Discharge of conditions allows for construction work to commence on an 82 bedroom elderly care home in North London

Location:
London Borough of Enfield

Issue:
Pre-commencement conditions to allow for construction of high quality care home to proceed on-time.

How we helped and added value:
Earlier this year we secured planning approval for a new 82 bedroom care home in Enfield which is now proceeding to construction The pre-commencement conditions were already limited in number as we had worked with the Council to minimise these during the full application thereby allowing our client to start development as soon as possible.

We identified the documents and extent of information required to discharge the pre-commencement conditions imposed on the full application and provided the contractor with examples of Management Plans that had recently been approved by the Council to ensure a timely process. We then co-ordinated the production of this information, providing our comments and ensuring the submission to the Council was consistent, allowing the conditions to be discharged prior to the start date for the contractor.

DLBP secures consent for air conditioning units on sensitive Grade II listed building

Location:
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

Issue:
Heritage and noise issues of air conditioning units on Grade II listed building 

How we helped and added value:
Our client approached us to assist following issues being raised by the Council to their application for planning permission and listed building consent to add air conditioning units to their family home.  

Working with an architect, we explored a number of alternative areas for the air conditioning units to be placed that would be less sensitive in terms of the heritage impacts, but also capable of being installed and maintained.  We also liaised with a noise consultant to ensure the new units would not compromise the amenities of our client’s neighbours.  

We identified a suitable location that used a less sensitive part of the roof of the building and prepared a planning and listed building consent application.  The Council accepted our heritage arguments and granted permission for the new units.

DLBP secures amendments to permissions in sensitive Conservation Area location

Location:
Buckinghamshire Council (Chiltern area)

Issue:
Securing external and internal amendments to apartments in a Conservation Area

How we helped and added value:
We recently secured permission for the change of use from offices and retail space to nine residential apartments in a building in a Conservation Area and District Shopping Centre.

Following the granting of the original planning permission to convert the building into apartments, our client identified a need to replace the existing timber-framed windows. The planning officer initially stated that as the site is located in a Conservation Area, the Council would only accept like-for-like replacement timber-framed windows. Our client was reluctant to use timber-framed windows due to ongoing maintenance issues and their poorer thermal efficiency. We set out a robust argument in the application that alternative aluminium-framed windows would be appropriate and not harm the character and appearance of the Conservation Area, and this was accepted by the Council. At the same time, we identified that further improvements to the scheme could be made, including the introduction of an external terrace to the second floor to part of the building to improve residential amenity of one of the apartments. In light of Covid-19, having access to private outdoor amenity space is becoming an attractive feature for future residents. This and other external changes to the building were secured in the application.

Current circumstances have also realised the importance of having sufficient space to work from home. Our client therefore wanted to make some improvements to the internal layout of the already approved apartments to incorporate office space, additional bedrooms, and entrance hallways. We secured permission for these improvements via a separate non-material amendment, and were pleased that the increase in floorspace for some of the apartments did not result in any CIL payments being required.

DLBP secures change of use from office to residential in Chertsey town centre, overcoming Council’s previous refusal

Location:
Runnymede Borough Council

Issue:
Securing a change of use to residential for an office building following previous refusals.

How we helped and added value:
The Council had previously refused two changes of use for the property, and our starting point was to therefore identify the Council’s previous reasons for rejecting the scheme to understand how these could be addressed. We also dealt with new requirements for changes of use via the ‘prior approval’ process, requiring assessment of noise and levels of natural light.

The final issue was contamination, and we recommended that a desktop report be commissioned to provide the Council with reassurance that the change of use would not lead to any risks to future residents. We submitted this as part of a comprehensive application pack that also included an assessment of noise and flood risk.

The change of use was granted before the 56 day determination period, meaning that our client could commence marketing of the property sooner than expected.

"Rhoddwyd caniatâd” - permission granted for a high quality 75 bedroom elderly care home in Cardiff

Location:
Cardiff County Council

Issue:
Securing planning permission for a 75 bedroom elderly care home on undeveloped land, and avoiding over £50,000 of financial contributions.

How we helped and added value:
The existing site was an undeveloped plot on a prominent junction, so it was our client’s ambition to secure permission for a high quality and attractive building that provided enough elderly care bed spaces to be operationally and financially viable.

The application was prepared during the height of lockdown, and we were therefore unable to undertake our usual method of face-to-face public consultation. We also had to ensure compliance with Welsh planning legislation, which required us to make all of the draft planning application documents and plans available for local residents and technical consultees. We therefore adapted to the changing circumstances by adopting an online based approach and more interactive process with direct communication with individual residents throughout the consultation.

