Latest news with #planning
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
The couple who invited the Queen to their wedding 'in a moment of madness' - and she actually came
There are lots of factors to be considered when it comes to planning a wedding. How will you get estranged family members in one room? Should children be invited? Who should you make the maid of honour?
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Planning developments from across Cumbria this week
From the approval of a controversial proposal to build 33 homes just off the A6 to a new optician's practice in Appleby, here are the latest planning applications and developments we've covered across Cumbria. A controversial proposal to build 33 homes just off the A6 in High Hesket after a developer gave legal guarantees relating to concerns raised during the application process. Citadel Homes Ltd submitted an application to Westmorland and Furness Council to build 33 homes on land next to Elm Close in High Hesket. Despite opposition to the scheme by Hesket Parish Council, the planning committee approved the project in September 2024, subject to the completion of a Section 106 agreement between the developer and planning authority. Full story Plans have been submitted for a new McDonald's drive-thru restaurant in Carnforth as part of the growing Carnforth 356 commercial development. The proposals, lodged with Lancaster City Council, seek full permission to build a single-storey 377 square metre restaurant on a 0.52-hectare site off Electric Drive, close to the Porsche Centre South Lakes and Junction 35 of the M6. Full story A relocated optician's practice can be set up in Appleby after plans for the change of use for the site were approved by Westmorland & Furness Council. It was for a flat in Boroughgate and, according to the application form, it will form part of an optometrist practice. The full application was approved with conditions and Appleby town council made no comment on it ahead of the decision. According to a planning statement the property, in common with a great many others in the central part of the town, is Grade II listed. Full story A POPULAR pub is set for a 'necessary' facelift after plans for an extension as part of a wider programme of internal improvements were given the green light. The Pig and Whistle on Aynsome Road in Cartmel has been given permission by Westmorland and Furness Council to build a single-storey extension at the rear of the pub to house a fully accessible toilet facility. The approved proposal comes just over a year after a new management team took over the Frederic Robinson's pub in the wake of the retirement of the long-time former owners. Full story There was an outbreak of 'common sense' at Cumberland Council this week when councillors approved plans for a new hot and cold food takeaway in the Carlisle area - which had been recommended for refusal. Members of the council's planning committee met at Allerdale House in Workington to consider the application for a site on land south of Purdoms Crook in Sandysike, just north of Westlinton, near Carlisle. Marc Gardner, who runs the nearby Gardner's Guns shooting range, had applied to place a wheeled single box trailer where the takeaway would be based in a layby off the A7. Full story A PROPOSAL for the construction of 32 new affordable homes has been submitted to Westmorland and Furness Council. Alderley Partnerships has put forward a proposal for the development on a parcel of land off Manorside in Flookburgh which would bring 32 new homes in a '100 per cent affordable homes' project. Outline permission was granted by South Lakeland District Council in January 2023 for the principle of the development on the land for 'up to 32 dwellings'. Full story Plans to site a shepherd's hut for use with a holiday let in the Carlisle area have been approved by Cumberland Council. The planning application was for a site at Anns Hill in Bewcastle and the form states that the hut would be for ancillary use. Full story The owners of a village pub near Penrith have been handed another planning setback after their latest proposal regarding the use of their outdoor seating area was knocked back. An application to build a single-storey extension to the front of The Strickland Arms in Great Strickland has been refused by Westmorland and Furness Council planners. Full story THE owner of a pub in a Lake District tourist hotspot has applied to extend the hours it can serve alcohol 'in the interest of village prosperity'. The Red Lion Inn, on Main Street in Hawkshead, is the subject of an application to Westmorland and Furness Council to vary a premises licence allowing it to legally serve alcohol every day of the week until midnight. Director Vita Medveda, of Medveda Pubs Ltd, argues in the application that the variation would provide a service not currently available in the village. Full story
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
The rot at the heart of British infrastructure projects is endemic
When elected to power, Labour promised to be the party of the builders, not the blockers, and committed itself to unleashing a housebuilding and infrastructure boom. Nearly a year into government, and the legislation that is supposed to make this happen, the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, is slowly wending its way through Parliament, having not yet been submitted to the House of Lords for scrutiny. The intention is to cut planning restrictions, but whether it also delivers in reducing the spiralling costs and interminable delays of development in the UK is anyone's guess. There are good reasons for scepticism. Meanwhile, the endless sorrow of HS2, the most expensive piece of infrastructure ever built in Britain, continues apace. According to a recent report in Rail magazine, which has not been denied, the London to Birmingham route is now likely to be pushed back a further six years, and may not be complete until 2039. Estimated costs have also further escalated to a jaw dropping £100bn, this despite the fact