Projects
Latest News
December 2009
Relief for Horse Enterprise
The owners of a developing stable just outside Stockton have just had the best Christmas present they could wish for when a Planning Inspector has allowed their appeal to build a house on the site.
The business was started 5 years ago by Miss Dobinson with the support of the Council at the time. During this time Miss Dobinson lived on site in a static caravan with the permission of the Council. Over the intervening period, the business has grown substantially, Miss Dobinson became Mrs Ellison and son Cohen arrived on the scene. Expecting to be able to build the house the Council originally supported the couple were dismayed when the Council seemingly changed its mind. Prism Planning advised the Council that the Ellison’s met all the stated criteria for a tied dwelling and tried to get matters back on track. Eventually after the continued failure to determine the application, Prism launched an appeal for the clients resulting in an informal hearing in October 2009.
At the appeal the Council brought on board an expert witness from the horse sector to support their changed stance.
Ombudsman Backs Prism's Line
The Local Government Ombudsman has found North Yorkshire County Council guilty of maladministration and ordered them to pay costs and compensation after they failed to properly investigate the operation and control of a waste disposal operation in the County. Prism Planning advised the landowner living next door to the waste operation. The landowner had suffered nuisance from various aspects of the waste operation for a number of years and had asked the Council to investigate matters.
Prism Planning got involved after the Council persistently failed to get to grips with the problem. We gave the Council an opportunity to correct matters but when the situation didn’t improve we had no hesitation in getting the matter put in front of the Ombudsman.
Because of our substantial experience of Local Government, we knew the route to take to bring matters to a conclusion. The Local Government Ombudsman agreed with our assertions that the Council had failed to properly investigate matters over a long period of time and ordered the Council to start again with their investigations.
September 2009
Construction Recycling Gets Final Go-Ahead at Quarry
After a prolonged debate, final clearance has been given for the recycling of construction waste on the floor of Marsden Quarry in South Tyneside. Prism obtained the initial planning permission and subsequently dealt with the discharge of all of the planning conditions to allow an experimental project using inert construction waste to go ahead. The quarry is already being filled with inert waste as part of its long terms restoration. However operators Owen Pugh saw a green business opportunity and turned to Prism for help. The project will see demolition and construction waste already coming in to the quarry being screened and sorted before going back into the construction sector for use in a wide range of areas.
July 2009
Farmer gets the Green Light to Stay on Farm
A budding beef farmer has been given the go ahead by the Planning Inspectorate to live on his farm whilst he continues to develop his new business. Prism had sought permission for the farmer to have a temporary dwelling on his farm whilst he built up his herd of pedigree beef cattle. He had already invested heavily in the new business and had suffered the loss of stock he could probably have saved if he had been living on site. It was very distressing for the client for such a clear case to be rejected by the Council.
Another Filling Station gets Remodelled
Following our early success for the franchise, Prism were asked to look at the remodelling of the BP franchised filling station on the A689 at Bradbury. The existing filling station was very cramped and needed more space to expand. It not only served the needs of car drivers but also doubled up as a convenience store for the village. It is a busy operation with lots of HGV's filling up, as well as car drivers getting on to the A1 in both directions. Prism decided to separate out the payment and retail areas from the cafe and with the help of local architects Browne Smith Baker designed a very eye-catching new cafe, together with an innovative car sharing car park.
May 2009
New Takeaway Allowed in Empty Shop
A former betting shop in a small parade of shops has gained a new lease of life as a result of a decision by a Council to allow it to be used as a hot food takeaway. The premises had been vacant for many months following the relocation of the last tenant. The landowner had tried, without success, to persuade a new retail outlet to take the premises. The only interest which had come forward for a commercially viable use of the premises was from hot food takeaway operators.
Petrol Filling Station Expansion Allowed
A petrol filling station in Sunderland has been given the green light to undergo a facelift and expansion plan that will see improved retail facilities alongside the sale of petrol. The existing BP franchise is one of a substantial chain all owned by Bishop Commercial Holdings in the North East of England. Prism have advised on the redevelopment of all of the chain, leading to a number of approved applications for expansion and refurbishments. The latest proposals initially gave rise to concern in the minds of the local Highway Authority that pedestrians would cross a busy set of roads to get to the site without using existing crossings, causing an increased risk of accidents. As a result the LPA initially wanted to refuse consent for the proposals.
Stockton Gets New Hal-Al Restaurant
Planning permission has just been granted for a new restaurant in the Bowesfield area of Stockton. The permission was granted for the change of use of a former hostel to a restaurant with takeaway. Normally the planning authority would only allow such uses within the Town Centre. However the majority of local residents strongly supported the proposals and wanted a restaurant on their doorstep that they could conveniently walk to.
March 2009
Permission Granted for The Hub, Barnard Castle.
Prism Planning have just obtained planning permission for a new £5 million lottery funded youth centre at Barnard Castle to be known as The Hub. The project was granted permission by Teesdale Council as one of its last ever planning decisions before it was folded into the new County Durham Authority born on 1st April.
