news

We are delighted to announce the arrival of Ian Kirk-Ellis who joined the team on 4 June 2018. Welcome to the team Ian!

 

Kuehne + Nagel, the Swiss based transport and logistics company, has agreed a 15-year lease on a 195,547sqft unit on a 17 acre site at the £700m Segro Logistics Park East Midlands Gateway.  The 700-acre ‘inland port’ combines links to the M1 and East Midlands Airport.  All our work would be for nothing if it weren’t for end users, and so it is always pleasing to follow the life of a development as it moves beyond our involvement through the occupation stage.

In October 2015 we supported a planning application for redevelopment of the Engine Yard at Belvoir Castle.  Formerly the castle’s workshops, the vision was to convert the old buildings and create a centre of excellence for food and drink.

The application was granted and since then the Duchess of Rutland and her team have been working hard to bring her vision to life.  At the heart of this new community hub will be a café producing light meals with seasonally produced food. An event space above the café will host regular pop-up themed dinners, foodie talks, and cookery demonstrations.  There will be retail units where locals and tourists can buy produce and plants, clothing, accessories and gifts. A wellness spa is planned.

An opening date of 15 June 2018 has just been announced, and it is lovely to see plans realised.  Read more here.

We continue to assist British Land with their proposals at the Giltbrook Shopping Park.  On 23 April 2018 Broxtowe Borough Council approved a Minor Material Amendment application to divide the existing Decathlon unit that sits next to IKEA (image below by Leonard Design Associates).  There were minor changes to floorspace and car parking, with our main issue being the altered servicing arrangements at the rear.

The Government has today announced £49.5m of funding towards the £63.5m cost of the Melton Mowbray Distributor Road – read more here.

That is great news for many – local residents affected by the current congestion; the Borough Council who can deliver significant growth focussed on Melton; and developers with proposals in the area.  It is an excellent example of the benefits of infrastructure.

We, too, are pleased.  For the last 7 years we have been working with Davidsons Developments on a scheme of 1,500 houses on the southern side of Melton, including the design of a southern bypass.  Initially promoting the site for allocation in the Local Plan, currently supporting a planning application, we hope to see houses coming out of the ground in a couple of years.

Discussions about a bypass go back decades.  Our own David Cummins recalls working on behalf of the Borough Council in 1992, running a cost benefit analysis of different route options, and after that supporting Wilson Bowden’s Kettleby Magna new village proposal on the airfield.

Well done to Leicestershire County Council.

Work continues on Northampton Gateway Strategic Rail Freight Interchange. On Friday 9 March we presented to the local parish councils (Collingtree, Milton Malsor, Roade and Blisworth) to explain the highway mitigation proposals.

 

A planning application has been submitted to Nottingham City Council for new offices and student accommodation in two new multi-storey buildings on Station Street.  Working for client Bildurn, and with architect Franklin Ellis, we have supported the application with a Transport Statement, Travel Plan, and Car Park Management Plan.  Surrounded by the tram and canal, and adjacent to the train station, the site can only be accessed from Station Street, a pedestrian priority street.  Hence, there has been particular focus on the vehicle movements that will occur during demolition and construction, as well as during the occupation of the development.

Good to see pictures by Winvic Construction of the two new distribution centres they have built at Brackmills Point in Northampton, on behalf of our mutual client Roxhill Developments.  We provided transport and highways advice to support the planning application and it is good to see our hard work turned in to reality.

 

Last night, South Derbyshire Council approved Harworth Group’s outline planning application for 45 dwellings on a site in Hilton.  The trickiest highway issue was designing an pedestrian crossing on a raised table, with altered speed limit, at the entry to the village where neighbouring driveways and other constraints meant a suitable location was difficult to find.  Illustrative masterplan by Pegasus Group below.

We like CGI.  The image below is by Marchini Curran Associates, of their high rise residential and commercial scheme at Derwent Street in Derby.  Two apartment blocks will be built, the tallest being 13 storeys, to provide 103 apartments plus commercial space.  The application was supported by our Transport Assessment and Travel Plan, and was approved last night by the City Council.