Communities Secretary Greg Clark has dismissed two re-opened appeals, one for 116 dwellings and a care home and the other for 85 dwellings at a green belt location – largely open farmland – on the northern edge of St Albans in Hertfordshire. The site is located between the mainline railway and the A1081.
Both schemes had been refused by the local planning authority, St Albans City and District Council and dismissed on appeal by a planning inspector in 2013. However developer Hunston Properties mounted a successful High Court challenge which quashed the inspector’s decision. Subsequently the council went to the Court of Appeal which resulted in a ruling that the appeals should be reheard and redetermined.
The SoS agreed with the inspector that, despite the council having less than 3.7 years of housing land supply “the very special circumstances do not exist to justify allowing the inappropriate development”.
Clark’s decision letter concluded that the schemes represented “substantial green belt harm”. He also agreed with the inspector that the schemes posed “significant harm to the character and appearance of the area, diminishing its intrinsic character and beauty, causing real and serious harm with a lasting effect on the nature of the countryside”.
Roger Milne
Proposals for one million new homes near train stations in London’s green belt could add between 3.9 and 7.5 million car journeys every week, according to new research by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI).
The report challenged the assumption that building in the green belt within easy walking or cycling distance of railway stations would be sustainable as the majority of new residents would use the train to get to jobs in London.
The RTPI examined commuting data for five medium-sized towns within the existing metropolitan green belt, towns which are centred on railway stations and have direct connections to central London.
The organisation said: “We found that in these five towns, only 7.4 per cent of commuters actually travel to inner London by train on a regular basis, despite living within easy walking or cycling distance of a station.
“The majority of commuters (72 per cent) instead travel by private vehicle, mostly driving to jobs within their hometown and to other places not in London.”
The five towns in the RTPI analysis were: Hemel Hempstead, High Wycombe, Watford, Maidenhead and Bracknell.
RTPI president Janet Askew said: “Quite apart from other good reasons why building in the green belt on such a scale might be opposed, these figures demonstrate a fundamental flaw in the reasoning that there is a quick fix and a sustainable solution to the housing crisis by putting large numbers of new homes close to railway stations.
“While it is difficult to predict exactly future commuting patterns, the overwhelming evidence is that people will use their cars and this will result in vastly increased numbers of car journeys in and through the green belt.”
Roger Milne
Welsh Planning and Natural Resources Minister Carl Sargeant has written to planning authorities in Wales stressing that UK government proposals to fast-track shale gas development only apply to England.
He has also highlighted his administration’s moratorium on any proposals involving “fracking” and its preference for renewable forms of energy generation over oil and gas exploration.
Sargeant insisted: “Despite recent announcements in England, we still see renewable energy as a key element in ensuring that Wales achieves sustainable development for the benefit of future generations.
“Measures announced by DECC, and the UK government’s general support for oil and gas applications is contrary to the approach of the Welsh government of promoting renewable and low carbon forms of energy through the planning system and other measures.
“Our vision for future energy generation is based on embracing Wales’ abundant renewable energy resources which provide exciting and immediate opportunities. Wales is a green and clever land and we want to ensure that we address the issue of climate change immediately through the effective deployment of renewable energy technologies.
We still see renewable energy as a key element in ensuring that Wales achieves sustainable development for the benefit of future generations.”
And he added: “Local planning authorities must ensure that planning applications for renewable energy projects are determined within statutory timescales.”
Roger Milne
The planning inspector considering Canterbury City Council’s draft local plan has recommended postponing the second stage of its examination while the Kent planning authority investigates meeting a slightly higher housing need.
The council had proposed making provision for 780 new homes each year over the lifetime of the plan. The inspector has concluded that the yearly figure should be 800.
The inspector has told the council that in other respects the plan passes the “soundness” test and the planning authority has satisfied the duty on cooperation with neighbouring authorities.
The inspector has asked the council to provide more information on the viability of infrastructure linked to the main housing allocations and has suggested it should look again at sites that were not allocated to see if they can be brought forward for early delivery.
He has highlighted three sites: land south of the John Wilson Business Park in Chestfield, land south of the A28 in Hersden and land south of Thanington, for which a planning application described as ‘Thanington Park’ has already been submitted.
