Our client, Barwood Land, has successfully appealed against the refusal of their planning application for 60 dwellings at Bloxham Riad in Banbury. Their application was supported by our Transport Statement, and Flood Risk Assessment and Drainage Strategy, both of which were approved. Hence they were not reasons for refusal. Our drainage strategy included a surface water catchment plan to demonstrate the impermeable area of each catchment, with an allowance for urban creep.
Charnwood Borough Council last week resolved to grant full planning consent to Bloor Homes’ development of 125 dwellings at Queniborough Lodge. The complexity from a transport point of view was grappling with Leicestershire County Council’s transport contributions strategy. As the site is in the North of Leicester area, it results in a request for £35,778.93 per dwelling. The contributions strategy is impacting on a number of our clients’ sites, and so a number of us listened to the planning committee meeting to hear the planning officer’s recommendations, and how the councillors responded to that request.
We are pleased to report planning consent granted by Gedling Borough Council for the redevelopment of the former Burton Joyce Community Church on Meadow Lane. Following an objection on highways grounds to our client’s planning application for Use Class E, we worked with IBA Planning to come up with a strategy to determine which of the different types of use would be acceptable. The church fills its plot and has no car parking, so first task was a parking beat survey on a weekday and weekend to understand the spare on-street parking. We then assessed the traffic and parking demands should the church be occupied for various uses, including food retail, non-food retail, office, vet, gym, dental surgery, nursery, and industrial uses.
A lot of work for five houses. Our work on the site at Chapel Lane for Cartwright Homes began in 2016, and finally received planning permission on appeal last week. Highways was complicated, involving negotiation with Leicestershire County Council and National Highways, with complexities around unregistered land and substandard visibility. However, highways issues were overcome and were not a reason for refusal. Diligence and perseverance pays off. Layout by Hayward Architects.
We are pleased to report that Rushcliffe Borough Council has resolved to consent Davidsons’ full application for 96 dwellings in Gotham. It’s been a long haul since December 2019 when the application was registered, not least because of some challenging technical issues. We derived an access solution on Leake Road, and a way of dealing with the on-street parking. However, drainage matters were even more difficult, as the site experiences significant surface water flooding. That flooding impacts on existing residents, meaning they took a considerable interest in the proposals. We designed a surface water management scheme that was approved by the Lead Local Flood Authority, and they maintained that approval throughout a further six rounds of consultation and challenge by officers on matters raised by the local community, Parish, and Ward Councillors.
Our work supporting the construction of our designs continues at Broadnook – Leicestershire’s first Garden Village. The access roads are open to traffic, and initial phases of the primary infrastructure are largely complete. The first couple of housing phases are coming out of the ground, and Davidsons are gearing up their sales efforts. The brand gurus have been in and some exciting images are appearing on Davidsons’ website. We like the historic associations with the Great Central Railway, seen in their village map below.
Lou, our Head of Corporate Services, reaches a special milestone, and receives many thanks from us all for her ongoing dedication and hard work.
Cadeby Homes’ reserved matters application for 80 dwellings on a site south of Grange Road in Coalville, part of the wider South East Coalville Sustainable Urban Extension, was refused by North West Leicestershire District Council despite no highways objection and an officer recommendation to approve. Councillor’s objected to the lack of a controlled pedestrian crossing. A crossing had been part of the applicant’s proposals, but was removed when Leicestershire County Council said it could not be justified, and the existing dropped kerb crossing was sufficient. At the appeal hearing, we made the case that despite the lack of a controlled crossing, pedestrians could safely reach the nearby amenities. The Inspector accepted our arguments and allowed the appeal.
As part of our ongoing involvement in SEGRO’s Northampton Gateway SRFI, we have helped gain full planning consent for a 1.5 million sqft unit for Yusen Logistics. Nearly all the enabling infrastructure is in place, as are the off-site highway improvements, and this is likely to be the first unit to be built. The application was supported by our Transport Statement, which described how the unit fits within the Development Consent Order approved in October 2019.
Pleasing news this week that Charnwood Borough Council have approved our client’s planning application for up to 61,000sqm of employment use. The development will be Phase 2 of the successful Watermead Business Park on the northern edge of Leicester. SGP’s illustrative masterplan below. The site is west of the A607 Syston Bypass and south of the A46 Leicester Western Bypass, where those two roads come together at the Hobby Horse roundabout. A notoriously congested area, our Transport Assessment and Travel Plan nevertheless received no objections from Leicestershire County Council, Leicester City Council, and National Highways.
