Planning (UK) articles from March 2002

Planning (UK) archives from March 2002

Development scandal heard in High Court.(Doncaster, England, bribery case)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... A developer accused of passing cash and gifts to councillors was the "spider at the centre of a web of bribery", the High Court heard this week. Alan Hughes is accused of paying three members of Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council in...

Institute calls for planners' pay rise.(Royal Town Planning Institute)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The government must take immediate action against the "stagnant and low level" of planners' pay across the country, the RTPI demanded this week. The move follows groundbreaking research on behalf of the DTLR by Amp Economics and Planning...

Wobble-free pedestrian bridge reopens.(London, England's Millennium Bridge)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Norman Foster's wobbly Millennium Bridge, which closed just three days after opening when pedestrians complained of feeling seasick, reopened last week. Designed to be a "blade of light" directly linking St Paul's Cathedral with London's...

Deal over peat moors set to benefit nature.(peat cutting regulation data)
March 1, 2002... The government has brokered a multi-million deal this week to stop peat-cutting at three sites in the north of England. Under the landmark agreement, the American peat extraction company Scotts has agreed the early handover of 1,526ha of...

Low pay causes staff crisis, says study. (News).(Income Data Services survey)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Local authorities are struggling to attract and keep planning staff because of low salaries, according to the results of a survey published last week. The survey, compiled by researchers Income Data Services, show that some starting...

London mayor confirms controversial traffic fee. (News).(Ken Livingstone confirms London congestion solution)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... London mayor Ken Livingstone confirmed this week that his congestion charging proposals for central London will go ahead next year. Environmental and sustainable transport pressure groups welcomed Livingstone's announcement, but he was...

Foster calls it a day in Northern Ireland. (News).(environment minister Sam Foster)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Northern Ireland environment minister Sam Foster has unexpectedly resigned from his position because he feels too old. Foster said the time was right to hand the ministerial reins over to a younger man. Foster turned 70 before Christmas and...

Scheme aims to kick-start town's centre. (News).
March 1, 2002... An expanded shopping area is among proposals unveiled last week to kick-start the regeneration of Stevenage town centre. A regeneration strategy outlining a street linking the town's leisure centre, Westgate shopping centre and town square...

Amos calls for wide strategy for shortfall. (News).(Gideon Amos)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... An emerging housing crisis will only be avoided by a broad campaign to tackle the increasing annual shortfall in new homes, according to the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA). Speaking at the association's conference this week on...

Welsh snow dome set to boost jobs. (News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... A 150 million [pounds sterling] indoor ski-dome is being planned for a disused quarry on the fringes of the Snowdonia national park. The 55m high dome, half of which will be below ground level, will create a "snow-making ecosystem" for...

Counties seek joint work with districts. (News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... County councils are proposing that development frameworks for two-tier areas should be drawn up jointly by themselves and district councils. An alternative planning green paper issued last week by the County Councils Network (CNN), the...

Wigan unveils dramatic pier quarter plans. (News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... A plan to transform the area around Wigan Pier is being unveiled this week by Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council and heritage experts. The plan aims to regenerate an area which includes several semi-derelict mill buildings and industrial...

UK Atomic Energy Authority.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) is set to develop 16,000[m.sup.2] of commercial space at Winfrith Technology Centre in Dorset. Planning approval was [Text unreadable in original source.] week to build on a 5ha area of the site to attract...

The London Borough of Hackney.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The London Borough of Hackney has scrapped plans to redevelop the square in front of Hackney Town Hall after public opposition (Planning, 22 February, p5). The scheme to replace the square's grade II listed flower beds with paving has been...

The Port of London Authority.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The Port of London Authority (PLA) has called for a review of the marine consents procedure to help the expansion of UK container ports. Speaking at a DTLR conference last week, PLA chief executive Steve Cuthbert said the procedures are too...

A report on the benefits of devolution In Wales was published this week by the Campaign for the English Regions (CFER).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... A report on the benefits of devolution In Wales was published this week by the Campaign for the English Regions (CFER). Devolution Dividend summarises 21 major differences between England and Wales resulting from decisions made by the Welsh...

First minister Rhodri Morgan stepped down from his role as minister of economic development this week.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... First minister Rhodri Morgan stepped down from his role as minister of economic development this week in a mini-cabinet reshuffle at the Welsh Assembly. Morgan has given up the post to concentrate on leading the government and co-ordinating the...