The inspector noted that the council currently did not have a proven five year housing supply, which, if not remedied, would mean the plan would be unsound.
Meanwhile members of Warwick District Council have voted to request a suspension of the district’s local plan examination. This move followed an unsuccessful bid to persuade Communities Secretary Greg Clark to intervene after the inspector examining the strategy rejected it on the grounds it needed significant changes before it could progress.
The council has now proposed a timetable of further work which it insists means the examination could resume in September next year.
View more information on Canterbury City Council’s draft local plan
View more information on Warwick District Council’s local plan
Roger Milne
Welsh strategic planning panel consultation
The Welsh administration has begun consulting on the composition of its proposed strategic planning panels (SDPs) as well as the financial issues affecting them.
These new bodies will be responsible for a new breed of strategic development plans which will deal with issues including housing, employment, transport, infrastructure, minerals and waste which cut across a number of local planning authorities (LPAs).
Housing provision for individual local development plans will be set at this level. Panels will be a plan-making body and will not make planning decisions. They will not require agreement from constituent local planning authorities.
Panels will be formed of both LPA members and nominated members from social, economic and environmental groups. Only the LPA members will have voting rights. Under current plans some 40 per cent of the panel membership would be female.
Devon homes and marina plan appeal dismissed
An appeal by developer LTPH Properties over a major development involving 300 new dwellings, a 250-berth marina and 80 units of holiday accommodation at Torridge, Devon has been dismissed.
The site comprised a substantial area of undeveloped land between two settlements. The area was identified in an adopted plan as a local gap and this, concluded the inspector, meant it should be considered as a “valued landscape” under paragraph 109 of the NPPF.
The inspector concluded that the marina was an acceptable use but was not viable without the associated development which would cause unacceptable harm to the area and local heritage assets.
London round-up
- Mayor Boris Johnson has called in GRID Architects’ plans for a mixed use scheme in Putney town centre after members of Wandsworth Council refused it against the advice of planning officers. The south west London scheme involves 97 flats, ground floor shops or restaurants and a gym.
- Lambeth Council’s local plan has been found “sound” on the basis of the former London Plan housing provision figures of 1,195 dwellings per annum. The inspector who examined the plan said the south London planning authority should undertake a review of its plan at the earliest opportunity to incorporate the new London Plan housing requirement figure of 1,559 dwellings per annum. The Council said that it aimed to produce a revised local plan by June 2016.
- The boroughs who prepared the West London Waste Plan have now all formally adopted the strategy for waste management up to 2031.The local authorities involved are Brent, Ealing, Harrow, Hillingdon, Hounslow and Richmond upon Thames. The Old Oak Common and Park Royal Development Corporation has also agreed the strategy.
- A detailed application to build nearly 250 homes on a former RAF site in west London has been submitted to the London Borough of Hillingdon.
Legal round-up
- Waverley Borough Council’s planning decision to allow Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s former Surrey home Undershaw to become a school for children with disabilities will be reviewed by a judge.
- Market traders have failed in a High Court challenge to the Communities Secretary’s decision to confirm a compulsory purchase order made by Hammersmith & Fulham Council to facilitate the regeneration of Shepherds Bush market.
- Daventry District Council has announced it is going to court over two planning appeal decisions. It is contesting how an appeal inspector dealt with adopted Local Plan policies and how a separate inspector dealt with a five-year supply issue and whether the local planning authority was unreasonable to request affordable housing for a development of five dwellings.
- West Berkshire Council is mounting a legal challenge over a planning Inspector’s decision to allow an appeal over a development of up to 90 houses at Firlands Farm, Burghfield Common.
- Ryedale District Council is contesting a bill for costs of more than £150,000 after losing a legal action over plans for a supermarket at Malton.
- A village action group is looking to crowd fund legal representation for an inquiry into their application to register a piece of land known as Mankley Field located between two Gloucestershire villages near Stroud as a village green. The site, between the villages of Leonard Stanley and King’s Stanley, has outline permission for a development of 150 dwellings.
Harlow housing estate redevelopment
Plans to redevelop three former housing estates and build 343 new homes in Harlow, Essex have been given the go ahead by the Essex District Council.
