Planning (UK) articles from January 2009

Planning (UK) archives from January 2009

Planning in the media.
January 9, 2009... The surge in shoppers throughout December and the new year sales came too late for the retail sector. The Independent cited forecasts by analysts Experian that 440 retailers will fold before the end of April. The Daily Telegraph said this...

Diary.(Diary entry)
January 9, 2009... The infamous Brookside Close (Planning, 12 December 2008, p40) surpassed expectations when it fetched pounds 735,000 at auction last month. The close was one of the UK's most iconic streets, with millions tuning in to watch its residents'...

Appointment at Knight Frank.(Knight Frank has recruited Charles Mills to join its London planning team )(Brief article)
January 9, 2009... Knight Frank has recruited Charles Mills to join its London planning team as partner. He leaves Atisreal, where he was a director of development and residential consulting. -------------------- Did you find this article useful? Why not...

Appointment at Capita Symonds.(Richard Blyth has joined Capita Symonds as an associate director )(Brief article)
January 9, 2009... Richard Blyth has joined Capita Symonds as an associate director to lead the planning policy team. He moves from the DCLG, where he was a policy lead on local development frameworks. Claire Megginson has joined as principal town planning...

Appointment at Savills.
January 9, 2009... Richard Ayre joins Savills as a senior planner in Exeter. He was previously regional planning director at Persimmon Homes. -------------------- Did you find this article useful? Why not subscribe to the magazine? Please call 08451 55...

Appointment at West Waddy ADP.(Olivia Collett has joined West Waddy ADP as senior town planner)(Brief article)
January 9, 2009... Olivia Collett has joined West Waddy ADP as senior town planner, leaving a similar post at Barton Willmore. Kate Kerrigan has joined as a graduate planner from Newcastle University. -------------------- Did you find this article...

Appointment at Entec.(Entec has appointed Will Nitch-Smith an associate director )(Brief article)
January 9, 2009... Entec has appointed Will Nitch-Smith an associate director in the contaminated land team based in London and Cambridge. He was formerly an associate in WSP Environmental's due diligence practice. -------------------- Did you find this...

Appointment at Mouchel.
January 9, 2009... Mouchel's Chelmsford office has taken on Chris Seaman as project manager for public transport. He leaves Suffolk County Council's transport co-ordination unit. -------------------- Did you find this article useful? Why not subscribe to...

Appointment at London Councils.(Faraz Baber as director )(Brief article)
January 9, 2009... London Councils has hired Faraz Baber as director of world cities. He will take up the post next month, leaving Surrey County Council's economy, environment and housing policy team. He will co-ordinate work on housing, planning, transport...

Conservation trails seek to keep Durham's history alive.
January 9, 2009... Schoolchildren are ensuring that local heritage is maintained during council reviews, writes Kevin Lillie. Planning Aid North (PAN) is helping young people in County Durham learn about a range of conservation issues. The project, which is...

Elections confirm vice-president and general assembly line-up.
January 9, 2009... Richard Summers has been elected junior vice-president of the institute for 2009. It is encouraging that 700 more members voted this year than last Summers achieved 1,595 votes while Peter Geraghty received 1,165. General assembly...

Members suspended over professional indemnity insurance lapses.
January 9, 2009... The RTPI's conduct and discipline panel has recently found four members of the institute to be in breach of the code of professional conduct for failing to provide the institute with particulars of their professional indemnity insurance (PII)....

Rural data bids to build opportunity.
January 9, 2009... Rural research projects are exploring drivers of economic growth to guide Europe's spatial policy-makers, explains Jenny Crawford. As the first projects of the European Spatial Planning Observation Network (ESPON) 2013 programme begin to...

Think-tank publications review capital government and housing.
January 9, 2009... Two publications have recently been issued about key trends in the city by academic think-tank LSE London. The capital has had three different systems of city-wide government since London School of Economics (LSE) Greater London group...

Spatial planning network seeks European research contributors.
January 9, 2009... Do you have experience of working on regional development, transport, energy networks, rural problems, planning and managing urban change or similar territorial issues? Or do you have research expertise in these areas? If you could spare...

Event.(Conference news)(Brief article)
January 9, 2009... Unequal Places - Planning and Territorial Cohesion 1-3 April. Newcastle University. Themes at the UK-Ireland Planning Research Conference include equality and inclusion, European planning and territorial cohesion, urban and rural...

Planning Act offers key role for local influence in shaping national policy.
January 9, 2009... Local authority planners may have a reduced role in approving national infrastructure in their area but their input remains vital in assessing its impact and representing their communities' interests, argues Rynd Smith. By the time you...

