Planning for the Long Term: Jubilee Achievements in the East Midlands

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1 Journal of the RTPI East Midlands Summer 2012 Planning for the Long Term: Jubilee Achievements in the East Midlands CONTENTS EDITOR S NOTE: Dr Rebecca Madgin, Centre for Urban History, University of Leicester This summer has witnessed a celebration of Britain and her achievements since Queen Elizabeth ascended the throne in To coincide with this the summer edition of Spectrum includes a call to submit examples of best practice in planning during the last sixty years. This period contained some watershed moments in the history of British planning. The mutation of the 1947 Town and Country Planning Act, the creation of statutory protection for listed buildings and conservation areas and finally the new planning policy framework, to name just three. Contained within this have been some fine examples of town and country planning as well as some abysmal blights on the urban and rural and yet still the same debates that existed in the 1950s exist today: the quandary over the greenbelt, how to stimulate the economy through efficient land use, private property rights and housing provision are just some examples. So what have formal planning schemes achieved in the East Midlands and how sustainable have planning initiatives been? These are questions that can be answered through the regional awards to be handed out on 2 November Page 1-2: Editor and Chair s Reports Page 3: Jubilee Awards Page 4-5: Events Diary Page 6: East Midlands Young Planners Update Page 7: Event Write Up Page 8-9: Have the 2008 Householder Permitted Development Regulations been a Success? Jonathan Moore Page 10: Book Publication Page 11:Obituary Page 12: Movers and Contact Details CONT

2 CHAIR S VIEW AWARDS AND CONVENORS The Regional Management Board's two main initiatives in the second half of the year are the Regional Awards and President's visit in November and continuing to develop the Convenor system in organizations employing 4 or more RTPI members. REGIONAL AWARDS These Awards have run for many years, with very kind sponsorship from Browne Jacobson. This year we are trying to do something special in recognizing 60 years of achievement in planning throughout the reign of Queen Elizabeth II. The Board have thrown some obvious choices into the ring, such as the National Forest, Lincolnshire Wolds and Upton in Northamptonshire. However, we really are open to offers on other good ideas of schemes or projects that have made a significant contribution to the region that would topple our initial thoughts. The entry requirements could not be simpler, so please make that effort. The award for 60 years planning achievement would really sit comfortably on anyone's mantelpiece or reception. CONVENORS This is part of our efforts to improve communications with Members and create better links with all RTPI members in the region. A number of organizations have signed up including: Matt Gregory: Growth Point Manager Nottingham City Council, Jennifer Saunders: Senior Planning Officer Leicestershire County Council, Steve Ellis: Senior Planning Officer Daventry District Council, Paul Jackson: Planning Manager Breckland Council and South Holland Council, Ian Bowen: Planning Policy Manager South Derbyshire District Council, Chris Rose: Planning Manager Kettering District Council, Paul Staniforth: Group Leader Development Management Chesterfield Borough Council, Charlotte Robinson: Principal Planning Officer Central Lincolnshire Joint Planning Unit, David Hankin: Regeneration and Economic Development Officer Charnwood Borough Council Steve Mott: Senior Planning Officer Erewash Borough Council. Nick Hodgett, Planning Officer Rutland County Council If your organization is not in the list above then please sign up as soon as possible. Please Sue Slack on eastmidlands@rtpi.org.uk Peter Wilkinson Chairman East Midlands Royal Town Planning Institute Managing Director, Landmark Planning Ltd. 2

3 JUBILEE AWARDS: CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS This year we are looking to celebrate the best of planning undertaken in the East Midlands over the last sixty years. We want to identify the best spaces that planning has created over this period; it can be a park, a street, a shopping centre, an urban extension or other spaces or types of development. In addition entries based on schemes or projects completed in the last twelve months will be eligible for a separate award. Please contact eastmidlands@rtpi.org for an entry form. All entries are to be sent to Sue Slack at suzanne.slack@rtpi.org.uk by Monday 24 th September To help, here are a few examples that may be worthy of promoting. Derwent Valley World Heritage Site.; Lace Market Nottingham; Northampton Growth (both as an expanded town and latterly Upton); National Forest; Rutland Water; Coalfield transformation; Leicester City Centre Regeneration; University of Lincoln Campus; The Lincolnshire Wolds ANOB designation and implementation. As usual the intention is to keep the effort to make the submission as minimal as possible. But obviously we need enough to properly judge matters along with key Planners that have been linked with the project. Visual material will obviously help, especially as we want to promote the awards with the regional media. As a minimum we need a short description of the project on a side of A4 which gives the following information:- a) Details of the person or body submitting the entry; b) Title of the entry or scheme. c) Description of the scheme; d) Identification key input from planners; e) Photographs and plans illustrating key elements of the scheme. If selected as one of the winning schemes we would like somebody from the entering organization to provide a short (10-15 mins) audio/visual presentation describing the scheme. The awards will be announced on 2nd November at our special event where our President, Colin Haylock will present the Awards personally. The event for all RTPI Members will be immediately after the AGM which will commence at 9.30am. As usual the whole day, which will contain substantial CPD opportunities, is sponsored by Browne Jacobson. It will be a free event with a buffet lunch and is probably the best opportunity for Planners to get together in the whole year.. Booking and speaker details will be circulated later. While the event can accommodate a 100 people it is very likely to be over subscribed again so early booking is recommended. 3