We worked closely with the Council during the pre-application and planning application processes to resolve concerns around the impact of the care home on residential amenity, and landscaping design. With regards to the former, concerns primarily centred on the noise impact of the care home on both neighbouring properties and future care home residents, and we demonstrated that by installing mitigation measures such as acoustic glazing and ventilation systems, there would be no adverse impact. The Council’s landscaping and trees officers also required a very high level of detail upfront, prior to the planning application being determined, and so we liaised with the Council to come up with a cost-effective solution for our client.

Through working with the Council and consultees, we secured approval of the application under delegated powers, without the need to be heard at planning committee. The Council sought to impose some strict planning conditions on the permission, but, having built up a strong relationship with the planning officer, we negotiated for the majority of these to be relaxed in the client’s favour. We also saved our client over £50,000 in section 106 contributions, resulting in no section 106 agreement being required.

Green light for high quality 82 bedroom elderly care home in North London

Location:
London Borough of Enfield

Issue:
Securing permission for a new elderly care home, more than twice the size of the existing home, to address viability issues that had caused existing care home to close.

How we helped and added value:
Our client initially approached us to undertake a due diligence planning review on this site in North London. The existing 37 bedroom care home had closed and a new, larger, care home was required in order to make the site operationally viable. We quickly identified that design was likely to be the main issue to address to ensure a new, larger, home could be comfortably accommodated on the site.

We worked closely with the Council during the application stage to address design comments - this included providing justification for certain design features that were specific to care homes, such as clear balcony screens to provide residents with outdoor space. It also included liaising with other consultants to demonstrate how a high quality landscape scheme would be provided, to mitigate the increase in built form while providing a comfortable living environment for residents and an improvement for neighbours adjacent to the site.

We also minimised the number of pre-commencement conditions to allow our client to start development as soon as possible.

DLBP secure unanimous approval for a 50% uplift in floorspace in the green belt and Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, for a high-quality 73 bedroom elderly care home

Location:
Mole Valley District Council

Issue:
Increasing the number of Use Class C2 elderly care bedspaces by 53 at a vacant site within the green belt and Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

How we helped and added value:
Our long-standing client acquired a vacant care home site, that due to being too small and out-dated, had become unable to provide the quality of accommodation required by the Care Quality Commission, and was therefore economically and operationally unviable. Of the two buildings on-site, the client aspired to extend the more recent, award-winning building, and completely redevelop the smaller building to achieve an uplift of 45 bedrooms, whilst retaining two operationally separate buildings for improved infection control.

We identified that the site was located within the green belt, Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and Area of Great Landscape Value. A number of Tree Preservations Orders were also located on-site and the topography of the site constrained development options. To overcome these constraints, we took a two-stage approach to securing planning permission. The first application included securing planning permission for the extension of the more recent building that had previously received an award for its outstanding architecture.

The second, and more challenging, application included the redevelopment of the second existing building that was no longer fit-for-purpose. The existing building was small (only 8 bedrooms), broken up, and secluded, yet the proposed building (30 bedrooms and ancillary uses) increased the floorspace by 50%. The Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Board agreed with our argument that the proposed redevelopment was not ‘major’ in landscape terms. Despite the site’s location in the green belt, the Council accepted our justification for the increase in floorspace, and the impressive architectural design was commended by the planning officer. In response to Covid-19, amendments were also made to the previously approved application to allow better facilities for visitors to visit their family in the care home.

A significant amount of pre-application engagement was sought, despite the Council not conducting formal pre-application meetings at the current time. Site meetings were held with the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Board, and the local residents’ association. Further engagement was also sought with local residents at various stages of the project.

Our extensive preparation work resulted in there being no technical objections and only 3 public objections for this major development proposal. As a result, councillors made the unanimous decision to approve the application at the Development Management Committee.

Discharge of conditions allows for construction work to begin on two new nursing homes

Location:
Test Valley Borough Council

Issue:
Pre-commencement conditions for two new nursing homes had to be discharged before February 2021 to allow for construction to proceed on-time.

How we helped and added value:
As a first step, we immediately identified the documents and information required to discharge the conditions, and ensured that the contractor and other consultants were fully briefed to provide this information. We then co-ordinated the production of this information, providing comments on the information and ensuring the submission to the Council was consistent.

We then worked closely with the Council to allow for the majority of the conditions to be discharged early, in December 2020. We co-ordinated the production of updated information for the remaining condition, allowing this to then be discharged in January 2021 - still prior to the 8 week determination date and prior to the February 2021 start date for the contractor.