News Round-Up - 12 June 2008
Trump golf scheme inquiry tees off
The public inquiry into US magnate Donald Trump's controversial plans for a billion pound golf resort on the coast of north east Scotland coast has opened in Aberdeen.
The hearing – arranged after the Scottish Government called in the proposals – is expected to run until July.
New guide for managing large scale developments
A new guide which sets outs how voluntary Planning Performance Agreements (PPAs) between a local planning authority and an applicant can help speed up major developments in England has been published by planning minister Iain Wright.
The advice – which includes good practice examples – provides a step-by-step guide to the PPA arrangements which provide a project management framework for handling large and complex planning applications.
Planning Minister, Iain Wright said: "We are committed to improving the planning processes which is why we introduced Planning Performance Agreements. They make a real difference to bringing forward quality new development through better project management.
"The new ATLAS guide will really help developers, local councils and communities create strong planning partnerships that find real solutions to complex planning issues."
Read the Communities and Local Government news release
Best practice guidance and case studies are available at the Advisory Team for Large-scale Applications (ATLAS) website
London mayor pledges less intervention
London mayor Boris Johnson has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the London Boroughs in which he promises to use his legal powers to overrule borough decisions "only as a last resort and in the most exceptional circumstances".
Access the Memorandum of Understanding
Houseboat controls
MPs have been told that houseboats fall outside of planning control unless moored for so long in the same place that they can be regarded as bringing about a material change of use of land.
In a written Commons reply junior planning minister Iain Wright said: "The permanent mooring of a boat for residential purposes where there was not one previously is likely to be a material change of use of land and planning permission would, therefore, generally be required. Similarly, works associated with the mooring of the boat might require planning permission if they amount to operational development. Ultimately, it is for the local planning authority to decide whether planning permission is required.
He added: "There are no specific permitted development rights for houseboats. No specific national planning policy guidance has been published in respect of houseboats or riverside development."
Read the Commons Hansard report (3 Jun 2008, column 822W)
New TCPA chair elected
Lee Shostack, planning director of the Milton Keynes Development Corporation in the 1970s and more recently founder director of the Conran Roche consultancy (which became EDAW), has been elected new chair of leading planning and housing charity the Town and Country Planning Association.
Paving over gardens
The Government estimates that between 120 and 1,200 householders a year will opt for impermeable surfacing for gardens for which they will require planning permission under new regulations in the pipeline, paying the normal fee for a planning application of £150. As long as the area to be paved over remains permeable an application for planning permission will not be required.
Study questions barrage economics
The electricity generated by the proposed Severn barrage could be produced more cheaply by other green power projects, a report from Frontier Economics commissioned by environmental groups argues.
Read the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds press release on the report
Reservoir housing plan
A public inquiry has opened into revised plans by Western Power Distribution to build 324 houses at Llanishen Reservoir, Cardiff. Three earlier schemes have been unsuccessful.
More decisions delegated
A recent written Commons answer has shown that in the last decade the number of applications decided by planning officers in England under delegated powers has effectively doubled. The data revealed that in 1997-98 planning officers handled 265,700 applications while over the same period planning committees dealt with 195,800 proposals. During 2006-07 officers determined 529,900 applications while committees decided 57,700 proposals.
Read the Commons Hansard report (4 June, column 991W)
Research on land for affordable rural housing
Nearly 40 per cent of rural landowners would put forward land at below market value for affordable housing, according to research published by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
The research also found that farmers and landowners would be most likely to sell to a housing association or a community trust and least likely to do a deal with a local authority.
RICS spokesperson James Rowlands said planning controls were needed to ensure that the affordable homes were retained "to benefit young people, farm workers and other groups struggling to live in rural areas close to work, friends and family".
Gas storage project consents
Two major gas storage schemes have made significant planning progress. Dorset County Council has approved plans for a large onshore project earmarked for a former naval base on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The scheme still requires consent from the Government. Meanwhile Barrow Council has approved a plan for a gas compressor station next to the South Morecambe gas terminal at Barrow-in-Furness, a key element in ambitious plans for an offshore storage facility proposed for the Irish Sea.
Court statistics
The Government has published statistics on cases of non-compliance with enforcement and conditions notices which went to court in England and Wales. These indicate that in the last year (2006) for which statistics are available some 498 prosecutions were brought in respect of the former (283 convictions) and for the latter 283 (61 convictions).
Read the Commons Hansard report (5 June, columns 1113W and 1114W)
Natural England names first new SSSI
Natural England has notified its first Site of Special Scientific Interest - the Ely Pits and Meadows SSSI in Cambridgeshire. The site is nationally important for bitterns and contains geological deposits known as Kimmeridge Clay in which fossil remains of reptiles have been found.
Read the Natural England press release
Roger Milne
12 June 2008
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