Planning Portal Blog

Districts pitch their local plan reforms

District councils have outlined a series of reforms aimed at simplifying the local plans regime which have been submitted to the Government’s Local Plans Expert Group.

The reforms outlined in the submission from the District Councils’ Network (DCN) include proposals for a staged-plan examination, the production of strategic plans across housing market areas, slimmed-down plans and more protection for councils with well advanced plans from ‘5-year supply’ appeals.

Councillor Gillian Brown, DCN lead for planning and leader of Arun District Council, said: “From a DCN perspective, our members require a clear explanation from government as to what the early 2017 deadline for producing local plans will actually entail.

“And on a more fundamental level, the Government should review how they envisage resourcing the large number of plans that will be submitted to the Planning Inspectorate at around the same time.

“Otherwise we risk creating a frustrating scenario, where districts which have compiled their plans according to the timetable find themselves sat in a long queue, waiting for an inspector to call.”

The DCN stressed district councils must be fully resourced and urged the Government to change the planning fees regime “to enable full cost recovery”.

View the release on the ONS website

Latest UK population projections

The UK population is projected to increase by 9.7 million over the next 25 years from an estimated 64.6 million in mid-2014 to 74.3 million in mid-2039. This is 420,000 higher than the 2012-based projection for 2039 according to the latest assessment compiled by the Office for National Statistics.

The 2014-based projections predict a slightly faster rate of increase than the 2012-based projections did, equating to about an extra 14,000 people per year on average over the 25 years to 2039.

The UK population is projected to reach 70 million by mid-2027. Assumed net migration accounts for 51 per cent of the projected increase over the next 25 years, with natural increase accounting for the remaining 49 per cent of growth.

Over the 10 year period to mid-2024, the UK population is projected to increase by 4.4 million to 69 million. This is 249,000 higher than the previous (2012-based) projection for that year.

The population is projected to continue ageing, with the average age rising from 40 years in 2014 to 40.9 years in mid-2024 and 42.9 by mid-2039. By mid-2039, more than 1 in 12 of the population is projected to be aged 80 or over.

Revised CPO guidance published by DCLG

The Department for Communities and Local Government has published revised guidance on the compulsory purchase order regime and the Crichel Down rules for the disposal of surplus land acquired by, or under the threat of, compulsion.

The guidance has been updated to reflect legislative changes and case law since 2004.

Draft updated advice was published for consultation in March and the final version of the document contains minor amendments to reflect comments. The guidance only applies to England. Ministers have announced they will review the delegation to inspectors of compulsory purchase order decisions.

View the guidance

Competition to develop smarter urban spaces launched

Businesses can win up to £35,000 to develop digital projects that help make urban spaces better and smarter for people.

The Government’s Innovate UK’s IC tomorrow programme is looking to award up to £35,000 each to four businesses to meet a series of challenges facing so-called connected cities.

Businesses will have the opportunity to work alongside high-profile challenge partners Transport for London, Centro, Clear Channel and Atkins.

This initiative recognises that cities are becoming increasingly connected with services such as transport and energy managed by intelligent networks. The challenge is to get citizens involved in this evolving digital backdrop.

One area of interest will focus on citizen input to city design. This will concentrate on innovative ways of encouraging citizens to share their data in a bid to improve the planning, design and management of urban space. This will be in partnership with Atkins.