A range of degree courses has been launched by the department of land economy at the University of Aberdeen.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... A range of degree courses has been lunched by the department of land economy at the University of Aberdeen. The six courses, which start in September, include MAs in coastal management, planning and development, sustainable development and...

A major refurbishment of a shopping centre in Winsford is set to go ahead after Vale Royal Borough Council granted planning permission.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... A major refurbishment of a shopping centre in Winsford is set to go ahead after Vale Royal Borough Council granted planning permission. The Winsford Cross proposals include a 3 million [pounds sterling] multi-storey car park, extra retail space...

Local authorities and partnerships have been urged to apply for the latest round of lottery money through the Heritage Lottery Fund's townscape heritage initiative.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Local authorities and partnerships have been urged to apply for the latest round of lottery money through the Heritage Lottery Fund's townscape heritage initiative. More than 15 million [pounds sterling] of lottery money is on offer for...

Chris Brown has stepped down as chairman of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors' regeneration policy panel.(Nigel Smith named as replacement)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Chris Brown has stepped down as chairman of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors' regeneration policy panel. He is succeeded by Hewdon Consulting principal Nigel Smith, who left his position as acting chief executive at the Leicester...

Green light for first Dublin skyscraper. (News).(Dunloe Ewart receives planning approval for building)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... A property development company has been given the planning go-ahead for a landmark skyscraper in Dublin which will be Ireland's tallest building. At a height of 96 metres -- almost twice the size of Dublin's Liberty Hall, currently the...

Transport body pitches for congestion charges. (News).(Commission for Integrated Transport proposes tolls on busiest roads)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... A plan to make motorists pay for driving on congested roads has been unveiled by the Commission for Integrated Transport. The plan, outlined in a report published this week, proposes to charge motorists when they are using the busiest roads...

Trust opposes Irish castle step change. (News).(Irish National Trust against Michael Flatley's plans to alter Castle Hyde)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... An Taisce, the Irish National Trust, has locked horns with former Riverdance star Michael Flatley over his plans to make changes to the steps of his newly-acquired castle. The dancer, whose flashing feet helped turn the Irish show into a...

Greenwich set to boost jobs and housing. (News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The London Borough of Greenwich this week promised to provide thousands of jobs and homes over the next eight years as part of a new community strategy. By 2010 the council aims to build 10,000 homes, of which at least 25 per cent will be...

Greens back cuts to rural development. (News).(Nuneaton, Bedworth Council cut allocation of green belt land for development)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Severe cuts in the allocation of green belt land for development, announced last week by Nuneaton and Bedworth Council, have won the support of environmental campaigners. The Council for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) has welcomed...

Study to probe town's future. (Regeneration News).(Weston-super-Mare, England)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The future development of Weston-super-Mare is to be investigated in a study launched last week. The study, launched by North Somerset Council and the South West of England Regional Development Agency, will look at the agenda for the...

Prince influences new urban village. (Regeneration News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Plans for a model urban village on the site of a derelict railway goods yard in Cornwall were unveiled last week. The scheme at St Austell is similar in concept to Poundbury in Dorset, which was inspired by the Prince of Wales's vision of...

Belfast holds renewal talks. (Regeneration News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Regeneration experts from government and key local decision-makers gathered this week to brainstorm ideas for the future of urban design in Belfast. The workshop, organised by the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment...

The Derby City Partnership.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The Derby City Partnership is to get 7.3 million [pounds sterling] of European funding for a major regeneration package. Industry minister Brian Wilson said last week that the money would help deliver a programme of strategic investment and...

Newcastle City Council.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Newcastle City Council will prepare a masterplan for the regeneration of the city's East End with the help of consortium Places for People. Over the next 15 years the consortium, along with community representatives and the city council, will...

A plan aimed at boosting the economy of the Western Isles was unveiled last week.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... A plan aimed at boosting the economy of the Western Isles was unveiled last week. The Western Isles Council, in partnership with other public agencies including Lews Castle College, National Health Western Isles and Highlands and Islands...

The National House Building Council.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The National House Building Council is backing research into developing contaminated brownfield land for house builders. The research will look at the design of cover systems, where a layer of soil is put over contaminated land, as the basis...

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) presented draft legislation for stamp duty exemption in disadvantaged areas to the Inland Revenue last week. The government intends to either significantly raise or abolish the 150,000 [pounds...

Residents of a Lambeth housing estate are leading a campaign to stop the borough selling off their homes.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Residents of a Lambeth housing estate are leading a campaign to stop the borough selling off their homes. Campaigners on the Ethelred estate claim that Lambeth's new unitary development plan signals another attempt to demolish the estate and...

