Planning (UK) articles from January 2005

Planning (UK) archives from January 2005

Agenda.
January 7, 2005... DIARY TO 21 JANUARY 11 JANUARY: The Influential Councillor: Supporting Councillors in Planning Effectively for their Communities. Organiser: Local Government Association. Venue: London. Fee: Members pounds 195 + VAT, non-members pounds 305...

Routemaster sale marks end of era.(Ensignbus company limited)(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... A bus sale last month marked the end of an era for one of the capital's cultural icons, the Routemaster bus. The remaining 200 red double-decker buses still in service are due to be retired this year. Weighing in at seven tonnes, the buses...

First couple brought down to earth.(David Beckham castle plan)(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... David and Victoria Beckham must jump through the planning hoops to secure authorisation for a wooden play castle built on their Hertfordshire estate after East Hertfordshire District Council ordered the couple to apply for retrospective...

Poet inspires campaign success.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... A 19th century poet has helped Cambridgeshire villagers prevent a phone mast being sited near their church. After relentless campaigning, residents of Glinton had run short of reasons to prevent BT erecting a 15m phone mast on nearby...

Appointment at Lovell.(Jyoti Madlani)(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... Jyoti Madlani has joined Lovell as regeneration manager for the East Midlands region. She joins from housing association, Derwent Living, where she was development manager. She has also worked for Servite Houses as a development officer.

Appointment at Emery Planning Partnership.(appointments and promotions)(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... Alyas Khan has joined the Emery Planning Partnership as principal regeneration consultant. Stephen Harris has joined as senior consultant, having moved from DPDS, and Nick Smith as consultant from Macclesfield Borough Council. Alison...

Appointment at Henry Davidson Developments.(Jason Davis)(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... Jason Davis has joined Henry Davidson Developments as associate director. He has ten years of property experience at John Mowlem and Co where he reached the position of managing surveyor for the East Midlands region.

Appointment at Broadway Malyan.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... Sarah Baron and Ruth White have joined Broadway Malyan's planning team in Manchester. Philip Scott has joined the firm's London office from Atkins. Mike Newton, Andrew Thomson and Roger Tustain have been promoted to directors of planning....

Appointment at David McLean.(Paul Hubball)(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... Paul Hubball has been appointed as UK development manager at David McLean. He has previously worked for GL Hearn, Lambert Smith Hampton and Dunlop Heywood Lorenz.

Appointment at Jones Lang LaSalle.(Kathryn Jemmett)(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... Kathryn Jemmett has joined Jones Lang LaSalle as senior planning consultant in the strategic consulting team. She joins from GVA Grimley.

Appointment at CDN Planning Ltd.(Philip Costa)(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... Philip Costa has joined CDN Planning Ltd to work on planning, urban design and regeneration work. He has experience both in the UK and Canada.

Appointment at Regeneris Consulting.(Tim Fanning)(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... Tim Fanning has joined Regeneris Consulting as an economist. He joins having completed an MSc in international business and management at Manchester Business School.

Appointment at Hydrock Consultants Ltd.(Eric Cooper)(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... Eric Cooper has joined Hydrock Consultants Ltd as technical director. He has worked on groundwater resource development projects in more than 15 countries and has spent the past six years as head of geo-environment with Hyder.

Appointment at Clifford Devlin.(Mark Pooley)(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... Mark Pooley has joined demolition firm Clifford Devlin as contract manager for its building division. He has more than 20 years' experience in the construction and buildings sectors. He moves from Botes Building Ltd.

Appointment at Redrow Regeneration.(Oliver King )(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... Oliver King has joined Redrow Regeneration as senior regeneration manager. Previously with London Town PLC, he will focus on large-scale urban renewal projects in London and the South East, primarily concentrating on the Thames Gateway.

Jim Claydon elected as junior vice-president.(Royal Town Planning Institute)
January 7, 2005... In a recent ballot of the corporate membership Jim Claydon was voted in as junior vice-president for 2005. Jim Claydon BSc, DipTP, MSc is the technical director of Terence O'Rourke. He has had a varied career working in the academic,...

CPD Update - PlanningMatters for development.(continuing professional development)
January 7, 2005... PlanningMatters is an online knowledge resource that is aimed at helping members and others with an interest in the planning system to do their jobs more effectively and to support lifelong learning and continuing professional development...

