Colas Construction’s Post

Our MV Properties Principal, Keegan McNamara, attended the Building Industry Association of San Diego (BIA) Meet The Builders event at the Coaster Room / Belmont Park last week. As an active member of the association, Keegan said it was great to hear from some of the titans of San Diego's building industry. The discussion covered the many challenges of building in different jurisdictions. The consensus was it's difficult everywhere, yet the good news is the City of San Diego got relatively high marks due to the zoning changes they've made over the last several years. #BuildingIndustry #SanDiego #BIA #MeetTheBuilders #ConstructionChallenges #ZoningChanges #UrbanDevelopment #CityPlanning #CommunityBuilding #SanDiegoBuilders #IndustryInsights 

Angle Property and Cala Group Limited, advised by Montagu Evans, have been granted planning consent on appeal for their plans for undeveloped Green Belt land at Rectory Farm, Kings Langley, following a 4-day public inquiry in April. This development marks a significant milestone in the journey towards creating a vibrant new neighbourhood that will comprise 135 new homes and community facilities for the Sunnyside Rural Trust, as well as 2.5 hectares of public open space adjacent to the Grand Union Canal. “This is an important decision relating to a site that was due to be released from the Green Belt to meet Dacorum’s acute housing land supply shortfall, before a change in administration reversed the Council’s strategy, leaving our clients with the only option to seek planning permission via appeal, said Edward Ledwidge, Partner at Montagu Evans. “The evidence supporting new housing in this location to address the severe needs of the Borough in the short term, combined with the delivery of other social, economic and environmental benefits, provided the Inspectorate with a clear route to allowing this appeal. The decision has also importantly established how Grampian planning conditions can be used to secure mitigation – in this case, related to the provision of off-site Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace (SANG), which has been a considerable barrier to housing development in Dacorum and elsewhere.  “Not only does this result allow our clients to move forward, but the decision establishes some important points of principle that may assist the delivery of other sustainable housing sites in areas of need.” For full details of the decision, please visit: https://lnkd.in/eD8VFrd4 With David Mabb and Rachel McGall at Montagu Evans. Support for this appeal also came from Guy Williams KC and Zack Simons at Landmark Chambers, Fierra Real Estate, JTP Architects, Macgregor Smith, Aspect, SCARP, Emery Planning, Tetlow King Planning and BCLP. #MEPlanning #MEResidential #SustianableHousing

“Historic preservation committees aren’t necessarily helmed by members with extensive backgrounds in preservation. That’s not a knock on volunteers, but it does present an opportunity to bring in outside consultants to review and streamline the process. … The review process is extremely important, especially after urban renewal efforts in the 1950s, ′60s, and ′70s leveled historic neighborhoods like Boston’s West End. But experts say the process and historic preservation can be weaponized to impede the development of much-needed housing. … Those interviewed remain optimistic that an appreciation for history and development can coexist. The Housing Choice law by former governor Charlie Baker put the onus on MBTA municipalities and enables multifamily projects to pass with a simple majority — though, that measure faces significant pushback.” https://lnkd.in/ejF4XsvS

My latest blog: Unveiling the Blueprint: NPPF’s Quest for Beauty in Building Better and Beautiful Places Given the current consultation on making it easier to build houses on brownfield, we need to keep in mind that HOW we build and WHAT we build is as important as WHERE we build. #tldr The NPPF expects beautiful buildings, places and settings that are attractive, healthy, worth communities owning and caring for. The Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission challenged planners to refuse ugliness and seek beauty to turn anywhere into somewhere, and nowhere into home. https://lnkd.in/eZUGrkUu

Paul's latest blog - it's got to be beautiful!

"100-Year-Old SA Landmark to Be Replaced by Senior Housing Development" Read the full article below..

