Published: Wednesday, 28th August 2019
Guidance published for s.78 appeals, Garden town approved in the South West, Mixed-use plan submitted for Bristol and more stories...
The Planning Inspectorate has published new guidance for the submission of the Statement of Case and Statement of Common Ground for s.78 appeals. There is also a new process for each. The changes follow the review by Bridget Rosewell of planning appeal inquiries, the conclusions of which were published in February this year. The new guidance relates to the second and seventh recommendations made in the review. Recommendation two stated that the Planning Inspectorate “should work with representatives of the key sectors involved in drafting statements of case to devise new proformas for these statements which can then be added to the new portal and include, where appropriate, the introduction of mandatory information fields and word limits”. In response, the inspectorate has published new Statement of Case guidance appellants to follow. A digital document will be available on the new portal that the inspectorate is currently developing. The seventh recommendation was for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and the inspectorate to "substantially overhaul the approach to the preparation of statements of common ground". The new guidance for Statements of Common Ground sets out a number of changes, including: The planning appeals procedural guide has been updated to reflect the changes. 19 August 2019 Somerset and West Taunton Council has granted approval for 2,000 new homes, which will be part of a new community. Designed on garden city principles, the neighbourhood will be built in south west Taunton. It also includes a primary school, mixed-use local centre, employment and a ‘park and bus’ facility for 300 vehicles. Of the 2,000 homes, 350 have been designated as affordable. Planning consultancy Barton Willmore secured the permission on behalf of a consortium of housebuilders, including Taylor Wimpey, Bovis Homes and Summerfield Developments. The development will made up of two neighbourhoods connected by a network of green spaces. Barton Willmore said it will respect the local character of surrounding areas of Comeytrowe and Trull . Barry Williams, urban design director at Barton Willmore, said: “By using the garden city principles, we have designed an environment that celebrates its landscape setting, promoting opportunities to adopt a healthy and sustainable lifestyle. We’ve provided opportunities to ‘grow-your-own’ food throughout the scheme, created an extensive network of footpaths and cycleways, and integrated large areas of attractive public open space, to create a neighbourhood people will love living in.” Planning associate Lawrence Turner from Barton Willmore, said: “We are delighted that Somerset West and Taunton Council have approved this new community, which offers an exciting opportunity to create a sustainable and attractive urban extension to Taunton, which will contribute to creating more sustainable patterns of development. This inclusive new community will provide much needed housing for the area and will generate up to 3,300 new jobs over its lifetime and provide 5.25 hectares of employment land.” The new community was promoted as a housing allocation through the council’s local plan and forms a "significant" part of Somerset and West Taunton Council’s housing land supply over the next 12 years. 21 August 2019 A mixed-use regeneration plan that includes homes and a secondary school has been submitted to Bristol City Council. Feeder Estates LLP, a partnership managed by Square Bay, has submitted the planning application, which would see the regeneration of the Silverthorne Lane site in Bristol’s Temple Quarter. Designed by AHMM’s Bristol team, this element will provide 367 new homes, 80,000 sq ft of employment space for commercial and community employment uses, and extensive areas of public realm, transforming the former industrial site into a vibrant canal-side quarter. It will also include an academic and office building developed by the University of Bristol on the westernmost part of the site, close to the university’s emerging Temple Quarter Campus. The Department for Education will deliver a 1,600-place secondary school and sixth form, which will be operated by Oasis Community Learning, to address a pressing shortage of secondary school places in the city. The masterplan also comprises student accommodation for 41 students. Designed by Bristol-based practice AWW, it will be delivered and managed by Future Generation, a specialist student accommodation developer. Tom Vaughan-Jones, director at Square Bay, said “The application is the result of many months of hard work on the part of our development team in liaison with a variety of stakeholder groups. We are also very pleased to have development partners in place for every element of the scheme, meaning that work can begin immediately following a planning consent to deliver much-needed new homes, employment space, and crucially the new school for which there is an acute need. The transformation of this Enterprise Zone site on the approach to central Bristol will send a powerful message that Bristol is very much open for business and investment.” Feeder Estates’ plans have been produced by a team of development partners, coordinated by Bristol-based Alder King planning consultants and AWW architects. 22 August 2019 The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) has secured £41 million to help ‘unlock’ former industrial land for housing. The funding is part of a £350 million housing deal agreed between the WMCA and the government last year. The region has increased housebuilding by 30 per cent, with numbers rising from 11,288 in 2014/15 to 14,628 in 2017/18. The majority of these new homes are being built on derelict industrial sites. The first housing development on brownfield land to be delivered through the £41 million Land Fund is Cable Street / Steelhouse Lane in Wolverhampton, with further sites to follow in Walsall, Willenhall, Coseley and Solihull. Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands, said that the latest funding " will enable us to continue to buy and clean-up derelict sites that would otherwise lie vacant". “We can then sell the sites on or develop them in partnership with house builders, making sure the new homes are affordable, well-designed and energy efficient.” The region has a target of building 215,000 new homes by 2031 to meet its future housing and economic needs. The WMCA want the majority of them to be on brownfield land. The cash will pay for remediation of the land, the combined authority said. Minimum standards of affordability, design and energy efficiency will be laid out for developers that buy the site, it added. Mike Bird, WMCA portfolio lead for housing and land and the leader of Walsall Council, explained: “The West Midlands has a vast amount of former industrial land crying out for redevelopment and we see this as an asset. “By using it for new homes we can relieve pressure on the green belt and help protect our environment for future generations while providing them with a decent and affordable home. “So this latest payment should be seen as a ringing endorsement by government of our ‘brownfield first’ policy.” 