DC Casebook: Agricultural Development - Equestrian use held to harm field system.(Brief article)
January 9, 2009... A proposal for three timber-clad stables and the change of use of a field to an equestrian centre has been refused permission in Northamptonshire because of its impact on a special landscape area. The site contained a small shelter that...

DC Casebook: Commercial and Industrial - Pigeon lofts fail green belt policy test.(Brief article)
January 9, 2009... The retention of buildings for breeding and keeping thoroughbred racing pigeons in the Staffordshire green belt has been denied permission on the basis that they harm the area's openness. The appellant asserted that the buildings were vital...

DC Casebook: Commercial and Industrial - Taxi office hours extended in mornings.(Brief article)
January 9, 2009... An enforcement notice requiring the operators of a taxi booking office near a West Sussex railway station to comply with two planning conditions has been struck down, an inspector ruling that the extension of operating hours is acceptable. ...

DC Casebook: Commercial and Industrial - Major scheme ruled out in rural location.(Essex, England)(Brief article)
January 9, 2009... Following a call-in inquiry, the secretary of state has decided that an 11ha commercial development in Essex should be refused after finding inadequate justification for a site in the countryside. The development comprised 2,500m2 of...

DC Casebook: Community Facilities - Extra care rejected next to nursing home.
January 9, 2009... Provision of extra care accommodation near a proposed south Wales nursing home has been refused permission after an inspector held that it fell under restrictive rural planning policies. The appellants argued that the scheme would be a...

DC Casebook: Community Facilities - Plastic windows denied at unlisted chapel.
January 9, 2009... An inspector has refused to sanction replacement UPVC windows in a chapel in rural Lincolnshire after deciding that they would harm its historic character and visual appearance. The chapel was a mainly red-brick building built in 1867,...

DC Casebook: Energy Development - Educational benefit of turbines valued.(Brief article)
January 9, 2009... Two 15 kW wind turbines have been allowed at a school in Plymouth after an inspector found that their visual impact on the character of their surroundings and the outlook from neighbouring dwellings would be acceptable. The inspector...

DC Casebook: Energy Development - Hydro water quality objection overruled.
January 9, 2009... A hydro-electricity generating scheme on a river in the Scottish Highlands has been approved after a reporter decided that it would not adversely affect a fish farm. The salmon hatchery used water abstracted from the river on which the...

DC Casebook: Gypsies and travellers - Flood risk threat thwarts site retention.(Brief article)
January 9, 2009... An inspector has upheld an enforcement notice and rejected an appeal for a Gypsy family to stay on a site in Nottinghamshire after finding that flood risk makes continued occupation unsafe. A small portion of the site lay in flood zone 3 as...

DC Casebook: Housing: New build - Boost to site allows homes in green belt.
January 9, 2009... A proposal for 14 dwellings in the Nottinghamshire green belt has been approved after an inspector considered that the development would involve limited infilling and thus not be inappropriate to the site's location. The site contained two...

DC Casebook: Housing: New build - Homes exempt from affordability quota.
January 9, 2009... The redevelopment of a building in Kent to form six flats and conversion of an outbuilding to a dwelling have been allowed after an inspector found that affordable housing need not be provided. The council's supplementary planning guidance...

DC Casebook: Housing: New build - Site layout and density judged acceptable.
January 9, 2009... A council's objection to a development of 40 homes on Humberside has been overruled by an inspector who decided that the scheme would not harm the character of the area. As with most development in the area, the homes would be sited either...

DC Casebook: Householder Development - Effectiveness of noise bund questioned.(Brief article)
January 9, 2009... The construction of four noise attenuation bunds alongside the M4 in the Surrey green belt has been rejected after an inspector questioned whether they would be effective and ruled that they would undermine the area's openness. The scheme...

DC Casebook: Leisure and Entertainment - Golf range fence held essential for safety.
January 9, 2009... The provision of a 15m-high fence has been allowed at a golf driving range in the Berkshire green belt despite an inspector's conclusion that it involves an inappropriate form of development. The driving range faced a main road and stray...

DC Casebook: Mineral Development - Extraction for track construction refused.
January 9, 2009... The temporary reopening of a limestone quarry in North Yorkshire for a farmer to improve tracks on his land has been rejected, with use of material from an existing facility found more acceptable. The appellant proposed to excavate an area...

DC Casebook: Mixed Use Development - Hospital scheme benefits held overriding.
January 9, 2009... The secretary of state has decided that permission should be given to develop almost 52ha of land at a former hospital in Lancashire after recovering an appeal for her own determination. The site comprised the larger part of a former mental...

