architecture planning urban design conservation
Planning
IntroductionThe statutory planning process is the means our society has developed to protect what it has chosen to value and to manage
inevitable change in as fair and democratic a way as possible, for the benefit of the whole community.
Since our establishment in 1988, Nash Partnership has worked on over 1000 projects across south and central England,
dealing with most local Planning Authorities and the wide range of issues that landowners, development and user clients
encounter. Our combined staff of circa 35 includes an integrated planning team, most of whom have the experience of
working directly alongside decision makers in the public sector in development control, forward planning, sustainability and
heritage.
Our Approach
Our processes for engaging with local Planning
Authorities mirror those of the authorities themselves;
in the way sites are evaluated against several layers
of policy, land allocation, special planning guidance or
government advice; in the need for specialist inputs from
consultants or important consultees, on the structuring
and writing of planning reports, and the weighing of
planning arguments.
We also reflect these in the way planning applications are
registered; how the interests of individual offices within
the LPA team are addressed, in our maintenance of long
term records of planning decisions, our access to planning
authorities’ own records and in the administration of
planning conditions.
Our experience and skills are offered to clients flexibly
according to their needs; we offer pragmatic advice, use
of strategic and tactical approaches to maximising the
prospects of successful permissions and experienced
research staff and geographers able to gather data and
build arguments on the strong foundations sometimes
needed to secure support for major change.
Our work in the planning sphere is informed by our
experience in masterplanning and urban design,
much of it involving the Government’s Sustainable
Communities Programme and instructions from the
public sector. We have worked as Architects and
Planners on many sites made sensitive through
heritage, landscape or ecological value.
In project delivery we are experienced in taking
projects from start to completion and occupation and
in the needs of projects small, medium and large.
We monitor closely the way the planning process is
going and how new initiatives, Government guidance
and restructurings are brought to bear.
We also understand the challenges that our client
groups have to work under, associated with the
acquisition of land, the evaluation of risk, the
imposition of financial and other planning obligations
and the rises and falls of investment values.
Our Skills
Our Planning Team is fully embedded within the structure of the firm, working closely with urban design, architectural
and project management staff. But unlike some other one-stop-shop planning and architectural consultancies, our
planners form an independent fee-earning arm. This ensures that they understand and respond to market realities, remain
competitive and deliver excellent value for money. Our team:
• Understandcommercialviabilityissues–inthisrespectwecanoftenprovideathinkinglinkbetweenclients,alltoo
well aware of such things, and Local Authorities, who often understand them less well.
• Arecompletelyfocusedonusingtheplanningprocesstoaddmaximumvalueandincreaseprofitforourclients.
• Understandhowlocalplanningauthoritieswork,fromplanningcaseofficersandotherinternaldepartments,
through to Councilors and committees. We know just where and when the risks and opportunities lie for any
project. Some of our staff have previously worked in the public sector, including former English Heritage personnel,
Local Authority conservation officers and development control planners.
• Understandthepressuresandperspectivesofplanningauthoritiesandhavepersonalcontactsinmanyof
them. Over the years we have worked closely with many Councils and know how to develop positive working
relationships with decision makers; whether through exhibitions, public relations or carefully targeted lobbying.
• UnderstandhowandwhydevelopmentcontrolpoliciesareformulatedatGovernmental,RegionalandLocallevel.
We have an ear to the ground for emerging policy trends, both at Local Planning Authority and Governmental
levels and the Planning Inspectorate.
• Understandtheartofpersuasion;whetherin
community involvement, where carrying people
with you can be politically vital, or in flushing
out concerns before they harden into harmful
objections. To this end we use whatever means
are appropriate to a specific situation, illustrating
and explaining the scheme, sometimes on a
one- to- one basis, with the aid of models,
perspectives and computer visualisations.
• Provideanoverseeingandcoordinatingrolein
project management, linking designers and
Architects with the legal and political framework
they are operating within. This enables the design
team to benefit from up-to-date intelligence and
avoid abortive work.
• Havemulti-disciplinaryexpertiseinhouse,with
excellent and extremely cost effective outsourcing
of consultants via our own approved list when required.
This provides our clients with administrative simplicity
and single contact point.
