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We are pleased to report that the outline planning application at Rothley for 80 houses plus extension to the primary school was approved by Charnwood Borough Council on Thursday (17 June). Following the public consultation event we reported on in March 2020, an application was submitted. We advised on flood risk and drainage, and transport matters, which we resolved with the relevant consultees. Although not an allocated site, the housing shortfall meant an officer’s recommendation to approve, which the planning committee endorsed. Flooding around the Rothley Brook was a key input to the masterplanning, not just from the watercourse but also the area at potential risk from reservoir flooding if there was a failure of the Groby Pool and Thornton Reservoir.

Completed schemes are coming thick and fast, as the new traffic signal controlled junction on Higham Lane in Nuneaton has recently been opened. We assisted Persimmon gain planning consent for their residential development in 2018, carried out the S278 detailed design, and now the junction is open to traffic as part of Persimmon’s Eaton Place development.

An aerial view of the ‘death star’ roundabout on Grange Road in Coalville, now open to traffic. Encouraged by Harworth Group, the landscaping by Studio 413 gives a nod to Palitoy, who were founded in Coalville. S278 detailed design by our Infrastructure Design team as part of the enabling infrastructure for the wider South East Coalville/Hugglescote Grange scheme being delivered by Harworth.

North West Leicestershire District Council have approved the development proposal at Sawley. Newlands Developments sought outline consent for 849,000sqft of storage, distribution, and general industrial space on the 127 acre site, with a construction cost of £230m. Our Transport Assessment and Travel Plan accompanied the application. The most challenging task was achieving an access junction within tight constraints, including an existing public right of way, easement for the Derwent Valley Aqueduct, flood risk issues along Tamworth Road, and a tight land ownership boundary.

What began as some feasibility work in 2013, has paid off with an approval for Harworth Group at their site in Awsworth. Key was overcoming an objection in principle to a new junction on the A6096 Shilo Way. Working with assistance from various members of the local highway authority, Nottinghamshire County Council, we demonstrated that a new signal controlled junction would not create unacceptable road safety problems. An allocation in the Local Plan followed, and the outline planning application for 250 dwellings was approved by Broxtowe Borough Council on 2 June 2021.

Working with Bellway Homes, we have supported their application for 196 dwellings that gained a resolution to grant consent on 11 May 2021. The development is on a site east of the A511 Burton Road that already has outline consent and reserved matters approval for 400 dwellings. The additional dwellings would take the total to 596. The detailed application was supported by our Transport Assessment and Travel Plan. The complex issue was the assessment of Clock Island, a notorious bottleneck that suffers severe congestion, where there is no space for capacity improvements. Through careful assessment and analysis, it was agreed with the local highway authority, Derbyshire County Council, and the local planning authority, South Derbyshire Council, that the development could proceed despite that constraint.

After much hard work, we are pleased to report a magnificent team effort has reaped the rewards of an allowed appeal at Wykin Lane in Stoke Golding. Davidsons Developments Limited applied for outline consent for 55 dwellings in November 2019. The application was supported by our Flood Risk Statement and Drainage Strategy, and Transport Statement. Despite a recommendation of approval by the Council’s officers, the councillor’s refused the application in June 2020. One of the two reasons for refusal was related to highways matters, and at the virtual public inquiry held over two weeks in April 2021, David Cummins gave expert witness evidence, with support from Rebecca Leconte. In his decision, the Inspector agreed that the development with the proposed mitigation would not conflict with paragraph 109 of the NPPF, which aims to prevent development on highways grounds if there would be an unacceptable impact on highway safety.

At Ashfield District Council’s first physical committee, the Council approved Westerman’s application for 69 dwellings on Clare Road in Sutton in Ashfield. The application was supported by our Flood Risk Assessment and Drainage Strategy, and Transport Statement. Formerly a draft allocation in the now withdrawn 2016 plan, the Councillor’s agreed that the benefits of delivering houses in the face of a housing land supply shortfall outweighed the loss of open space.

Steep gradients and difficult ground conditions have not prevented us satisfying the highway adoption requirements of Leicestershire County Council to gain their acceptance of a housing scheme at the end of Leconfield road in Nanpantan. Working for Bowbridge Homes, there has been a fantastic collaborative effort by all the various consultants to overcome constraints due to landscape, heritage, planning, geology, ground conditions, and ecology, all within one relatively small but challenging site.

We are pleased to report that our Infrastructure Design team has gained technical approval from Leicestershire County Council for a new roundabout at the junction of Kettering Road with the A6, at Market Harborough. The works are part of the package of mitigation required for the 850 house Overstone Park development by Davidsons.