Making sure that the new planning system works.(Planning Officers' Society )
January 7, 2005... The Planning Officers' Society's theme for the year is to make the most of the chances it offers, says Graham Jones. The Planning Officers' Society (POS) is exploring a number of avenues to ensure that the framework develops in the right...

RTPI Bulletin Board.(Royal Town Planning Institute)
January 7, 2005... PLANNING FOUNDATION COURSE The planning foundation course, previously run at Manchester College of Arts and Technology, is now being run by Carbrook Associates. The course, which meets the academic requirements for technical membership...

Sharing skills and changing lives - A letter from the Philippines.(Volunteer Service Organization )
January 7, 2005... Terence Ellames talks about why he decided to become a VSO volunteer and his experience in the Philippines. I first became interested in VSO when I was a university student 26 years ago. To me it offered an opportunity to live and work in...

Casebook: Development Control Casebook Forum.
January 7, 2005... New queries An application has been made by a limited company that Companies House denies exists. As the company name was included in a public notice, I argued that it was misleading. The planning authority has repeated the error in...

Casebook: Coffee shop agreed at prime site despite use class doubts.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... An enforcement notice against a coffee bar in Winchester has been quashed after an inspector decided that it would not harm the vitality of the primary shopping area. The inspector heard that sales of coffee for consumption on and off the...

Casebook: Appeal cases - Advertisements - Adverts judged harmful to dockyard pub.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... An inspector has dismissed a request to retain advertisement signs at a grade II listed pub in Kent after pronouncing them visually and architecturally unacceptable. The former dockyard building had been converted into a pub at one end and...

Casebook: Appeal cases - Agricultural development - Hobby farm claim rejected in condition dispute.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... An appeal seeking confirmation of a lawful development certificate to allow the occupation of a Sussex farmhouse in breach of an agricultural occupancy condition has been dismissed as the appellant had been employed in agriculture for part of...

Casebook: Appeal cases - Commercial and industrial - Warehousing justified by economic benefits.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... A proposal for more than 28,000m2 of warehouse floorspace in Cheshire has been approved by the deputy prime minister after he called in the application to satisfy himself that it complied with national policies on industrial development and the...

Casebook: Appeal cases - Community facilities - High school rejected due to locational flaws.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... Worcestershire County Council has been refused planning permission for a school after the deputy prime minister supported an inspector's view that insufficient evidence had been submitted to demonstrate why the application site had been...

Casebook: Appeal cases - Community facilities - Cross judged incongruous at hospital entrance.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... A proposal for a Christian cross some 7m high at a roundabout in Shropshire has been rejected by an inspector who decided that it would look incongruous. The council categorised the cross as a piece of public art, whereas the appellant saw...

Casebook: Appeal cases - Housing, new build - House limit condition held sufficiently precise.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... An appeal seeking the variation of a condition limiting the number of homes in a mixed-use town expansion scheme in Cambridgeshire has been dismissed. The disputed condition stated that no more than 500 dwellings should be built. The...

Casebook: Appeal cases - Housing, new build - Sunken house ruled out in conservation area.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... A plan to build a home partly underground in a conservation area in Northamptonshire has been turned down after an inspector concluded that it would be detrimental to the site's natural appearance. The site was outside the existing confines...

Casebook: Appeal cases - Housing, new build - Site licence allows unrestricted residential use.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... In granting a lawful development certificate for the use of land as a caravan site in Cambridgeshire without limitations on the nature of occupation, an inspector has ruled that a 30-year-old site licence supported the appellant's case. ...

Casebook: Appeal cases - Housing, conversion - Lack of viability justifies post office conversion.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... The conversion of a post office and shop in Derbyshire to flats has been allowed after an inspector overruled objections that it would lead to overdevelopment of the site, road safety problems and the unacceptable loss of a community facility....

Casebook: Appeal cases - Leisure and entertainment - Hotel site coverage accepted in urban location.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... The development of a site in west London for a 69-bedroom lodge hotel has been supported by an inspector who concluded that built development on 32 per cent of the site was not excessive for an urban location. He noted that the building...

Casebook: Appeal cases - Leisure and entertainment - Ungainly cricket pavilion design dismissed.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... The retention of a cricket pavilion at a village hall and playing fields in North Yorkshire has been rejected after an inspector reached the view that it appeared out of character with the area. The inspector agreed that although the...

