Following the examination of the Uttlesford Local Plan, Inspectors Louise Crosby MA MRTPI and Elaine Worthington BA (Hons) MT MUED MRTPI wrote to Stephen Miles, planning policy team leader at Uttlesford District Council, stating:
“Unfortunately, despite the additional evidence that has been submitted during the examination and all that we have now read and heard in the examination, including the suggested main modifications to the plan put forward by the council, we have significant concerns in relation to the soundness of the plan.
“In particular, we are not persuaded that there is sufficient evidence to demonstrate that the garden communities, and thus the overall spatial strategy, have been justified. We therefore cannot conclude that these fundamental aspects of the plan are sound.
“This is of major importance in this case, given the large scale and long-term nature of the garden community developments, combined with the fact that they would be the primary source of housing in the district for the next 30 to 40 years.”
At an Extraordinary Council Meeting (ECM) on Thursday 30 April Councillors decided to withdraw the Local Plan and start work on preparing a new plan for the district.
It will be interesting to see how this impacts the decision of Inspector Roger Clews in relation to the neighbouring Braintree Local Plan and the North Essex Garden Communities.
Following the suspension of the St Albans and District Local Plan Examination Hearing sessions in January 2020, the Inspectors have now issued their Post Hearing letter to the Council. In a letter dated April 14, examining inspectors Louise Crosby and Elaine Worthington said they found “serious concerns in terms of legal compliance and soundness” of the draft plan.
It is highly likely that the current process of Plan review will not be recoverable and that St Albans Council will need to start again.
Lightwood were invited to speak at the Creating Communities 2019 conference; a major day-long conference hosted by Onward and Create Streets, with speeches, panel sessions and breakout sessions on specific topics. The event was opened and introduced by the Right Honourable James Brokenshire MP, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, and brought together senior figures from government, local government, industry, community-led housing and resident and community groups, to facilitate expert and informed discussion on material issues and to facilitate conversations beyond the usual.
Strategic Planning Director, Richard Walker, was key speaker in the debate, ‘Using land value uplift to fund infrastructure’, in which he set out Lightwood’s belief that new large-scale developments can and should deliver its infrastructure without the need for government subsidy. The genesis of any planning journey should evolve from land ownership and contractual terms is the driving force which underpins successful, deliverable development.
Lightwood Group Director, Phil Chichester was invited by Bosch to speak at their transforMOTION exhibition held at Somerset House on the 8th September.
The panel discussion on the ’Future of Mobility in Cities’ explored the difficulties and practicalities of implementing new transport solutions and the policy vacuum caused by a the current planning system.
By 2050, more than six billion people will be living in megacities, with urban traffic tripling. The need for new safe, stress free and sustainable ways of moving around to maintain our quality of life has never been greater. The transforMOTION event showcased a variety of innovative solutions that use automated and connected technologies to demonstrate what the future of mobility will look like.
The British Open Masters Squash Championships is the oldest and most established tournament in the game of squash. It is widely considered to be one of the two most prestigious tournaments in the game, alongside the World Masters.
This years’ squash British Open Masters was staged at Colets Health & Fitness Club, with Lightwood as tournament sponsor. The event which ran from 6th to 11th June showcased 313 players competing from 15 different countries in several different categories.
Lightwood is already proud sponsors of the Colets Squash team who were crowned National Squash Club Champions 2017 at the Championship Finals, held at the Edgbaston Priory Club in April, and who have just returned from the European Club Championships 2017, held in Paderborn Germany where they finished in 4th place.
The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Greg Clark, has decided to grant planning permission for 280 units in Haddenham Glebe, following the High Court’s landmark ruling to quash a neighbourhood housing plan.
Mr Clark’s predecessor Sir Eric Pickles called Lightwood’s application in shortly after Aylesbury Vale District Council’s (AVDC) decision to grant planning, citing that he wished to review the application’s consistency with the Council’s development plan and the Haddenham Neighbourhood Plan, which had only been submitted – in draft form – 24 hours before the planning application was approved by the local authority.
Very serious concerns about the viability of the Haddenham Neighbourhood Plan were brought to light at the Public Inquiry into Lightwood’s application in November 2015, which led to Lightwood seeking to challenge it in the High Court. In the week before the case was due to be considered, AVDC and Haddenham Parish Council withdrew their defence, leading to the landmark decision by the High Court to quash the Haddenham Neighbourhood Plan’s housing policies – the first decision of its kind in the country.