Case WorkThe following examples illustrate the range of our planning past and current project work:
Urban RegenerationBradford on Avon town centre
We have acted over a number of years as planning consultant
for three adjoining former industrial sites forming the heart
of this immensely attractive historic Wiltshire town, in all
involving14acresof landstraddlingtheRiverAvonatthe
settlements’ centre.
Our work to secure planning permission, conservation area
and listed building consent has secured over £50m of new
investment in the town, and the restoration and reuse of 12
historic buildings. The largest of the sites, Kingston Mills,
passed through the hands of 3 developers and several
professional teams, all of which failed to bring a scheme to
fruition.
The site was an extremely challenging and sensitive one.
It suffered from appalling vehicular access, high traffic
volumes and severe flooding vulnerability. It was located
within historic and attractive townscape, carried with it
issues of ecology and contamination, and possessed a
vocal community, keen to have their say at every stage.
A large part of the challenge was that the Local Planning
Authority was itself at odds with the community,
discouraging the creation of new employment on the site
which our proposals have delivered.
With our Urban Designers, Heritage and Architectural
teams, having evaluated all relevant issues and inputs,
we worked closely with the Prince of Wales Foundation
in a structured critique of the emerging design. As this
evolved over an 18 month period, we won over many of
those initially opposed. Many of the town’s community
groups gradually became ambassadors for the scheme,
promoting and explaining it to the town’s population over
the course of several public exhibitions using large scale
physical models to help evaluate its impact and present
design options. We engaged with Planning Committee
members and eventually gained their support too.
After many years in the doldrums, and after the massive
loss of manufacturing economic employment that the
town suffered in the 1980’s, our work has contributed
considerably to the regeneration of Bradford, which
bubbles with a diversity of privately managed shops and a
healthy market, good restaurants, and a very lively cultural,
artistic and musical community.
Longford’s Mill
Longford’s Mill was one of our most challenging planning projects,
promoting the viable re-investment in a 19 acre industrial conservation
area in the South Cotswolds. When several centuries of woollen
processing came to an end in 1991, 38 listed buildings of the 18th,
19th and 20th centuries were left in urgent need of new uses. The
site faced several design challenges, the greatest of which was its
situation immediately below the dam of the 15 acre Gatcombe water,
part owned by HRH, The Princess Royal, through the Gatcombe
Estate. Narrow steep roads and high ecological interest were further
complications.
But the real crux of the project lay in the issues created by the planning
process itself. The large site straddled the boundary of two different
planning authorities, each of which had to determine the entire
application as a separate authority, with its own consultees, officers,
committees and ideas about the site. We were also saddled with a
design brief the authorities had not tested for technical or investment
feasibility. Similarly, a local conservation group had strong ideas about
the site, but had not submitted their aspirations to any sort of viability
appraisals before seeking public support for them.
We played the multi-faceted role we have now enacted for many
landowner clients, first identifying the challenges, next teasing apart
the complexities and then finding answers.
Our long experience with commercial property meant
that we were able to keep a weather eye on budgetary
constraints at the same time, enabling us to deliver a
scheme that was not only ingenious, but also financially
realistic and profitable. After an initial, politically inspired,
planning refusal the scheme headed for appeal. We kept
up the pressure of reasoned persuasion. The Councils’
Planning Barrister urged the Councils to abandon many of
their refusal reasons, and gradually, key players, such as
English Heritage and local parish councils, came to see the
wisdom of the proposals; 12 months apart, the Councils’
Planning Officers and their committees agreed.
Now, after several years of work, both before and after
each committees’ decision, Longford’s Mills picturesque
juxtaposition of historic woollen industry buildings, cottages,
woods, and water courses are thriving, with new mixed
residential and workspace use with sensitive, contextually
designed new development replacing the large 20th century
factories that once swamped the more human scale of the
18th and 19th century historic structures.
Cheltenham College
Cheltenham College is among the famous group of public
schools established early in the 19th century to prepare
its scholars for the demands of running an empire. Its fine
buildings, (many Listed Grade I), define a large swathe of
Cheltenham’s central conservation area and include fine
founding buildings in Gothic style, a lofty chapel, its colourful
sports pavilion and the private picture gallery of Lord
Northcroft, Thirlestaine House.