Casebook: Appeal cases - Leisure and entertainment - Barn conversion held to enhance setting.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... The conversion of a barn within the curtilage of a grade II* listed farmhouse in Cornwall to three holiday units. A manager's unit and two craft units has been approved by the deputy prime minister, who agreed that it accorded with...

Casebook: Appeal cases - Mixed use development - Fallback carries little weight at historic park.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... An extension to a listed hotel in an historic garden in a Berkshire conservation area and various additions and alterations within the grounds has been rejected as harmful to the building's architectural and historic interest and its setting....

Casebook: Appeal cases - Mixed use development - Mixed scheme held to comply with local policy.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... The deputy prime minister has accepted an inspector's recommendation to grant permission for a mixed retail, leisure and office development in the West Midlands following a call-in inquiry. The scheme involved three large stores, an indoor...

Casebook: Appeal cases - Mixed use development - Poor design undermines edge-of-centre plans.(housing layout)(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... The deputy prime minister has refused permission for a mixed retail and housing scheme on the edge of a Wiltshire town centre, concluding that the proposed housing layout would give rise to unacceptable living conditions for future residents....

Casebook: Appeal cases - Mixed use development - Centre project hailed as regeneration boost.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... The deputy prime minister has allowed an appeal for a mixed-use development in east London after concluding that it would assist in maintaining and enhancing the vitality of a district centre. Approximately 23,000m2 of floorspace was...

Casebook: Court Cases - Mast decision upheld despite school fears.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... The Court of Appeal has rejected an appeal against a High Court ruling regarding the potential health risks associated with the erection of a mobile phone mast near three schools in Harrogate. T-Mobile UK Ltd, Orange and Hutchison 3G...

Casebook: Court Cases - Mineral conditions secured despite time lapse.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council has convinced the Court of Appeal that it should be allowed to impose conditions on a renewal of an old mineral permission, overturning a previous High Court ruling. Mr Justice McCombe ruled that the...

Casebook: Court Cases - Cavern waste dump details judged adequate.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... The High Court has backed the deputy prime minister's decision to allow the storage of toxic waste at a salt mine in Cheshire after a judge ruled that sufficient information about the type of materials likely to be stored had been provided. ...

Casebook: Appeal Cases - Community facilities - Children's play canopy design wins favour.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... The retention of a canopy has been approved at a school in Warwickshire after an inspector rejected the local planning authority's argument that it would be an alien structure within its setting. The canopy was made of PVC-coated polyester...

Casebook: Appeal Cases - Housing, new build Inspector overruled on farm homes benefits.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... The deputy prime minister has overruled the advice of an inspector and refused planning permission for two six-bedroomed houses at a farmstead in the West Midlands green belt following a call-in inquiry. The scheme involved the demolition...

Casebook: Appeal Cases - Housing, new build - Belt objection outweighed by other factors.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... The deputy prime minister has endorsed an inspector's recommendation to allow the redevelopment of a garage and car sales site in Cheshire for two houses, despite the harm caused to the green belt area in which the development was located. ...

Casebook: Appeal Cases - Retail development - National policy prevails in retail assessment.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... A proposal to redevelop car showrooms in the West Midlands for three retail warehouse units has won support from the deputy prime minister despite its failure to comply fully with local planning policies. The council supported the 4,180m2...

Casebook: Downloading decisions.
January 7, 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...

Casebook: Appeal Cases - Retail development - Car showrooms held to be composite use.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... A claim that a car showroom in Nottingham including offices, a workshop and storage and parking areas can be lawfully used for any retail purpose has been rejected after an inspector held that the site contained a series of different uses. ...

Making the most of density.
January 7, 2005... Higher-density housing should not be our only consideration in the effort to realise sustainable communities, writes Patrick Clarke. Density is a key variable in delivering sustainable communities. But how well do we understand its...

Flat proposals put focus on guidance.
January 7, 2005... Gradual replacement of older houses with flats is a source of concern for councils and residents, reports Mark Smulian. It takes quite a lot to get 45 people away from the television and central heating on a winter Sunday evening to attend...

A rural revolutionary.
January 7, 2005... Richard Wakeford will be happy to listen to views and solutions to rural problems from all sides in his position at the Scottish Executive, he tells Catherine Early. As a man who thrives on taking lessons learnt from one country and...