In addition to providing 280 new homes, and helping to meet the District’s requirement for 1,000 new homes in Haddenham over the next four years, Lightwood’s Haddenham Glebe application provides 35% affordable homes (in excess of the policy requirement of 30%), with priority given to local families, 35 retirement properties and a range of community benefits, including nearly 11 hectares of open space, funding for bus services and a much-needed new burial ground.
Philip Chichester MRTPI, of Lightwood Strategic, said:
“We believe that Neighbourhood Plans can be very successful as long as the checks and balances are properly adjudicated, otherwise poorly managed or manipulated neighbourhood plans will soon ruin the reputation and concept of Neighbourhood Planning in its entirety”.
Greg Clark issued a decision letter this week that granted outline consent to Lightwood Strategic’s scheme in Haddenham. The letter stated that,
“The Secretary of State agrees with the Inspector’s conclusion that the scheme offers not only an appreciable and rapid improvement in housing provision in Haddenham and Aylesbury Vale, but also substantial advantages to the community in terms of affordable housing and housing for the elderly as well as a burial ground, sporting facilities and open space.”
18 months after this scheme originally had a resolution to grant planning permission from Aylesbury Council planning permission is now confirmed. Lightwood was able to supervise this scheme through the call in process to ensure much needed housing was brought to Haddenham.
Philip Chichester MRTPI, of Lightwood Strategic, said:
“We are delighted that Greg Clark, having weighed up the merits of the scheme against a small, but vocal cohort of objectors, has resolved to grant permission for these much-needed homes for Haddenham. We look forward to working with Aylesbury Vale District Council, who it should be remembered have supported this planning application all along, to deliver this important scheme.”
James Sorrentino of Lightwood Strategic added:
“This decision sends a clear message that poor neighbourhood planning should not hinder the delivery of much needed housing in suitable locations. It is absolutely right that local communities should have a greater role to play – in partnership with local authorities, landowners and developers – in delivering robust and forward thinking neighbourhood plans. It is only by working together, that we will all be able to address the national housing crisis.”
The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Greg Clark, has decided to postpone his decision on a litmus test housing application following the High Court’s landmark ruling to quash a neighbourhood housing plan. The Secretary of State said that he wanted to delay his decision by a month to take further representations after the judge’s decision earlier this month.
The proposal in question is Lightwood Strategic’s application for 280 new homes at Haddenham Glebe, in Aylesbury Vale. Aylesbury Vale District Council (AVDC) had granted planning permission in early 2015 for the development.
But Mr Clark’s predecessor Sir Eric Pickles called the application in shortly after AVDC’s decision, citing that he wished to review the application’s consistency with the Council’s development plan and the Haddenham Neighbourhood Plan, which had only been submitted – in draft form – 24 hours before the planning application was approved by the local authority.
Very serious concerns about the viability of the Haddenham Neighbourhood Plan were brought to light at the Public Inquiry into Lightwood’s application in November 2015, which led to Lightwood seeking to challenge it in the High Court. In the week before the case was due to be considered, AVDC and Haddenham Parish Council withdrew their defence, leading to the landmark decision by the High Court to quash the Haddenham Neighbourhood Plan’s housing policies – the first decision of its kind in the country.
The Secretary of State was due to make his decision on the Haddenham Glebe application by 11th April, but has written to all interested parties to advise that he is now delaying this decision to seek the views of the main inquiry parties into the implications of the High Court’s ruling. Mr Clark will now make his decision by 9th May.
In addition to providing 280 new homes, and helping to meet the District’s requirement for 1,000 new homes in Haddenham over the next four years, Lightwood’s Haddenham Glebe application would provide 35% affordable homes (in excess of the policy requirement of 30%), with priority given to local families, 35 retirement properties and a range of community benefits, including nearly 11 hectares of open space, funding for bus services and a much-needed new burial ground.
Philip Chichester MRTPI, of Lightwood Strategic, said:
“We believe that Neighbourhood Plans can be very successful as long as the checks and balances are properly adjudicated, otherwise poorly managed or manipulated neighbourhood plans will soon ruin the reputation and concept of Neighbourhood Planning in its entirety”.
Lightwood Strategic is extremely disappointed that the Inspector has decided to uphold Brighton and Hove’s decision to refuse Lightwood’s application in Ovingdean.
Lightwood continue to believe that the site presents an opportunity to address some of the housing need in the area while limiting the impact on the surrounding protected sites.
More encouragingly the Inspector did conclude that the western part of the site was suitable for residential development,
“Notwithstanding caveats in relation to ecology and open space, I consider [the Brighton and Hove: Further assessment of Urban Fringe Sites 2015] gives significant endorsement to the principle of residential development with in part of Site 42 and necessarily reflect its location relative to the SDNP.”
