Firstplan obtained consent for a mixed-use development on this prominent site in Southwark, incorporating the refurbishment and extension of an existing building and an infill redevelopment to create new office space and a penthouse flat. The design process required careful and extensive consideration due to the building’s sensitive location within a Conservation Area, immediately adjacent to a Grade II listed building, and opposite a late-night music and food and drink venue.
Firstplan worked closely with the project architects developing the design, and led a pre-application advice process with the Council which helped facilitate a first-time success at full planning application stage. We negotiated closely with the Council regarding the layout and design of the proposals, and secured permission for this marquee building.
Firstplan acted on behalf of the developer across a number of applications for this site, first helping to secure the principle of an infill development to the rear of the site, and subsequently securing permission for a mixed-use residential and retail / office scheme. This involved extensive negotiation and crafting a case to successfully secure permission for a residential-led scheme on a designated priority employment site. Finally, we secured consent for a full-width roof addition across both old and new buildings on the site, adding an additional 2 flats to the proposals. The Council objected to the principle of this additional storey on heritage and design grounds, but Firstplan constructed a compelling Statement of Case and were successful in winning this additional storey at appeal, helping to unlock the full potential of this site for our client.
Firstplan, acting for the Dutch recycling company, A Jansen b v, entered into pre app discussions with Northamptonshire County Council and Wellingborough Borough Council, to obtain planning permission for the company’s first concrete block making facility in the UK – the Legioblock system – on railway sidings in Wellingborough.
The discussions focussed on the sustainable nature of the operation, involving the importation by rail of raw materials from recycled sources, and the manufacture of the Legioblocks. The relevant issues centred on sustainability, ecology, the use of the national rail network, and environmental considerations centred on the block making process.
Planning permission was granted following a thorough examination of these matters.
Firstplan has acted for National Grid Property Holdings in respect of the Former Gas Works in Ashford, Kent since 2006. Firstplan initially became involved when a new road was proposed to cross the 2.49 hectare site, as part of a major regeneration area in Ashford.
Negotiations commenced to secure the re-alignment of the proposed road, together with the use of the site for primarily residential development. The negotiation involved various consultation processes, including the Examinations in Public for the Ashford Core Strategy and the Town Centre Area Action Plan. Firstplan co-ordinated the preparation of a masterplan indicating how 610 dwellings could be provided on the site, and planning permission has now been obtained (2011) for the remediation of the site. The road (Victoria Way) has now been built to give access to the previously landlocked site, thereby allowing National Grid’s regeneration aspirations to come forward.
Firstplan is now instructed to prepare and submit a planning application for residential development.
Firstplan acted for Network Rail on three phases of development at Whitemoor Yard. Phase I involved establishing the second largest rail engineering supply depot in the UK, comprising 18km of track and sidings on 25ha of the site which was designated in the Local Plan as a Country Park. It took just 11 months from the initial pre-application meeting to the first train running into the site.
Firstplan subsequently gained consent for a second phase of development on the remaining 25ha of the site which has been developed as the National Track Materials Recycling Centre. The project represents a major step change in sustainable management of waste and the way Network Rail deals with the waste from its extensive track renewals programme. The full range of recycling activities has been brought together on the one site allowing significant reductions in waste, producing a range of recycled aggregate for the local construction industry as well as recycled rail and sleepers. The development of the facility was also been undertaken in a sustainable manner utilising recycled rail aggregate in the construction and chipping the surplus vegetation for use as fuel in a biomass energy plant.
A third phase of development secured consent for further sidings and an extension to an industrial building for the repair and recycling of rail switches and crossings.
Firstplan were instructed by B&Q to obtain a certificate of lawfulness in relation to their office headquarters in Eastleigh. The certificate provides certainty that the development has been implemented and that a further phase can be built out at a later date. Firstplan are experienced in dealing with certificate of lawfulness applications and were tasked with considering the best way to ensure that there was certainty for the future. It was also important to collate sufficient and appropriate evidence to demonstrate that the development had been implemented.
Firstplan secured planning permission for new large scale industrial buildings (8,300 sqm) to house production equipment for the manufacture of pre-cast concrete products, a concrete batching plant, open storage and office buildings (795 sqm) across a site extending to 11.18ha surrounded by Greenbelt and in close proximity to a new mixed-use urban extension, comprising circa 2,000 residential units. Successfully resolving the relationship between the industrial and residential uses was one of a number of important elements in securing the success of the scheme.
Firstplan is advising on the intensification, redevelopment and refurbishment of the Vestry Estate, the principal employment location in Sevenoaks. In 2014, Firstplan successfully negotiated planning permission to facilitate the redevelopment of Block 9 for a Class B8 trade park scheme, comprising Magnet, Screwfix and other plumbing and building operators. This involved demonstrating that a more flexible planning permission was required to allow the warehouse units to accommodate showroom and trade counters to allow for sales of goods to both trade professionals and visiting members of the public.
Firstplan obtained a residential planning permission for National Grid on a 4 hectare site in West Bromwich. The resolution to grant outline planning permission allows up to 134 dwellings. The permission was granted subject to a section 106 agreement.
The proposals involve a mixture of unit sizes and types of homes, and extensive discussions were held with the Council regarding the viability of the proposals, having regard to the abnormal costs associated with remediation works which required the removal of structures and below ground contamination associated with the former gas works use.
In acting on behalf of Mountgrange Investments for a substantial proposal on the site of the former headquarters of Kent County Council, Firstplan helped secure planning permission for 17,000 square metres of offices, shopping and community facilities, 192 flats and off site affordable housing provision in locations of identified housing need in Maidstone.
Subsequent discussions were held with Maidstone Borough Council to renegotiate the planning permission and its associated section 106 agreement to reflect changed economic conditions, to ensure that the scheme remained viable.