The current consultation on the Partial Update of the Cotswold District Local Plan marks an important point in the Local Plan Review process and provides us with an insight of emerging Council thinking on new the location of new housing sites in the District. The importance of this is obvious given the strong competition for housing sites and the critical affordability issues faced by the District.

What is the consultation based on?

The consultation is based on a series of Topic Papers where the Council is looking on feedback of specific questions.

The consultation does not set out any changes to the settlement hierarchy or identify specific new housing sites. However, it does set out the Council’s “new approach” to assessing development sites. This will be based on accessibility to Core Services, listed as:

• Employment
• Primary School
• Secondary School
• GP
• Hospital
• Food Store

The barometer of what is considered accessible is 15 minutes. In addition, the Council propose additional assessment layers involving Primary and Secondary Services and the accessibility to those being equally important.

So what does this mean for those with housebuilding interests in the Cotswold District?

The potential introduction of a new site selection methodology will inevitably lead to focusing housing in the main settlements of the District, where there are already competing environmental pressures. It also emphasises the importance of benchmarking your sites against the emerging selection strategy to understand its strengths and weaknesses and give it the best possible chance of success.

We’ve secured planning permission for housing sites and successfully advised landowners on bringing sites forward throughout the Cotswolds including in Fairford and Moreton in Marsh.

If you would like to contact us to start a conversation about your land give us a call on 01242 895008 or email Nathan.mcloughlin@mplanning.co.uk.

Potential Planning Committee Delays and Changes in planning policy direction for some London Boroughs

Planning Policies and decisions have become increasingly intertwined with local elections and the leading political party’s position on development. You just need to look at what played out in South Oxfordshire to see the impact a shift in political parties can have on plan making, National Government interference and development decisions.

With the recent boundary reviews across London Borough Councils, there is speculation of perceived marginal boroughs turning, such as Wandsworth, Barnet, Croydon, Tower Hamlets, Harrow and Kingston (to name but a few).

What does this mean for those working in property development?

The biggest challenges for those working in the London property market over the coming months will be anticipating likely changes to the political make-up of boroughs planning committees (and what this means for the outcome of decisions) and whether a change in political position locally is likely to result in changes to local planning policies and guidance in the medium to long term. This is particularly relevant in London Boroughs where Local Authority Plans are due a refresh or review.

In addition to the above post-election challenges, those with existing planning permission applications in London boroughs may find their applications delayed whilst new planning committees are introduced after the May elections. Therefore, for time sensitive projects this can result in additional risks which need to be planned for.

It is important not to standby and allow this delay to happen to your project, instead be proactive with planning departments. Whilst often difficult, speaking with the assigned case officer or their team leader about the likely impact of the upcoming May elections on the decision and whether your application needs to be determined at committee can help prepare.

How can McLoughlin Planning help?

Whilst we are not political analysts, monitoring elections helps us in providing our clients with advice in terms of planning strategy for new developments and preparing for changes in the determination timeline or potential decision makers.

Chris Moore has over 7 years of experience working with London Boroughs on behalf of clients to successfully realise their development goals, especially in redevelopment, conversions, new build and enforcement.

Please feel free to start a conversation with him on how he can help you with any planning issues call on 01242 895008 or email chris.moore@mplanning.co.uk

Herefordshire Council has started a consultation on its new Local Plan to 2041, the consultation runs until 28^th February 2022. Our article looks at the issues that are being actively considered by the Council and the implications the consultation has for housebuilding in terms of how many houses and where they are being proposed.

The Council is anticipating an overall 17,000 home target which equates to 850 houses per year up to 2041. Taking into account existing permissions, the plan will therefore have to allocate land for an additional 11,200 homes.

What growth options are being considered?

To accommodate the new housing target, the Plan proposes a series of growth options to be considered, these are as follows:

• Focus on Market Towns and Rural Based Growth

• Focused Growth across Market Towns and Hereford

• Leominster as a Growth Town

• Ross-on-Wye as a Growth Town

• Ledbury as a Growth Town

• A new Settlement with focused growth in Leominster and Bromyard

Varying levels of housebuilding are proposed at each of the above identified locations across the County. In the rural areas, the Rural Based Growth option could see the County’s rural hinterland having to accommodate up to 6,500 new homes. The Consultation looks at the options for achieving this, which are

• Dispersed approach across settlements

• Focus on larger settlements

• Focus growth on rural hubs

• Focus growth within settlements outside AONBs and conservation areas.

What does this mean for landowners and housebuilders?

For landowners and housebuilders, this indicates how much housing is planned and where it is likely to be provided and presents the first vital insight of the Council’s thinking and raises a major opportunity to promote land for housing development.

