Brooks & Ware Blog
This is where you can find the latest news and views from Brooks & Ware, from updates on current projects, to commentary on architecture and related subjects and much more.
New London Housing Design Guide Issued
The office of the Mayor of London has issued the latest interim ‘London Housing Design Guide’ which includes minimum housing size standards, circulation space standards, cycle storage requirements, significant reductions in energy useage and CO2 emmissions, minimum floor to ceiling heights etc etc.
The full document can be downloaded from our website servers here
The intention is that a final version of this document is issued next year along with the national ‘Core Housing Design and Sustainability Standards’.
There are some very interesting ideas in this document, and there are things which are going to have a potentially dramatic change on the way some developers do business! We are looking forward to getting to grips with this on our next London housing project.
New Technical Guidance Published for Permitted Development Rights for Householders
The Government’s Planning Portal today published a new Technical Guidance document intended to help clear up some of the more ambiguous and confusing elements of the revised Permitted Development Rights for Householders first introduced in October 2008. This Technical Guidance replaces the earlier “Permitted Development…Informal views from Communities and Local Governent”.
Please feel free to download a copy here. This ‘Permitted Development for Householders Technical Guidance’ document is Crown Copyrighted and may be reproduced in any format for research, private study or internal circulation. Please read the copyright notes contained withni this document.
Parliament to review Coalition’s planning reforms
The following was announed this week by the Planning Portal. Hopefully sense will prevail!
Parliament has decided to hold separate inquiries into aspects of the Government’s new-look planning regime. One inquiry will look at the decision to revoke and abolish regional spatial strategies (RSS) and the other will review the Coalition’s localism agenda.
The Commons Communities and Local Government Committee are behind both these moves which will involve oral evidence sessions later this year. The deadline for written submissions to the RSS inquiry is 15 September while the other initiative will accept contributions up to 1 October.
The RSS probe will focus specifically on the implications for house building. On the agenda will be the impact on targets and the pace and rate of housing development as well as the effectiveness of the Government’s proposals to incentivise local communities to accept new housing development.
The all-party committee of MPs will also be considering the arrangements which should be put in place to ensure appropriate co-operation between local planning authorities on matters formerly covered by regional spatial strategies (e.g. waste, minerals, flooding, the natural environment, renewable energy etc).
In addition, the committee will scrutinise proposals already put forward by the Government, including a proposed duty to co-operate and the suggestion that Local Enterprise Partnerships may fulfil a planning function.
The terms of reference for the committee’s localism inquiry will focus on the extent to which decentralisation leads to more effective public service delivery; and what the limits are, or should be, of localism.
If you want to read more on the Coalition Government’s Planning ideas click on the tags below to be taken to our earlier Blog entries and a link to the Green Paper itself.
Another Planning Approval from Harrogate Borough Council
Planning Permission was granted this week for a rear extension and replacement garage for a property in Wensley Grove, Harrogate.
The 1930’s house will be updated in a sympathetic elevational style but will now provide a more contemporary layout.
Free Consultation service raises over £6,000 for Charity
With another £400 rasied for Charity from our Free Consulation service in July alone our overall figure has now passed the £6,000!
Here’s what one client said… “Just a quick note to thank you for your time and assistance yesterday.You were able to provide us with lots of ideas and advice in a short period of time and solved the problem of designing in a study. We now have a firm view of how to move forward on our remodelling project which we didn’t have before the meeting. You could build a second career in marriage guidance counselling!”
For more details on the Free Consultation service and how you can get plenty of help and advice while pushing us towards our next target of £7,000 click here