that the northern leg has been scrapped and that initially at least, the line will terminate not as planned at Euston but at Old Oak on the outskirts of London. Just to add a touch of the surreal to this towering example of ill-spent taxpayer pounds, the spanking new Birmingham terminal at Curzon Street is likely to be completed years before the line itself, and will therefore stand empty, its seven platforms gathering tumble weed in the long wait for their first passengers. In any case, the travails of HS2 have become a symbol of Britain's seemingly stultifying inability to get anything done. Somewhat misleadingly so, as it happens. The largest part of the problem with HS2 is not the planning constraints, or even the ruinous project management, but that it should never have been attempted in the first place, an admission disarmingly made by Peter Mandelson, now Britain's ambassador to Washington, more than 12 years ago. The previous Labour government only went ahead with the project, he admitted, because it was afraid of being upstaged by the Tories in creating a high-speed, north-south link. The economic case for it was always 'flimsy', he further conceded. Back then, it should be pointed out, the line was expected to cost 'only' £35bn before rolling stock, and include stage two branch lines to Manchester, Leeds and Wigan. The whole thing should have been axed there and then, but the Coalition government was terrified of the stick it would get from northern lobbies and voters for cancelling a project seen as totemic in any levelling up agenda. What's more, so much time, effort and money had by then already been expended that it was considered too big a write off to be politically palatable. So on it went, but the main explanation for its mounting costs was already obvious. Planning restrictions, constantly changing specifications, outlandish environmental demands such as the notorious £100m 'bat tunnel', were admittedly a part of it. Yet the contrast with HS1, which came in roughly on time and on budget, could scarcely have been greater. HS1, which links the channel tunnel and London, actually had a purpose and an economic rationale. Furthermore, it had a responsible minister, John Prescott, who after taunts from the French to the effect that the British couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery, was determined to grip the project and push it through. HS2 has never commanded a similar consensus or a convincing commercial justification, making it an ongoing object of bitterness, compromise and delay. Oppressive planning rules and environmental impact studies can no longer be used as an excuse; for HS2, these have all been put to bed, but still the costs keep rising. Shockingly, according to a report by the National Audit Office, simply cancelling the second phase of the project linking Birmingham to Manchester and Leeds is in itself likely to consume £100m. Why? Apparently it's to do with 'safely and efficiently' when closing down Phase 2 construction sites, insignificant though these are. Losses on land already compulsorily purchased but no longer needed further up the ante. And they wonder why the country is going bust. The Department for Transport, the authority responsible for overseeing and funding the project, might seem a particularly egregious example of Britain's inability to get anything done, but sadly these failings are not confined to the public sector. The other standout example is the privately funded Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in Somerset. It should have been up and running by now. Indeed, the one-time boss of the sponsoring company, EDF Energy, once ventured that by 2017 people would be cooking their Christmas lunches on power supplied by Hinkley. It scarcely needs restating that the latest target date for completion stretches out to 2031. In the meantime, costs have ballooned from an initial estimate of £18bn to £46bn in today's money. Once up and running, Hinkley will be one of the most expensive sources of electricity anywhere in the world. If it's any consolation, the UK is far from alone in the sclerosis that seemingly grips infrastructure development, gainful or otherwise. Like the UK, Germany used to be good at this kind of stuff, but became a laughing stock after Berlin's Brandenburg airport came in nine years behind schedule at a cost of more than three times the initial estimate. A McKinsey study of more than 500 global infrastructure projects found that only 5pc of them were completed within their original budget and schedule. The average project ran 37pc over budget and 53pc over schedule. Separate research by Oxford's Saïd Business School found that of more than 3000 infrastructure projects studied, only 0.2pc were completed on time and to budget. All the same, the situation appears to be notably worse in the UK than elsewhere. According to the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (Nista), the cost of construction in Britain has risen by nearly a third more than GDP per capita since 2007. That often asked question – why is it that we seem to be getting ever fewer bangs for our bucks in terms of public services and state-backed infrastructure – is partly answered by phenomena such as this. It's not just about population growth or the demands of an ageing society; it's also about incompetence, lack of clear objectives, and a cartel-like contracting industry that knows how to play the system to its own ends. At both national and local level, it's endemic and verging on the corrupt. As it embarks on the fantastically costly and disruptive decarbonisation of Britain's electricity network, the Government promises that it will be addressing these and many of the other issues that have been slowing things down and compounding their cost. Relatively straightforward improvements in project delivery systems alone could reduce final construction costs by between 10pc and 25pc, Nista says. Don't hold your breath. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Why is it that Britain cannot get anything done?
