Councils have been urged to consolidate their planning, housing and regeneration teams as local authorities gear-up to help deliver more housing.
That is one of the key recommendations of a joint report by the Local Government Information Unit (LGiU) and the Mears Group.
The report also recommended that housing deals should be embedded in any proposals for City Deals, new mayoral arrangements, combined authorities or other district/county growth Deals.
Also highlighted was the need for the government to consider further incentives for house building by expanding the New Homes Bonus scheme. The report stressed house building incentives should be central to the administration’s plans to extend the Right to Buy regime.
The report states: “Recent estimates suggest that we need to build between 243,000 and 280,000 houses a year just to meet current demand. This is a huge challenge that will require innovation, new partnerships and investment.
“Councils will have a big part to play in helping to plug the gap, and they are keen to start building again. There is political will for them to do so and the public feels that government should improve access to housing.
“But they will need to approach their role in a more creative way. Our research suggests there are pockets of innovation and some impressive examples of councils showing leadership, confidence and vision, but it is not widespread across the sector.”
Roger Milne
Please note: The Planning Portal is a member of the Mears Group Plc
Four men, three of whom are brothers, have been disqualified for 14 years for being either company directors or being involved in company management after operating a land banking scam via a firm called Tullett Brown Ltd.
Barinua Carr Nwikpo, John Ekpobari Nwikpo and Daniel Nwikpo and Bradley Peter Ferry were all involved with the firm which was wound up by the Secretary of States for Business, Innovations and Skills in the public interest following an investigation by the Insolvency Service.
The company sold land at Cheadle near Manchester, Chailey in Sussex; Billericay in Essex; and Wraysbury in Surrey. The site in Cheadle was sold to investors on the hope that it would increase in value by being developed as part of the extension of the A555 Manchester Airport Link road. Tullett Brown bought this two- acre piece of land for £36,000 in September 2009, divided in to 28 plots and sold them to unsuspecting victims for a total of £289,000.
Stockport Council is now seeking to purchase the land for the building of the airport link road and have placed a value on the land of £30,000, which is less than Tullett Brown paid for it.
Tullett Brown charged its victims as much as £24,000 for a plot of land worth £590. The company received a total of £2,091,799 from 106 victims for land sales between June 2009 and July 2011.
None of the land sold by Tullett Brown was suitable for investment and the local authorities insisted the land would never receive planning permission for development.
Roger Milne
The fate of a multi-million pound road scheme in Hastings is back in the melting pot after the borough council quashed its planning permission following a legal challenge due to be heard in the High Court this week.
The local authority said it will reconsider SeaChange Sussex’s £15m Queensway Gateway project after conceding it made an error when approving the proposal in February.
SeaChange Sussex is a publicly-funded not-for-profit regeneration and development company in East Sussex.
The proposed road was designed to connect the B2092 with the A21 north of the town and provide improved access for a planned business park.
Local protestors had voiced concern over the impact of the road on a wildlife site and the likelihood of increased air pollution. The council was due in court for a judicial review hearing brought by local resident Gabriel Carlyle.
A council spokesman said the High Court had ruled the majority of Mr Carlyle’s arguments as “misconceived”.
But the spokesman added: “However, we do accept that the report which went to our planning committee in respect of the ‘Queensway Gateway’ road did not draw committee members’ attention to the policy regarding air quality. It should have done, and we apologise for this omission.
“We do not think that it is in the interests of local council tax payers for us to continue lengthy and potentially costly legal debate and so we have agreed to reconsider the scheme again at a further planning committee meeting.
“It would be inappropriate for us to make any further comment on the original planning report, or to speculate on what might happen in the future, at this time.”
View more information about the project
Roger Milne
D-day looms for Yorkshire potash mine
Proposals for a £1.7bn potash mine in Yorkshire are hanging in the balance this week. Planning officers from North York Moors National Park Authority (NYMNPA) have insisted its economic benefits do not outweigh the harm it would cause the designated area while three councils in the vicinity are supporting the project.
The NYMNPA planning committee is due to consider developer Sirius Metal’s planning application on 30 June. The company wants to mine near Whitby and build a 37 kilometre tunnel to a Teesside processing plant.
Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council has already approved part of the scheme. Ryedale District Council and Scarborough Borough Council have said they back the project because it has the potential to “transform” north Yorkshire’s economy.
