Summer 2007 LATEST NEWS (211k)

Summer 2007 INTERESTING CASES AND DECISIONS (156k)

LATEST NEWS

Budget 2007

The Chancellor’s 2007 budget announced the following proposed measures measures which, if or when implemented, will affect all landowners, developers, investors in England.

For further details contact Erica Mortimer or Mike Straw

CgMs Planning Bulletin on the 2007 Budget (61k) >>

Planning White Paper

The Government announced on 22 May 2007 that it proposes to change the planning system in England. The Communities Secretary, Ruth Kelly, says the proposed reforms are necessary so as to make the planning system "better focused, fairer, faster and more accessible.

Does the White Paper’s proposals deliver these objectives?

Click onto our news bulletin entitled “CgMs Planning White Paper” to see our own assessment of how these proposals, if implemented, will affect all of our developer, investor and occupier clients.

CgMs Planning White Paper Bulletin (018k) >>

For more information please contact Mike Straw

Strategic Views in London

New policies and legislation involving the Strategic View Corridors in London is due out on 13th July 2007, in the form of a new London Plan Supplementary Planning Guidance.  Alongside this SPG are New Directions for each viewing corridor.  These Directions require any new development which will impinge on the viewing plane (or the lateral assessment area or the background assessment area), to be referred to CABE, English Heritage, The Mayor and any other local authority within the view corridor, for consultation.

In summary, the effect of the new SPG and the Direction is to move the responsibility and powers from the Secretary of State to The Mayor.

For further information please contact Erica Mortimer

CgMs GENERAL NEWS

CgMs Press Notice

CgMs Ltd, Planning, Archaeological and Historic Building Consultants, are very pleased to announce the opening of a new office in Birmingham effective from 14 May 2007.

Setting up the Birmingham office are Andrew Hubbold, Planning Director and Sian Griffiths, as Associate Director.

Erica Mortimer, Managing Director at CgMs said:

“The opening of our new Birmingham Office is in response to the growing needs of our clients in providing independent and specialist advice in our three core business areas of planning, historic buildings and archaeology.

With now have offices in London, Cheltenham, Newark and Birmingham with 41 professional planners, 24 archaeologists following the acquisition of John Samuels in September 2006 and 22 historic building consultants.

Andrew and Sian bring a wealth of experience to serve our West Midlands clients having worked in both the housing and commercial sectors.”

The CgMs Birmingham office is at:

43 Temple Row, Birmingham, B2 5LS
T:0121 237 6097

Andrew can be contacted on 0121 237 6447 (mobile 0787 219 8323) or andrew.hubbold@cgms.co.uk

Sian can be contacted on 0121 237 6448 (mobile 0787 219 8324) or sian.griffiths@cgms.co.uk

PLANNING

The Plough, St John’s Hill, Clapham

CgMs have recently obtained planning permission for a redevelopment of The Plough public house in Clapham south west London on behalf of Londonewcastle and Youngs Breweries.  The application followed two previous applications which have been refused and subsequently dismissed at appeal by alternative developers.  Following extensive pre-application discussions with officers an application was submitted for a replacement public house, a new restaurant and 15 residential units. 

The site is in a prime location, at a major road junction, opposite the Grade II Listed Gala Bingo Hall.  CgMs successfully negotiated a four storey development which respected the strong Victorian designs which exist on two elevations to provide a scheme with fifteen residential units in total with no requirement to provide affordable housing.

Image reproduced by kind permission of Atkinson & Co.

For further information please contact Steve Forman

New Out of Centre Retail Warehouse Park, Hinckley

On behalf of Invista, CgMs have obtained a resolution to grant permission from Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council for the development of circa 100,000 sq.ft. of non-food retail floorspace outside the town centre. The site is the former Jarvis Porter factory which has lain vacant for 6 years despite marketing. In addition to retailing, the scheme includes 20,000 sq.ft. of B8 floorspace and an undertaking that the rest of the site remains in B Class employment use for 20 years. The draft permission allows for 20,000 sq.ft. of clothing, footwear, household goods and furnishings plus a fast food restaurant. It is hoped that development of the site will kickstart interest in a number of town centre sites that the Council wish to see redeveloped.

For further information please contact Chris Hicks

Major new office development at Cambridge Science Park

In April 2007, CgMs obtained, on behalf of Napp Pharmaceuticals and Trinity College, “reserved matter approvals” for the first phase of Napp’s office and research development at the Cambridge Science Park, Cambridge.

The first phase is for three B1 buildings totalling some 11,574 m2  of B1 office and research and development space for Napp’s own occupation on a 2.6 hectare.

Mike Straw, Planning Director, said that the reserved matter approvals are a culmination of the Napp and Trinity teams working together to achieve an acceptable design and masterplanning solution that both meets Napp’s own specific needs and South Cambridgeshire District Council’s requirement for a high quality scheme befitting the Science Park. The Phase 1 development forms part of a wider masterplan for the subsequent phases for an additional 21,000 m2 of B1 space. The team are now in the process of discharging the planning conditions enabling the commencement of the first phase in the summer of 2007.