View more details for the Lincoln Transport Hub Scheme

Energy project developments

Multifuel Energy Limited has obtained a development consent order from the Department of Energy and Climate Change for a 90-megawatt plant which will produce electricity after burning fuel derived from refuse and industrial and commercial waste, such as wood. It will be built at the site of the existing Ferrybridge C power station at Knottingley, West Yorkshire.
The world’s largest and the UK’s first floating offshore wind development approximately 25 kilometres off the coast of Peterhead has been approved by the Scottish Government.
Statoil, the Norwegian multinational oil and gas company, has been granted a marine licence for its application for a pilot park of five floating 6-megawatt turbines. Unlike more conventional offshore wind farms, the turbines will be attached to the seabed by a three-point mooring spread and anchoring system.
Proposals for a 24-turbine wind farm on moorland between Loch Rannoch and Loch Erich, in Perthshire have been rejected by the Scottish Government on a technicality. The applicant company was not a legal entity when the application was submitted.
The first planning application for shale gas exploration in Nottinghamshire has been submitted to the County Council. Island Gas Limited (IGas) is seeking planning permission to undertake exploration for shale gas on land to the north east of Misson in Bassetlaw, which is close to the Nottinghamshire, Doncaster and North Lincolnshire local government boundary

London round-up

Department for Communities and Local Government ministers have dismissed three appeals involving mosque development in West Ham, east London. One involved an enforcement order. The main appeal was over what would have been the UK’s largest mosque, a scheme refused by Newham Council.
MCC has been granted planning permission by Westminster City Council to redevelop the south-western corner of Lord’s cricket ground. The so-called South-Western Project, which includes an enlarged stand and a new Tavern Pub, is phase two of the master plan for Lord’s.
Plans for a second London ‘Boxpark’ has been given the green light by Croydon Council. It will be located on the Ruskin Square site near East Croydon station and is set to open next summer. The development will consist of 97 shipping containers.
London Mayor Boris Johnson has allowed a controversial scheme for 97 homes in Putney, south west London which had been refused by Wandsworth Council on the grounds the development would be too high.
Johnson has called in proposals for a housing-led mixed-use development involving a 28-storey residential tower on a site next to Barking station refused last month by the planning authority against the advice of officers.
Transport for London has begun a further round of public consultation on revised proposals for Crossrail 2. This would connect the National Rail networks in Surrey and Hertfordshire via new tunnels and stations between Wimbledon, Tottenham Hale and New Southgate, linking in with London underground, London Overground, Crossrail 1, national and international rail services.
Councils in the capital are drawing up plans to set up a pan-London vehicle for development, in the wake of the extension of the Right to Buy.
London boroughs believe that they could deliver more houses in the capital by using economies of scale and sharing development ambitions. Officials at umbrella group London Councils are currently working up detailed proposals for the venture.

Lincoln city centre revamps

Two major developments expected to change the face of Lincoln city centre have been given the go-ahead by city councillors.

Plans for the multi-million pound Lincoln Transport Hub project and the first phase of the Cornhill Quarter regeneration scheme have been approved.

The proposals include the demolition and replacement of the existing bus station and an improved rail station, a multi-storey car park, new commercial floor space, new retail provision and flats.

View more information about the Cornhill Quarter regeneration plans

Newcastle green infrastructure initiative

Funding for a project to investigate new ways of implementing green infrastructure schemes has been secured.

The £110,000 project will see consultancy Arup, Newcastle University and Newcastle City Council join forces to bring best-practice knowledge to the region, drawn from green infrastructure projects that have been developed around the world.

The group will work with colleagues in New York, London and Melbourne to review the latest thinking and develop a new community-led green infrastructure scheme in Melbourne which will shed light on opportunities in Newcastle.

£31m lottery funding for landscape betterment

The landscape which was home to a group of notorious 17th Century witches is to receive a share of £31m Lottery funding.

The Heritage Lottery Fund has announced it is providing £2m to restore wildlife and the fabric of Pendle Hill in Lancashire. It is one of 31 projects to receive funding across the UK.

The 13 areas benefiting from HLF’s investment stretch from the Orkney Isles in Scotland to Penwith’s peninsula on the south western tip of the mainland.

Go-ahead for Leeds campus homes

WYG planners have secured outline approval for up to 72 new homes at Leeds City College’s Horsforth Campus. The Campus is currently home for a further education facility which is due to close next year. Alternative residential use of the green belt site will provide investment in college facilities elsewhere in the city.