The report to the national park planning committee argued that the proposals did not meet the “exceptional circumstances” required to justify the scheme given the environmental harm it posed.
View more information about the project
New home for Oxfordshire planning departments
South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Councils have announced that their new shared headquarters including the joint planning department will be open to the public from 29 June.
The councils’ departments started moving into 135 Eastern Avenue in Milton Park near Didcot recently and the last few teams are now settling in.
The councils have been looking for a new home since a fire destroyed their shared offices in Crowmarsh in January. Since the blaze, caused by an arsonist, staff moved into smaller temporary accommodation in Abingdon and Sandford-on-Thames while others worked from home.
New POS president announced
Stewart Murray, Assistant Director (Planning) with the Greater London Authority, has become the new President of the Planning Officers Society.
Welsh planning secondary legislation consultation
The Welsh Government has begun consulting on secondary legislation relating to new development management provisions in the planning (Wales) bill currently awaiting Royal Assent.
Involved are measures to do with invalid applications; notices and appeals; decision notices; notification of development; consultations in respect of certain applications for approval; appeals against a notice issued in respect of unsightly land post-submission amendments, and changes to applications made under section 73 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.
View more information about the bill
Planning statistics
Latest official statistics compiled for the Department for Communities and Local Government show that between January and March 2015, district-level planning authorities in England received 121,100 applications for planning permission, up one per cent from 119,400 in the corresponding quarter of 2014.
The figures showed they granted 83,300 out of 95,600 decisions, up seven per cent from the same quarter in 2014. This is equivalent to 87 per cent of decisions, down one percentage point from the same quarter of 2014.
The LPAs decided 75 per cent of major applications within 13 weeks or within the agreed time, down from 76 per cent a year earlier and made 17 per cent more residential decisions than in the March quarter 2014.
During the year ending March 2015 district-level LPAs granted 360,200 decisions, up three per cent from the figure for the year ending March 2014 and granted 88 per cent of decisions, unchanged from the previous year.
Of 8,500 applications reported for prior approval for permitted development rights during January to March 2015 some72 per cent related to larger householder extensions, with 10 per cent relating to applications for office to residential changes and nine per cent relating to agricultural to residential changes.
View the planning application statistics
HCA exceeds its target
A total of 179,170 homes of all tenures were completed through programmes run by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) during the 2011 to 2015 spending review period. Nearly 52,000 of those were delivered in the final year.
The agency’s anticipated contribution of affordable homes over that period was 123,000. However, HCA programmes delivered 134,526 homes, exceeding the target by over 11,000.
Developers back moves to help BIDs become neighbourhood forums
The British Property Federation (BPF) has pledged its support for government proposals that will make it easier for Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) to participate in business-led neighbourhood plans.
Allowing BIDs to become neighbourhood forums more easily would enable them to implement business-led neighbourhood plans like one approved recently in Milton Keynes.
Melanie Leech, chief executive of the BPF, said: “Businesses have a crucial part to play in the neighbourhood planning process, and it is for this reason that we would like to see steps taken to make it easier for them to participate in neighbourhood planning, to ensure that local businesses, as well as residents, get the opportunity to shape their area.”
Power line route proposed for North West England
The potential route for a power line project that will connect a proposed new nuclear power station in Cumbria to the National Grid has been unveiled.
National Grid has chosen a route that runs overland around the coast of Cumbria and under Morecambe Bay.
The chosen corridor will run from Harker substation near Carlisle, largely following the path of existing low voltage power lines around the Cumbrian coast to Moorside.
It will then head to the Furness peninsula where it will go under Morecambe Bay to emerge at Middleton substation near Heysham.
The company aims to submit an application to build the new connection in 2017 and if it is given the go-ahead, work is expected to start in 2019.
London round-up
- Company Cargiant has unveiled ambitions plans to turn its 20-hectare site at Old Oak Common in west London into a new £5bn neighbourhood with 9,000 homes, one-million square feet of offices and a cultural quarter but no provision for football club QPR’s aspiration for a new stadium. Old Oak Park is the capital’s Old Oak Common and Park Royal Opportunity Area.
- King’s College has withdrawn its controversial proposals to redevelop its Strand campus, which had been called in by Communities Secretary Greg Clark after being backed by Westminster City Council .“We have today withdrawn our plans and will consider alternative options” the university said in a statement.
