Seedfield Centre, Bury

Hive Homes

Instructed by Hive Homes to provide planning consultancy advice in respect of a residential scheme proposed on a previously developed site in the Green Belt. We initially led the pre-application discussions with Bury Council, who were also the landowner.

Seedfield Source MCK Associates

Delivery

The key challenge was to demonstrate through the submission that the proposals meet the NPPF exception test that was in force at the time, which in this case was that the proposals would have no greater impact on the openness of the Green Belt. Whilst the existing buildings on the site were substantial in scale, the housing proposed covered a larger footprint from the existing building. This challenge was overcome by carrying out a combination of a quantitative exercise demonstrating that the volume of built form would reduce and a visual characterisation of the existing and proposed developments. This work helped to justify the principle of development.
  • Designing a detailed strategy and programme to unlock 48 residential sites with a capacity of 3,500+ new homes.
  • Production of a PID, implementation plan, site prioritisation matrix, area based promotion and marketing documents, and individual proformas for each site including an analysis of the interventions required
  • A landowner engagement strategy and extensive engagement with funding bodies (including Homes England) aimed at specifically addressing viability challenges.
  • Drafting an investment prospectus and launch event to directly market the sites to developers.

Outcome

Alongside this, justification was needed for the loss of a small area of playing pitches, changing facilities and some car parking, as well as ecological and arboricultural considerations related to the adjacent river valley. A justification of the proposals in the context of these constraints, identifying mitigation where necessary, along with highlighting the significant benefits associated with the delivery of 84 new homes in this location resulted in the detailed planning application being approved.

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2020 Winner of the national Planning Awards Editors Choice Award for best overall project and the Increased Housing Delivery category for Preston City Living Strategy

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