News round-up 14 January 2010

Garden protection

Labour backbencher Andrew Dismore MP’s Bill to protect gardens and urban green spaces has had its first reading in the Commons. The Land Use (Gardens Protection etc) Bill is due its second reading in February.

Access the Bill

Access the Bill’s research paper [PDF]

 

Rural moves

Nearly seven in 10 of today’s rural residents have moved to the countryside from urban areas, according to new research from large rural insurer NFU Mutual. Three in 10 rural residents (29 per cent) originally come from major UK cities and 37 per cent have moved from urban areas in the last five years.  A fifth of those moving to rural areas in the last five years were originally rural dwellers, the research found.

 

Bishopsgate Goods Yard masterplan

A new lease of life is planned for the historic Bishopsgate Goods Yard in East London which has been dormant for 40 years.

Hackney and Tower Hamlets Councils and the Mayor of London have approved new planning guidance that will shape the future of the 4.7 hectare site in Shoreditch which straddles the borough boundaries.

The planning guidance suggests the site could be redeveloped to provide up to 2,000 new homes, including family and affordable housing, along with a health centre, community facilities, employment space and a high-level public park above the Braithwaite Viaduct, with links to existing green spaces such as Allen Gardens. These plans will see up to 1.7 hectares of open space created for the local community. 

Read the Hackney Council press release

 

Paddington scheme approved

The final part of the £600m redevelopment of the Paddington Basin area in West London has been given the go-ahead after the final remaining office buildings were granted planning permission by Westminster City Council.

Made from glass and aluminium the last two buildings will contain 41,797 sq m of office space and will be located next to the Novotel Hotel in an area which is currently vacant.

Read the City of Westminster council press release

 

First English Marine Conservation Zone

The waters around Lundy Island off the coast of Devon have become England’s first Marine Conservation Zone under the Marine and Coastal Access Act.

Read the Natural England press release

Read more about the Marine and Coastal Access Act

 

London 'pod' hotel approved

Plans for a new central London hotel at the Trocadero building near Piccadilly Circus  with 'pod’-style rooms have been approved. Westminster Council has granted permission for a 495-bedroom hotel, whose small hotel rooms take their inspiration from Japanese capsule hotels and whose designs are based upon first-class air cabins.

The hotel's en-suite rooms will measure just 12 sq m to 17 sq m and will occupy part of the second to seventh floors in the Grade II-listed building.

Read the City of Westminster Council press release

 

Demolition ruling

A High Court judge has quashed decisions to demolish an historic Victorian building in Belfast city centre and replace it with flats.

The Northern Ireland Planning Service must now reconsider the future of the Nineteenth Century warehouse following the intervention of the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society which successfully argued in court that the decision was flawed on conservation grounds.

Read the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society press release

 

Blade runners

Three onshore wind farm projects in northern Scotland have been given the go-ahead. They comprise a 33-turbine, 118 megawatt (MW) wind farm at Muaitheabhal in the Western Isles, a 52.5MW project near Thurso and an extra 45 MW of capacity at the existing Rothes wind farm near Elgin.

Read the Scottish Government press releases:

Wind farm near Thurso, Rothes wind farm

Muaitheabhal wind farm

 

Country park and homes project

A planning application has been submitted to Wiltshire Council by Barratt Homes for a new community as well as a country park at Hampton Park in Bishopdown, Salisbury. The proposals include 525 homes, a 51-hectare country park for public use, allotments, footpath and cycle routes, a community orchard and land for a new infant school.

 

Pumphouse error

Northern Ireland Water has launched an inquiry after it built a pumping station whose dimensions were larger than approved. In addition the facility was built in a different position than allowed under the consent. The building, in Portadown, may have to be demolished.

 

Roger Milne

14 January 2010