ARCHITECTURECONSERVATIONPLANNING REGENERATION URBAN DESIGN

LOCALISM DELIVERY AND VALUE

The Localism Act, supported by the National Planning Policy Framework, heralds a formalisation of the Government’s commitment to greater local infl uence over the future of places and their communities. It brings new opportunities for local communities through the ability to produce Neighbourhood Plans and Orders. For developers there are also opportunities to work through the neighbourhood planning process and a need to ensure awareness of the localism approach in progressing development proposals.

The underlying principles are ones that we have embedded in our work over many years as a vital component of delivering high quality and enduring places, through development that creates environmental, social, cultural, economic and fi nancial value. We do this by applying an integrated set of tools and skills, drawn from our teams of planners, regeneration specialists, geographer researchers, urban designers and architects.

The tools and skills are applied in an integrated and fl exible manner, under the disciplines of project and design management, to meet the requirements of each project in creating:

• Masterplans and design frameworks• Area Plans• Site based planning frameworks• Regeneration strategies• Development proposals and planning

applications• Delivery mechanisms

Our approach incorporates the following elements.

Process and ProcedureWe have well developed procedures for managing projects. An important element within this is our knowledge of the planning system and related statutory requirements and guidance to ensure that plans and projects follow the correct processes and minimise procedural risk. In South Oxfordshire for example, we are developing proposals for a sensitive site in tandem with the emerging Neighbourhood Plan for the town, ensuring that the site proposals evolve through the key stages of the Neighbourhood Plan process and the related final stages of the Core Strategy.

New live-work street, Midsomer Norton

Bringing together multi-disciplinary skills

Public Engagement and ConsultationBoth of these things are routine elements of our work because they add value, strengthen plans and development proposals and help progress them toward delivery.

Public engagement is vital, particularly in the early stages of a development project or plan. It involves entering into a dialogue with people and organisations to understand local needs and possibilities and to help generate ideas and solutions.

Consultation too is an important part of the process, enabling local people and other stakeholders to comment upon and discuss emerging proposals, often at a number of different stages, before they become finalised.

At Kingston Mills in Bradford on Avon (winner of the 2010 RPTI national award for Local Regeneration and Renewal) consultation was a vital factor in moving forward development proposals. This was against a background of years of community disenchantment as a result of previous failed schemes that had been promoted by others. Here, the key stakeholders were engaged in an iterative process, addressing issues and themes around a full scale hands-on model, to develop and refine the project brief. This led to broader public consultation that was championed by local representatives and enabled major and potentially controversial decisions, such as creating a main access through a listed building, to be taken with widespread support.

The Big PictureConsideration of the broader policy and societal context is important to achieving successful plans and projects. We ensure therefore that our work is informed by a clear understanding of the planning policy context at national and local levels, paying attention to the wording of policy, the evidence that underpins it and the underlying objectives it is seeking to fulfil. We also consider the potential effects of wider socio-economic trends, particularly those that are newly emerging but have the potential for major impacts on the nature and location of future development, bringing opportunities for competitive advantage to those who respond – the so called mega-trends.

In the Somerset market town of Midsomer Norton, for example, we have developed residential-led mixed use proposals for the large Alcan factory site, which in planning terms was protected by policy solely for employment use. Our approach here has been regeneration led, based on an understanding of the objectives behind the policy and showing how these can be met in alternative and more appropriate ways. This includes recognition of changing patterns of living and working that require different types of business space and new forms of housing.

Central to proposals for phase three of the renowned Paintworks development in Bristol, is a mix, density, character and type of premises that responds to these new patterns of business and lifestyle, with a flexible range of employment and residential accommodation, including live/work provision.