Sigma Strategic Land are delighted to have exchanged a long-term promotion agreement with private landowners to promote their 8.22-acre site in the sought-after Buckinghamshire town of Princes Risborough through the current local plan review for residential development. The site has clear residential context to the east, south and west where it both directly adjoins and is opposite existing residential development. Initial feasibility studies indicate that the site can support approximately 65 dwellings together with a substantial area of public open space. Located only 1 mile from the centre of Princes Risborough and only a short walk from the mainline railway station, the site is in a highly sustainable location that immediately adjoins and is a natural extension to the current settlement boundary.    Sigma Strategic Land has already submitted the site to the Local Plan Call for Sites process. The latest council timetable anticipates that the Regulation 18 assessment of the submitted sites will be published later this year.   Christopher East, Group Land Director with Sigma Homes and Sigma Strategic Land comments “Princes Risborough is a popular and affluent commuter town with good schools and recreational facilities. The site is located outside the Greenbelt and AONB and is very sustainably located. Given that the site can immediately deliver a good number of much-needed family homes including a policy compliant level (48%) of affordable housing including First Homes and will deliver a substantial Community Infrastructure Levy payment to the Council to support the delivery of local infrastructure, should ensure that the site performs well in the Regulation 18 assessment. Sigma Strategic Land look forward to continuing to engage with the Council to bring this site forward for development through the current Local Plan review process.”    A big thank you to the hard work of our professional team in getting the long-term promotion agreement exchanged and submitted to the Local Plan Call:   Dave Skilton, Steve Mitchell & Stewart Beresford at DHA Architecture Paul Murray at Brecher LLP Patrick Maguire at Asset Heritage Consulting Ltd Ron Humphrey at Archaeology South-East (UCL) Matt Jones at InCo Surveys Christopher Ryall at trademyland Damian Sullivan MRTPI, Declan Doherty at Sigma Homes Group Sigma Strategic Land are always keen to work with landowners to promote land for residential and mixed use development. If you would like to discuss your land in confidence then please contact the team at strategicland@sigmahomesgroup.co.uk #buckinghamshire #propertydevelopment #housing #land #development #planning #architecture #newhomes

On a day of depressing headlines about soaring rental costs, Lar offers real help and real hope to mid-market tenants. Our homes are up to £300-£400 a month cheaper than comparable private properties, with a trusted landlord and amazing new developments like Port Edgar. And the best part? All of this is made possible through a government loan, not a grant. For those interested in public service reform, Lar is definitely worth a closer look. #affordablehousing #publicservicereform #midmarkettenants

Another major milestone has been reached in the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure's TOD program, with release of the first four draft rezoning proposals out of the eight nominated accelerated precincts. The precincts include #Hornsby, #Kellyville, #BellaVista and #MacquariePark and aim to facilitate a combined total of 30,322 dwellings, with mandatory affordable housing contributions of between 3–15% to be delivered in perpetuity. Also on exhibition is an explanation of intended effects (EIE) outlining proposed changes to the accelerated precincts policy which include: - A temporary SSD pathway for residential developments valued over $60m until November 2027. - Turning off the in-fill affordable housing height and FSR bonuses within the accelerated precincts to avoid conflict with planning controls and an exemption from some of the low- and mid-rise housing reforms. - A 5-year exemption from concurrence and referral requirements that are not considered 'high-risk' to speed up assessment timeframes. - An alternative design excellence pathway in place of design competitions. The initial four precinct proposals and the EIE are both on public exhibition until 9 August 2024. Reach out to the Beam Team to find out more Brendan Hoskins Michael Rowe Chris Forrester

Governments are talking about building new housing. Yet it takes over 200 days to obtain a development approval for a home. The approval process is hindered by creating Heritage Conservation Areas. In that way you cannot obtain a Complying Development Approval. Mr. Minn’s the Council’s must be overloaded. Take away the process of obtaining a Development Consent, and move back to only obtaining Building Approval for residential homes/duplexes by obtaining an approval via Council’s Building Department. The building departments of Council’s staff need the work. This can move Council Planners back to doing planning for multi dwelling developments and overall planning the Councils. And building departments dealing with dwellings.