The College exists in a strongly competitive environment in
which they have to develop a market for a particular brand of
education, alongside a range of facilities that parents readily
compare with those of other schools.
In 2005 we were appointed, via a competitive process, to
guide the College in securing planning permission for a large
range of new facilities, buildings and improvements, in parallel
with a revitalisation scheme involving a capital programme
of £25m. Our Architects and Master Planning teams have
done much more than provide architectural ideas.
They have helped the College Executive understand how the
existing buildings could be better utilised, where new development
might best go to meet new needs and enhance rather than detract
from the individual character of their highly visible campus.
Commercial concerns have been considered in parallel.
As ever, we made great efforts to carry with us the Local Planning
Authority and key consultees such as English Heritage. Front
loading the process in this way always proves more efficient in
the long run, and was essential here, where the alteration of many
listed buildings within the conservation area was bound to come
under piercing scrutiny.
Our task as Planning Consultants has been to create a masterplan
framework for the College’s 15 year Management Plan, which all
key stakeholders support, so that as each individual project (the
new science block, arts centre, or social centre) comes forward,
the way is cleared for rapid acquisition of planning permission.
Littlecombe, Gloucestershire
ThetownofDursleynestlesbelowthewoodedescarpmentoftheSouth
Cotswolds. Its visible history embraces the post medieval woollen
industry and a major phase of 19th and 20th century engineering
development, largely around the substantial factories of Lister and Petter,
whose engines have served the maritime and motor industry throughout
the World for many decades. When the firm relocated overseas, virtually
the whole valley was left in need of a masterplan to direct remediation and
new use. Funding was found through bodies such as English Partnerships
andtheSouthWestRegionalDevelopmentAgency.
Nash were appointed to act as Planning Consultants and
Architects for the first two of the many development phases.
Acting for national house builder Bloor Homes, we have submitted
theReservedMattersplanningapplicationfortwozonesofbespoke
new housing, on sloping sites flanking the restored river that has
emerged after the removal of 19th century culverting.
The housing always had to be much more than just another development.
Drawnfromthecontext,thedesignwilleffectivelyexpandthehistoric
conservation area of Lower Cam. Public consultation, landscape,
car free accessibility, bio-diversity planning and the quality of public
realm and play facilities have all been important aspects of the
scheme. Sustainability, a speciality of ours, was also key, with a CHP
plant and Code For Sustainable Housing Level 4 construction being just
two aspects of this.
Littlecombe,DursleyDesignStatement
The Park, Cheltenham
When, under the Private Finance Initiative land in south
central Cheltenham was released for re-development by
the relocation of the Gloscat College, we acted as Planning
Consultants, Masterplanners and Designers for Taylor
Woodrow, in taking the redevelopment forward across this
12 acre site and a further 3 acres on an adjoining site for
RedrowHomes.
As the site was in local authority ownership, outline planning
permission was readily granted. Our phased Reserved
Matters planning applications needed to consider flooding,
ecology, archaeology, underground services, and traffic
issues with care. We have some expertise on these issues in
house, out-sourcing only when required.
Being able to combine both planning and design services
made our input cost effective and permissions were achieved
with few meetings with the Local Planning Authority.
Retirement and Care Villages; Gloucestershire, Wiltshire Somerset and Hertfordshire
The need to accommodate the growing population of older people is starting to have a major impact on the development
industry. Having had early and extensive experience in this emerging and potentially large market we are now able to offer
a comprehensive service capable of delivering innovative and profitable projects to clients.
Despitethegrowingneedforsuchdevelopments,LocalAuthoritieshaveyettorecognisethisandallocatesitesintheir
Local Plans. From the beginning, therefore, there is a policy gap. Bridging this needs front-loading of the application
process with a heavy enough weight of original research to give planners the confidence to take a step outside their
established policy cocoon.
CareVillagesareperhapstheultimateexpressionofthenewcaremodel–asitewherecareisavailablewithinacommunity
of over 55’s at a range of levels from intensive nursing to semi-independent housing. Often, facilities ranging from medical
care and therapies to restaurants are part of the package, with high quality surroundings and proximity to beauty and
nature. Such schemes need buildings of a scale untypical of suburban areas and yet, from a sustainability point of view,
this is precisely where they are best located.
