Unwanted office site to new DLL club – Walsingham Planning achieve the transformation

Walsingham Planning advised DLL on an informal basis during the early stages of the site acquisition process and then formalised this through written advice that planning permission should be achievable on the site even though it was allocated as employment land.

The application had to deal with:

• The policy issue of loss of employment land, showing adequate supply, that development for office purposes was unviable and that DLL are themselves an employer
• PPS6 and sequential testing and the unsuitability of other more centrally located sites
• The need for the development following objections from a local tennis club, demonstrating the demand for courts to serve the local population
• Access and parking, using a TA and car parking data
• Archaeology
• Community involvement in future use of the site
• Design and other detailed issues and objections raised by third parties

Walsingham Planning were able to work very closely with a highly co-operative Planning Department to agree and provide a comprehensive application package.

The application was welcomed at Committee, having secured a favourable officer recommendation, and the SoS decided that all issues had been adequately dealt with so that there was no need for a “call in” Inquiry.