DC Casebook: Mixed Use Development - Employment zoning blocks retail element.(Brief article)
January 9, 2009... A mixed retail and business scheme in Kent has been turned down by the secretary of state after a call-in inquiry inspector recommended that the site be retained entirely for employment uses. The proposal comprised 5,167m2 of retail floor...

DC Casebook: Retail Development - Costs awarded on local store opposition.
January 9, 2009... In allowing an appeal for a south Wales Tesco convenience store, an inspector has awarded costs to the appellants after finding that the council had acted unreasonably in refusing permission. The scheme entailed demolition of a car showroom...

DC Casebook: Retail Development - Retail park unit size restriction endorsed.
January 9, 2009... An inspector has refused to vary a condition imposed on a retail park unit on the Isle of Wight after concluding that it might undermine the vitality of a town centre. The condition required that no retail unit on the park should be less...

DC Casebook: Next Week.
January 9, 2009... Revised order renders notice pointless An inspector has concluded that an enforcement notice directed against dormer windows at a house in Sussex serves no useful planning purpose because they would be permitted development under revised...

DC Casebook: In depth - Flats backed near nightclub after noise control measures approved.
January 9, 2009... Twelve student apartments and two commercial units have been allowed adjacent to a Bristol nightclub after an inspector found that noise attenuation measures would protect the living conditions of future residents. The appellants proposed...

DC Casebook: Energy Development - Landscape harm trumps turbine case.(Brief article)
January 9, 2009... An inspector has rejected proposals for nine wind turbines in south Wales, finding that landscape and visual harm would not be justified by the scheme's renewable energy generation benefits. The turbines would have a hub height of 70m and...

DC Casebook: Gypsies and Travellers - Circus site need outweighed by impact.
January 9, 2009... An inspector has decided that a travelling circus's need for winter quarters does not outweigh harm to the character and appearance of a special landscape area in Kent. The inspector noted that Circular 04/2007 has replaced Circular 22/91...

DC Casebook: Housing New Build - Pub reprieved on community grounds.
January 9, 2009... An inspector has rejected plans to redevelop a pub in Oxfordshire with three houses after finding that it provided community facilities not available at the other pub in the village. The other pub, defined by the appellants as a gastropub,...

DC Casebook: Mixed Use Development - Precedent fears rule out tall building.
January 9, 2009... A mixed scheme in a Kent town centre has been judged excessively harmful and likely to create an undesirable precedent for further tall buildings in the area. The scheme comprised 337 flats and four shops in two buildings between seven and...

DC Casebook: DC Casebook - DC Forum.(General Permitted Development Order 1995)
January 9, 2009... NEW QUERIES Regarding class E.1(b), part 1, schedule 2 of the revised General Permitted Development Order 1995, does Planning Portal advice using the phrase 'no outbuilding forward of the principal elevation fronting a highway' contradict...

How we did it ... Wembley sets waste on cleaner vacuum course.(Wembley City development)
January 9, 2009... PROJECT: Underground waste system at Wembley City, north London. BACKGROUND: The Wembley City development is one of the largest urban regeneration projects in Europe, aiming to transform the area into a world-class destination. WHO IS...

The things I know - Ben Garbett, Charles Russell Solicitors.
January 9, 2009... Ben Garbett, Partner and head of planning, Charles Russell Solicitors. - Where did you study planning? I completed courses in property and planning as part of my legal training and I became a full-time planning law specialist soon...

Rocks and hard places.
January 9, 2009... Despite the current downturn, economic resilience and job creation can still be pursued without setting aside vital planning objectives for sustainable development, Liane Hartley argues. Planners face an unenviable dilemma in the present...

Transport pace-setter.
January 9, 2009... MVA Consultancy chief executive Nigel Ash believes that the transport planning sector will continue to thrive and his firm expand despite the worldwide slowdown, Vicki Shiel reports. The economic downturn has done nothing to dampen the...

Borrowing trend misses chance to construct a recession legacy.(Brief article)
January 9, 2009... Senior Anglican clerics are not alone in expressing grave misgivings about the government's response to the recession. Alongside a public spending splurge that would make Caligula blanch, Whitehall is propping up a discredited banking...

Fyson on ... the crucial role for planning strategies.(Viewpoint essay)
January 9, 2009... The crucial role for planning strategies in kick-starting government's infrastructure salvation. Financial pundits are said to be suffering pangs of conscience because they may have helped to talk the world economy into recession...

Halman on ... Manchester's toll quandary.(Brief article)
January 9, 2009... Few things have divided the Manchester city-region as much as plans for a congestion charge. It looked like a tempting offer - a pounds 5 per day peak-hour toll would secure pounds 2.8 billion of public transport investment. What's more,...