- Housing and planning minister Brandon Lewis has called for the demolition and redevelopment of council estates across London in a move which he said would help boost the supply of new homes in the capital.
- A new Commission on Affordable Housing in London has been launched by the think tank IPPR. It will be chaired by Lord Kerslake, former head of the Civil Service, Permanent Secretary at the Department for Communities and Local Government and now chair of social housing provider Peabody It is due to report next March.
- Westminster City Council’s draft housing strategy includes proposals to partner with other local authorities and build homes outside the capital. Also proposed is a new requirement that 60 per cent of new housing developments should be affordable.
Rural rail link report
Countryside campaign group CPRE has published a report which uses a case-study about the re-opening of the line between Plymouth and Exeter to argue that reinstating rural lines closed in the Beeching era could help revitalise rural communities and provide greater resilience against the impact of climate change.
RIBA awards announced
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announce the winners of this year’s National Awards, billed as the most rigorous and prestigious awards for new buildings in the UK.
The shortlist for the coveted RIBA Stirling Prize for the UK’s best building of the year will be drawn from the 37 award-winning buildings named last week
Award winners include a beautifully-crafted wooden fishing hut on a small new estate in Hampshire; a modern malt whisky distillery inspired by the shape of a barley sheaf on Speyside; a patterned red-brick church centre and flats surrounding a listed church in Hackney and a modest and calm cancer care centre in Lanarkshire.
The architectural body insisted that the stand-out trend of this year’s awards was the prevalence of high quality new housing development.
Listed curiosities
Historic England has highlighted some 20 of the more unusual places given listed status this year. The list includes a lamp that burned fetid gas from Victorian sewers, a 1930s hairdressers’ shop, a Neolithic henge site in Yorkshire, part of Greenham Common, the focus of long-running anti-nuclear demonstrations.
View the list on the Historic England website
Palace of Westminster revamp options
Work to upgrade and restore the historic Grade 1 listed Houses of Parliament in central London is set to cost between £3.9bn and £5.9bn, according to an independent appraisal of options just published.
However, the report makes clear that, depending on how MPs and Peers decide to carry out the work and on the actual condition found when it starts, the bill could top £7bn.
The report sets out a range of options for renovating the entire Palace of Westminster complex which includes the famous debating chambers of the Commons and Lords, and three scenarios for delivering the project.
The report does not recommend a best option. A decision will be made by a joint committee made up from MPs and Peers which will assess the five preferred options presented in the report and make a recommendation to both Houses. A decision over which option to pursue is expected early next year.
View more information on the revamp
Fracking report ruling
The UK’s independent Information Commissioner has told the Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs it must release an un-redacted version of its Shale Gas Rural Economy Impacts report. This follows a formal complaint lodged by Greenpeace. Defra now has until the end of July to publish the report in full.
New South Shields transport hub
Proposals have been unveiled for a new transport interchange in South Shields as part of the £100m town centre regeneration scheme. The new-look transport interchange will include a combined new Metro and bus station to the south of Keppel Street.
The scheme has been developed in conjunction with Nexus, the public body which delivers local public transport on behalf of the North East Combined Authority, South Tyneside Council, and the developer, Muse Developments.
In a related but separate development Nexus has announced plans to invest £40m in modernising the Tyne and Wear Metro over the next 12 months. The work will focus on Metro track replacement, the refurbishment of Central Station and three Gateshead stations, improvements to accessibility and essential new technology.
Revised Woodstock master plan
Developers proposing a major new mixed-use housing-led development at Woodstock in Oxfordshire have reduced the amount of new housing but doubled the provision for employment activity.
A revised master plan for the scheme, drawn up by Blenheim Estate and Pye Homes has been submitted to Cherwell District Council and West Oxfordshire District Council, the two planning authorities involved.
Originally the scheme offered up to 1,500 new homes, a care village, a primary school, a local centre and some 7,500 square metres of employment floor space for a site on land owned by the Blenheim Palace estate to the east of Woodstock. The latest version of the project would provide 1,200 homes and 13,800 square metres of employment activity.
View more information on the Woodstock East website
Legal round-up
- Green power developer Broadview Energy has lost its High Court case challenging former Communities Secretary Eric Pickles’ decision to dismiss an appeal over a five-turbine wind farm in Northamptonshire against the advice of a planning inspector.
- The Supreme Court has refused permission for a challenge by campaigners over Suffolk Coastal District Council’s adopted core strategy, concluding that the courts below “were clearly right”, it has emerged.
