Rural Office Development Approved in Colchester, Essex
We are really pleased that Colchester Borough Council has granted planning permission for the development of a rural office complex, comprising two serviced offices, each with individual offices spaces that have been specifically designed for start-up and micro businesses.
The Pre-Application Process
The application site is a run-down former piggery farm, desperately in need of investment and redevelopment. On behalf of our client, we engaged the Council in pre-application discussions to discuss the potential of developing this site as an employment site for small sized enterprises. The Council’s pre-application response was negative. As the site fell outside of a settlement boundary, their stance was that development would not be supported in principle, despite the benefits the proposal would bring. Not deterred, we put together a planning strategy that sought to overcome these in principle objections from the local planning authority.
The Fallback Position
Given that the buildings were last used for agricultural purposes we were able to utilise Class R of the General Permitted Development Order to achieve a change of use of these buildings to a commercial use. This established the ‘fallback position’ if, in the event that the proposed scheme was refused by the Council.
It was explained to the Council, that the proposed rural office complex would be more beneficial, as the fallback position had a number of limiting factors, such as: the cost to convert; the quality of the internal spaces; and the missed opportunity to enhance the site as a whole. Whereas, the proposed redevelopment would deliver modern office space for small and micro businesses, and help facilitate start-ups and increase job creation, as well as visually enhance the site.
Despite the negative pre-application response, we are pleased that the Council could eventually see the positive economic benefits the scheme will bring to this rural area, and they subsequently approved the application. This demonstrates that with the right planning strategy, it can be possible to overcome in principle planning objections.
Contact Us
If you have a potential development site, please contact us at mail@adpltd.co.uk of use the form below to discuss further.