We have become expert in justifying such ideas, gaining acceptance of them by planners and local communities, and
have acted for regional, national and internationally based providers in Bath, St. Alban’s, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and the
North of England.
TypicaloftheseconstructionshasbeenourworkforRoberts
Walsh Projects, the development arm of Gloucestershire
providers, Blanchworth Care. In the small historic Cotswold
town of Wotton Under Edge, our clients acquired an
otherwise ideal site, which was unfortunately allocated for
protected employment use. Our research team built a case
proving that there was already an adequate supply of such
land, that the proposed site was in fact unsuitable for many
employment uses and that the proposed new use would
generate many jobs. Further research bolstered the case,
demonstrating through demographics, that there was a
strong case of local need.
We engaged specialist consultancies in relation to the
assessment of flooding risk, services infrastructure, ecology,
traffic and access, then stitching the information together in
a single document that was easy for decision makers to use.
On the fringe of a conservation area, heritage issues were
significant and a Conservation Area Appraisal was carried
out by our own qualified staff.
Overlooked and surrounded by established residential use,
the scheme might have been sunk by an anticipated wave
of public opposition. However, through exhibitions and one-
to-one meetings with owners of the properties most affected
we were able to win many of them over.
St Albans
Here, on a large retirement village complex involving over 55’s
age adapted housing, assisted living, close care, a nursing
home, and community facilities, we successfully fought an LPA
refusal at Appeal, for a scheme made before our involvement on
an outline application basis only. By showing how a scheme of
this scale could actually complement the character of a rather
ordinary suburban area, and create elements of public realm
character, the appeal inspector accepted there were no valid
grounds to oppose it.
Berryfield House, Wiltshire
On this former local hospital site in Bradford on Avon, we
had to achieve a suitable standard of design and setting for
a large listed building in well established landscaped grounds.
The closure of the hospital was strongly resisted by the local
community and creating new community healthcare as part
of a development plan was an important dimension of the
site’s mixed use re-development. Through a carefully planned
programme of planning consultancy work involving character
appraisal, historic study and extensive public consultation, we
secured permission at LPA level for all elements of the reuse.
Woodstock House
Our clients own a large rest home involving listed buildings
in the grounds of Blenheim Palace with, inevitably, stunning
views of the Palace and its lake, woods and monuments.
Having considered the feasibility of expanding the floor space
into a retirement complex, our clients concluded conversion to
a boutique hotel will best capitalise on the qualities of the site.
We are progressing the necessary consents for conversion,
change of use and extension to release value and create
funds for our clients care village expansion programme in
partnership with the operator.
Sunrise Senior Living
For international assisted living providers, Sunrise, we have
provided expert local context design advice and Conservation
Planning advice on how the large built form such a complex
requires, could be articulated and designed to sit well within
a particular landscape context on a site within the South
Cotswolds. Our scheme drew heavily on our long experience
in dealing with historic buildings, drawing inspiration from
the historic precedent of woollen mills of the 18th and 19th
centuries evident in the Stroud Valleys and the wool trade
towns of West Wiltshire.
Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site
WehaveactedasPlanningConsultant,DesignManagerand
Architect for two major projects in the WHS where our client has
been the Ironbridge Gorge Museums Trust. The Gorge is the
birthplaceof the IndustrialRevolutionandcontains ten linked
museums. Our first project secured planning permission to
create a new urban setting for one of these, the famous Coalport
China factory. This project involved the creation of a new street,
expanding Coalport by some 60%. There were many issues to
deal with before this could be realised however, contamination,
a high perceived risk of flooding, landscape and ecological
issues and the need to respect the setting and secure the future
of several historic buildings within the site, its conservation area
and World Heritage Site.
The significant initial hostility of the local community was
addressed through a high level of public consultation and the
results of demographic housing stock analysis, which showed
the community how their limited housing stock was making it
impossible for older people to move from their homes but remain
among the community, and therefore release homes for younger
people. We targeted the design of new dwellings to meet these
needs. The scheme secured a European Community Heritage
Marque Award.