View the parliamentary transcript

Legal round-up

Robert Fiddler, the farmer at the centre of the long-running planning wrangle over a mock-Tudor house built illegally at a Surrey green belt location and originally hidden behind straw bales, has appeared in court following a contempt of court proceedings instigated by Reigate and Banstead Borough Council. He faces jail for refusing to demolish the building. He claimed in the High Court this week that the planning authority wanted to “destroy” his life.
A Romany gypsy has lost a three-year-legal fight to pitch a mobile home in the New Forest National Park. Robert Whitcher wanted to site the mobile home and a touring caravan on land he owns at Brambly Hedge in Landford in Wiltshire.
The Appeal Court has reserved judgement over the legal and planning saga surrounding Dudley Muslim Association’s proposals to build a replacement mosque and community centre on land off Hall Street.

Listed building legislation mooted

North Hertfordshire MP Bill Wiggin introduced a 10 Minute Rule bill in Parliament designed to make it easier for energy saving changes to be made to listed buildings and structures within the cartilage of listed Buildings. The legislation is known as the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (Amendment).

Wiggin said his measure would mean that “by slightly altering the rules we would enable owners to make important energy saving changes whilst appropriately protecting our historic buildings.”

Dungeness “desert” sold

A shingle beach in Kent, dubbed as “Britain’s only desert”, has been bought by EDF Energy, the owners of neighbouring Dungeness B nuclear power station.

The 190 hectare Dungeness Estate has been sold to the energy company for more than £1.5 million. The headland, which juts out into the English Channel, is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and has 29 homes built from railway carriages on it. Film-maker Derek Jarman lived there before his death.

View the news article on BBC.co.uk

Roger Milne

Devolution deals set up for North East and Tees Valley

View more details on the Tees Valley devolution deal

Chancellor George Osborne has signed two more draft devolution deals. These involve the North East Combined Authority and the shadow Tees Valley Combined Authority.

Both combined authorities will choose a directly elected mayor in 2017. The deals will only go ahead if the Government’s Cities and Local Government bill, now at committee stage in the Commons is passed.

The North East region is set to receive £30m a year over the next 30 years. Tees Valley is due to receive some £15m a year over the same period. The deals will see transport, strategic planning and employment and skills powers transferred from Whitehall to each region.

The North East Combined Authority involves seven local authorities: County Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle, North Tyneside, Northumberland, South Tyneside and Sunderland. The draft Tees Valley Combined Authority consists of Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton-On-Tees.

Under last week’s agreement the North East Combined Authority will take responsibility for a devolved and consolidated transport budget, with a multi-year settlement to be agreed at the Spending Review. It will also have responsibility for franchised bus services and, through Rail North, franchised rail services, contributing to the delivery of smart and integrated ticketing across the North East.

In addition it will have powers over strategic planning, including the responsibility to create a North East Planning Development Framework and to chair a new North East Land Commission to release land for development.

In the case of the yet to be established Tees Valley Combined Authority it will be given responsibility devolved from government for a consolidated transport budget, with a multi-year settlement to be agreed at the Spending Review.

Also involved will be the creation of new Mayoral Development Corporations. The new Mayor will head up a land commission to examine what publicly owned land and other key strategic sites should be vested in the development corporations.

View more details on the North East devolution deal

Roger Milne

Yorkshire Dales and Lake District National Park extensions approved

Ministers have given the green light to extend the Yorkshire Dales and the Lake District National Parks. As a result of this decision, announced last week by Environment Secretary Elizabeth Truss, Yorkshire, Cumbria and Lancashire will now share an extensive area of almost continuous designated land.

The announcement will see the Yorkshire Dales grow by nearly 24 per cent and Lake District by three per cent. An additional 188 square miles of land across Cumbria and a small part of Lancashire will now have greater protection.