Legal Report - Claimants struggle with meaning of promptness.(Andrew Finn-Kelcey is a member of Bucks Lacks Enough Wind case against Milton Keynes Council )
January 9, 2009... Last October's Court of Appeal ruling in Finn-Kelcey v Milton Keynes Council and MK Windfarm Ltd [2008] has reopened the old chestnut of the time limit for issuing judicial review proceedings. The court rules provide that claim forms must...

Skill push gains impetus.
January 9, 2009... Ministers have recognised the need to plug the skills gap in response to a select committee report but still have some way to go to sell planning as a career, Domenic Donatantonio finds. The government has provided some promising solutions...

Key projects set for framework debate.(Brief article)
January 9, 2009... Scotland's second national planning framework (NPF) is expected to be finalised in the spring after ministers put their development proposals before parliament. MSPs have until next month to respond to the document, which lists 12 projects...

Agreements' role stressed.
January 9, 2009... Proposed guidance on use of planning agreements has been issued by the Scottish Government to make the process more transparent. The draft circular, which is out for consultation, stresses the need to identify the requirement for agreements...

Community agreed at Cairngorm estate.(Rothiemurchus estate )(Brief article)
January 9, 2009... A masterplan for a settlement near Aviemore in the Highlands has been agreed by local authority planners. Land on the Rothiemurchus estate is earmarked for a community of up to 1,500 homes in the Cairngorms National Park Authority's local...

Online now ..
January 9, 2009... Visit PlanningResource.co.uk today for a look ahead at what's in store for the sector in 2009 Interview with Conservative shadow housing minister Grant Shapps Also online Second opinion on Charnwood in Leicestershire. --------------------...

Planning Stats.(Brief article)(Statistical data)
January 9, 2009... Pounds 72 million - Proposed investment from the London Development Agency to cut carbon dioxide emissions in the capital by 1.5 million tonnes over the next four years. Pounds 100,000 - Money from DEFRA for Hull and Leeds City Councils to...

Practice wins court assent.(CSJ Brooke Smith has secured approval for an pounds 80 million magistrates' court building )(Brief article)
January 9, 2009... CSJ Brooke Smith has secured approval for an pounds 80 million magistrates' court building close to the centre of Birmingham. The city-based practice worked with architects Denton Corker Marshall on the proposals for HM Courts Service. The...

Turley seals colliery plan.
January 9, 2009... Turley Associates has advised on proposals for a shopping and neighbourhood centre at a key regeneration site in the Dearne Valley, South Yorkshire. The scheme for discount retailer Aldi, which secured permission before Christmas, is...

David Lock secures Northampton work.
January 9, 2009... David Lock Associates (DLA) has won a design contest run by the West Northamptonshire Development Corporation to draft a masterplan for Northampton's waterside. The planning and urban design consultancy has been appointed to develop a...

Nathaniel Lichfield to prepare city business growth strategy.
January 9, 2009... Nathaniel Lichfield and Partners (NLP) is examining Manchester's need for employment space as the city seeks to prepare for the economic upturn. The study for Manchester City Council will evaluate the quality of existing land and premises...

Telford picks project team.(team of consultants has been appointed by regeneration company Transforming Telford )(Brief article)
January 9, 2009... A team of consultants has been appointed by regeneration company Transforming Telford to draw up plans to create a mixed-use quarter in the heart of the town. Barton Willmore will provide architectural and planning advice while WSP is to...

Park aims for quality guide.(Brief article)
January 9, 2009... TEP has been appointed by the Mersey Partnership to produce a handbook of quality standards for open spaces in the Mersey waterfront regional park. The park extends along 160km of coastline including the Dee and Mersey Estuaries and the...

Tube wrangle stalls project.
January 9, 2009... The planned pounds 1.5 billion regeneration of Elephant and Castle in south London has been delayed after negotiations with Transport for London (TfL) stalled. Developers Lend Lease and the London Borough of Southwark have put off signing...

City sets sights on increased core size.
January 9, 2009... Central Birmingham could grow by up to tenfold as part of Birmingham City Council's Big City Plan, which was issued late last year. A consultation document proposes expanding the city centre from 80ha to 800ha because the council believes...

Resort eyes museum bid.
January 9, 2009... The Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum is in talks with Blackpool Council to open an exhibition centre in the northern coastal resort. The council and its regeneration company ReBlackpool are looking at ways to reinvent the resort after it...

Colliery area plan lined up.(Brief article)
January 9, 2009... Four of Northumberland's most depressed coalfield villages are set for a revamp as part of a pounds 25 million regeneration plan. The neighbouring communities of Cresswell, Ellington, Lynemouth and Linton - collectively known as the CELL...