19 August 2019 Chancellor Sajid Javid has announced that up to 50,000 new homes are to be delivered in England through investment of a further £600 million from the Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF). The homes will be delivered in “high demand” areas in the South East and East of England. The HIF was launched by Javid when he was communities secretary. So far £1.3 billion has been allocated to deliver housing in England as the government looks to deliver 300,000 homes a year by the mid-2020s. Javid said: "I want to see more homes built in the places people want to live, so more people realise the dream of homeownership. "But we need the roads, rail links, and schools to support the families living in those homes, which is why I set up a fund to put in place the infrastructure to unlock new homes in these areas." Javid added that the money will help more people get on the property ladder and allow more communities to flourish. The HIF is designed to support local authorities to increase the overall housing supply in their area; make more land available for housing; and deliver new physical infrastructure that supports new and existing communities. The five projects are: Housing secretary Robert Jenrick said: "To build more, we need to provide the infrastructure and public services to match. This package will support existing communities and ensure they receive the roads and schools to sustain the homes being built." David Finch, leader of Essex County Council, said: “The announcement is truly reflective of just how key road, rail and public transport networks are for Essex’s growth, helping create the conditions for our economy and communities to grow in a sustainable way. We are pleased that government has recognised this with over half of the £600 million HIF money being directed to Essex. “Chelmsford and Colchester are already great places for people to live and for businesses to thrive and this funding will help grow the attraction of both places for generations to come.” Kevin Collins, executive member for planning and regeneration at Central Bedfordshire Council, said: “Securing this advance funding for vital services and infrastructure demonstrates our commitment to planning for, and delivering, sustainable growth. During the local plan consultations, we heard loud and clear from the public that they want to have the right schools, facilities, health services and transport links in place ahead of the houses: that’s exactly what we’ve done here, and why we’ve worked so hard to secure this money.” 19 August 2019 A round-up of planning news Last chance to book European Biennial conference tickets This coming Saturday, 31 August, is the deadline for planning professionals to book their place at the event. It aims to launch a debate on how planners and urban designers can help create sustainable cities. The central theme is to investigate planning in places that are defined by their peripherality or location between two or more boundaries. The European Council of Spatial Planners (ECTP) Biennial conference is in association with Plymouth City Council, Destination Plymouth, the University's Planning School and the RTPI. More information about tickets can be found on the University of Plymouth website. It was recorded at 8.30am on 26 August. It was stronger than those that forced the firm to suspend test fracking in 2011. Cuadrilla acknowledged the tremor in a statement on its website. “We can confirm that no hydraulic fracturing was being carried out at the time and no hydraulic fracturing has been carried out over the weekend. We are investigating the event alongside the regulators who monitor Preston New Road.” A 1.0 magnitude tremor was then recorded at the site last night at about 10:20pm. Operations at the site remain suspended. Seven new houses and a bungalow will be built by the council’s contracted partner Woodhead Construction, which is part of the Woodhead Group. The homes are part of the council’s new-build programme, which aims to provide about 30 new homes for rent each year – adding to its stock of around 4,300 council homes. The waiting list for council housing in the district currently stands at more than 600 households. Bristol to develop low-carbon development They will be heated by individual Kensa ground source heat pumps connected to a shared ground loop array of boreholes. The installation will see each home making lifetime carbon savings of 30 tonnes compared with using individual gas boilers, while also removing all local NOx emissions to ensure that local air quality is not affected by the choice of heating system. The homes form part of Bristol’s commitment to become carbon-neutral by 2030. Developer Wilmott Dixon has begun works on site with the aid of UK ground source heat pump specialist Kensa Contracting. Completion is expected in 2021. The plan is aimed at unleashing the potential of the coastal setting around Irvine Harbourside. It is hoped that the project will bring in tens of thousands of extra visitors each year to North Ayrshire, making it a destination of choice for leisure activities, businesses and families to live and work. As well as transforming the Irvine Harbourside area, the scheme should create a sustainable development of the Ardeer peninsula while preserving its natural beauty and environment. 27 August 2019
This weeks planning news in association with ThePlanner, the official magazine of the Royal Town Planning Institute.
Guidance published for s.78 appeals
Laura Edgar, The Planner Garden town approved in the South West
Laura Edgar, The PlannerMixed-use plan submitted for Bristol
Laura Edgar, The Planner £41m for West Midlands housing
Laura Edgar, The Planner Javid announces £600m for housing
Laura Edgar, The Planner News round-up
The 13th European Biennial of Towns and Town Planners 2019 is being held in Plymouth from 11 September to 14t September, tickets for which are still available.
Tremor at Lancashire fracking site
A tremor with a magnitude of 2.9 has been recorded at Cuadrilla’s Preston New Road site, where it is exploring for shale gas.
Affordable housing for Coalville residents
The latest phase of North West Leicestershire District Council’s housebuilding project is set to begin on the site of the former Cocked Hat pub in Greenhill, Coalville.
Bristol City Council is building 133 homes at Ashton Rise using the high-efficiency Sig iHouse solution.
Agreement signed on Ayrshire harbour plan
North Ayrshire Council and NPL Group have signed an agreement setting out the terms for how both parties will work to deliver a multimillion-pound action plan.
Laura Edgar, The Planner