In the case of the Lake District NP the extension involves an area from Birkbeck Fells Common to Whinfell Common and an area from Helsington Barrows to Sizergh Fell, as well as an area north of Sizergh Castle and part of the Lyth valley.

In respect of the Yorkshire Dales NP the extended area involves parts of the Orton Fells, the northern Howgill Fells, Wild Boar Fell and Mallerstang as well as Barbon, Middleton, Casterton and Leck Fells, the River Lune, and part of Firbank Fell and other fells to the west of the River Lune.

The Variation Order required for these extensions will come into effect in August 2016. Truss said: “The Dales and the Lakes have some of our country’s finest landscapes, beautiful vistas and exciting wildlife. They are part of our national identity.

I am delighted to be able to announce this extension which will join these two unique National Parks and protect even more space for generations to come.”

Roger Milne

Permissions in principle won’t be retrospective

View more information on the Housing and Planning bill

The Government’s new proposal to grant permission in principle for new homes on land designated in local and neighbourhood plans and the new brownfield registers will apply only to site allocations in future plans and not retrospectively, an impact assessment published alongside the Housing and Planning bill has confirmed.

The document, produced by the Department for Communities and Local Government, said that based on the number of applications granted for major development in 2014-15 “the maximum number of sites that could benefit from the proposals could amount to 7,000 a year”.

The impact assessment highlighted that data on brownfield land was “out of date and of poor quality”. The department noted that the most recent data published by DCLG was in 2011 based on local authority returns to the National Land use Database in 2010.

“Since 2010 the number of authorities completing returns has reduced and it is currently estimated to be about 50 per cent” pointed out the document.

The department added: “The absence of robust data has led to assertions by the Campaign for the Protection of rural England and others that brownfield land has the capacity to accommodate over one million homes.

“We consider that to be wildly over optimistic as only a fraction will be suitable for housing. The land may not be suitable or available for development, it may be located in the wrong place or subject to physical and/or environmental constraints.”

The legislation is due its Second Reading in the Commons next week when MPs will have their first chance to debate the measures.

Roger Milne

East London master plan unveiled

London Mayor Boris Johnson has published a new master plan designed to help transform East London and deliver more than 200,000 homes and up to 250,000 jobs.

This so-called ‘City in the East’ strategy details how major development should take place from London Bridge to the Isle of Dogs and Greenwich Peninsula, right through to Ilford in Essex and Dartford in Kent.

The master plan knits together some 13 major development areas already established in the capital, known as designated Opportunity Areas. These have been identified as London’s major source of brownfield land with significant capacity for new housing, commercial space and other development.

In 2004 the Mayor’s Office estimated East London had the capacity for 52,000 new homes. But detailed modelling, which includes totalling the activity anticipated in the Opportunity Areas, now reveals that a minimum of 203,500 homes and 283,300 jobs could be delivered over the next 20 years.

The ‘City in the East’ document also contains a series of maps which illustrate how the city is moving eastwards, covering much of the Thames Gateway, and could benefit from improvements to transport infrastructure such as Crossrail and HS1.

The plans show an Overground extension to Barking Riverside, which will enable the creation of 10,000 new homes and could be operational by 2020. The blueprint also includes longer term potential to place the A13 in a tunnel, deliver a new station and build new homes in the area. It also envisages how land across East London could be split up for commercial and industrial use and suggests where new schools, work space and hospitals could be located.

The Mayor’s Office has also just launched a planning framework for London Riverside, which includes major plans for the redevelopment of 86 acres of industrial land owned by the Greater London Authority along the Thames.

Roger Milne

Essex members block major housing schemes against the advice of officers

View the application summary for Land North of Rush Green Road, Clacton On Sea

Members of an Essex local planning authority have refused permission for three major housing developments against the advice of officers and despite being unable to demonstrate a supply of enough housing land to meet local needs.

Tendring District Council in north east Essex met last week to consider applications for a total of 1,156 homes. Planning officers had recommended approval for all but one application of 60 homes, having noted in their reports to the committee that the district council could not demonstrate the necessary five-year supply of housing land as required by the National Planning Policy Framework.