Engaging stakeholders, Bradford on Avon

Design, planning workshop with Design Council CABE

Developing ideas with residents at St Paul’s, Cheltenham

Refurbished homes, St Paul’s, Cheltenham

Place AnalysisWithin the big picture context it is important to understand places and their communities if plans and development are to deliver. We therefore link information from our consultation and engagement work with more formal research and analysis to create an understanding of where places have come from, where they are now and what their future can be. Such an approach was key to the proposals for Kingston Mills in Bradford on Avon referred to above. Here consultation inputs were combined with evidence and vision to establish what the town required for it to thrive as a sustainable, distinctive and prosperous place, providing a compelling rationale for securing planning permission.

Concept ModellingThe information from place analysis is used to develop conceptual models for places and communities to set out a future scenario or scenarios as a framework for developing plans and testing development proposals. The concept model goes beyond the conventional design concept approach. It considers the economic, social, cultural and spatial dynamics of a place, its assets, attributes and the role of developing perceptual change, looking beyond the standard definitions of development and what it can deliver. It is often expressed through spatial plans and urban design frameworks but has a greater depth than conventional planning and master-planning approaches. This produces plans with firmer foundations for delivery and sets development proposals within a broader context to identify potential for value growth and to strengthen the case for planning approval.

In the Somer Valley towns south of Bath, where the context in relation to the former Alcan factory site was one of planning policy in transition, place analysis undertaken through research and discussion with a wide range of interests has provided the basis for a concept model and resulting regeneration strategy for the town. This was coupled with a Neighbourhood Planning approach, to underpin site development proposals that, contrary to established planning policy for the area, have been approved by unanimous decision of the planning committee for Bath and North East Somerset.

DesignGood quality design, informed by and responsive to its context is embedded in our work. It is vital to, and will become increasingly important for securing support from the community and other stakeholders, obtaining planning permissions and growing value.

Proposed residential street, Alcan, Midsomer NortonNeighbourhood framework, Alcan, Midsomer Norton

Spatial concept model, Midsomer Norton

Paintworks Phase 3, Bristol

Mixed use development at Paintworks, Bristol

Bath Offi ce: 23a Sydney Buildings, Bath BA2 6BZ

Bristol Offi ce: Prudential Buildings, Wine Street, Bristol BS1 2PH

www.nashpartnership.com | 01225 442424 (Main Switchboard) | mail@nashpartnership.com

Delivery: joining up agendas’sThe ability to achieve delivery is important at all levels including area plans, site and design frameworks, and site specific development projects. This includes an appreciation of the conventional considerations of costs, demand, the planning framework and resulting market value. However, these things, while facilitating institutional investment-led development, can often result in delivery failure or sub-optional solutions, where a more locally attuned and distinctive approach is needed to create and grow value. We therefore consider other dimensions, including the role of incremental delivery, perception change, building investment confidence and alternative development models.

Within the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site, for example, we have delivered a number of projects that have helped change perceptions of the Gorge and laid the basis for further investment and regeneration. Similarly, in Bradford on Avon the Kingston Mills project has given the town a new sense of direction and confidence. Delivery of this project commenced in 2009, despite the recession taking hold, and at the start of 2012 the first phase is complete, providing the town with a new riverside quarter comprising homes, business premises, shops, restaurants and public spaces.

Contacting UsWithin our multi-disciplinary set up, localism related work is led by the Nash Partnership Planning, Regeneration and Urban Design Teams. If you would like to talk to us about our projects or services please feel free to get in touch.Reynolds Wharf, Ironbridge Gorge, Coalport

Kingston Mills, Bradford on Avon

Mixed use regeneration, Kingston Mills, Bradford on Avon

DUNCAN POWELL

BSc (Hons)

Associate, Land

& Planning

JUSTINE LEACH

BA Hons Dip LA MAUD CMLI

Urban Design and Landscape

Director Associate

MEL CLINTON

BA (Hons) MRTPI

Director of Planning and

Regeneration

ALISON PRIESTLEY

BA(Hons) MTP MRTPI

Principal Planner

EDWARD NASH BA,

DIP ARCH, RIBA, AABC

Senior Partner

LEIGH DENNIS

MSci

Research and Information

Manager