4 EVENTS DIARY 10 th September: Historic Towns Forum in conjunction with the University of Leicester Join the Historic Towns Forum, University of Leicester and Neighbourhood Planning expert, Dave Chetwyn, fresh from his outstanding work with Locality, for this practical half-day seminar exploring what is meant by a Neighbourhood Forum, a Local Plan, Neighbourhood Development Plans. If you need to understand how to put together a Neighbourhood Plan we will show you. Plus up to date information on all relevant issues to do with the Localism Act and the historic built environment. Venue: Centre for Urban History, University of Leicester, 12:30 16:00. Cost th September: Regional Planning and Health, North Kesteven District Council Full day seminar at North Kesteven District Council in conjunction with NHS Lincolnshire and Central Lincolnshire JPU looking at Health and Planning, including the setting up of Health and Wellbeing Boards, integrating Health in Sustainability Appraisal and Core Strategies and how to identify Health Impacts. SUMMER AUTUMN 2012 Venue: Council Chamber, North Kesteven District Council, Sleaford, to Booking details at Free event. 2 nd October: Map for England. Melton Mowbray Invite you to join in a regional discussion on the RTPI Map for England proposal.by way of setting the scene there will presentations from Andrew Pritchard of EMC on the regional infrastructure position, Michael Parkinson, Peter Brett Associates on national infrastructure planning and Richard Blyth, RTPI on the Map for England proposal. Venue: East Midland Councils (EMC), Phoenix House, Nottingham Road, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire LE13 0UL, Please book your place by ing Bridget Redwood of EMC at Bridget.Redwood@emcouncils.gov.uk The event is free but places are strictly limited, so a cancellation fee of 100 will apply. 11th October: Planning Inquiries, Leicester Afternoon seminar, from to 17.00, with Solicitor Morag Thompson and Planner Jane Gardner of Marrons, on S106 and how to prepare evidence for Planning Inquiries. Venue: New Walk Museum, New Walk Leicester. Cost 36 October Date to be confirmed: Rural Planning, Derby Half day seminar supported by Fisher German focusing on rural planning issues including solar farms, wind farms, farm diversification and estate planning. Further details to be confirmed. 4

5 EVENTS DIARY (cont ) ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2 ND NOVEMBER 2012 Browne Jacobson Mowbray House Castle Meadow Road Nottingham NG2 1BJ The East Midlands AGM will be held at the offices of Browne Jacobson in Nottingham starting at 09.30hrs. The meeting will receive the annual and financial reports for Officers for 2013 will be elected and nominations for the positions of Chair, Vice Chair, Honorary Secretary and Honorary Treasurer should be received by 19 th October Full details from eastmidlands@rtpi.org.uk. BOOKING SUMMER AUTUMN 2012 To book your place at all events except where indicated please contact Sue Slack on or emidlands@rtpi.org.uk See for up to date events listings Spectrum will now have a regular events write-up feature and suggestions of reports written after attendance at the CPD events are welcomed. Send to rmm13@le.ac.uk 5

6 EAST MIDLANDS YOUNG PLANNERS Sarah Allsop, JHWalter LLP and Edward Morgan, Oadby and Wigston Council provide us with an update on the regions burgeoning Young Planners network More than a year has passed since Ed Morgan and Sarah Allsop took over the roles of representatives for the East Midlands RTPI Young Planners. The take-over sparked a new era for the EMYP Network, dividing the region into two; north and south. Although still working very closely together, the divide aims to ensure that the network can best represent its members across the whole of the East Midlands. The network is continuing to grow and now has over 150 members. Over the past year Ed and Sarah have been working to establish a subcommittee, whilst continuing to deliver CPD events to the networks members. The sub-committee is now up and running with eight young planners from across the region represent the views of our members (see members profiles: The sub-committee has been established as a focus group where its members can suggest and discuss ideas to drive the East Midlands Young Planners Network forwards, as well as be a voice for other Members in the region who otherwise may not be heard. We are always keen to hear from anyone who has any ideas or suggestions regarding the network or who would like the opportunity to meet and network with other young planners and professionals. The network is free to join and open to all young planners in all sectors across the region. We invite you to contact us at any point in the future on issues that you feel we may be able to assist with. FORTHCOMING EVENTS Friday 31st August Young Planners Summer Social. Leicester. Venue: The Rutland and Derby, 21 Millstone Lane, Leicester, LE1 5JN, from 18:30. Friday 14 th September - Young Planners Summer Social. Nottingham. Venue tbc Thursday 20 th September CPD: Regeneration and Enterprise: Encouraging Economic Investment in Northampton, The Guildhall, Northampton Details for all of the above to be circulated via in due course! Please keep an eye on the website and your inbox for notifications of future events! Please also join our Facebook group East Midlands Young Planners where we will keep you up to date with the latest news on the Network. If you are interested in joining the sub-committee, in hosting an event, joining the mailing list, or, if you would like to see a particular topic covered by the EMYP Network please contact Sarah Allsop (sarahallsop@jhwlater.co.uk) or Ed Morgan (ed.morgan@oadby-wigston.gov.uk) 6