House builder Countryside and Home Group have been given approval for the £67m scheme that also includes a new community centre.
The development will see a mix of detached, semi-detached, terraced houses and flats built. Around 55 per cent of the homes will be managed by Home Group, providing either ‘affordable’ rental homes or shared ownership properties.
The new development will replace the outdated homes on The Briars, Copshall Close and Aylets Field estates.
Peak Park’s forest sales
A dozen areas of woodland in the Peak District National Park are to be sold off, with the first six already on the market.
Peak District National Park Authority said it was “reducing liabilities” at a time of budget cuts.
It said the areas were small and would be sold with restrictions on their use and a similar number would be sold later in the year.
The authority said government cut-backs in grant-aid meant it had lost 36.5 per cent of income over the past five years.
Retail therapy for steel city
Sheffield City Council announced it has submitted an outline planning application for the city centre’s so-called Sheffield Retail Quarter.
The proposals, which have a price tag of £480m, will see the area around Barkers Pool, Pinstone Street and Moorhead transformed with new shops, offices, restaurants and flats. The scheme could create around 2500 jobs and bring in approximately an additional £300m a year to the city centre.
Historical buildings such as Leah’s Yard and The Citadel (Salvation Army building) will be preserved, as well as facades along Pinstone Street and of the old sunday school. The council is now purchasing land for the scheme and short-listing development partners.
Tyneside shipyard project
The former Swan Hunter shipyard on Tyneside is to get £8m to make progress with redevelopment of the site.
North Tyneside Council plans to turn the 13 hectare site into a centre for the renewable energy, advanced engineering and offshore sectors.
The money, secured by the North East Local Enterprise Partnership, will be used to fill a redundant wet berth at the old shipyard, creating more space for potential businesses.
Big Apple architects for Preston bus station makeover
A New York firm of architects has been chosen by Lancashire Council to design the £13m revamp of Preston’s bus station. The “brutalist” landmark building was grade 11 listed in 2013 after it was threatened with demolition. John Puttick Associates was picked as the winning bid from an anonymous shortlist of five entries.
Roger Milne
Shale gas planning applications will be fast-tracked through a new dedicated planning process under measures just announced which could involve intervention by Communities Secretary Greg Clark where councils repeatedly fail to determine oil and gas applications within the statutory timeframe.
Energy Secretary Amber Rudd and Greg Clark insisted this week that communities would have a strong say over shale exploration, but also said industry would benefit from a swift process for developing suitable new sites.
Under the new regime, announced on 13 August, the Communities Secretary will “actively” consider calling in on a case-by-case basis shale planning applications and consider recovering shale gas development appeals.
The new arrangements include identifying councils that repeatedly fail to determine oil and gas applications within the 16 week statutory timeframe, with subsequent applications potentially decided by the Communities Secretary.
Clark will also ensure planning call-ins and appeals involving shale applications are prioritised by the Planning Inspectorate.
Ministers have also committed to taking forward work on revising permitted development rights for drilling boreholes for groundwater monitoring.
The administration has reiterated its belief that communities hosting shale gas developments should share in the financial returns they generate and will be presenting proposals later in the year on the design of a new sovereign wealth fund.
Rudd said: “To ensure we get this industry up and running we can’t have a planning system that sees applications dragged out for months, or even years, on end.”
Clark said: “People’s safety and the environment will remain paramount and communities will always be involved in planning applications but no one benefits from uncertainty caused by delays in planning decisions. By fast tracking any appropriate applications these changes will tackle potential hold ups in the system.”
Roger Milne
Ministers have approved a development consent order for the construction of a major new offshore wind farm off the UK north-east coast.
If built, the Dogger Bank Teesside A and B Offshore wind project will involve up to 400 wind turbines in total, across two offshore wind generating stations, each with an installed capacity of up to 1.2 gigawatts.
The onshore elements of the development will be located in Redcar and Cleveland. The project could support hundreds of jobs in the North East region and has the potential to generate enough green electricity to power up to 1.8 million homes.
Energy and Climate Change Minister Lord Bourne said: “As we build the Northern Powerhouse, we want local communities to reap the benefits of investment and green jobs from low carbon developments like this Dogger Bank Offshore wind project.”
