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Securing the UK’s place in the new industries of a digital, Net Zero world will require major investment and development. Facilities such as gigafactories and data centres also come with potentially significant impacts on the environment and local residents. These are very large buildings, and their operation (and construction) can adversely affect local infrastructure, noise levels and air quality.
The planning system exists to reconcile these competing pressures and deliver high-quality schemes that support growth, by identifying communities’ concerns and mitigating the impacts of construction and operation. But this takes time, and it can be slow – a concern for competitive industries where speed to market is critical. Battery manufacturers need to get production lines rolling as fast as possible; data centre operators are racing to supply exponentially growing demand for computing power.
Managed properly, however, democratic oversight doesn’t have to be a break on development. Take the Britishvolt gigafactory in Northumberland, on which Ridge provided multidisciplinary support. It was to have been the fourth largest building in the UK, and it achieved planning permission in just 4 months. On that scheme and others, the Town Planning team at Ridge has honed a proactive approach that ensures that developments can be effectively scrutinised while also meeting challenging investor timeframes.
For projects of this scale and complexity, preparing a planning application is costly and time-consuming, and clients are understandably reluctant to proceed unless they are confident that it will be approved within a reasonable timeframe. That’s why we engage with local authorities and members of the council at the earliest possible stage. In the case of Britishvolt, discussions started very soon after the client had expressed an interest in the site. We outline, in broad terms, the proposal and the benefits it will generate. This helps to determine the likely level of support for the scheme, and it can provide clients with the reassurance they need to proceed.
There are several potential approaches to planning, depending on how advanced a design is, and the desired timeframe for completion. To establish that a scheme is acceptable in principle, developers can submit an outline application, which requires minimal design-related detail. Detailed plans must then be submitted as a reserved matters application, or applications, to obtain full planning permission.
Where the design is fixed, going straight to a full application is often a faster route. Alternatively, if a scheme includes multiple buildings that will come forward over a period of time, applying for a local development order should be considered. With this in place, detailed compliance applications can be approved in a matter of weeks, as opposed to several months for a reserved matters application.
On Britishvolt, one of the first things we did was to work with colleagues to draw up a timeline of what had to happen by when, working back from when our client wanted to start on site, and therefore when they wanted to submit the planning application. That’s really important on any scheme for keeping team members focused, and on track.
It’s also important because some aspects of a scheme’s environmental assessment can only take place at certain times of year: the survey season for Great Crested Newts is between March and May/June.
Industrial buildings are often unfamiliar in type and scale, and local communities may have little intuitive understanding of their impacts. It’s human nature to fear the worst, and misinformation and hearsay can spread very rapidly. Consultation shouldn’t be treated as a tick-box exercise – it’s an opportunity to educate, and to demonstrate that you’re listening to concerns.
Whereas professionals or decision-makers within councils will be comfortable relying on colleagues to advise them, local residents will often demand a far more granular level of detail. Completing technical studies before going out to the public will enable you to answer questions clearly, and provide robust explanations of exactly what the impacts will be and how they will be mitigated.
The design of industrial facilities is often heavily dictated by operational and safety requirements, and it may not be possible to make adjustments to the scale and size of the buildings. But where elements such as landscaping can be altered in response to feedback, that can go a long way to help projects move forwards positively.
Once the application has been submitted and the determination process is underway, it’s important to keep the lines of communication open. We maintain a constant dialogue with local authority planning officers and often politicians, and the rest of the design team should be speaking to their opposite numbers among the technical consultees and agencies. This means we can provide further information in good time, and helps to avoid objections that can slow progress.
Large projects will be taken to a planning committee, and here too, we ensure the members are fully briefed about the scheme. This is another opportunity: developers or their representatives can apply to speak for up to three minutes. Don’t forget to highlight the benefits – there’s a tendency to focus on mitigating the worst aspects, rather than the positives that development will bring.
Guy Wakefield is a Partner in the Town Planning team at Ridge.
Contact him on GWakefield@ridge.co.uk
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