For further information please contact Mike Straw

Mixed Use Development in Putney

CgMs has secured planning permission subject to a Section 106 Agreement at 118 Putney Bridge Road in Wandsworth on behalf of Iconic, a joint venture between Londonewcastle and Rugby Estates plc.  The scheme involves the demolition of existing commercial buildings and construction of 657 m2  of commercial space, 2 houses, 2 maisonettes, 10 apartments and car parking space in a building ranging from two to four storeys.  The Section 106 includes commitment to financial contributions towards an on-street car club and promotion of other green travel measures. 

CgMs advised the client on likely parameters of development and site constraints from an early stage in the development process.  Despite having secured a recommendation for approval on an earlier planning application, a significant level of local objection meant that the Council refused planning permission.  A Public Inquiry took place in late 2006, which CgMs co-ordinated and provided evidence at.  The Planning Inspector agreed that the majority of the proposal was acceptable but concluded that the design of the two houses and maisonette roofscape required further attention.  A revised scheme that addresses the Inspectors concerns was approved by the Council in May 2007.  It will be built to Iconic’s high standards and provide a significant enhancement to the site and local area. 

CgMs also provided advice in respect of the site’s archaeological constraints.

For further information please contact Will Thompson

38 Arkwright Road, Hampstead, London, NW3

Honeyrose Properties Ltd has received planning permission for conversion of a property located in the Redington - Frognal Conservation Area from two residential units to a single dwelling house.  The decision was issued by Camden Council within eight weeks of submission of the application.  CgMs successfully tackled the Council’s assertion that the property’s existing lawful use was three units, which would normally have resulted in a refusal, by supporting the application with a comprehensive planning statement and documentary evidence. 

For further information please contact Will Thompson

ARCHAEOLOGY

Archaeological work at the Former David Evans Store, Princess Way, Swansea

On behalf of Thurleigh Estates (Swansea) Ltd, CgMs Consulting are overseeing archaeological investigations at the site of the former David Evans department store on Princess Way in central Swansea. The work is being carried out in consultation with the Curatorial Division of the Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust Ltd (GGAT Curatorial).

A 2-stage archaeological evaluation conducted by the Contracts division of GGAT is due to be completed this week. The evaluation has identified the position of the surviving outer-bailey ditch of Swansea ‘old’ castle, beneath the northern part of the store.

The ditch, orientated approximately north to south, is approximately 10 metres wide and believed to be between 3 and 4 metres deep. Sample excavation of the upper fill of the ditch produced pottery fragments and other refuse of post-medieval date. This deposit is likely to seal deeper medieval deposits. The evaluation results suggest that additional archaeological remains of post-medieval and medieval date are likely to survive on either side of the ditch.

Preparations are currently underway to commence mitigation works on the site, including the excavation of a section through the ditch.

View more news on this item via the City & County of Swansea website

For further information please contact Karen Francis

HISTORIC BUILDINGS

Bow Street Magistrates Court and Police Station, Covent Garden

CgMs Historic Buildings have been providing advice and support on the current proposals for the conversion of the Grade II listed Bow Street Magistrates Court and Police Station Building to a hotel.  Edward Holdings purchased the site following the closure of the courts in the summer of 2006 and a planning and listed building consent application is being submitted May/June 2007.  CgMs have been instrumental in steering the proposed alterations towards a conservation led approach that will see the retention of the Court Rooms and key areas of building, including the police station holding cells.  Our role has included the provision of a detailed assessment of the building and its interest, design team input and negotiations with Westminster City Council and English Heritage.  The proposed development has been well received by all parties consulted, including former staff, the Victorian Society and amenity groups.  The proposal includes a hotel, restaurant and museum. 

For further information please contact Jon Lowe

Wakefield Conservation Area Appraisals

CgMs Historic Buildings team has recently completed four Conservation Area Character Appraisals for City of Wakefield Metropolitan District Council. The four areas offered a varied picture of the city, including the historic core of the medieval town around what is now the cathedral, the late 18th-century residential development of St. John’s Square, an historic commercial route into the city, and an area of mixed school, hospital and villa-type housing developed in the 19th century.

The work was carried out in accordance with the best practice documents on Conservation Area appraisals, published by English Heritage in February 2006, and involved townscape analysis and street-by-street audit of each area. The process involved the identification of listed buildings, other significant buildings, important views, vistas, trees and open spaces, and also took into account areas of negative impact, particularly those arising from aspects of loss and/or intrusion. A major component was the identification of areas needing enhancement, accompanied by recommendations for their management and improvement.

The findings led to a number of proposed boundary amendments and recommendations for several buildings to be locally listed. Five candidates for statutory listing were also recommended.

CgMs were expressly thanked by the Council for their ‘hard diligent and accurate work carried out in a very professional manner’.