However, the planning committee decided to reject the officer’s recommendations in relation to three of the applications under consideration. They resolved to refuse outline permission for a 240-home development on agricultural land in the local green gap to the west of Clacton-on-Sea, full permission for 237 homes at the site of a caravan park to the north west of Walton-on-the-Naze, and outline permission for 150 homes and an employment site on farmland at the edge of the village of Great Bentley.

Councillors were concerned that health and education facilities would not be able to support the proposed development near Clacton-on-Sea, despite the applicant’s offer of a financial contribution towards health services.

Members were also concerned that the site proposed homes in the flight path of Clacton Airstrip and that the scheme would reduce the green gap between Clacton-on-Sea and neighbouring Jaywick.

The committee considered the caravan site proposal near Walton-on-the-Naze to be over-development and poorly designed. It unanimously refused the outline proposal for Great Bentley, considering that it would change the nature of the village after raising concerns about the adequacy of local infrastructure.

View the application summary for Land at Station Field Plough Road, Great Bentley

View the application summary for Martello Caravan Park Kirby Road, Walton On The Naze

Roger Milne

Planning round-up 29 October

Welsh stalled sites and s106s

New research published by the Welsh Government has identified over 400 sites across the country where development is currently stalled. Nearly half of them are held up because of problems with a Section 106 agreement. Most involve residential schemes, proposals for over 7,600 homes are currently on ice according to Hyder Consulting that carried out the research and produced a report.

The exercise has recommended that all Welsh local planning authorities should produce supplementary planning guidance specifically about planning obligations. The administration has been recommended to produce advice and to encourage planning authorities to seek pre-application advice.

Standard agreements should be available on line and provided at the pre-application stage, Hyder proposed.

While the report found that “no single factor” was responsible for site development stalling, “difficulties and delays in securing finance, resulting in a subsequent need for re-negotiation of s106 agreements” was identified as a key factor.

View more information on Planning4People

Social town planning manifesto launched

A manifesto calling for the “rebirth of creative social town planning” has been launched by a coalition of organisations and individuals led by the Town and Country Planning Association.

The #Planning4People manifesto urges the Government to give councils back power over permitted development.

It also wants ministers to rebalance the National Planning Policy Framework so that outcomes for people are as important as the needs of land-owners and developers.

The manifesto wants local plans to have a much clearer social function and urges the restoration of a comprehensive framework of place-making standards for housing including mandatory minimum standards for accessibility and space.

TCPA chief executive Kate Henderson said: “The manifesto represents the views of a broad cross-sector coalition of organisations and individuals who share a common belief in the value of planning to improve the quality of our lives and the condition of our communities”.

Manifesto supporters include the Planning Officers Society, Friends of the Earth, the Landscape Institute, the Wildlife Trusts and the LGIU.

Inspector agrees to suspend Warwick’s local plan examination until May 2016

The Inspector examining Warwick District Council’s draft local plan has agreed to suspend its examination until May next year. This follows progress on addressing housing provision issues including how the planning authority will meet unmet need for neighbouring Coventry.

The draft local plan was rejected earlier this year by the Inspector who advised that it would need a significant review before it could be considered “sound”.

View more information about the local plan examination

Developer’s report spells out how to unlock economic potential of cities outside London

The trade body for the property industry has proposed a clutch of recommendations aimed at local government on how to unlock the economic potential of cities outside London and rebalance the economy.

The British Property Federation’s proposals include; prioritising the upgrade of strategic infrastructure; establishing a shared vision for city-regions and creating a strong identity.

The BPF has also made the case that for devolution to work, all functions must be considered in the round, from planning and skills to health and design, and not be restrained by issues of constitutional governance, such as elected mayors.

The Federation has stressed that housing tenure issues are critical alongside the need for strong leadership. “Areas need a determined leader who will help drive the shared vision and articulate it clearly to potential investors” insisted the BPF.