Ealing arcadia tower project wins backing.(Developers Glenkerrin contracts with Ealing Arcadia )(Brief article)
January 9, 2009... The pounds 500 million Ealing Arcadia scheme has won planning consent. Developers Glenkerrin will build 567 flats over 24 storeys at the 1.2ha site, which includes Ealing tube and train stations. More than 18,000m2 of retail space will...

Adonis takes up rail-air hub.
January 9, 2009... The government could build an international rail interchange at Heathrow Airport as well as a third runway, transport minister Lord Adonis has said. Adonis told The Sunday Times that plans for a pounds 4.5 billion Heathrow hub are...

Parking levy idea mooted in light of road toll defeat.
January 9, 2009... Workplace parking levies will be favoured over congestion charging by councils bidding for government funding, a sustainable transport expert has claimed. Campaign for Better Transport executive director Stephen Joseph believes that the...

Government's bypass approval ends woodland retention fight.(Weymouth relief road)(Brief article)
January 9, 2009... Environmental campaigners have admitted defeat in their battle to prevent a relief road through the Dorset countryside after the government approved the scheme. Ministers endorsed more than pounds 79 million for the Weymouth relief road,...

Group agrees station cash.(Brief article)
January 9, 2009... Work on Crossrail's Isle of Dogs station at Canary Wharf is set to begin early this year after pounds 150 million of funding was confirmed. Canary Wharf Group agreed its contribution with transport secretary Geoff Hoon and Cross London...

DCLG revises climate help.(Department for Communities and Local Government)(Brief article)
January 9, 2009... The DCLG has joined forces with the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) and the Planning Advisory Service to offer fresh guidance on planning and climate change. Updated information on local renewable energy, community power and...

Park calls for housing sites.
January 9, 2009... The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority has asked landowners to put forward sites that could help ease affordable housing demand. Landowners should submit sites by 27 February, after which the public will have six weeks to comment. A...

Stance urged on flood risk.(Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management)(Brief article)
January 9, 2009... The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) has urged a presumption against development near flood plains or eroding coasts. The institution wants planning guidance to require that maps delineating the 'blue'...

King demands firm zero carbon criteria.(Brief article)
January 9, 2009... The head of the UK Green Building Council has urged ministers to drop plans to let developers meet zero carbon targets by raising the energy efficiency of nearby homes. Speaking exclusively to Planning, Paul King said the DCLG's...

Scottish Government launches sustainable schools initiative.
January 9, 2009... The Scottish Government has unveiled a series of measures to make schools more environmentally friendly. Councils are to be offered design training to ensure that new schools fulfil sustainability criteria and contribute to Scotland's...

Grant award set for Gypsy site upgrade.(Brief article)
January 9, 2009... More than pounds 21 million of government cash is being ploughed into 43 authorised UK Gypsy and traveller sites, including six new ones. The Gypsy and traveller sites grant funding, announced just before Christmas, will support...

Data reveals top research.(Brief article)
January 9, 2009... A league table ranking university planning schools for the quality of their research has placed the University of Cambridge top. Cambridge's department of land economy beat the University of Sheffield into second place, with Cardiff...

Application target refusal fear confirmed.
January 9, 2009... More applications are being rejected as a result of planning performance targets for local authorities, a National Audit Office (NAO) investigation has found. Its report on planning for homes, published just before Christmas, shows that...

Agenda.(Brief article)(Calendar)
January 9, 2009... 15 January: Digital Cities - Virtual Tools for Creating Our Built Environment Organiser: Building Centre Venue: London Fee: pounds 129-pounds 249 + VAT Details: 020 7692 4000 19 January: Planning Act 2008 - What We Need to Know for...

Three-year London Plan review begins.(Brief article)
January 9, 2009... A full review of the London Plan, announced just before Christmas, will take three years but is unlikely to lead to substantially different policies, experts believe. Mayor Boris Johnson said he preferred a full review to making successive...

Sector sees honours wins.(Town and Country Planning Association chief executive Gideon Amos was awarded an OBE)(Brief article)
January 9, 2009... A number of key planning and housing sector figures have been recognised in the new year honours list. RTPI secretary-general Robert Upton and DCLG director-general of housing and planning Richard McCarthy both received CBEs. Town and...

Scotland closes on faster appeal target.(Brief article)
January 9, 2009... The Scottish Government is on track to determine more than half of all written appeals within 12 weeks by April, it has said. The commitment follows a sharp rise in the number of appeals processed by the Directorate for Planning and...