Our client had a draft allocation for 26 new homes in the draft South Worcestershire Development Plan (SWDP) Review.  However, they were seeking to submit a planning application for an additional 75 homes on land to the north of the allocation site.

Challenge

SP Broadway had to meet with residents and political community leaders to communicate a positive vision for the additional homes that were being proposed, and to understand local views.

Solution

• We organised a public exhibition for residents, which was attended by approximately 250 people. Residents raised concerns over the impact of the development on traffic, the environment, a Grade 2 listed bridge, and local services.

• We informed residents of the public exhibition and online consultation by posting a notification letter to 359 addresses.  We also created a website to enable online feedback.

• To build awareness of the scheme, we met with the local ward member on Wychavon District Council.  Topics discussed included the lack of parking in the village, the views of residents, and the need for more clarity concerning the EIA screening process.

• In response to community concerns, various changes were made to the proposals, including replacing sports pitches with a wildflower meadow, and increasing the buffer zone alongside existing homes.

Result

A planning application was submitted; however, the council failed to determine the application in time. An appeal was submitted on grounds of non-determination, and is currently ongoing.

The post 100 homes appeared first on SP Broadway.

Our client sought planning permission for a large urban extension to the south of Worcester, providing over 2,000 new homes, 14 hectares of employment land, a new local centre and highway improvements.

Challenge

• The site was on a major political fault line, covering three local authority areas, and therefore required consent from three planning committees.

• Our client’s planning application had been submitted in 2013. Four years on, agreement had not yet been reached with officers on the scheme’s affordable housing contribution, discussions had stalled, and potential committee dates were being routinely pushed back.

Solution

• SP Broadway was instructed to help liaise with political stakeholders, in order to build pressure on officers to agree a position on affordable housing and take the application to committee.

• We drafted a hard-hitting, four-page briefing letter, setting out the many economic and social benefits of the urban extension as well as our client’s position on affordable housing, sending this to all members of all three councils and copying in all the relevant planning officers to spur a response.

• The site also covered three parliamentary constituencies, so we arranged meetings with all three Members of Parliament to make them aware of the current delay and urge them to speak to their council leaders themselves about unlocking the affordable housing deadlock and progressing the application towards committee.

Result

Directly prompted by our briefing letter, officers made contact with our client and discussions on affordable housing were finally able to reach a resolution.  Armed with a recommendation for approval from officers, the application was approved by all three councils.

The post 2,204 new homes appeared first on SP Broadway.

SP Broadway was instructed to assist with the final stage of consultation on a proposal to build a new supermarket and petrol station on the edge of the town of Ludlow, Shropshire.

Challenge

Though the planning application was recommended for approval by Shropshire Council officers, the proposal was very controversial locally, opposed by the town council and Chamber of Commerce for its perceived impact on trade in Ludlow town centre and its impact on traffic.

Solution

• Having been informed by the client that the head of the local community centre had been supportive of the proposals at a public exhibition two years previously, we established her identity and telephoned her to understand her views further. The call established that she remained supportive of the supermarket but she had not submitted her views to the council. At our urging she duly wrote a letter expressing her support for the application and submitted it to the council.

• We drafted and sent a briefing letter to all Planning Committee members, stressing how the proposal would create jobs and consumer choice for Ludlow residents, boost the town’s economy by helping to claw-back trade from other towns in the region, and increase business rate revenue for the council.

• At a meeting, the Planning Committee deferred the application, with a view to refusing.

• Following the deferral we created a petition in favour of the proposal, and placed it in the community centre where we knew we had support.

• We drafted and sent a further briefing letter to Planning Committee Members before the second Committee date, highlighting the changes made to the scheme reflecting comments members made at the earlier Committee, and reminding members about the economic benefits and limited impact on the town centre. We also highlighted the petition in support, and how the majority of residents’ expressing a view during the Council’s own consultation supported the revised proposals.