The British Urban Regeneration Association (BURA).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The British Urban Regeneration Association (BURA) is calling for examples of outstanding regeneration to be put forward for its best practice in regeneration awards for 2002. Nominations for the awards, sponsored for the second consecutive year...

A shortlist of seven developers was announced this week for the first residential development site to be released as part of Edinburgh's 14.5ha mixed-use.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... A shortlist of seven developers was announced this week for the first residential development site to be released as part of Edinburgh's 14.5ha mixed-use, high-density waterfront project. The shortlisted seven, which include Barrett East and...

Deal aims to counter opposition to rail. (Transport News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The Corporation of London has drawn up a compromise that aims to ensure that a row over a historic viaduct does not scupper plans for a new London Underground line. The Bishopgate Goods Yard in London's East End is earmarked as part of the...

Rural lobby blasts weak regional transport ideas. (Transport News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Regional transport strategies (RTS) and regional planning guidance are in danger of pulling in opposite directions and becoming nothing more than wish-lists, says a report published this week. Produced by the Council for the Protection of...

Agency slams national park port plans. (Transport News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The Countryside Agency last week explained its opposition to plans for a container port at Dibden Bay in Hampshire because of its proximity to the proposed New Forest national park. The agency told the inquiry into Associated British Ports'...

Rail areas will boost freight, report claims. (Transport News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Rail freight villages should be created as part of a strategy to boost regional freight capacity, according to a report published last week. The study, by the Commission for Integrated Transport, warns that unless freight can be moved more...

Study forgets prisoners in airport plans. (Transport News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The views of 3,000 prisoners in the Doncaster area were not considered in reports on the health impacts of night flights, the Finningley Airport public inquiry has heard. The inquiry marks the first time that a health impact assessment has...

Coal town poised for rubber stamp. (Scottish News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... East Lothian Council hopes that plans for an urban village on the site of a former opencast mine could be decided by the end of the year. Proposals by the Scottish Coal Company would see 1,500 houses, a hotel, a golf course, parkland and a...

Ministers move to set waste targets. (Scottish News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Scottish ministers are to amend the Environment Protection Act to allow them to set recycling and waste reduction targets for local authorities. The amendments will also place a duty on local authorities to have their own integrated waste...

Council seeks bids to renew Linnhe shores. (Scottish News).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Four consortia are being asked to submit detailed proposals for a public-private scheme to develop Fort William's neglected water-front. They have been chosen from eight groups which answered Highland Council's request for plans to enhance...

RPS Group.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... RPS Group has announced pre-tax profits of 13.95 million [pounds sterling] for the year ending 31 December 2001, up from 9.92 million [pounds sterling] the previous year. Chairman Brook Land said the company is looking for significant growth in...

JMP Consultants.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... JMP Consultants have been commissioned to study the impact of the proposed extension of the Docklands Light Railway to Woolwich town centre. The study will examine the effects on traffic between Woolwich and the Docklands area around Canary...

FPCR.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Consultants FPCR have been commissioned by Derby City Council to provide an environmental impact assessment for a 22.5 million [pounds sterling] integrated transport scheme. The scheme will remove traffic from the city centre, giving priority...

Stewart Ross Associates.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Stewart Ross, former head of regional research at Jones Lang LaSalle, has established the north of England's first independent property research consultancy. The company, Stewart Ross Associates, offers information, research and analytical...

Property and transportation consultancy Parkman.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Property and transportation consultancy Parkman has been selected by the London Borough of Havering as its partner to provide technical and surveying services. The five-year partnership will be managed by a joint team from Parkman and the...

Consultancy Rex Procter & Partners.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Consultancy Rex Procter & Partners has been commissioned by Taylor Woodrow to work on the 130 million [pounds sterling] Macintosh Village mixed-use scheme in Manchester. The eco-friendly scheme includes 710 homes and 3,500[m.sup.2] of...

Halcrow.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Halcrow has been commissioned by Peterborough City Council to carry out a feasibility study for the Cromwell Road complex in the Gladstone area of the city. The study will advise on the options for redeveloping the site by producing outline...

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead.(contracted EPR Architects to design civic quarter, United Kingdom)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead has appointed EPR Architects to design Maidenhead's civic quarter, which will feature a town square, council offices, housing, shops and offices. Eight submissions were put to a public vote, with 51...