Vision threatened by workplace anomaly.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... Only the mad, the bad and the dangerous to know would totally dismiss the ODPM's vision for sustainable communities, or indeed its demand for a new culture within planning. Unfortunately, such ideas have little bearing on the daily reality for...

Fyson on ... revelations that come to light in the party season.(management of planners)
January 7, 2005... Festive gatherings of planners at the year's end can usually be relied on to give gossipy expression to a pent-up mixture of frustration and relief. The first emotion arises from a general sense of being undervalued while the second comes...

Appeal clawback adds to concerns over grant.
January 7, 2005... Amenity groups are worried by penalties facing poor appeal performers, reports Nancy Wainscoat. Rewarding planning authorities with extra resources for improving performance has proved a useful boost to service quality. But the prospect of...

Bell on ... the dedication of the applications decision scorer.
January 7, 2005... It was New Year's Eve. The snow was falling and Darren was forced to push the office bicycle because the road was so treacherous. The application files in his rucksack weighed heavily as he walked to his last site visit of 2004, a...

Square one on appeal times.(extended deadlines for lodging appeals)
January 7, 2005... Extended deadlines for lodging appeals have been broadly welcomed, reports Catherine Early. Rarely can a streamlining measure have backfired so spectacularly as the government's decision in September 2003 to halve the time allowed for...

Tower in Glasgow secures approval.(Glasgow Science Centre tower)(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... Scotland's tallest building, which has been granted detailed consent by Glasgow City Council, will help to revitalise the city centre, its developers have claimed. At 134m, the 39-storey Elphinstone Place will be 9m higher than the Glasgow...

Revenue released for housing boost.
January 7, 2005... Scottish ministers have bowed to pressure from local authorities and agreed that additional council tax revenue can be spent on water and sewage infrastructure. It was intended that all money raised by reducing the tax discount on second...

Contract deal paves way for toll's abolition.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... Tolls on Glasgow's Erskine Bridge could be abolished following the Scottish Executive's buyout of the Skye Bridge contract. Controversial charges on the Skye Bridge were scrapped last month after ministers agreed a pounds 27 million payment...

Masterplan for Brighton.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... The first strategic stage of a masterplan for the Lewes Road and London Road areas of Brighton is to be carried out by Scott Wilson. The commission for Brighton and Hove City Council involves looking at ways to stimulate an urban...

Glasgow transport study.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... An orbital public transport study around the periphery of Glasgow is to be produced by Atkins Transport Planning for East Renfrewshire Council, West of Scotland Transport Partnership and Strathclyde Passenger Transport. Improved services...

GVA Grimley to advice on regeneration programme.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... GVA Grimley is to advise Restormel Borough Council on a major regeneration programme to attract investment into Newquay on the north Cornish coast. As well as promoting Newquay's image as the UK's main surfing destination, the council...

Work begins on mixed-use development in east Manchester.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... The construction of a pounds 100 million sustainable mixed-use development in east Manchester designed by architects Aedas has begun. Phase one of the Eastside Valley development in Ancoats consists of more than 140 flats, with parking for...

Mott MacDonald to help design wind farm.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... Mott MacDonald is to help design an offshore wind farm to be built 7km off the coast of Walney Island in Cumbria. The pounds 100 million 30-turbine scheme is being developed by a consortium comprising Kellogg, Brown and Root and Vestas...

Faber Maunsell to conduct feasibility study.(Falcon Way Bridge)(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... A study to test the feasibility of reconstructing Falcon Way Bridge in Brent, north London, is to be carried out by Faber Maunsell. The bridge, which carries a single-carriageway residential road over Wealdstone Brook, failed its structural...

White Young Green to provide design services.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... White Young Green's Leeds team is to provide design services for a pounds 1.7 million office development in Sheffield for law firm DLA LLP. Its mechanical and electrical division has been appointed by project managers FPD Savills to advise...

Stansted runway triggers legal action.(Stansted International Airport)(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... A parish council began legal proceedings against airports operator BAA last month over its plans to build a second runway at Stansted Airport. Takeley Parish Council in Essex has lodged an application for a judicial review challenging...

Protest resolution leads to bridge plan approval.(Thames Gateway Bridge)(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... The pounds 425 million Thames Gateway Bridge was given the go-ahead by the London Borough of Newham last month after objections were withdrawn. Submissions by London City Airport and the Environment Agency caused the original planning...

