Garner Planning has successfully secured planning permission for a maximum of 30 dwellings at SJ Bargh’s former premises in Caton, near Lancaster. Lancaster City Council refused planning permission and a Hearing was held before a Government appointed Planning Inspector in October 2015. Key findings of the Inspector include:- 1.Up to 30 dwellings, on a previously … Read more →

Chris Garner celebrates 25 years as a member of the Royal Town Planning Institute this month. Chris spent the early part of his career as a planning officer in the 1980’s, followed by close to 20 years in the house-building/private sector in land manager and director roles for Redrow, Taylor Wimpey, Woodford and Barratts, before … Read more →

South Lakeland District Council has published half year housing completion results for the period up to 3oth September 2015. These results indicate that housing completions continue to be significantly below Core Strategy requirements. Garner Planning has calculated that since the start of the plan period in 2003/04 only 51% of the housing requirement has been … Read more →

South Lakeland District Council’s Planning Committee members are to be applauded for their vision in granting planning permission for the residential development at Hincaster of 22 dwellings. Whilst planning officers considered a residential development at the former poultry farm was not acceptable, members, following a site visit, granted outline planning permission for residential development on … Read more →

The Department of Communities and Local Government are consulting on a proposed change to the definition of affordable housing, which will  “expand the range of low cost housing opportunities for those aspiring to own their own home.” Low cost market and starter homes (for first time buyers under 40, sold at a discount of at … Read more →

“…Using S106 agreements to fill the gap caused by building too few homes is a zero-sum game. If we don’t build enough homes, raising the proportion available for affordable rent comes at the cost of building even fewer homes to buy- raising prices and leaving even more reliant on renting. The real answer is to … Read more →

South Lakeland District Council and Lancaster City Council are consulting on an Issues and Options document as part of the preparation of a joint local plan. If you have land holdings in the area and you wish to promote the land for residential development please give Chris Garner a call to discuss.

Eden District have issued a Proposed Submission Version of their Local Plan for the period up to 2032. The authority seek on site affordable housing for schemes of 4 dwellings and above and for parts of the District local occupancy housing. If you are considering a housing scheme in Eden please give Chris Garner a … Read more →

Lancaster City have issued a consultation document which refers to several major strategic land releases for housing a with mixed use, seek to accommodate 8,000 new houses by the year 2031. If you wish to discuss the implications of the proposed housing land releases, please give Chris Garner a call.

The Secretary of State has announced that revisions to both the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales National Park boundaries are to take effect on 1st August 2016. Once the additional land forms part of either National Park, permitted development rights will become more limited. Conversions of agricultural buildings to residential consent under the prior approval … Read more →