Chelgate Planning Newsletter

CHELGATE PLANNING NEWSLETTER: Winter 2010/11 issue

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Decentralisation and Localism Bill
Following much speculation as to its content, the Decentralisation and Localism was finally introduced to the House of Commons in December. It has a number of provisions which will impact upon the planning and development communities.

It confirmed the abolition of regional spatial strategies, which had been long previewed and came as no surprise.

It introduced the concept of ‘neighbourhood plans’, an alternative approach to ‘top-down’ planning where the emphasis on planning policy is moved closer to the people to be affected. The implications and outcome of this new approach are, as yet, uncertain. However, the experiences of the 12 ‘vanguard’ communities about to be selected to go through the process of developing a neighbourhood plan may give an insight of what is to come for other communities in the future. More....



NEWS IN BRIEF

Westminster Briefing Conference: Transforming the Planning System
Delegates attended the Westminster Briefing Conference on Transforming the Planning System on November 30, 2010. Chaired by Nick Wood-Dow, Chelgate deputy chairman, with Steve Quartermain, CLG chief planner, giving the keynote speech, the conference heard a preview about the then forthcoming Decentralisation and Localism Bill. Other speakers included Harriet Fisher, Derby HMA growth point planning manager, Derby City Council; Neil Osborn, senior professional director, DLP Consultants; Andrew Longley, North Northamptonshire Joint Planning Unit; Cllr Nick Cuff, chairman, Planning Applications Committee, Wandsworth; and Hugh Roberts, director, Colin Buchanan. More...

Westminster Briefing: Planning and the Localism Bill
Westminster Briefing will be staging a conference on March 15, 2011, entitled Planning and the Localism Bill: Empowering Communities, Incentivising Sustainable Development. More details to be announced. To be chaired by Nick Wood-Dow, two other speakers have confirmed: Hugh Roberts, director of Colin Buchanan, and Cllr Nick Cuff, chairman of regeneration at Wandsworth Council. More...


CHELGATE PROFILE: James Darley
James Darley approaches client assignments by recognising their business objectives and adding value through a strategic evaluation of needs and solutions.  He brings a blend of mature experience and imaginative thought to challenges, coupled with good organisation and attention to detail, and an understanding of what will work and how issues will play.  More...



CASESTUDY: THE LIGHT BAR & RESTAURANT

campaign:  Saving The Light from eternal darkness

Introduction:  Built in 1893, the former electricity powerhouse for Liverpool Street station, at 233 Shoreditch High Street, is a historic landmark.  It is the first building within Hackney seen when approaching from the City, and as such it separates two very different areas.  But a 51-storey tower block was proposed by Hammerson plc, in alliance with Network Rail and Hackney Council, both of which are part-owners of the land involved.  The plans for “Bishop’s Place”, designed by Foster & Partners, provided for some 1.5 million sq. ft. of offices, retail space, a hotel and apartments.  The Victorian building was threatened with demolition, forcing the closure of The Light, a popular and thriving bar and restaurant.  Hammerson insisted its development could not be redesigned to preserve the distinctive old building and its buzzing business. More...


CHELGATE SERVICES

All projects are individual, and we tailor our services to the requirements of the project, and of the client. Our range of services fall under eight broad headings:

Pre-project planning assessments: a number of clients ask us to conduct assessments of the likelihood of a parcel of land or project being successful at planning, and under what timescale. We look at the local political environment, current attitudes to development, local activists, influencers and stakeholders, and their recent activities, including social media, and local media stances on development and other local campaigns. More...

Development Strategy development: once a decision to progress a project is made, we can assist the development team in devising a strategy to take the project forward. More...

Stakeholder engagement: once the strategy has been agreed, we can assist in its implementation. The first stage would be to engage with key local stakeholders, in particular local politicians but also other influencers and activists, to get their initial response and comments about the proposals. More…

Community consultation: following engagement with local stakeholders, the next stage may well be to broaden the scope and consult the local community. We can assist with this process, including providing and/or sourcing support services. We will also make available our internet consultation platform, with Google mapping, to ensure the entire local community has an opportunity to participate in the process. More...

Media relations: local media can be very useful, but at the same time present a huge threat to any potential project: get on the wrong side of the local newspaper and the results may be irreversible. We will assist with briefing and handling the local media to ensure they stay at least impartial during the process. More…

Issues and crisis management: hopefully there will not be any issues with the project, and no surprises, but should the worst happen, we have considerable experience in handling issues and crisis management and can deploy our team to assist and ensure the damage is contained. More…

Collateral development: we can assist in providing and/or sourcing all the needs for the planning application and community consultation including such things as websites, brochures, exhibition panels, venues, leaflets, newsletters, advertising, etc. More…

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