McLoughlin Planning was approached by Unity Land to support its efforts to promote the comprehensive redevelopment of Fairoaks Airport to provide a modern general aviation airport, with a focus on providing facilities for supporting sustainable aviation and the latest EV technology. This was as a direct competitor to other proposals which sought the redevelopment of the site for a new garden village in Surrey Heath.

Situated in the Green Belt, on the outskirts of Working and adjacent to Mclaren HQ, Fairoaks is an important general aviation airport in the south east. Its faciliites are delipidated and in need of urgent upgrading. Unity Land is commited to acquiring and heavily investing into the Airport to make it a modern facility, securing and promoting jobs in high skill positions in the aviation industry.

Working with John Steel QC (a leading aviation specialist) McLoughlin Planning is responsible for the preparation of the planning case for the development, working with the Unity Team (including 5Plus Architects, ARUP and specialist aviation consultants) to provide a conclusive case for the redevelopment of the site and demonstrate the clear economic benefits of development in an area where there is a high demand for commercial floorspace.

This has involved examining how the unique permitted development rights enjoyed by airports can be used to engineer a case for the wider redevelopment of the site and how planning policy at both local and national level, supports the retention of general aviation airports across the country.

The work is currently on-going.

We are pleased to be part of the impressive team which are helping Gloucester Rugby Club with its new training facilities and Kingsholm Pitch Upgrade works.

Working with The Development Studio https://www.tds.uk/ and the wider team, we have now submitted the applications to the Council and will be moving forward with securing their validation and ultimate determination.

Having assessed the proposals against the development plan, there is a clear planning policy case for the proposals. These policies, along with other associated documents from the Council underline the importance of the Club to the City, not just on match days but also in terms of the wider reputation of the City.

This underlines the importance that major business have in ensuring the economic success of a town or City and why this should be taken seriously in the determination of planning applications.

Planning permission secured for the conversion of an agricultural building in Moreton in Marsh to new purpose built equestrian facilities.

Cotswold Riding School approached McLoughlin Planning to help support their plans and aspirations to relocate their riding facilities to a new site near Moreton on Marsh, Cotswold. The riding school had secured a previous agricultural site with a derelict barn and wanted support to secure the conversion of the land and barn, as well as advice and support for the erection of a new purpose built stable and riding arena to allow the new business to move onto the site.

Chris Fleming worked with the riding school to support their aspirations and advise on an appropriate planning strategy. Following an initial site appraisal, Mcloughlin Planning helped with assembling the planning application with the project team, by preparing a supporting planning statement and submitting and managing the application with Cotswold District Council through to a decision.

The case was structured around being able to evidence the importance equestrian businesses have in supporting the rural economy and how stables are visually common and expected built forms in the countryside.

Officers agreed with the assessment and planning benefits provided by the proposed development and we are pleased that planning permission has now been granted. The new riding school will be a positive new addition to the Moreton on Marsh community.

INVISTA Brockworth has been part of the Brockworth since the late 1950s starting as British Nylon Spinners, then ICI followed by DuPont. As an internationally recognised centre for nylon fabric production, McLoughlin Planning has been instrumental in helping the company move forward with reducing its energy consumption by securing Certificates of Lawful Development for various plant installations across the factory.

Installing plant and equipment benefits from Permitted Development Rights and as part of the company’s drive to promote energy efficiency at the plant, it has installed combined heat and power plants and the latest condenser technology. In both cases, McLoughlin Planning has prepared, submitted and managed the Certificate of Lawful Development process to ensure that INVISTA has the necessary consents in place to ensure that the plant benefits from permission as quickly as possible.

McLoughlin Planning is pleased to have secured planning permission for the extension and alteration to an existing Garden Centre, the erection of a new Commercial Storage Building and a new on-site café in South Gloucestershire.

As a result of Enforcement Action being taken against the landowner, we were engaged to review the property’s planning history and the alleged breaches in the enforcement notice to provide a planning strategy to regularise the use of the site. The property had a long and complex planning history, but following a detailed assessment, we managed to establish that the lawful use of the site was a Garden Centre.

As the enforcement notice had taken effect by the time of our instruction, we advised the landowner to comply with the notice. In parallel, we worked with the landowner on preparing a planning application which would allow the lawful business to diversify and secure the necessary on-site secure storage needed for the business’s products and equipment.

Without on-site improvements, the landowner would have been left with a small structure to display goods, and shipping containers to the rear to act as storage for goods and equipment. We made the case that the proposal would allow for the visual enhancement of the proposal site and would support the growth of a rural enterprise by providing a high-end café and garden centre as an alternative shopping option to the adjacent Dobbies Garden Centre.

With close work with the Council, we were able to proactively resolve any queries regarding the development. For example, concerns were raised about whether the business would harm the neighbouring Dobbies Garden Centre; for which we were able to demonstrate that the offering at this business is aimed at a different audience to Dobbies. We were also able to agree with the Council means to secure on-site improvements, such as EV charging, new vehicle hardstanding, and cycle parking.

We are thrilled that the landowner has secured planning permission for a well-designed and high-end Garden Centre and Café. Given the importance small businesses play for the economy, particularly in rural areas, we are pleased that we were able to support the retention and growth of a valuable business in South Gloucestershire. It was a pleasure working alongside Southpoint Architects who were leading on the design.

McLoughlin Planning has been successful in securing planning permission with listed building consent and advertisement consent for alterations to a prominent shopfront on Cheltenham’s Promenade.

112 to 118 The Promenade is a prominent retail unit in Cheltenham’s Town Centre.

McLoughlin Planning was appointed by Roundhouse Design to secure the necessary planning permission, listed building and advertisements consents to allow them to renovate the property and make key changes to it, breathing new life into this vacant retail unit, allowing it to become a kitchen showroom.

The building is Grade II Listed and is situated in a prominent location Cheltenham’s Central Conservation Area. Its current configuration was poorly suited for the client’s needs. McLoughlin Planning successfully achieved the necessary consents to allow the property to be remodelled, to improve the customer experience. This included undertaking detailed research on the building’s history showing that it has been consistently renovated and remodelled over time.

This development represents the resilience of Cheltenham’s retail sector and highlights the value of having a detailed understanding of a building’s past and demonstrating this to Local Planning Authority, listed buildings can be altered to help facilitate a post-pandemic resurgence to the local economy.

McLoughlin Planning has been the Planning Consultant for Gloucestershire Airport for several years. As part of this, it has been involved in securing the necessary Consent for Skyborne’s operations allowing them to establish a Commercial Flight Training School at Gloucestershire Airport to meet the global demand for new Commercial Pilots.

The challenges faced by this project were:

• It was necessary to demonstrate that the use of a hangar as a Flight Training School fell within the definition of aviation-related development in the Town & Country Planning General Permitted Development (Order 2015).
• The Flight Training School was to be supported by an accommodation block for students.

The site is situated within the Green Belt where there are stringent planning controls on new development. As part of the company’s activities working on behalf of the Airport in terms of looking after its wider property portfolio, we were able to engineer a suitably positively planning policy context to allow Skyborne’s proposals to come forward as part of non-operational but aviation-related development.