Forward Planning
PromotingnewsitesthroughtheRegionalSpatialStrategyandLocalDevelopmentFramework
As development land for building new housing is now closely
restricted to within existing settlement boundaries, planning for
future housing needs has become a vital task for Local Planning
Authorities. Central Government decides broadly where, throughout
theEnglishRegions,newdevelopmentneedstooccurthroughthe
RegionalSpatialStrategy.Developersbuyorsecureoptionsforsuch
land and then promote its merits to the prospective Local Planning
AuthoritiesundertheperiodicLocalDevelopmentFrameworkreview
process, seeking to establish appropriate land supply for a period of
5/15 years.
All landowners keen to see their land allocated for development, whether
for housing, industrial of other non-agricultural uses, need to participate
in the LDF allocation processes. We have considerable experience in
promoting land for development in this way, advising clients (whether
landowners or developers) of the specialist consultancy inputs they need to
support their case, whether to join with other landowners in such initiatives
and how to proceed tactically to maximise development value.
Typical of such schemes has been our work at Liphook in
Hampshire. Here, a site of 100 hectares is well placed to take
housing and mixed use development to allow the expansion
of Liphook and contribute to the housing numbers the
county’sRegionalSpatialStrategyrequires.
An initial study investigated the impacts on archaeology,
ecology, traffic, the setting of the town and the nearby
listed buildings and was supported by the Local Planning
Authority. Therefore the site now forms part of the Council’s
own preferred allocation strategy and LDF process. In the
next stage, we and the LPA will jointly promote the virtues of
thissite,alongsidetheclaimsofthelandowners,toanLDF
Process Planning Inspector who recommends the best sites
forallocationwithintheLDF.
We handle many other such sites at various stages of the
allocation process and can advise on the development
prospects of land securing permission for new housing.
Occasionally large, but rurally located Brownfield or
previously developed sites can be considered in this way.
BeinganintegratedpracticeofArchitects,UrbanDesigners
and Planners, we are able to give substance to design and
evaluate development risks efficiently at all stages of such
work.
Planning Research Department
We never like to take ‘no’ for an answer when working on behalf of clients. The only way to ensure that we rarely do is to buildrock-solidcasesthatwillbreakdownresistancebyvirtueofqualityandstrengthofargument.Usingthismethodwefind that many previously impossible-seeming cases can be led through to permission, whether at the LPA or at Appeal.
Forming a good case means good research and analysis, especially where proposals are likely to breach established planningpolicyor landallocations. OurResearchOffice includesaPlannerandformerLocalAuthoritySustainabilityOfficer, and a Geographer and Energy Analyst, who have considerable experience of using documentary, web and original site based research to good effect including:
• DemographicandSettlementhousingstockanalysistobuildcasesofneed.
• Demographicresearchtosupportspecialcareneedshousinginthecontextofexistingfacilitiesandrising expectations for delivery standards.
• Trafficimpactanalysisanddatamanagement,includingGreenTravelplanswhereahighsustainabilityprofileneeds to be established.
• Premiumhousingmarketanalysis;establishingwherepremiumvalueswilllieinrelationtopotentialhousing typologies for any site and location.
• Analysisoftheimpactofrenewableenergyoptionsandcostbenefitanalysisforenergyconservationoptionsonall types of buildings, technologies and sites.
• AnalysisofRegionalmarketsinelementsoftheeconomysuchasfoodsupply,constructionmaterials,employment, energy and waste handling as part of sustainable settlement planning to guide where both public and private sector investment can be justified.
In all such work we take much satisfaction in entering into the planning process well armed with the kind of facts, figures
and solid argument that can overcome even ingrained resistance.
Other Planning Services
Ourplanningteamareabletoadviseonmanyotherproblemsthatclientsmayface–suchas:
• CertificationofEstablishedUse
• FinancialobligationsandLegalAgreements
• CertificatesforimmunityfromListing,applicationstolistorde-listhistoricbuildingsandotherheritage
evaluation issues
• Sequentialtestingofsites
• Dischargeofplanningconditionsparing several spatial energy and CO2 parameters in siting, construction and long term use options, from a Geographer’s perspective.
architecture planning urban design conservation
Nash Partnership23a Sydney BuildingsBath, BA2 6BZ
T (01225) 442424F (01225) 442484