McLoughlin Planning has been caring for the land interests of our clients for over 20 years and has successfully secured housing allocations for many clients following well timed and expertly executed submissions. For more information on Development Planning and Land Promotion services please visit this link. If you would like to contact us to start a conversation about your land give us a call on 01242 895008 or email Nathan.mcloughlin@mplanning.co.uk.

We have recently been successful on application in using PiP to secure Permission in Principle for up to 5 dwellings on the site of a 1960s building last used as a Catholic Church.

Despite the site being located within the settlement boundary for Bourton-on-the-Water, McLoughlin Planning were initially met with resistance from Cotswold District Council to the prospect of redeveloping the brownfield site for a residential use. The building was previously used by the Diocese of Clifton for Catholic services, these were now mainly being conducted from their church in Stow-on-the-Wold, which meant the site was surplus to requirements.

Being faced with a refusal, McLoughlin Planning had to provide additional justification to comply with Policy INF2 which governs the redevelopment of community facilities such as places of worship. We explained that not only was there a suitable alternative venue in a nearby settlement that was more popular with the church’s congregation, but there are similar community facilities in the same planning use class within Bourton-on-the-Water that could perform the same services.

The Council requested a marketing exercise to prove there was no demand for the use of the site, however we successfully argued that this was not a policy requirement, because this only applied to the loss of a shop or pub. Consequently, McLoughlin Planning was able to demonstrate full compliance with Policy INF2 and the application was subsequently permitted.

This example further serves to demonstrate the usefulness of PiP Applications for private clients in providing highly cost-effective solutions to determine the development potential of their land and secure an uplift in value.

If this were a conventional outline or detailed application, upfront costs would have been considerably higher, reflecting the need for more technical work. Whereas, with the PiP process, the costs are largely focused on the planning case for the development, allowing significant savings to be made.

Please get in touch for further guidance if this is of interest to you.

Speak to Joe Seymour on 01242 895008 joe.seymour@mplanning.co.uk

We’ve spent the day having husky rides for our Christmas party this year. It was great to get out together and do something a bit different and fun.

Many thanks to https://www.arcticquest.co.uk/ for the experience and huge thanks to our amazing team for all their hard work, energy and enthusiasm.

The Government has once again tinkered with the permitted development rights order to provide property owners with further rights and flexibility to extend homes and alter the use of businesses/commercial spaces. However, as is often the case with planning, these new rights come with their own restrictions and pitfalls.

Residential homes – what can you now do with Class AA?

In addition to existing permitted development rights to extend your property horizontally, Class AA permits homeowners to add an additional storey to their property. For example, if you own a bungalow, you can now create a two storey home. The maximum height and number of storeys permitted will depend on the type of property you own (e.g.detached, semi-detached…etc).

However, if you live in a property previously converted from an office, agricultural building, storage, light industrial, shop or casino then you will not be able to benefit from this new right. Same applies if the property lies in a conservation area, AONB, National Park or heritage site.

Also, if your property is new (built after 28^th October 2018) or very old (built pre-1948) then again you regrettably will require a traditional planning permission for your aspirations.

Assuming you can meet all the requirements, then you will need to apply for prior approval to secure agreement from the Council that the proposal passes before works commence. Similar to a planning application, you will need to provide drawings showing the existing and proposed elevations of the proposal.

How do commercial property owners benefit from the new changes?

Class MA has been introduced following the other recent amendment of the use class order to include Class E, which captures a number of previous commercial uses (see a further article on Class E here https://bit.ly/ClassEtoC). Class MA provides now permits commercial properties to be converted into residential homes.

Similarly to Class AA there are a number of requirements which need to be passed in order to fully benefit from this right. They key ones include;

(1) that the building was in use as a class E space on or prior to the 29^th May 2013, however (confusingly) that the building has also been vacant for a period of at least 3 months prior the prior approval application.

(2) that the proposal is not larger than 1,500sqm; and

(3) you do not benefit from class MA if the property is listed, in the AONB, SPA, the Broads, National Park and/or World Heritage Sites.

If you think your proposal has successfully navigated the key restrictions, then an application under prior approval will need to be made. In addition to checking whether your proposal passes the necessary requirements within the legislation, the Council also has to consider:

(1) transport implication of the proposal (i.e. highways and parking);

(2) if there is a risk of contamination; and

(3) if the site is vulnerable to flooding;

(4) if all flats receive good access to sunlight/daylight; and

(5) that the dwellings pass space standards.

There is a fair bit to check and digest with these new and existing permitted development rights! Having successfully guided clients on prior approval applications and lawful development certificates, we can offer experienced and practical advice on your project.

Please contact the team on info@mplanning.co.uk or 01242 895008 to discuss any queries you may have on getting planning permission for your self build home or any questions you may have on the new development rights mentioned in this article.

Exciting News!

McLoughlin Planning has opened an office in London.