Result

The Planning Committee voted by 5 votes to 4 to approve the revised application.

The post New food store appeared first on SP Broadway.

Our client sought consent to build 300 new homes on greenfield land on the outskirts of Grantham.

Challenge

The site was on greenfield land on the urban edge of Grantham, where concerns had been raised locally about the potential noise impact from the nearby A1 and the use of the site as a wildlife habitat.

Solution

• SP Broadway undertook pre-committee lobbying, drafting and sending a five-page briefing letter to planning committee members. This letter laid out the advantages of the proposed development, emphasising the client’s accordance with the Local Plan, the sustainability of the location and the potential economic benefits to the local area.

• The letter also directly addressed the known grounds of local concern and how these had been taken into account by the client, including an overview of the community consultation undertaken and how the feedback received had been used to inform the final plans. The letter also laid out clearly how the proposals would benefit the community through contributions to local services.

• We then followed the letter with calls to planning committee members in the week prior to the committee, to ensure they had received the letter, to establish whether they had any comments and to answer any last-minute questions.

Result

South Kesteven District Council Planning Committee voted to approve the application.

The post 300 houses appeared first on SP Broadway.

SP Broadway was instructed to undertake a concise programme of political and community consultation to support the redevelopment of an industrial site in Leominster to house a 45,000 sq ft supermarket.

Challenge

There was a competing application to build a food store on another site in Leominster. Both schemes were vehemently opposed by the local Green Party, and both schemes had been refused once before. We had to do two things: demonstrate that there was real local support for a new supermarket in Leominster, and demonstrate that our client’s proposal was preferable to the competing site.

Solution

• As soon as the revised application was submitted we wrote to Herefordshire Council Planning Committee members to let them know the changes made and extol the virtues of our client’s scheme.

• Media monitoring of the local newspaper clearly showed there were Leominster residents who supported a new supermarket. We therefore took out a full-page advertisement in the paper and wrote an open letter to residents, setting out the key benefits of our client’s proposal and urging supporters to contact the council and make their voices heard.

• We also made a presentation to Leominster Town Council on behalf of our client. Though it had recommended refusal of the initial application and had a substantial Green Party contingent, the town council voted to support our client’s revised proposal. It also voted to refuse the competing proposal, having supported it the first time around.

• In the week before the committee met we drafted and sent a hard-hitting briefing letter to all Herefordshire Council Planning Committee members, demonstrating the advantages of our client’s site over the competing proposal and highlighting the support of Leominster Town Council and residents.

Result

Both schemes were decided at the same meeting of Herefordshire Council Planning Committee. The competing proposal was refused unanimously, while our client’s proposal was refused by the narrow margin of 10 votes to 7. We succeeded in helping to knock the competing proposal out of contention and demonstrate real support for the benefit of our client, which was encouraged enough to consider an appeal.

The post New food store appeared first on SP Broadway.

SP Broadway was instructed to undertake a community and political consultation programme for the redevelopment and extension of a regional distribution centre in Warwickshire. The 40 acre site would encompass approximately 62,500sqm of employment space with a mixture of start-up and larger units, creating between 500 and 1,000 jobs.

Challenge

The communications challenge was twofold: careful consultation was needed with the owner of a Grade II listed house immediately adjacent to the site, along with existing tenants and nearby residents. Additionally, a neighbouring distribution centre had already sought and gained planning permission for much of our client’s land.

Solution

• Meetings were held with the owner of the adjacent Grade II listed building.

• A consultation webpage was set up explaining the benefits of the proposal to as wide an audience as possible.

• We communicated with existing tenants and key political stakeholders stressing the benefits and deliverability of the proposal.

• We presented the proposals to North Warwickshire Borough Council Planning and Development Board.

• A public exhibition was held to enable key political and community stakeholders along with residents to view the proposals. SP Broadway drafted a Report on Community Engagement submitted with the planning application.

Result

The Planning and Development Board voted unanimously to approve the application.

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