News Round-up - 4 May 2006

King's Cross redevelopment hit by planning glitch

Argent's redevelopment of King's Cross has hit an eleventh-hour glitch in the shape of a wrangle with the London Borough of Islington over the number of houses on the so-called Triangle site where the developer wants to locate 247 dwellings.

The council only wants 200. The issue is being resolved as part of the s106 agreements for the £2bn development.

Minister reminds MPs of garden planning policies

A government minister has reminded MPs that planning policy and designations relating to gardens have remained unchanged for the past 21 years.

That point was highlighted by Jim Fitzpatrick, parliamentary under secretary of state at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister during a Commons debate on environmentally sustainable development (Hansard 25 April col 235WH).

His comments came in advance of the second reading of a 10-minute rule bill from Greg Clark MP, a backbench Conservative, due later this month (May). This bill seeks to remove front and back gardens from the government's definition of brownfield sites.

Bristol mixed-use development given green light

Glassfields, one of Bristol's largest mixed-use schemes, has been granted planning permission by the city council.

The office-led project will involve the demolition of the existing office building, currently occupied by IBM and Guardian Royal Exchange.

View further details here.

Hove scheme criticised by CABE

The government's architectural advisers have described the Frank Gehry-designed mixed-use scheme proposed for Hove's seafront as "banal".

The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment has criticised the perimeter block as monolithic and over-scaled.

"We are struck by how banal we would find this scheme if it were not for the towers," commented the watchdog.

View further details here.

Leeds site for Europe's tallest building proposal

Developers KW Linfoot and Scarborough Development Group have proposed what they claim would be Europe's tallest residential building for a site in the West Central complex in central Leeds. The taller of the two towers in the project would be 51-storeys high.

Mixed-use scheme proposed for Kettering site

Developer Cransley Estates has proposed a 750,000 square foot mixed-use scheme for a site currently occupied by a scrapyard on the edge of Kettering, Northamptonshire.

Roger Milne

4 May 2006