JourneyPlan, a Scottish company.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2002... JourneyPlan, a Scottish company specialising in the design and development of online travel data, is preparing to launch the world's first palmtop public transport planner. The planner will give palm computer users access to a single source of...

The UK planning internet planning portal.(website details)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The UK Planning internet planning portal has been relaunched. The service, which will be demonstrated at a series of roadshows this month, is being touted as the only internet access point in the UK that is available to every local authority...

A powerful and pivotal role: the government's energy review acknowledges that the planning system is pivotal to a successful outcome. (Analysis).
March 1, 2002... Three years ago I asked a senior planner from a county planning department in the Midlands why his latest structure plan contained no policies on renewable energy. He responded that the policy team had given the matter some consideration,...

Highlighting a need for more staff and cash: new research has confirmed that the planning system needs a hefty boost in resources. But just how hefty? (Analysis).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Overworked, fed-up council planners who think their jobs are seriously under-funded will be pleased to know that researchers appointed by the DTLR agree. They will also be pleased to hear that the researchers think that unitary and district...

Salter on ... the wolves in sheep's clothing.(Column)
March 1, 2002... Graffiti, once the preserve of an urban underclass, has gone decidedly mainstream. In a recent campaign, clothing company Boxfresh, renowned for its understated city chic, adopted what it rather demurely called "stencil art" as the medium for...

Fyson on ... architecture prizes, surprises and puzzlement. (Opinion).(Column)
March 1, 2002... February must have been an odd month to be an architect, especially an aspiring young one. First your professional institute awards its most prestigious prize, the Royal Gold Medal, to a bunch of entertaining but now elderly cartoonists who, as...

Planners are too bogged down in trivia. (Letters).
March 1, 2002... So the planning system is Creaking and the planning green paper acknowledges that it is under-resourced to do its job properly. After a few years in private practice, following a long career in local government planning, what becomes very...

Can we afford to cull planning expertise? (Letters).
March 1, 2002... There seems to be general agreement that trained planners are in short supply. Recruitment and retention of new planners is difficult and morale among many existing planners is low. The planning green paper acknowledges these difficulties and...

Finding solutions to low pay and morale. (Letters).
March 1, 2002... Paul Taylor suggests (Planning, 4 January, p13) that local authorities will struggle to perform in the way the government and the private sector want them to until the low status and low pay of planners is addressed. He is right. ...

Legal challenge to plan is not a first. (Letters).
March 1, 2002... Your article "Scottish plan faces a legal precedent" (Planning, 15 February, p3) is incorrect when it states that Homes For Scotland's legal challenge to the North East Scotland Together (NEST) structure plan is the "first-ever" legal challenge...

Beard index is a ray of hope for planners.
March 1, 2002... May I endorse Andrew Taylor's assertion (Planning, 8 February, p11) that the Planning beard , index offers a ray of hope for the profession? My own trawl of the the issue yielded only The Edge from U2 and a mole, neither of whom, I suspect, are...

We need a debate on English regions. (Letters).(Letter to the Editor)
March 1, 2002... In the light of the current debate on the planning green paper and in particular the seemingly inexorable drift towards regional planning, I am somewhat surprised that no-one seems to have commented on the apparently built-in assumption that...

Eight-week deadline should be shorter. (Letters).
March 1, 2002... Thank you for articles like "Jack's trade secrets" (Planning, 15 February, p15) giving voice to the way forward in the management of development control. Don't worry, Jack, you don't stand alone in thinking householder applications should...

11 September lesson hasn't been learned. (Letters).(Letter to the Editor)
March 1, 2002... "Design chiefs welcome new skyscraper", said the heading on your item (Planning, 1 February, p4), which went on to inform us that the London Bridge Tower would be the tallest building in England. Did we learn nothing on 11 September and since?...

Proposal to unblock roads needs debate. (Editorial).(Brief Article)(Editorial)
March 1, 2002... There is some irony that radical proposals to unblock Britain's roads arrived in the same week that the DTLR was once again paralysed as an effective government department. Whatever the truth behind Stephen "beleaguered" Byers' handling of the...

Fashion house ideas: Wayne and Gerardine Hemingway say children should be able to play in the street outside their homes and traffic should be restricted to 10mph. (Interview).
March 1, 2002... When fashion designers Wayne and Gerardine Hemingway launched an onslaught on "the Wimpeyfication of Britain" in the national press, the last thing they expected was a job offer from Wimpey Homes. But a year on, the couple that founded...