- Monika Juneja, a former councilor at Guildford Borough Council who led on planning issues and who pleaded guilty to forging her qualifications and claiming to be a qualified barrister, has been sentenced to 14 months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years.
- The Court of Appeal has rejected developer Larkfleet Homes’ challenge over site allocation policies in the Uppingham Neighbourhood Plan.
- A tenant has launched a legal challenge over south London borough Lambeth Council’s plans to redevelop the Cressingham Gardens estate.
Roger Milne
Lancashire County Council planners have recommended that test fracking should be allowed at one of two sites on the Fylde coast.
This follows applications from energy company Cuadrilla to use fracking to extract shale gas at Little Plumpton and Roseacre Wood.
The application for Little Plumpton has been recommended for approval. Roseacre Wood has been recommended for refusal because of the impact on road safety caused by increased lorry traffic.
If approved it would be the first time a planning authority has backed an application to frack, drill and test flow the gas and the first fracking since tests near Blackpool in 2011 which caused small earth tremors.
In a separate but related development, the Environment Agency is consulting on environmental permits to allow Third Energy to carry out test-fracking at a site near the village of Kirby Misperton in Ryedale, North Yorkshire. A planning application is due to be submitted to the county council shortly.
Meanwhile, the government has denied that fracking applications will receive less environmental scrutiny from the public following proposals from the Environment Agency to introduce standardised testing for both conventional and unconventional oil and gas wells.
In a joint statement from the Department for Energy and Climate Change and the Environment Agency, the government insisted: “The process for operators to apply for a fracking permit has not changed. Any operator wanting to undertake fracking needs to apply for an environmental permit, conduct an environmental impact assessment and apply for planning permission. This is open to full public consultation.”
View the report on the Lancashire County Council website
Roger Milne
The Royal Town Planning Institute has written to the Chancellor arguing against any further cuts in local authority funding and urging an increase in planning fees.
The letter, sent in advance of Osborne’s promised July budget, highlighted that local authority planning and development services have experienced the largest cuts of any local government service area since 2010.
According to the Local Government Association, by 2015/16 core funding for local government will have been reduced by 40 per cent and further reductions are anticipated.
RTPI president Janet Askew said: “We have written to the Chancellor to impress upon him that in order for us to meet our national objectives increasing capacity in local authority planning teams is an urgent priority and cannot be avoided if the government expects to deliver on its ambitious programme.
“In his July budget, we are also calling for a national rise in planning fees in line with the rate of inflation as a short-term measure. There is further scope, we believe, for local authorities and developers to work together, for example through planning performance and pre-application agreements, to increase resourcing in specific areas.”
The letter acknowledged that planners are divided over whether planning fees should be set locally. However, the institute says it sees no harm in such a move “providing that authorities have adequate capacity to set them and could give assurances to applicants that they will receive a proportional service (in terms of fair decision making)”.
The RTPI said it saw scope for further formalising the cost of planning services to be funded by applicants through measures like pre-application charging and planning performance agreements.
Roger Milne
Welsh public service minister Leighton Andrews has published proposals for the future shape of local government in Wales which would mean the present 22 local authorities would be reduced to either eight or nine depending on what happens in North Wales.
His blueprint envisages the return of historic counties such as Dyfed and West Glamorgan. Dyfed would be brought back by re-merging Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion. West Glamorgan would return by joining Swansea once more with Neath Port Talbot.
Cardiff would merge with the Vale of Glamorgan, while a merger between Caerphilly, Torfaen, Blaenau Gwent, Newport and Monmouthshire would create Wales’ biggest council, with a population of nearly 600,000. Bridgend would join Rhondda Cynon Taf and Merthyr Tydfil.
The minister will consult further on whether to move to two or three councils in North Wales. In the eight-council model, Ynys Mon, Gwynedd and Conwy would merge, as would Denbighshire, Wrexham and Flintshire. The alternative would see Conwy and Denbighshire merging.
The minister insisted: “The case for fewer local authorities in Wales is compelling and widely accepted. We cannot afford to miss this opportunity to reform and reshape our councils to drive funding into improving frontline services. We will drive down the cost of politics and administration in local government.”
He added: “The case in North Wales is finely balanced between two or three local authorities. We therefore feel that there is a case for a further debate and would welcome views.”