When elected to power, Labour promised to be the party of the builders, not the blockers, and committed itself to unleashing a housebuilding and infrastructure boom. Nearly a year into government, and the legislation that is supposed to make this happen, the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, is slowly wending its way through Parliament, having not yet been submitted to the House of Lords for scrutiny. The intention is to cut planning restrictions, but whether it also delivers in reducing the spiralling costs and interminable delays of development in the UK is anyone's guess. There are good reasons for scepticism. Meanwhile, the endless sorrow of HS2, the most expensive piece of infrastructure ever built in Britain, continues apace. According to a recent report in Rail magazine, which has not been denied, the London to Birmingham route is now likely to be pushed back a further six years, and may not be complete until 2039. Estimated costs have also further escalated to a jaw dropping £100bn, this despite the fact that the northern leg has been scrapped and that initially at least, the line will terminate not as planned at Euston but at Old Oak on the outskirts of London. Just to add a touch of the surreal to this towering example of ill-spent taxpayer pounds, the spanking new Birmingham terminal at Curzon Street is likely to be completed years before the line itself, and will therefore stand empty, its seven platforms gathering tumble weed in the long wait for their first passengers. In any case, the travails of HS2 have become a symbol of Britain's seemingly stultifying inability to get anything done. Somewhat misleadingly so, as it happens. The largest part of the problem with HS2 is not the planning constraints, or even the ruinous project management, but that it should never have been attempted in the first place, an admission disarmingly made by Peter Mandelson, now Britain's ambassador to Washington, more than 12 years ago. The previous Labour government only went ahead with the project, he admitted, because it was afraid of being upstaged by the Tories in creating a high-speed, north-south link. The economic case for it was always 'flimsy', he further conceded. Back then, it should be pointed out, the line was expected to cost 'only' £35bn before rolling stock, and include stage two branch lines to Manchester, Leeds and Wigan. The whole thing should have been axed there and then, but the Coalition government was terrified of the stick it would get from northern lobbies and voters for cancelling a project seen as totemic in any levelling up agenda. What's more, so much time, effort and money had by then already been expended that it was considered too big a write off to be politically palatable. So on it went, but the main explanation for its mounting costs was already obvious. Planning restrictions, constantly changing specifications, outlandish environmental demands such as the notorious £100m 'bat tunnel', were admittedly a part of it. Yet the contrast with HS1, which came in roughly on time and on budget, could scarcely have been greater. HS1, which links the channel tunnel and London, actually had a purpose and an economic rationale. Furthermore, it had a responsible minister, John Prescott, who after taunts from the French to the effect that the British couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery, was determined to grip the project and push it through. HS2 has never commanded a similar consensus or a convincing commercial justification, making it an ongoing object of bitterness, compromise and delay. Oppressive planning rules and environmental impact studies can no longer be used as an excuse; for HS2, these have all been put to bed, but still the costs keep rising. Shockingly, according to a report by the National Audit Office, simply cancelling the second phase of the project linking Birmingham to Manchester and Leeds is in itself likely to consume £100m. Why? Apparently it's to do with 'safely and efficiently' when closing down Phase 2 construction sites, insignificant though these are. Losses on land already compulsorily purchased but no longer needed further up the ante. And they wonder why the country is going bust. The Department for Transport, the authority responsible for overseeing and funding the project, might seem a particularly egregious example of Britain's inability to get anything done, but sadly these failings are not confined to the public sector. The other standout example is the privately funded Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in