Planning & Development Bulletin - Jun 2020

We firmly believe new legislation and fresh momentum is required to aid the nation’s economic recovery post COVID-19, and some measures previously thought to be ‘no go areas’ must now be embraced openly.

Our Planning & Development teams across the country have been working remotely since lockdown and have been able to observe, at close quarters, how the planning system has adapted, or is adapting, to the changed circumstances.

While we applaud our industry for its flexibility and willingness to meet new challenges inflicted by COVID-19, we also recognise that the Government should take immediate action to aid processes.

While we were pleased to see the Government announce new measures on Wednesday 17 June, including the extension of planning permission deadlines, we still believe they need to go further. Click here to view our thoughts. 

For further information, or to speak directly to one of our Planning & Development professionals, please contact us.

On behalf of a private client, our planning team based in Leeds, secured reserved matters planning permission for detached dwellings in Church Fenton Village, Selby, Yorkshire.

The proposals will deliver nine high quality, detached dwellings with associated access, along with a new entrance route to the adjacent Church Fenton Hall.

Our team negotiated a deal to secure highway access into the site via third party land. Whilst the planning was advanced, the site was successfully marketed. On the receipt of several bids, a preferred bidder was selected, and contacts have now been exchanged for sale of the land to a local developer.

For further information, please contact a member of our team:

Daniel Sherwood
Associate Partner
07801 666174

Our professionals are currently promoting an exciting and innovative new settlement in south Oxfordshire.

The proposal is to deliver 3,500 new homes, including associated infrastructure and services adjacent to the Culham Science Centre, which is home to the UK Fusion experiment and autonomous vehicle development. We have coordinated a range of technical experts to develop a comprehensive planning and delivery strategy that will see the construction of Culham Science Village over the next 20 years.

The scheme is a draft allocation in the South Oxfordshire Local Plan, an infamous plan that has been the subject of political disputes between the Lib-Dem/Green led district council and the Conservative Government. These disagreements resulted in a decree by the secretary of state that the plan must be adopted by the end of 2020. This implement timeline was, of course, before the COVID-19 global pandemic.

After discussions around how an examination in public might be possible while maintaining social distancing guidelines, it has been agreed that the meeting will be virtual and held on an internet platform. Currently, we are looking forward to the hearings being held throughout July and August.

At the hearings, our professionals will be representing two clients regarding the construction of Culham Science Village, and we have also submitted written statements on our client’s behalf.

For further information, please contact a member of our team:

Steven Sensecall 
Partner
07970 796762
steven.sensecall@carterjonas.co.uk

On behalf of residential developer London Square, our London planning team have recently secured planning permission for 52 new apartments at the Kingston Riding Centre site in Norbiton, Kingston upon Thames.

As a firm, we started advising London Square in 2017. Since then, the current riding centre has secured planning permission at an alternative site in Chessington and the existing site was marketed for alternative recreational uses for a full year to demonstrate that the land is surplus to local recreational requirements and therefore suitable for redevelopment to residential use. The application includes a range of apartment sizes across two buildings and provides 32.7% on-site affordable units, with private and communal amenity space.

The scheme is located on a back-land site, sitting across several levels. The design has overcome many complexities associated with back-land development to provide a scheme that is mindful of neighbouring contexts. The design evolved throughout the course of the application period following feedback from officers, local residents and the Design Review Panel.

The application was approved at Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames’s first virtual planning committee on 21st May 2020. During the discussion, Councillors took a particular interest in the relocation of the riding centre and the marketing of the site. However, given the sufficient evidence to demonstrate that the facility is no longer needed following the robust marketing exercise, the application was ultimately approved with nine votes in support of the development and only one abstain.

For further information, please contact a member of our team:

Jessica McSweeney
Partner
07826 867329
jessica.mcsweeney@carterjonas.co.uk

Our professionals have recently obtained planning consent for the construction of 21 houses in the Green Belt on the edge of Great Shelford, Cambridge.

Our client, Great Shelford Parochial Charities, had previously received negative feedback from the Local Planning Authority because of the Green Belt status of the site, despite there being an identified need for affordable housing within the area.

As a consequence, the Trustees of Great Shelford Parochial Charities instructed our professionals to help submit a planning application. We worked closely alongside the scheme’s architects, Haysom Ward Miller, and our client to submit a community led scheme.

In doing so, we had to address the policy complexities associated with the plan, including justifying the development’s location in the Green Belt, addressing significant ecological constraints, and successfully negotiating S106 heads of terms.

The community engagement undertaken led to the scheme being supported by the Parish Council and receiving a very positive response from members on the South Cambridgeshire Planning Committee, with a specific reference to the development being ‘inspiring’ and an acknowledgement of the background work required to help deliver the scheme. 

A Trustee of Great Shelford Parochial Charities outlined:
“We want to thank Carter Jonas for pushing our planning application through to a very successful conclusion. The Charity was very fortunate to have such an effective team on board. We couldn't have done it without you”.

For further information, please contact a member of our team:

Justin Bainton
Partner
07771 556662
justin.bainton@carterjonas.co.uk