's argument that one of the proposals should not proceed due to the applicant's failure to serve the correct notice on all the landowners involved. ...

Casebook: Downloading decisions.
February 2, 2007... 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 Case - Housing: New build - Landmark building rejected at intelligence site.
February 2, 2007... An inspector has allowed two out of three appeals for a site adjacent to the GCHQ intelligence complex in Cheltenham after concluding that one of the schemes failed to respect the area's character. The first appeal proposed homes on one...

Casebook: Appeal Case - Householder development - Conservatory passes permitted limits test.(Brief article)
February 2, 2007... A lawful development certificate has been issued confirming that the erection of a 40m3 conservatory at a house in north London falls within permitted development tolerances. The property had a 24.4m3 dormer extension and a 40m3 detached...

Casebook: Appeal Case - Housing: Conversion - Barn conversion allowed next to listed cottage.
February 2, 2007... An inspector has allowed alterations to a listed cottage and the conversion of an adjacent barn in a Cambridgeshire town after finding that there would be no adverse effects on the buildings. The inspector was satisfied that the scheme...

Florida lives seaside dream.
February 2, 2007... A holiday in Florida proved that Miami Beach is more surreal than the collection of Dali's masterworks on the Tampa Bay waterfront, recounts Cliff Hague. It is both surprising and apposite that one of the two galleries in the world given...

Turbine boost sparks clash.
February 2, 2007... The relaxation of planning rules covering domestic wind turbines is unlikely to go through uncontested, Lee Baker discovers. Planning and housing minister Yvette Cooper was not tilting at windmills last year when she declared it absurd that...

Councils fear degraded role.
February 2, 2007... Streamlined decisions on power plants will lead to revolts by councils upset by a lack of involvement, maintains Chris Webb. Their public response to an overhaul of planning for major projects may be muted, but behind the scenes the shires...

Sustainability leader.(David Thomson as city planner)(Biography)
February 2, 2007... David Thomson relishes the challenge of expanding the environmental assessment services of a major planning and environment consultancy, says Susanna Gillman. He may be just a few weeks into his job but David Thomson is keen to take on...

Long shot wins race to host super casino.
February 2, 2007... Who could have seen it coming? All the smart money was on either Blackpool or Greenwich as the site for the UK's first super casino. The Casino Advisory Panel's backing for Manchester is a genuine shock, all the more so as it came last among...

Fyson on ... enmity revealed by think-tank's planning attack.
February 2, 2007... Sixty years after the seminal 1947 Town and Country Planning Act, it is absurd that the system should still be subject to the kind of fundamentalist hostility represented by the latest Policy Exchange report The Best Laid Plans (Planning, 26...

Conflicts emerge after grocery market probe.
February 2, 2007... The green lobby and the retail sector are debating the details of latest research, says Vivien Wilson. The Competition Commission's initial findings on the grocery market have thrown up a few surprises. As well as appearing to vindicate...

Shepley on ... using mediation skills to resolve tricky disputes.(Column)
February 2, 2007... There is some documentary evidence to show that it was your columnist who introduced the idea of using mediation in planning. This occurred at the RTPI conference in Brighton in 1996, and ten years later Kate Barker has proposed to put it into...

Port strategy splits opinion.
February 2, 2007... The dispute over the need for a national ports strategy is still to be settled, notes Catherine Early. It is hardly an original idea. A group of MPs investigating the ports industry has recommended that the government should develop a...

Islands sign up to wind partner deal.
February 2, 2007... The largest community-owned wind farm in the world could be built on the Shetland Islands under an agreement that was signed last week. In partnership with Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE), Shetland Islands Council's Viking Energy is...

Plan seeks to raze Edinburgh eyesore.(Brief article)
February 2, 2007... The revival of Edinburgh's Leith Walk has moved on a stage with the submission of an application to demolish one of the city's most notorious eyesores. If the pounds 11 million scheme is approved, the former city council social work...