Faith and planning report

The Royal Town Planning Institute has backed a new report from the Faith and Place network containing 15 key recommendations for faith groups, planners, developers and local authorities.

Among the recommendations are:

Faith groups should take a more active involvement in the development of local plans
Councils should review data on planning applications to ascertain whether refusals are above average from faith groups and take appropriate action if required
Planning authorities should prioritise protecting space for social infrastructure, including places of worship
Greater use of ‘section 106’ funding from developers for creation of buildings suitable for use as places of worship.

View the application summary

Malton urban extension refused

Outline proposals for a 500-home urban extension on land near Malton in North Yorkshire have been rejected by Rydale District Council on the advice of officials.

The Fitzwilliam (Malton) Estate wanted to build the new community, provisionally named High Malton, on land off the Castle Howard Road.

Reasons cited for refusal included concerns over the size of development, air pollution, traffic problems, lack of social housing and damage to the views of areas such as the Howardian Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

London round-up

Transport for London (TfL) is to release more than 121 hectares of land to help create more than 10,000 new homes across London. The land will be developed over the next decade to provide new homes, offices and retail floor space. Some 67 per cent of this phase of development is in travel zones one and two.
Newham Council has deferred determining the planning application for West Ham United’s existing Upton Park stadium, the Boleyn Ground, because of a wrangle over the amount of affordable’ housing provision in the residential redevelopment. Currently some 22 per cent of the proposed 838 new homes would be affordable.
London Mayor Boris Johnson has published ‘An A-Z of planning and culture’, which, for the first time, outlines the practical steps that can be taken to integrate and protect culture and support new cultural activity in developments. Publication came amid growing concern that artists and creative talent are being squeezed out of the capital because studios and workspaces are becoming unaffordable.
Residents of the West Kensington and Gibbs Green estates in west London’s Hammersmith and Fulham area have urged Communities Secretary Greg Clark to support their case for an alternative plan for the 760 homes threatened with demolition as part of the Earl’s Court redevelopment. The residents want Clark to allow them to exercise their ‘Right to Transfer’ ownership of the two estates from Hammersmith and Fulham Council to a community owned landlord controlled by the residents.
Westminster City Council has been granted a CPO to re-develop the 1960s-70s Tollgate Estate in the Maida Vale area of central London.
There are persistent reports this week that proposals for a “mega mosque” in east London have been blocked by the Government, ending a 16-year planning saga. The project would have created a mosque three times the size of St Paul’s Cathedral near the Olympic Park in Strafford. Newham Council had refused permission for the plans.

Energy round-up

Work has started on installing Europe’s biggest floating solar farm at Hyde in Greater Manchester where the installation of the solar power system at the town’s Godley reservoir is now underway. The development of 12,000 panels, which will cover an area of 45,500 square metres, represents an investment of £3.5m by United Utilities to reduce energy costs.
An independent oil firm that predicted there were 100 billion barrels of oil under south-east England has raised its estimate to 124 billion. In April, UK Oil and Gas Investments (UKOG) drilled a well at Horse Hill, Surrey near Gatwick airport, and announced the find. It has since raised its estimate, following analysis done by US Company Nutech.
Communities Secretary Greg Clark has dismissed an appeal over a two turbine onshore wind project earmarked for farmland near Stone in Staffordshire against the recommendation of the inspector who held the recovered inquiry. The SoS said he was not satisfied that issues to do with the schemes’ impact on landscape and townscape quality had been addressed to meet community concerns.
West Dorset District Council has approved an 11-hectare solar farm near Dorchester which will be located in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Transport developments

Chiltern Railways has started operating new services into London, connecting Oxford with the capital, following £320m investment by the franchise operator and Network Rail. The new rail link to London, the first from a major British city in more than 100 years, will serve brand new stations at Oxford Parkway and Bicester Village. The stations, specified by Chiltern Railways and built by Network Rail, were officially opened last weekend.
Highways England has appointed a consortium comprising WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff, Halcrow and Steer Davies Gleaveto lead a study worth £512,000 to explore options for creating a dedicated road link between Oxford, Milton Keynes and Cambridge. The study will consider options for improving connectivity between the towns and cities along from Oxford to Cambridge. It will also extend to the A34 as far as the M4. In particular, it will look at making use of existing roads where possible and considering the case for filling the missing links. The study is due to be completed by autumn 2016.

