Smarter Planning Champion

We are delighted to announce that we have been awarded the status of Smarter Planning Champion by the PlanningPortal - the central government portal over which applications are submitted electronically.

The benefits to our customers of Smarter Planning Champion status include: 

• Reduce printing costs saving you money.
• Reduced CO2 consumption contributing to your own carbon reduction target
• Assisting Local Authorities in validating applications more quickly through our commitment to meet recognised quality standards for e-submission of applications.

We continue to use our expertise to make your application or appeal process run quickly, smoothly and with the minimum of delay or fuss. 

Abergele Dementia Care Centre

(c) Union-Architecture

We are delighted to announce that proposals for a 48 Bed Dementia Care Centre for the award winning Fairways Care Ltd on the North Wales Business Park, Abergele were considered by Conwy Planning  Committee yesterday where members gave wholehearted support for the scheme, resolving to grant planning permission. 

Designed in conjunction with Prof Bob Woods of Bangor University Dementia Services Development Centre Wales, the investment is set to provide a purpose designed and exemplar "next-generation" home environment for  Fairways clients

Providing specialist social infrastructure contributing to the mix of uses on the Business Park we have worked across disciplines to deliver the proposal and our thanks go to Mark, Matt and the rest of the team for putting together a quality application that has been so well supported.  We also express our thanks to Bryn at Conwy Planning Department, the case officer, who has been fair, open and helpful  throughout meaning that issues have been dealt with quickly to everyones satisfaction.

Subject to the completion of a  S106 obligation we expect permission to be released in a month or so and for work to begin at the end of the summer, 

Planning Mysteries - Demystified

Jargon is the bain of modern language and planning professionals are as bad as others in using it.  We provide below an archive of our demystification of some of the jargon that often gets bandied around planning. We hope you enjoy (and learn a little) 

No. 1 November 2012

DC (or DM). Development Control (Development Management).

Section within the Council charged with reviewing, assessing, consulting on and (hopefully) your planning application and engaging with us. Usually a single nominated (Case) Officer will handle your application. Can be a great friend and ally.

Pre-application Advice.

Its increasingly common, as resources are stretched, for Councils to charge for pre-application advice.  Rare to date  in North Wales although Denbighshire has made some limited charges for some time. 

Anglesey County Council has now adopted such practice and with effect from 1st April 2013 is  charging for pre-application advice as shown below:

As a practice, we welcome sound, robust pre-application advice services and it's encouraged by national guidance.  Undertaken well it delivers some certainty and better development, often quicker.  We genuinely hope the introduction of charges results in improvements to the quality, speed and usefulness of pre-application advice.    

We advise all clients to not rely solely on such services and that we are well placed to lead and inform (cost effectively) prior to such pre-application advice from the Council being sought.  Please contact us for more details.