Survey shows twofold rise in Scots' car use.(Brief article)
February 2, 2007... Car use in Scotland almost doubled over the past 30 years while bus travel decreased, according to figures released by the Scottish Executive last week. Overall, Scots each travelled 11,798km in 2004-05, 75 per cent further than in...

Effectiveness of CCL to be reviewed by RPS.(climate change levy )(Brief article)
February 2, 2007... The effectiveness of the climate change levy (CCL) and climate change agreements is to be reviewed by RPS in a major commission for the National Audit Office (NAO). The consultancy will analyse the influence of policy packages on...

Household personalised travel planning to be investigated.
February 2, 2007... Best practice in household personalised travel planning is to be investigated by Integrated Transport Planning Ltd. The firm has been commissioned to conduct the research by the Department for Transport. The team includes specialist...

Environment Agency's property portfolio to be surveyed.(contracts with GVA Grimley)(Brief article)
February 2, 2007... The Environment Agency's property portfolio is to be surveyed by GVA Grimley. The appointment involves a series of building surveys on the agency's administrative properties in England and Wales over the next two years. GVA Grimley's...

Retail trends in Perth city centre studied.(Brief article)
February 2, 2007... Retail trends in Perth city centre over the past 15 years have been studied by Bidwells. The firm's Perth office looked at changes between 1991 and 2006 and found that the shop vacancy rate stands at only 6.5 per cent, lower than the figure of...

Feasibility of arts and cultural centre to be explored.(Brief article)
February 2, 2007... The feasibility of developing an arts and cultural centre in the Upper Colne Valley is to be explored by Knight, Kavanagh & Page (KKP) for Yorkshire Forward. The regional development agency is working in partnership with the Marsden and...

Gleeds wins major contract in Sheffield city centre.(Brief article)
February 2, 2007... Gleeds has won a major contract to cost-manage a mixed-use development in the heart of Sheffield city centre. The pounds 250 million contract will see the redevelopment of a large piece of land in the West Bar area. The scheme will create...

Crosby Homes to be renamed.
February 2, 2007... Crosby Homes is to be renamed Crosby Lend Lease to reflect its key role as a regeneration specialist within residential and retail developer Lend Lease. Lend Lease acquired Crosby Homes in June 2005. It has 19 principal sites in cities...

Congestion threatens Manchester jobs.
February 2, 2007... Greater Manchester could lose out on up to 30,000 jobs in the next decade if road congestion is not tackled, a study has found. City leaders are considering plans to introduce a 'smart charging' scheme, which would take into account time of...

Locals object to revised Stansted runway plans.
February 2, 2007... Local and regional authorities have vowed to fight plans for another runway at Stansted Airport's despite BAA reducing the amount of land it would need. Original plans for the second runway had stated that 700ha would be needed, but BAA...

Borough backs green parking charges.(Brief article)
February 2, 2007... Emissions-based car parking charges have been voted in by the London Borough of Richmond-upon-Thames. The scheme will see charges for highly polluting cars raised to up to pounds 300 a year, while electric cars will be free to park. The...

Sheffield deal clears way for bus progress.(Brief article)
February 2, 2007... A pioneering local authority and passenger executive partnership to run bus services was launched in Sheffield this week. The north Sheffield statutory quality partnership was set up under regulations introduced in the Transport Act 2000....

MPs fail to get rail signatory right restored.
February 2, 2007... Calls to restore passenger transport executives' (PTEs) right to co-sign on rail franchising have been rejected by Whitehall. In its investigation of franchising last year, the Commons transport select committee criticised the removal of...

Woolwich revamp receives approval.
February 2, 2007... Plans for the largest regeneration scheme in Woolwich town centre have been granted outline planning approval. The London Borough of Greenwich has backed the pounds 400 million Love Lane masterplan for 960 homes, 35 per cent of which will...

Worcester set for waterfront regeneration.
February 2, 2007... Scaled-down plans to renew Worcester waterfront were unveiled by the city council this week. The authority has taken core points from a failed bid for lottery funding, which it will fund itself. The pounds 1 million project will see the...