Minister sanctions Merseytram route.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... Merseyside's regeneration was handed a major boost last month after Merseytram Line 1 received planning permission from the Department for Transport. Transport minister David Jamieson agreed with a planning inspector that the tramway would...

Figures reveal large upsurge in UK's car use.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... Car use is increasing while walking and cycling are on the wane, according to latest Department for Transport statistics. The figures, published last month, found that more than a quarter of households have access to two or more cars,...

Dispute flares over Crossrail final terminus.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... Crossrail will undermine the delivery of the South East Plan if it does not run as far as Ebbsfleet in north Kent, the South East England Regional Assembly (SEERA) warned last month. Crossrail operator Cross London Rail Links wrote to...

Plan tendered for Barking Riverside.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... Plans to develop London's largest brownfield site into a community for around 25,000 people have been submitted to the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. The proposals for Barking Riverside, a 179ha stretch of land between the A13 and...

Woolwich housing push wins approval.(Royal Arsenal in Woolwich, south London will built 3,00 homes)(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... The Royal Arsenal in Woolwich, south London, will see 3,000 more homes built in a drive to create a 'thriving urban quarter' for the capital. The London Borough of Greenwich approved plans for the 12.6ha mixed-use scheme by Berkeley Homes...

Business park put forward in Middlehaven.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... A state-of-the-art information technology park will be built in Middlesbrough's Middlehaven regeneration project to attract global business and create more than 3,000 jobs. The BT development, the latest in a national network of 50...

Economic growth vision in Birmingham unveiled.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... A ten-year vision for economic growth in Birmingham has been unveiled. The blueprint, endorsed by the city council just before Christmas, sets out a strategy to create a strong and sustainable local economy. This includes securing...

Planning permission granted for Sandwell.(regeneration of Oldbury town centre in Sandwell, West Midlands)(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... A pounds 100 million mixed-use regeneration of Oldbury town centre in Sandwell, West Midlands, has been granted planning permission by deputy prime minister John Prescott. Retail park owner The Junction will develop a 13ha site on the edge...

Thames Gateway project.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... A project to treat contaminated brownfield sites in the Thames Gateway with locally produced compost has been launched. The scheme, put forward by Remade Essex, Remade Kent & Medway and London Remade, aims to ensure that compost is used in...

Redevelopment of Hastings to be explored.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... Ideas for the redevelopment of a large section of Hastings town centre are to be explored by Sea Space, the regeneration company established by the Hastings and Bexhill Task Force. The company will work with the local community and...

Plans submitted for Croydon.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... Plans for a major residential development that spans three central sites in Croydon have been submitted to the local authority. The pounds 80 million scheme by Howard Holdings comprises 337 flats and aims to deliver a major boost to...

Dagenham set for an employment boost.(United Kingdom. Department of Trade and Industry granted 4.5 million to create jobs to Dagenham Motors Group PLC and Ford Motor Company )(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... Dagenham in east London is set for an employment boost after the government awarded a pounds 4.5 million grant to the Ford Motor Company to create up to 460 jobs. The DTI grant forms part of a pounds 169 million investment project. The...

Plans submitted for Newhaven.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... Plans for a business centre in Newhaven, East Sussex, have been submitted by the South East England Development Agency as part of the drive to create an enterprise gateway for the area. The application for 2,100m2 of office and workshop...

Growth planned in Gypsy site numbers.(authorised sites for travellers)(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... The government promised to increase the number of authorised sites for travellers last month. The ODPM's latest draft planning document attempts to tackle the problems associated with Gypsies and travellers by eradicating unauthorised...

Parks council loses bid to obstruct leisure park.(Council for National Parks lost against leisure park in Pembrokeshire)(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... The Council for National Parks (CNP) has lost its battle against a proposed leisure park in Pembrokeshire, with a judge ruling that the permission granted for the scheme was lawful. In what was billed as a crucial test case, Mr Justice Jack...

Advice available on renewable energy.(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... Practical advice on what makes a good renewable energy application was published last month. The government's companion guide to support last year's policy statement on renewable energy, PPS22 (Planning, 13 August 2004, p1), shows planners...

Case made for clearer target from strategy.(Campaign to Protect Rural England )(Brief Article)
January 7, 2005... Clearer targets for brownfield regeneration and affordable homes should be provided by the Milton Keynes and South Midlands sub-regional strategy, the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) has urged. In response to the consultation on...