Legal round-up

The owner of a well-known nightclub in Brixton, south London has instructed Cornerstone Barristers to bring a judicial review over a planning decision by Lambeth Council she says will lead to the club’s closure.
A group of residents have secured permission to bring a judicial review claim over Lancashire County Council’s grant of planning approval for the monitoring of seismic activity and water quality at a shale gas site.
A judge has rejected a legal challenge from a campaigner fighting Yorkshire Water’s plans to cover an historic Victorian waterway with concrete.
Gypsy families living at an illegal campsite in Berkshire have won permission to appeal a refused application for a judicial review.

Derby flood prevention scheme approved

A major 14-kilometre long flood defence scheme costing over £90m in Derby has been approved by the city council after members were assured that concerns over biodiversity loss raised by the RSPB could be mitigated.

The flood defences along the River Derwent (a mix of walls, embankments, gates and other measures) are designed to protect the city against a 1-in-100-year weather event. The hybrid application was submitted by the ‘Our City Our River’ project.

Councillor Martin Rawson, Deputy Leader of the city council, said: “Planning approval for this scheme marks the start of a new era for Derby with vital flood protection measures and the significant regeneration of key development sites along the riverside.

“We will see the city centre re-connected to the river and the important economic and social benefits associated with a reinvigorated riverside community.”

Sheffield recycled container scheme approval

Sheffield City Council has given the go-ahead for a scheme providing a bar, restaurant, offices, a rooftop garden and a health club in more than 20 recycled shipping containers. The project, which will cost £500,000, is the first of this kind to be approved outside London.

View more information

Roger Milne

October 22, 2015

Clark approves major housing schemes in Kent and Cheshire including loss of ancient woodland

View the correspondence for land east of Hermitage Lane, Maidstone, Kent

Communities Secretary Greg Clark has allowed on appeal two major housing schemes, one in Kent, the other in Cheshire, which will provide a total of 715 new homes.

In the case of the Kent development the proposals mean the loss of an area of ancient woodland. In both cases the inspectors who held the recovered appeals recommended the appeals should be successful.

Croupade Strategic Ltd, the developer involved in Kent, had proposed a 500-home scheme, 30 per cent of which would be affordable, on a site at Maidstone which straddled the boundary between Maidstone Borough Council and Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council. Both councils had rejected the proposals. No buildings were envisaged on the latter’s patch although the Secretary of State acknowledged that could change as the proposals were in outline.

Clark’s decision letter agreed that the majority of the area was correctly designated as ancient woodland and that the site had medium to high ecological value at local level.

However he also agreed with the inspector that the anticipated absolute loss of 0.03 hectares of ancient woodland would be acceptable given the significant social and economic benefits of the housing in an area where the local plan was out of date and the harm to biodiversity would not be “significant”.

In the case of the other appeal, a Gladman Developments proposal for up to 215 new homes on land at Winsford refused by Cheshire West and Chester Council, Clark acknowledged that the project breached the requirement that it should meet the development brief for the area.

But Clark’s decision letter insisted: “the degree of harm caused by allowing this appeal in advance of the development brief and in conflict with policies in both the local plan and the Winsford Neighbourhood Plan would be very limited.”

View the correspondence for Land off Rilshaw Lane, Winsford, Cheshire

Roger Milne

October 22, 2015

Warwick District Council puts case for lengthy local plan suspension