7 EVENTS WRITE UP Sarah Allsop, JHWalter LLP and Sue Slack summarise CPD events in the region Young Planners Event Write Up Many thanks to Morgan Tucker who recently hosted a Young Planners Event The Naked Engineer: Exposing the Truth in Planning at their offices in Newark. Phil Walker (Traffic and Transport Manager, Morgan Tucker) gave an interesting presentation using case studies and his extensive experience to highlight and discuss the challenges that arise pre and post planning and the technical issues that shape development in the built environment. A special thanks to all those who attended and to Venezia Ross-Gilmore (Senior Town and Transport Planner, Morgan Tucker, pictured with Phil Walker) for helping to organize another successful event. Sarah Allsop, JHWalter LLP Localism Act Seminar Leicester 18 th April 2012 Over 40 planners listened to Paul Hunt, Partner of Harvey Ingram LLP outline the key sections of the Localism Act 2012 as they relate to planning and planning related issues. Most of the sections are contained in Part 6 of the Act and Hunt highlighted the key duties such as the duty to co-operate. Hunt told the audience to expect detailed procedures to come forward in regulations over the coming months. His briefing was very useful in preparing members for things to come such as the requirement for preapplication consultation on larger development schemes. In addition Hunt highlighted the key aspects of the NPPF, in particular the primacy given to sustainable development and key differences with former PPSs and PPGs. Members left having gained not only valuable information on the Act and NPPF but an insight into how planners think! Sue Slack, Regional Co-ordinator 7

8 HAVE THE 2008 HOUSEHOLDER PERMITTED DEVELOPMENT REGULATIONS BEEN A SUCCESS? It is hard to believe that almost 4 years have passed since central government revised the national planning regulations in England for Householder development (October 2008.) The original intention was that these would simplify the planning system for house extensions and alterations and therefore reduce the number of householder planning applications being submitted to local planning authorities in England. This article is the personal opinion of a local government Planning Officer on whether the new system has been a success or not. Under the previous regulations whether a proposed domestic extension required planning permission largely depended on the volume of the resultant development e.g. less than 70 cubic metres for detached houses and 50 cubic metres in other cases. This presented problems for Local Authority Planners given that calculating volume of extensions with complicated roof profiles was often difficult. In October 2008 the government introduced an impact based approach and it is arguably now easier to ascertain whether an extension is permitted development as it is now based on the projection of an extension e.g. 4 metres for a single storey rear extension on a detached dwelling etc. etc. In my opinion the new regulations in this regard are an improvement although admittedly there are still problems as the regulations are open to interpretation although the CLG Technical Guidance is helpful in making this easier for Planners and would be developers alike to understand them. One of the disadvantages of the current regulations is that the central government does not appear to have produced a Laypersons booklet/guide outlining the regulations like they did under the 1995 GPDO although the Planning Portal web page with its Interactive House is helpful in presenting the regulations in simple terms in regards to what is permitted development and what needs planning approval. This would certainly help home owners in ascertaining if their home extension is PD or not. When the regs can sometimes present problems for Planners to interpret what must it be like for a layperson with no experience or knowledge of the Planning system at all. It is also my view that introducing the need for planning permission for balconies and raised platforms above 300mm height is a good thing given that these can often present problems for neighbours in terms of direct overlooking. Creating additional control for LPAs is good as balconies are often contentious issues particularly where they directly overlook private rear gardens and amenity spaces in tightly packed terraced residential streets for example. A further advantage of the revised regulations is the control on first floor side windows which are not obscure glazed. Under the 1995 regs these were permitted development even if clear glazed. From experience first floor side windows are often a concern to Planners in terms of overlooking of neighbours and their private rear garden areas. One thing that I would add is that the PD rights for porches under Class D has not changed since 1995 however I also hold the opinion that this is acceptable given that the 3 square metres and 3 metres high PD criteria is reasonable. A slight disadvantage of the regs arguably is the requirement for all extensions under Class A to be constructed of similar materials to the host building. Whilst the intentions are admirable in trying to ensure an acceptable external appearance of development one problem arises is that when assessing for example if a new car port is PD means that the vast majority will need permission given that they are usually built in materials which do not match the original dwelling even if there is minimal effect on neighbouring amenity. Continued Jonathan Moore, Northampton Borough Council 8