Associate Director Chris Moore has over 7 year’s experience working on a variety of planning, appeal and/or enforcement applications in all the London Boroughs, Essex and South East Councils, so we felt it only right for him to have a base in London and it is great to have a new home right by Paddington Station.

If you are in the City and would like to meet for a drink, then please feel free to drop us a call on 07990 656351 or email chris.moore@mplanning.co.uk– it would be great to see you!

Last week saw the publication of the Cotswold District Strategic Housing and Employment Land Availability Assessment (SHELAA for short). This comes at a critical time for the Council as it moves forward with the review of the Local Plan and the need to understand what land is available for development in the District and where that land is located.

We’ve taken a closer look at the SHELAA and what it means for developers in the Cotswolds.

The starting point is that the SHELAA assesses sites across the Principal Settlements in the District, with a site threshold of 5 dwellings. This is important because it means that the Council is not looking at small development sites; these have historically been a consistent mainstay of the District’s housing land supply.

The SHELAA undertakes an appraisal of development opportunities around the various settlements in the District, identifying proposed levels of development and issues associated with them. It goes further to identify a number of sites for “further consideration”. From this, it can be inferred that the Council is shortlisting sites to be considered to be taken forward in the Local Plan Review.

In terms of other options, the SHELAA does not consider any sites outside of the Principal Settlements for development. This is a shame, we think it misses an opportunity for the Council to present a robust position on sites which could come forward through Policy DS3 of the Local Plan (village development sites), which is a valuable source of small-scale housing development in the District’s villages.

Finally, it’s understood that the Council will be producing an on-line mapping system showing the sites in the SHELAA.

Whether it’s looking at the development of strategic land, promoting a site through the Local Plan Review or a more immediate planning application for village development, via Policy DS3, we would be happy to share our extensive knowledge of the geography and planning policy framework for the District to realise your aspirations.

Contact Nathan McLoughlin – nathan.mcloughlin@mplanning.co.uk/01242 895008 he’s happy to talk through what this could mean for you.

McLoughlin Planning are pleased to have secured planning permission and listed building consent for the conversion of the Puesdown Inn, a Grade II listed Public House in the Cotswolds, into 4 x new homes.

The historic coaching inn was last used in 2018 as a restaurant but has since been vacant and has slowly been falling into disrepair.

Concerns were raised regarding the impact the conversion would have on the historic fabric of the building, encroachment into the surrounding AONB countryside and the principle of losing a pub as a community facility.

Our Senior Planner Joe Seymour worked closely with our client and Tyack Architects to advise on an appropriately designed scheme and sound justification for the development.

We were able to present a sound planning argument explaining the pub was no longer financially viable and that converting the public house into four dwellings would be an optimum viable use for the building, thus sustaining it as a heritage asset for years to come. The proposed extensions to help facilitate the conversion were sympathetically designed and fully supported by Planning Officers at Cotswold District Council.

Given our long-term working relationship with Cotswold District Council, any questions or queries which came to up were quickly respond to by Joe, along with proactive engagement by liaising with the necessary Officers and consultees.

We are delighted to have secured planning permission and listed building consent for what will be a significant enhancement to the listed building and an exciting project for our client to bring to fruition.

If you have any questions about securing listed building consent or planning permission for a similar planning proposal you wish to discuss, then please contact us on 01242 895008 or info@mplanning.co.uk

Many families are living together for longer and looking for ways to extend their existing homes to meet their changing needs. This may be to provide care for elderly parents or space for children that have not yet been able to get on the housing ladder.

A popular solution is to simply extend the existing home, however the use of garden outbuildings or custom built ancillary “granny annexes” can also offer a solution, providing physical space, balanced with the need for personal space.

In the majority of cases, annexes are often small living spaces (bedroom, living room and a bathroom), where the occupants rely on some of the facilities of the main house to retain a link back. The sharing of facilities and obvious connection to the main house is key when Councils look at a planning applications for ancillary annexes.

Whilst Councils are generally speaking in support of annexe proposals, some (particularly in London) are mistrusting of their intended use and often request unreasonable changes or simply refuse planning permission. Whilst going to planning appeal can feel like the only option, in most cases working with the Council, without appeal and through discussion, can help secure a positive conclusion. Only when an impasse has been reached should you consider going to planning appeal.

It’s worth noting, not all annexes need planning permission (hurray!). If you have an existing large extension or an incidental outbuilding which you would like to convert to living space or other use, applying for a lawful development certificate may be sufficient and will give you peace of mind that you are on the right side of planning law before you begin work.

Choosing the right route and ensuring you have the right planning consents in place can be seem like a daunting task. With a wealth of experience in securing planning permission for new ancillary annexes, residential extensions and lawful development certificates, Mcloughlin Planning can offer you initial advice on your opportunity and support you through the planning process.

Please contact Chris Moore chris.moore@mplanning.co.uk 07990 656351 to discuss any queries you may have on getting planning permission.