`Can do' champions of forgotten towns: new priorities, delivery and funding mechanisms for regeneration [Text unreadable in original source.] have major implications for planning services.
March 1, 2002... Major changes, as fundamental as any over the past 20 years, are in prospect in the way regeneration initiatives are delivered. Planners will need to reposition themselves within these new structures. These changes are happening at a time...

Fulfilling an empty promise: the shortage of affordable homes is as big an issue as health, education and transport. Strategies to bring empty homes into use could help solve the crisis.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... There is a housing crisis in this country. This is a truism that is almost pointless writing, but what is curious is the varying characteristics of the crisis. Because, at its sharpest ends, we have gross over-supply in some parts of the...

Store extension looks set to go ahead in retail park.(Marks and Spencer PLC facility expansion in Wales)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The National Assembly for Wales has announced that it is minded to approve an extension to the existing Marks & Spencer store at the Culverhouse Cross retail park on the fringes of Cardiff, despite an inspector's recommendation that planning...

Housing scheme denied on disused campus site.(Miller Homes Ltd housing proposal data)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... A reporter has rejected various proposals by Miller Homes (Scotland East) Ltd for a site formerly used for student accommodation associated with the University of Edinburgh. The proposals involved developing 155 housing units by converting...

Leave granted to challenge decision on house extension enforcement notice. (Court cases).(court cases details)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The High Court has granted leave for a householder to challenge an inspector's decision upholding an enforcement notice directed at an extension to his three-storey property in London. The dispute focused on a roof extension which, the owner...

Full challenge against planning permissions on urban regeneration sites allowed. (Court cases).(real estate court cases details)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The High Court has granted permission for Terrafirma Properties Ltd to mount a full hearing into four planning permissions granted by Manchester City Council on land which was subject to compulsory purchase order proceedings (Planning, 22...

Council granted injunction to obtain removal of unauthorised gypsy encampment. (Court cases).(Cotswold District Council, United Kingdom)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Cotswold District Council has obtained an injunction from the High Court requiring the removal of an unauthorised gypsy site. The council argued that the development had led to significant environmental damage as a result of gypsies stationing...

Plans by bicycle manufacturer for new factory to be scrutinised in court. (Court cases).(Raleigh Industries Ltd.)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... Plans by leading bicycle manufacturer Raleigh Industries Ltd to construct a factory in Nottingham are to be subject to the full scrutiny of the courts. The city council had granted planning permission for a replacement factory after the...

Alleged garden site to be subject to full court hearing. (Court cases).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The owner of a site in Slough has been granted leave to challenge an inspector's decision regarding its lawful status. The owner argued that the site formed part of his garden, because it was connected by a narrow strip of land to his dwelling....

Advertising at motorway service areas held to detract from rural setting. (Advertisements).(Roadchef Motorways Ltd.)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... An advertisement appeals officer has complied with an environmental approach laid down by the secretary of state in granting permission for advertisements at two motorway service areas on opposite sides of the M3 near Winchester. In...

Wildlife pond at farm rejected on basis that it would be an alien feature in the landscape. (Agricultural Development).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... The construction of a 590[m.sup.2] pond with a maximum depth of 1.5m at a farm near Harrogate in North Yorkshire has been dismissed after it was described by an inspector as "a completely alien feature in the landscape". The inspector...

Auction business run from agricultural building found to be unsustainable. (Commercial and Industrial).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... An inspector has upheld an enforcement notice requiring cessation of an auction business run from an "agricultural" building erected in 1999 at a site in Oxfordshire. The inspector found that local plan policy was consistent with...

Centre refused on basis that homeless people congregating outside would deter shoppers. (Community Facilitites).(North Wales Housing Association)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... North Wales Housing Association has failed to secure permission for the change of use of a former shop in Bangor High Street to a housing resource centre. The appellant argued that there was a need for the facility, which would be used by...

Immediate need for replacement surgery found to justify development on farmland outside village. (Community Facilitites).(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... A 285[m.sup.2] doctors' surgery has been approved at a village near Farnham, Surrey, because of the need for improved patient care. The inspector accepted the appellant's argument that the existing 90[m.sup.2] surgery was too small for a...

Drive-through restaurant allowed despite lack of agreed methodology for assessing need. (Food and Drink).(Kentucky Fried Chicken Corp.)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2002... A proposal for a drive-through restaurant, to be potentially occupied by KFC, has been allowed on a site adjacent to a Booker cash-and-carry store in Paignton after an inspector accepted that the development should be subject to an assessment...