9 cont You will also be aware that more recently central government introduced revisions to the domestic PD rights for micro renewables. Whilst the general intention is admirable to encourage sustainable forms of energy generation one of the flaws of the regs is that there is no restriction on the amount of area that a roof mounted solar panel can cover. In effect this means that you can cover your whole roof in solars provided they do not project more than 200mm beyond the roof plane even if they create an adverse visual impact on the street scene. The introduction of PD rights for domestic wind turbines is in principle again a good idea however the regs are unnecessarily complex and to be PD must meet 12 different criteria one of which is to meet Planning Micro Certification Standards which again appears quite complex even to experienced Planners. The introduction of PD rights for domestic wind turbines is in principle again a good idea however the regs are unnecessarily complex. We are all aware that under Class C there are permitted development rights for rooflights provided that they do not project more than 15cm beyond the roof plane of a dwelling house. Unfortunately there is no restriction on Article 1 (5) land and in essence this could lead to a situation where a householder living in a Conservation Area could install several roof windows on a front roof plane detracting from the appearance of that area without needing planning approval. One further benefit of the system is that hardstandings that are non-porous or impermeable now need planning permission at the front of a dwelling house. The thinking behind this comes from the localized flooding agenda and we are all aware of recent flooding problems in this country in recent years. Another drawback in my opinion of the regs is that hip to gable roof enlargements are in many cases PD subject to meeting cubic volume requirements. This is disappointing given that they can often destroy the appearance of a pair of semi detached properties with a visually imbalance form of development and is in my opinion a flaw of the 2008 regs. In conclusion, I am of the opinion that the revised regs are an improvement to those which have been superseded. However they are not without their problems and as outlined above. Time will tell whether they are a success in their original intention to simplify the Town and Country Planning system in England. Jonathan Moore BA (Hons) MRTPI Planning Officer Northampton Borough Council Planning Department Please note that the above is the views of an individual planning officer and not those of Northampton Borough Council. 9

10 ATTENTION! DISCOUNTED COPIES OF BOOK ON REGIONAL PLANNING AVAILABLE FOR RTPI MEMBERS 10

11 OBITUARY Jane Gardner from Marrons remembers Simon Smith s life OBITUARY SIMON SMITH Simon s career was largely spent in small planning consultancies; firstly working with his father, Colin Smith, in Cambridge and later when he was the MD of SSR Planning in Northamptonshire. This was a role which he clearly enjoyed, to the benefit of those of us who worked with Simon at this time as he enabled the company to flourish over the next few years. Simon introduced the concept of graduate planners to SSR and took great pleasure in watching their careers blossom within and beyond the practice. It was a measure of the man that so many of them, now working across England and Wales, turned up for his funeral. It was the emphasis which he placed on young planners and his desire to help them progress in their chosen career which led to SSR s sponsorship of quite a few seminars for the East Midlands RTPI, principally but not exclusively, providing direction on the APC. It was probably also the reason he decided to become an APC assessor. Simon was also very good at encouraging a team spirit, both in and out of the office. We planted a copse to help offset our carbon footprint, went on cycle rides, picnics or to BBQs at his house. He died too young to see his sons grow up. But like the start he gave many planners, I am sure that he will have left them with a firm grounding. What more can one ask? Jane Gardner, Marrons 11

12 MOVERS, SHAKERS AND MAKERS The Planning and Environment Studio Ltd. Graham Bradford has left David Tyldesley Associates after 10 years to set up his own planning consultancy business, The Planning and Environment Studio Ltd, based in Derbyshire. Graham previously worked for the Peak District National Park Authority for more than 10 years. His address is: See for more details. Newsworthy articles and photographs should be sent to Rebecca Madgin by 1 October 2012 for consideration for E-Spectrum. CONTACT DETAILS Dr Rebecca Madgin - Editor Centre for Urban History 3-5 Salisbury Road Leicester, LE1 7QR T: E: rmm13@le.ac.uk Peter Wilkinson - Chair Landmark Planning Ltd 10 Salisbury Road Leicester, LE1 7QR T: E:pw@landmarkplanning.co.uk Sue Slack (RSO) PO Box 8217 Newark NG23 5JL T: E: emidlands@rtpi.org.uk LOG ON TO THE EAST MIDLANDS RTPI AT: REGISTERED CHARITY NUMBER SCOTTISH CHARITY REGISTRATION NUMBER SC REGISTERED OFFICE ADDRESS R.T.P.I, 41 BOTOLPH LANE, LONDON, EC3R 8DL