The project is the brainchild of Forewind, a consortium comprising four European energy companies, one of which – SSE – is British, the others involved, RWE, Statkraft and Statoil, are German and Norwegian. The arrays would be located between 125 kilometres and 290 kilometres off the North East coast.
As well as the turbines the development would comprise up to 8 offshore collector platforms, up to four accommodation or helicopter platforms, up to 10 metrological stations, up to two convertor stations and up to two sets of export cables to connect the arrays to a coastal landing point between Redcar and Marske-by-the-Sea.
Find out more information about the project on the Forewind website
Roger Milne
Two more local plans are experiencing serious turbulence. Arun District Council’s strategy is facing a 12-18-month suspension, while West Oxfordshire District Council’s draft local plan is facing uncertainty because the planning authority has distanced itself from the strategic housing market assessment (SHMA), which other Oxfordshire councils are relying on.
The planning authority has also been criticised by the inspector examining its development plan for the absence of any provision of travellers’ sites.
Examination of Arun DC’s local plan now faces a lengthy suspension while the West Sussex planning authority carries out further work to ensure the strategy can meet a higher housing needs figure. The council accepts that the plan’s original figure of 580 new dwellings per annum is no longer credible and the objectively assessed need is significantly higher, in the range 641-758 dwellings per annum.
In the case of the Oxfordshire district council the public examination of its draft local plan is due to start in October.
But the inspector examining the strategy has raised major concerns over the housing figures in the strategy, the absence of any provision for travellers and whether the duty to cooperate has been met.
The inspector is particularly worried that the council has what appear to be fundamental objections to the county SHMA as well as the Oxfordshire Strategic Economic Plan.
View more information about Arun District Council’s local plan
View more information about West Oxfordshire District Council’s local plan
Roger Milne
Tamworth Borough Council’s Planning Committee has approved the Staffordshire local authority’s outline planning application for up to 1,100 new homes on the former Tamworth golf course site.
The go-ahead also involved proposals for a new primary school, extension to Hodge Lane Local Nature Reserve and community woodland.
The land will now be sold to a developer who will have to enter into a section 106 agreement. On completion of the agreement, planning permission will be issued. The deadline for bids is next month (September).
The s106 agreement for the development of the former golf course site includes 20 per cent affordable homes on the site, £4.2m for the improvement of secondary and sixth form education, £1m towards the provision of new indoor sports facilities within the borough, expenditure totalling £3m for artificial sports pitches, new community woodland and the creation and maintenance of public open space, including a natural play area.
Also there is to be provision of a new half-hourly bus service between the development and Tamworth town centre. The agreement also requires highway improvements.
A total of 25 hectares of the site will be developed as new public open space. The two main features are the seven hectare extension to the Hodge Lane Local Nature Reserve and the creation of new community woodland featuring oak trees with picnic areas, accessible trails, viewpoints and a community orchard.
Roger Milne
Plans for a massive new rail freight terminal at Bellshill in North Lanarkshire have been approved in principle by Scottish ministers against the recommendation of the reporter [Scottish planning inspectors are called reporters] from the Directorate for Planning and Environmental Appeals who dealt with the scheme’s appeal.
The proposals for an “inland port” providing some 200,000 square metres of distribution, service and logistics facilities co-located next to four new 775-metre Euro Standard railway sidings were refused by the local planning authority.
PD Stirling, which operates the existing Mossend Railhead in Bellshill, plans to expand the existing facilities by creating what is called the Mossend International Railfreight Park.
A government spokesman said: “Having carefully considered the reporter’s report and the issues raised in objections, Scottish ministers have decided to grant planning permission in principle for the expansion of the Mossend Railhead.
“National Planning Framework 3 (NPF3) and Scottish Planning Policy support modal shift of freight transport from road to rail.
“Mossend, along with Coatbridge and Grangemouth, is identified as an important interchange in the central belt.
“Ministers welcome the potential economic benefits of the proposal as well as the opportunity to enhance transport and green infrastructure in the local area.”
The reporter had recommended that the project should be refused because of green belt concerns and because the proposals were contrary to the local development plan.
Roger Milne
Planning Portal Blog 