Firstplan, on behalf of National Grid, worked with South Bucks District Council, Barratt Homes and Taplow Investments to produce a development brief for a major developed site within the green belt. The purpose of the brief is to provide guidelines and principles for the development of the site to ensure that comprehensive redevelopment is achieved. This will be primarily residential development with a number of other complimentary uses.
The process involved a public consultation exercise, at which a number of options were presented to local residents and other stakeholders. Following this the development brief has been progressed, amended and approved.
This project involved the refurbishment and redevelopment of former industrial premises on the edge of Wandsworth town centre. New Employment space has been provided, with the addition of a six storey block of apartments, designed by award winning architects Sergison Bates. Securing planning permission for the block of apartments required a planning appeal. This involved instructing legal representation and giving evidence at a local inquiry where the relevant issues primarily related to the scale and design of the apartments.
Firstplan successfully secured planning permission for the comprehensive redevelopment of a former National Grid gas holder site collectively known as “North Sutton Sites”. This scheme comprised 177 residential flats and 9 town houses, a 12,221 sqm gross foodstore, a district heating centre and public realm improvements, including a new public square.
The site is heavily contaminated and therefore it was essential that planning permission was secured for a viable development scheme to deliver the regeneration of this important ‘gateway’ site into Sutton Town Centre.
In acting on behalf of Mountgrange Investments for a substantial proposal on the site of the former headquarters of Kent County Council, Firstplan helped secure planning permission for 17,000 square metres of offices, shopping and community facilities, 192 flats and off site affordable housing provision in locations of identified housing need in Maidstone.
Subsequent discussions were held with Maidstone Borough Council to renegotiate the planning permission and its associated section 106 agreement to reflect changed economic conditions, to ensure that the scheme remained viable.