Somerset. It should have been up and running by now. Indeed, the one-time boss of the sponsoring company, EDF Energy, once ventured that by 2017 people would be cooking their Christmas lunches on power supplied by Hinkley. It scarcely needs restating that the latest target date for completion stretches out to 2031. In the meantime, costs have ballooned from an initial estimate of £18bn to £46bn in today's money. Once up and running, Hinkley will be one of the most expensive sources of electricity anywhere in the world. If it's any consolation, the UK is far from alone in the sclerosis that seemingly grips infrastructure development, gainful or otherwise. Like the UK, Germany used to be good at this kind of stuff, but became a laughing stock after Berlin's Brandenburg airport came in nine years behind schedule at a cost of more than three times the initial estimate. A McKinsey study of more than 500 global infrastructure projects found that only 5pc of them were completed within their original budget and schedule. The average project ran 37pc over budget and 53pc over schedule. Separate research by Oxford's Saïd Business School found that of more than 3000 infrastructure projects studied, only 0.2pc were completed on time and to budget. All the same, the situation appears to be notably worse in the UK than elsewhere. According to the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (Nista), the cost of construction in Britain has risen by nearly a third more than GDP per capita since 2007. That often asked question – why is it that we seem to be getting ever fewer bangs for our bucks in terms of public services and state-backed infrastructure – is partly answered by phenomena such as this. It's not just about population growth or the demands of an ageing society; it's also about incompetence, lack of clear objectives, and a cartel-like contracting industry that knows how to play the system to its own ends. At both national and local level, it's endemic and verging on the corrupt. As it embarks on the fantastically costly and disruptive decarbonisation of Britain's electricity network, the Government promises that it will be addressing these and many of the other issues that have been slowing things down and compounding their cost.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
The Greenwich streets where homes are growing and trees are going
The latest wave of planning applications in the borough reveals a mix of residential upgrades and impactful tree works. Homeowners in Plumstead are at the forefront of residential improvements, applying for loft conversions with rear dormers at 16 Eastview Avenue (ref: 25/1662/CP), and 58 St Margarets Terrace (ref: 25/1589/CP). Meanwhile, 41 High Grove has applied for both a rear extension and a loft conversion under separate prior approval and certificate routes (refs: 25/1614/PN1 and 25/1613/CP). In a shift reflecting changing high street patterns, an estate agency unit at Blackheath Hill is seeking Prior Approval for conversion from commercial use to a single flat (ref: 25/1637/PN2). The Greenwich Peninsula, a hub of long-term growth, continues to see major post-approval activity. A comprehensive list of condition discharge applications was submitted this week, concerning water infrastructure (ref: 25/1498/SD), highways (ref: 25/1492/SD), and various other elements. These applications relate to plots around the O2 and Lower Riverside areas, indicating the ongoing development of this transformative district. Meanwhile, modest household improvements are also in the pipeline. A conservatory replacement is planned at 6 Kinveachy Gardens, Charlton (ref: 25/1603/CP), and a chimney removal paired with a new extension at 6 Rainham Close, Avery Hill (ref: 25/1588/CP). At Franklyn James Estate Agents, a full change of use from commercial to residential is proposed (ref: 25/1637/PN2), reflecting borough-wide adaptive reuse trends. Greenwich is also seeing a flurry of tree works across conservation areas. This includes a routine crown reduction of an elder tree at 64A Hyde Vale, SE10 (ref: 25/1669/TC), and the felling of a Leyland cypress deemed too close to the building at 59 Ashburnham Grove, SE10 (ref: 25/1658/TC). Elsewhere, six elder trees and a hawthorn are set to be removed from land fronting Well Hall Road in Eltham (ref: 25/1608/TC), while fig and lime trees are also marked for attention at various SE10 addresses. This latest planning round-up demonstrates a borough quietly upgrading behind the scenes, with changes being implemented leaf by leaf and brick by brick.