Andrews signalled there would be a draft ‘Mergers and Reform’ bill in the autumn. This will include further, formal consultation on proposals for local authority mergers and include a Regulatory Impact Assessment.
Roger Milne
Wealden District Council has granted outline planning permission to developer Welbeck Strategic Land for a 1,000-home urban extension at the East Sussex country town of Uckfield.
The 90-hectare site at Ridgewood Farm to the west of the settlement had been identified in the council’s core strategy for residential development and 12,650 square metres of employment floor space.
The scheme includes a new neighbourhood with up to 1,000 homes in a mix of sizes and tenures and nearly 13,500 square metres of employment space.
The affordable housing provision in the scheme has been set at between 15 and 35 per cent but varied according to viability as the development is phased.
Existing farmhouse and brick buildings near the centre of the site would be converted under the plans to provide a local convenience shop, health facilities and a community meeting space. A one-form primary school, with potential to be expanded to two forms, has been proposed immediately to the south of the converted buildings.
The plans also include an area near the A22 for the provision of leisure facilities, with potential for use as a pub or restaurant. In order to mitigate the impact of the proposed development on the Ashdown Forest Special Protection Area, suitable alternative natural green space, in the form of a 29-hectare recreation area, has been proposed to the west of the A22.
View more information about the development
Roger Milne
New local bodies called ‘Local Place Partnerships’ (LPPs) led by local authorities should be established to ensure new housing and infrastructure is provided, think tank ResPublica has advocated in a report.
ResPublica says the only way to plug a shortage of affordable housing is through the creation of new local institutions that devolve housing to people and places.
The think-tank argued that these new bodies could dramatically increase the numbers of homes built by bringing together all the interested parties: private developers, housing associations, residents, civil society and local business and addressing their concerns and wishes through one decision point.
ResPublica said residents should be able to petition local authorities to set-up LPPs.
ResPublica director Phillip Blond, said: “For too long, housing policy has been controlled by Whitehall, and the lack of local authority involvement has been a primary driver behind the failure to build new homes at the scale needed.
“The only way that we will mitigate the Whitehall ‘command and control’ model, and an old local authority led model is by introducing a new institution that draws a wide range of partners together to coordinate the building of genuinely affordable and aesthetically pleasing homes, and provide the infrastructure needed for communities to thrive.”
The report proposed that funding for new housing should come from private and public partnerships and such initiatives as the Local Government Association’s Municipal Bonds Agency. The think-tank also identified the Local Government Pension scheme as another source of finance.
View the publication on the ResPublica website
Roger Milne
MP urges axe for traveller sites policy
An MP told Parliament last week that the policy requiring local authorities to plan to meet the housing needs of gypsies and travellers should be axed.
Planning laws were “favourably skewed” towards gypsy and traveller communities, Conservative MP Philip Hollobone claimed during a Commons debate.
Citing examples of antisocial behaviour, the Kettering MP urged ministers to “listen to these concerns from the heart of middle England”.
But during the Westminster Hall debate, he was criticised by Labour MPs who said his comments would “stigmatise” the communities.
“I simply do not see why, and neither do my constituents see why, there should be any special provision at all in the planning system for gypsies and travellers,” said Hollobone.
He said he was not “picking” on travellers but said residents had been left “in tears” because land near their homes had been designated as potential sites for pitches.
In a separate but related development, latest government statistics showed that the number of unauthorised caravans on land not owned by gypsies or travellers had fallen by 20 per cent between January 2014 and January 2015.
View the transcription of the debate
Developers want CPO blight changes
The government should consider making it easier for property owners to serve blight notices when they are affected by Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) proceedings.
That’s the view of the British Property Federation in its detailed response to the administration’s latest proposals for the reform of the CPO regime.
The developer’s lobby group argued that as a result of the experiences of HS2, Transport for London and others, there was now a significant level of understanding of the need for a re-think of blight provisions.
“We suggest that consideration of a more market-based approach to provide for a revised process for dealing with generalised blight would be welcome and that the current annual value limits for blight are in need of review as they set an unnecessarily restrictive bar on claims,” it said.
The BPF said most of the government’s current proposals were welcome but added: “CPO is a powerful tool to support regeneration and a more comprehensive reform would enable it to be used more effectively”.