Galliford Try appointed developer.(for Payne Road mixed-use scheme )(Brief article)
February 2, 2007... Galliford Try was appointed developer on the pounds 25 million Payne Road mixed-use scheme in east London this week. East Thames Housing Group chose the firm to deliver 158 homes, 2,214m2 of commercial and community space and car parking....

Regeneration plans for Redbridge progress.(financed by Department of Communities and Local Government)(Brief article)
February 2, 2007... Regeneration plans for Redbridge have progressed after the area received pounds 2.3 million through the DCLG's growth area funding. The money will be used to reroute bus services, making way for the development of public space and land...

Proposals to rejuvenate area in Harrow.(Metropolitan Housing Group )(Brief article)
February 2, 2007... Proposals to rejuvenate a fire-damaged housing estate and the surrounding area in Harrow, north London, gained planning permission this week. Metropolitan Housing Group (MHG) will replace 108 flats at Strongbridge Close with 147 affordable...

Project to restore Derby's Roundhouse.
February 2, 2007... A pounds 36 million project to restore Derby's historic Roundhouse has been backed by planners. Derby City Council approved the scheme, which will see the listed building on Park Site altered to create a hub for a revamped Derby College...

Kings Waterfront scheme in Liverpool receives a boost.
February 2, 2007... The Kings Waterfront scheme in Liverpool has received a boost after developers bought part of the site this week. City Lofts Group and David McLean Holdings acquired the site from English Partnerships. It forms part of a 15ha redevelopment...

Plan for employment area across east Birmingham.(Advantage West Midlands)(Brief article)
February 2, 2007... A pounds 20 million plan for an employment area across east Birmingham has progressed after Advantage West Midlands (AWM) announced that it has purchased the proposed site last week. The Corus site in Wharfdale Road has been vacant since...

English Heritage announces investment.(for preserving historic buildings)(Brief article)
February 2, 2007... English Heritage has announced a pounds 200,000 investment to help regenerate the North Shields Fish Quay in North Tyneside. The money will go towards a two-year grant scheme to conserve the remains of a 17th century fort and refurbish further...

Plans to transform Kingston House site in Liverpool.(Brief article)
February 2, 2007... Plans to transform the Kingston House site in Liverpool into office buildings have moved forward after Langtree was named preferred developer. The building, owned by the Northwest Development Agency, will feature retail and leisure uses at...

St James area of Dover town centre to be regenerated.(Brief article)
February 2, 2007... The St James area of Dover town centre is set to be regenerated after the South East England Development Agency announced a pounds 7.5 million grant for the scheme. A masterplan featuring stronger links to the town centre, improved public...

Correction.(Correction notice)
February 2, 2007... In last week's news analysis on Communities England (Planning, 26 January, p8), John Callcutt was quoted as chief executive of English Partnerships. The copy should have quoted John Walker in this role.

Homes mooted at Hampshire army site.
February 2, 2007... Planners want thousands of homes to be built on a military site in north-east Hampshire. The proposal by East Hampshire District Council and Defence Estates is for the homes to be built on a mostly brownfield site near the town of Bordon....

Guide seeks long-term vision for tall buildings.
February 2, 2007... Local authorities must ensure that development plans account for the need for tall buildings, latest guidelines from the government's design and heritage watchdogs have stressed. Revised guidance from the Commission for Architecture and the...

Assurance sought on London rail link.
February 2, 2007... Battersea MP Martin Linton has urged the government to commit to delivering the second phase of the East London Line extension in time for the 2012 Olympics. This week in the Commons Linton asked what talks culture secretary Tessa Jowell...

DEFRA issues proposals for saving water.(Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs)(Brief article)
February 2, 2007... Water companies in areas of serious drought will be able to seek compulsory metering as part of long-term resource plans under proposals published this week. The measures, put out for consultation until 24 April by DEFRA, were developed by...

Councils told to determine green issues.(Brief article)
February 2, 2007... Local authorities need to be reminded that their powers have not been superseded by the Environment Agency, a leading planning lawyer has warned. Addleshaw Goddard head of planning Douglas Evans said that some authorities are abdicating...