South East

Appeal: Para 79 ‘pergola house’ could ‘encourage discordant design’

12.03.2021

Plans submitted under NPPF paragraph 79 for a home in Kent featuring a 35-metre trussed arch for climbing plants have been blocked by an inspector, who found that the ‘interesting’ concept might ‘encourage...

The Oxford-Cambridge Arc could be an exemplar for strategic spatial planning - but it needs serious commitment

01.03.2021

Robbie Owen

Resources, attention to detail and a dedicated minister will be required if the proposed Oxford-Cambridge Arc is to be all it can be, says Robbie Owen

Working hours / Shutterstock: 1191106831

Appeal: Ministerial statement does not justify unlimited working hours

26.02.2021

Matt Moody

An inspector has refused to lift a condition limiting construction hours at a 250-home development near Maidstone, finding no evidence that it had ‘acted as a barrier’ to progress on the scheme during the...

Appeal: Privately owned riding school was a community facility

26.02.2021

Matt Moody

community facility | Community Infrastructure | equestrian | South East

Plans to demolish a former equestrian centre in Surrey to make way for four homes have been turned down by an inspector, who rejected the appellants’ argument that it was not a community facility because it...

Appeal: R&D building for AONB diamond manufacturing firm approved

26.02.2021

Matt Moody

AONB | Business & Enterprise | Rural | Rural business | South East

A specialist manufacturing business in Kent can go ahead with plans for a research and development building, after an inspector found that the scheme would further the economic objectives of the NPPF without...

Appeal: Nitrate neutrality policy scuppers chiropractor conversion

26.02.2021

Matt Moody

Environmental | expert comment | Natural England | nitrate neutrality | South East

Plans to convert a listed chiropractor’s clinic in Andover have been denied by an inspector, who was not persuaded that a residential use of the building would necessarily lead to a fall in nitrate levels...

Climate and community need to be at the heart of government’s Arc plans

26.02.2021

Alex Robinson

The government must put sustainability first in its plans for the Oxford-Cambridge Arc and encourage local authorities and their development partners to bring communities along as part of the planning...

Construction Infrastructure Levy / iStock-482489106

Runnymede adopts CIL charges

25.02.2021

Laura Edgar

cil | Community Infrastructure Levy | Infrastructure - Transport | Runnymede borough council | South East

Councillors at Runnymede Borough Council have approved a set of community infrastructure levy (CIL) charges that will see developers seeking permission to build within certain areas paying towards the cost of new infrastructure.

Kwarteng approves generating station

24.02.2021

Laura Edgar

Energy secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has granted a development consent order (DCO) for the power upgrade and increase in tonnage throughput to the existing Kemsley Generating Station (WK3), near Sittingbourne.

Appeal: Better rugby facilities do not outweigh loss to cricket

19.02.2021

Matt Moody

Plans to replace a cricket pitch in Sevenoaks with an enclosed artificial pitch have been rejected by an inspector, who agreed with Sport England’s view that better facilities for rugby did not justify the...

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