Rare spiders see off Plymouth homes
Developer Wainhomes’ appeal over a proposal for 57 dwellings at Plymstock, Plymouth, has failed even though the city council could not show a five year housing land supply and the provision of affordable housing would have been a benefit. The appeal was dismissed because the site was known to be one of only two in the UK which is home to a rare breed of arachnid, the horrid ground weaver spider.
Cherwell, Cornwall and North Dorset local plans round-up
- The planning inspector who examined Cherwell District Council’s draft local plan has concluded the strategy is sound provided some modifications are accepted by the Oxfordshire District Council. The plan makes provision for sites for some 22,840 homes and 200 hectares of employment land up to 2031. Examination of the strategy was suspended last year to allow Cherwell to revise its housing figures in line with Oxfordshire’s recently published Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA).
- The examination of Cornwall Council’s draft local plan has been put on hold while the planning authority responds to the planning inspector’s insistence that the housing target of more than 47,000 new dwellings needs to be adjusted using the latest government predictions and to reflect pressure from second home and holiday property owners.
- North Dorset District Council is considering a series of main modifications to its draft local plan proposed by the planning inspector who examined the strategy. He has insisted the changes are needed for it to be regarded as sound. The Objective Assessment of Housing Need will have to be adjusted to accommodate an allowance for second homes and there are revisions to housing locations and growth at Blandord St Mary, Gillingham, Shaftesbury, and Sturminster Newton and at Stalbridge.
View more information on Cherwell local plan
View more information on Cornwall Council’s local plan
View more information on North Dorset District Council local plan
Heathrow neighbourhood plan
Residents near Heathrow Airport on the western flank of London have agreed the boundary for a proposed neighbourhood plan. The local Heathrow Villages Forum has decided it will cover Sipson, Harmondsworth and Harlington, but not Cranford and Longford.
The forum has agreed the main themes of the strategy. It will have eight priorities: housing, transport, enterprise, community spaces, green spaces, heritage, health and wellbeing.
Don Valley Stadium redevelopment
Plans have been submitted to Sheffield City Council for the proposed 11-hectare Olympic Legacy Park to be built on the former Don Valley Stadium site.
The park includes an Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre (AWRC), 3,000-seat arena, University Technical College and an academy for 1,200 pupils. In March, the government announced it was giving £14m towards building the AWRC. It has also attracted £1.5m from Japanese electronics firm Toshiba.
The park, a joint venture between Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Sheffield City Council and the private sector, is due to open next year. It will incorporate the existing English Institute of Sport and IceSheffield.
Energy projects round-up
- Plans for a £200m three-turbine tidal barrage on the Wyre estuary in Lancashire have been proposed by Natural Energy Wyre Ltd which has been granted an exclusivity deal by the Duchy of Lancaster which owns the estuary.
- Wind turbine manufacturer Siemens has been granted detailed planning permission by Hull City Council for a state-of-the-art blade factory and associated facilities at Alexandra Dock under the terms of the Local Development Order adopted in 2012. The plans aim to assist in attracting renewable energy businesses to the port area within the Humber Enterprise Zone.
- Proposals for a solar farm on 44 hectares of land owned by a Dorset MP on the Charborough Estate look set to be approved by East Dorset District Council. The project would be run by green power company Good Energy.
- An opencast mine proposed by UK Coal at Shortwood Farm Nottinghamshire with a five-year life has been given final planning consent by the county council. The coal will be used by the nearby Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station.
- Plans for an electricity substation and control centre near the site of a proposed tidal energy farm off the Isle of Wight have been given outline planning permission by the Isle of Wight Council.
- In a related development Perpetuus Tidal Energy Centre has applied to the Marine Management Organisation to install seabed turbines off St Catherine’s Point.
- Shropshire Council has refused permission for a 17-hectare solar farm at Whitton near Ludlow.
- Meanwhile, energy firm Big60Million has applied to Cotswold District Council to develop a 23.4 megawatt solar farm on land near Witpit Lane, Preston.
- Southern England MPs lined up to complain about the Navitus offshore wind farm project when the scheme was discussed in the Commons this week. At its nearest point to the coast at Swanage the array, between 78 and 121 turbines, would be just 9 miles out to sea. There is widespread local opposition because of the wind farm’s impact on tourism and in particular the UNESCO-designated Jurassic coast. The proposals have been considered as a nationally significant infrastructure project and have been examined by a team of inspectors from the Planning Inspectorate. The scheme is due to be determined by ministers in the Department of Energy and Climate Change in the autumn.
