News Type: Other

A great result at committee last week!  Firstplan secured planning permission for this high-quality mixed use scheme in Billericay.  The site is located in an employment area and the introduction of residential use is not normally something that would be supported by the Council.  However, Firstplan successfully argued that the specific mix of uses would enhance the viability of the employment area and we were delighted that members upheld the officers recommendation and allowed the application.  

Firstplan is delighted to have won an appeal against Lambeth Council’s decision to refuse a lawful development certificate for an L-shaped dormer.   The case came about as a result of inspectors issuing conflicting decisions on whether certain L-shaped dormers should benefit from permitted development rights.   We are pleased that the inspector in this case agreed with us that the government’s technical guidance already provides a clear, logical explanation on this issue and should therefore be followed.  The decision has earned a mention in Planning Resource and The Guardian!

If you have any queries regarding the appeal or roof extensions generally, please contact Tim Williams here.

Our recent appeal victory against Leeds City Council has been published in this month’s “The Planner” magazine! Some strange conclusions from the Inspectorate but delighted to secure a positive and ultimately pragmatic result for a large new bar on behalf of our client Arc Inspirations on what was a highly disputed case.

On 8th February 2019 the National Audit Office (NAO) published a report on ‘Planning for new homes’. The report is part of a series on housing in England, including Housing in England: overview (2017) and Homelessness (2018). It assesses how effectively the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government supports the planning regime to provide the right homes in the right places.

The report concludes that the Government’s planning system is “underperforming and cannot demonstrate that it is meeting housing demand effectively” which won’t come as surprising news for housing developers across the country.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government aims to support the delivery of 300,000 new homes per year from the mid-2020s. To increase supply, it has implemented reforms to the planning system to help local authorities in England determine how many, where and what type of new homes should be built. This includes a standard method for local authorities to assess the number of new homes needed in their area.

Between 2005-06 and 2017-18, 177,000 new homes per year have been built on average and the number has never exceeded 224,000. To meet its ambition, the Department will need to oversee a 69% increase in the average number of new homes built since 2005-06.

As of December 2018, only 44% of local authorities had an up-to-date local plan setting out their strategies for meeting the need for new homes, despite it being a legislative requirement. The report highlights that if a local authority can’t show it has a five-year supply of land for housing, developers have greater freedoms to build where they want, risking “ill-suited developments”.

In terms of the speed of planning applications, the report notes that local authorities are increasingly processing planning applications within target timescales, but the NAO considers that this might reflect a greater use of ‘time extensions’ rather than increased efficiency. The report also highlights that Planning Inspectorate is slow to determine appeals from developers whose applications have been refused. The time it took to determine an appeal increased from 30 weeks to 38 weeks between 2013-14 and 2017-18.

The new National Planning Policy Framework, published in July 2018, has sought to implement further changes to boost housing delivery, but it remains too early to understand whether the changes will be effective. However, it is difficult to see a significant jump in the speed of housing delivery following a 37.9 per cent reduction in core funding for planning departments in the last seven years and an overall 15 per cent reduction in local authority planning staff between 2006 and 2016. Alongside the Government’s priority for housing delivery there needs to be an equal priority to address the resource and skills shortage within local planning authority departments to help deliver housing.

The Government published finding of an independent review on Planning Appeal Inquiry timescales this week.  The review, chaired by Bridget Roswell, found that: ‘the average time to decide a planning inquiry could be slashed from an average of 47 weeks to around 26 weeks’.

The report makes 22 recommendations to speed up the inquiries process including the introduction of a new online portal for the submission of inquiry appeals and preparation of a strategy for recruiting additional Inspectors so inquiries can be scheduled sooner, reducing the length of time they take to conclude.

The reforms proposed are largely straightforward and practical and require the Planning Inspector to become more proactive in managing the inquiry process. Whilst only 2% of appeals are determined through inquiry, they remain a valuable option in cases where detailed presentation and cross-examination of key issues is required and, overall, the proportion of inquiry appeals that are allowed is higher than other appeal procedures (including hearings and written reps).

Firstplan welcome any measures which will speed up the management of the process without compromising the quality of decisions. If implemented, Roswell’s recommendations should indeed help to cut the currently excessive determination times, giving developers more certainty and reducing costs associated with the inquiry process.

Ministers will publish a formal response in the ‘coming months’.

If you have any queries regarding planning appeals procedures or timescales, please feel free to contact one of the Firstplan team.

Firstplan is pleased to introduce our newest member, Stephanie Gray.   Stephanie joins us as a Senior Planner with over seven years’ experience in the private sector having advised on a variety of planning and development projects throughout the UK.

Stephanie is one of six new appointments made in the last few months to grow and strengthen our successful team.   We have welcomed new members at all levels, from graduate planners through to the appointment of our new Director, Sally Miles.  Firstplan has an excellent team of planners and support staff and we look forward to a busy and productive 2019.

Last night Firstplan celebrated its 15th year in business at the W Hotel’s Perception Bar in London. We were delighted to see so many of our clients and professional colleagues turn out to help us celebrate the occasion.   Firstplan was established back in 2003 with just one planner and has since grown to a successful team of 25 planners and support staff dealing with projects nationwide.  Here’s to the next 15 years!

Firstplan is pleased to announce the appointment of Sally Miles as a new Director.  Sally joins us from Amazon where she was the European Planning Manager.  She has worked with a number of Firstplan staff during more than 25 years in private practice, and she has a wealth of planning experience in the retail, logistics, industrial and trade sectors.  She has a proven track record of successfully delivering planning permissions for complex projects which meet the commercial interests of her clients.

As we celebrate our 15 year anniversary, Firstplan is delighted to be continuing to expand and strengthen our team of planners, and we welcome Sally to the company.

Firstplan is delighted to introduce our two newest members, Anna Ambroziewicz and Audrey O’Mahony.

Anna is an MRTPI Chartered Planner and joins us with previous experience in private practice where she was involved in delivering heritage, commercial, residential, retail and urban regeneration projects.

Audrey graduated from University College Cork with a masters in Planning and Sustainable Development and has since gained valuable experience in the public sector. She joins us as an Assistant Planner and is working towards membership of the RTPI.