The building is a highly sustainable building and green in more than one sense. With a grass sedge roof over the top of it, the building will be virtually un-noticeable from outside the site. Inside the exciting building will have much of its energy needs met by a combination of ground source heat pumps, woodchip boilers and a horizontal wind turbine. It will provide a recording suite, spa area, bunk accommodation, vehicle workshops, performance space as well as cafe area and meeting venue. In the grounds will be a kayak lake and winter skating area as well as high level aerial rope course and weltand habitat.
For further information on the building design go to:- www.brownesmithbaker.com
However the inspector disagreed with every one of the Councils reasons for refusal and allowed permission for the couple to build the house they had longed for on site. Surprisingly the expert witness also agreed with Prism on the substantial merits of the case and her views were cited by the Inspector in support of the case.
This was a very convincing ‘win’ for the team at Prism and we were delighted for James and Amanda that they will be able to continue to invest in the development of the business.
This was the second case for a tied dwelling that we won at appeal in 2009, and it is clearly an area where we have a great deal of expertise and success. It also shows that during these challenging times, Local Planning Authorities need to be more receptive and positive towards those prepared to invest in the development of rural business. We wish the Ellison’s every success with their stables in the future.
Anyone interested in an initial free consultation from Prism on their own plans and aspirations should contact the Managing Director on 01325 345961.
We were very pleased that the client had the outcome he deserved, although it was with regret that we had to get the Ombudsman involved to bring matters to a satisfactory conclusion. The Ombudsman awarded our client all of his costs in using Prism’s services as well as £500 compensation for his time and trouble in pursuing the complaint.
The case shows that using a professional planning team does not always cost the client the money they might have expected.
It was a slightly unusual case and a departure from the submission of applications that makes up the core of our normal work.
It also shows the benefits of using a team with a wide experience of problem solving who know the way the system should work and what to do when the system breaks down.
The Local Government Ombudsman does not routinely get involved in every complaint made, let alone award costs and compensation as the outcome of the process.
On behalf of our client we were very pleased with the final result.
Recycled construction material can often be used as an alternative to newly quarried rock -particularly as a foundation material and as a new road base so the project made great environmental sense. However Marsden Quarry lies within the Tyneside Green Belt which complicated the planning considerations -recycling activities are not normally carried out within such areas. There was also a lot of local concern about the potential of the operation to cause a dust nuisance although being 50m below ground on the quarry floor should help prevent this from being an issue. We now need to look for the construction industry to get a kick-start through new activity so that there is some waste to recycle!
Prism were advised by Wardell Armstrong on various aspects of environmental monitoring and dust suppression.
At the appeal, Prism were able to show the Inspector this was a sound case with a great deal of potential. We managed to show that the Council had wrongly applied the tests for this type of enterprise and that their own specialist advisors had been unnecessarily pessimistic about the likely business fortunes. The end result was that Prism won the appeal on every point they had argued and the client was a very happy man. It was a shame that the case had to go all the way to appeal during these challenging times when entrepreneurs need all the help they can get!
The service station is an ideal meeting place for people getting together and sharing a car on long distance journeys. This already happens to a certain extent in the nearby village of Bradbury but unfortunately some people abandon their cars in the village rather than finding a proper parking space. The new scheme will deliver an eye catching cafe, a big increase in car parking as well as a brand new and enlarged shop on the site of the existing kiosk. The scheme will be energy efficient to boot and very much a building for the 21st century. It’s taken a lot of planning to get to this stage but our persistence has eventually paid off.
The team at Prism looked at the case carefully for the owner and presented arguments to the Council which persuaded the Committee members that it was better to have a positive use of the premises. A new takeaway would bring money back into the local economy and provide services to the local community. Keeping the property empty would do little to enhance the appearance of the area or help the economy. The Council accepted the logic behind these arguments and accepted that their Local Plan policies were not being breached.
Prism were able to show, with assistance from highway consultants, that the scheme was safe and required only minor adjustments to existing crossing facilities. What was particularly unusual about the case was that the objections to the scheme only emerged at the 11th hour and as a result the proposal was to have been refused consent. Prism worked extremely hard over just a few days to provide the evidence needed to satisfy the concerns of the Council, enabling the application to be approved on the very day it was otherwise going to have been refused! Fortunately most applications do not have such a twist at the end of their life but when they do, it’s reassuring if your team are flexible enough to be able to solve the problem without having to start all over again. Our particular thanks go to Steve Jobey of SAJ Transport Consultants Ltd for his assistance with this project.
Prism advised on the planning strategy which eventually led to the successful decision. Keeping buildings empty during our current difficult times does not make sense and it is better to have economic uses contributing to the local economy. Although the decision took a while to come through, it shows that our patience was rewarded and we look forward to the official opening of the restaurant later this year.
Getting permission for such a challenging and exciting project was not easy. Because of the way in which the project funding coincided with local government re-organisation it was essential that we had permission in place before the end of the financial year. This left us with just 10 weeks from being appointed to getting the necessary consent. We achieved this with the help of a great project team behind us and it is a tribute to a well managed team and good project discipline. Given the size and scale of the project we also had to work closely with a number of statutory agencies as well as the Local Planning Authority and GONE. It just goes to show that major planning applications can be determined quickly if the ground is properly prepared and the application is properly presented. We wish TCR, the applicants, every success with their exciting new project.