London round-up
- Three multi-million pound deals, just announced, will provide over 1,000 new homes specifically for private rent in London. The homes will be built in some of the capital’s most sought-after locations, including the newest neighbourhood in Stratford’s Olympic Village site. Involved will be 903 homes for rent at Stratford’s Olympic Village; 278 homes for rent at Newington Butts in Southwark and 172 homes for rent across sites in Hammersmith, Westminster and West Kensington. Work on the homes will start straight away and be completed in 2017 and 2018. Each site will include a mix of one, two and three-bedroom properties, all located closely to underground stations.
- Communities Secretary Greg Clark has called in controversial plans by Hall McKnight to redevelop King’s College London’s Strand campus next to Somerset House in central London.
- Chelsea Football Club is poised to reveal detailed proposals for redeveloping its existing Stamford Bridge home in west London into a 60,000-seat stadium in a move which may mean the club will have to find an alternative ground for at least two seasons. Twickenham is one possibility, it has emerged.
Swindon leisure project includes ski scheme
Plans for a leisure complex incorporating a ski centre, 5,000-seat concert venue and cinema in Swindon have been submitted to the borough council by developer Moirai Capital Investment Ltd.
The £120m North Star project is proposed to be built around the existing Oasis leisure centre. The new complex will cover more than 12 hectares and also includes a skate park, hotel, restaurants and cafes.
View more information about the development
Northern Ireland planning performance falls
The latest Northern Ireland Planning Development Management Statistics for 2014/15 show that the Planning Service failed to meet any of the Department of the Environment key planning performance targets.
It took an average of 16 weeks to process local applications to decision (or withdrawal), one week in excess of the 15 week target. Only 68 per cent of large scale investment applications were processed within six months compared to the 90 per cent government target.
Other targets to reduce the number of live cases over one year old and enforcement cases over two years old, to 650 and 400 cases respectively, were also not achieved.
Green Belt stats show housing approval rise
The number of new homes being approved on green belt sites in England has increased five-fold in the last five years, according to figures obtained by the BBC.
In 2009-10 planning permission was granted for 2,258 homes, while in 2014-15 the figure rose to 11,977. In the last year alone the number of approvals doubled.
Government policy insists that the green belt should only be built on in “exceptional circumstances”.
Areas feeling the most pressure include Hertfordshire, where the Campaign to Protect Rural England claims sites for 34,000 homes have already been proposed, with another 10,000 waiting in the wings.
Legal round-up
- A further legal challenge over planning permission for the demolition and redevelopment of the Shell Centre on London’s South Bank has been rejected by the Appeal Court.
- The High Court in Bristol has been hearing a wildlife charity’s judicial review challenge to Teignbridge District Council’s grant of planning permission for a 230-home development at Chudleigh close to a protected area used by greater horseshoe bats.
- The Supreme Court will next week hear a key case on appropriate assessments, EIA assessments and mitigation measures. The case centres on the planning permission granted by North Norfolk District Council for a development involving a lorry park and barley silos at a location by the river Wensum which affects both a site of special scientific interest (SSSI) and a Special Area of Conservation (SAC).
Planners in Birthday Honours list
Both a Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) official and the author of a government-commissioned review of non-planning consents were recognised for services to planning in the Queen’s birthday honours list.
Jane Everton, deputy director for planning (development plans) at DCLG, received a CBE while Adrian Penfold, head of planning at developer British Land and author of the Penfold Review, was awarded an OBE.
Also recognised in the Queen’s birthday honours were: Robert Davis, deputy leader of Westminster City Council, who received an MBE for services to planning and local government; Ronald Simpson, secretary of Uppingham First and author of the Uppingham Neighbourhood Plan, who was awarded a British Empire Medal for services to community planning; and Malcolm Shepherd, chief executive of charity Sustrans, who was awarded a CBE for services to transport and the environment.
View a full list of the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2015
Restoration Fund launched by Mineral Products Association
The Mineral Products Association (MPA) has relaunched its Restoration Guarantee Fund (MPARGF). It represents an industry pledge which ensures that restoration of a site can still be paid for and completed, if an operator becomes financially insolvent.
The MPARGF is endorsed by government through the National Planning Policy Framework.
Download the new MPA Restoration Guarantee Fund leaflet
Roger Milne
Planning Portal Blog 