TADW continue to support The Wellspring!

4 of TADW Staff are busy in training for Bupa Great Manchester 10k Run which takes place on the May 26^th 2013

This year we are continuing our support of the local charity, The Wellspring, which is a resource centre for homeless and disadvantaged people.

We will keep you up to date on our strict training regime and which has reduced the consumption of beer and bacon butties in the Stockport Region!

If you would like to support this great cause, please follow the links below….

George Noworyta

http://www.justgiving.com/George-Noworyta

Paul Gill

http://www.justgiving.com/PAUL-GILL5

Jonathan Griffiths

http://www.justgiving.com/Jonathan-Griffiths2

Kevin Ma

http://www.justgiving.com/Kevin-Ma

JV North Framework Success!

We are delighted to be included once again on the JV North Framework.
We have developed strong relationships with our Clients and Partners and look forward to working with them again over the next 4 years!

Planning received for St. Bede's College!

Planning permission and listed building consent has been received for proposed works at the grade 2 listed, St. Bede's College and Preparatory School.   The works includes a new nursery, music suite and library as well as improvements to the reception area and the introduction of new accessible toilets and ramped access from an extended visitors parking area.   It is envisaged that the first phase of the work, namely the new reception and external parking, will be carried out during the summer holiday period.



Royal Oak Brewery Shortlisted

We are delighted to announce Royal Oak Brewery, a residential development for Equity Housing Group providing 51 affordable apartments, has been shortlisted for two awards - the 'Best Use of Heritage' category at the prestigious First Time Buyers Awards, and also for a Housing Innovation Award!

Welcome to TADW

We are pleased to introduce Jonathan Griffiths to TADW. Jonathan has joined the Practice as a Director and brings to the company a wealth of experience from his career in previous award winning architectural firms. We are all excited to work with Jonathan and wish him a happy and long future here at TADW.

Forthcoming Changes to the Planning Regime in Stockport

In common with many other Local Authorities, Stockport MBC is currently endeavouring to square the circle and continue to provide necessary services with a decreasing budget.  This means changes to the way they operate and an increase in the number of services that have to be paid for.  As part of the Stockport Developer’s Forum we were recently made aware of forthcoming changes that are likely to be implemented in the first half of 2013.  Unfortunately these are likely to make the planning process more difficult to negotiate.

1. Firstly, planners will no longer be directly contactable by phone.  Rather a call centre will be the first port of call.  The idea is that this will filter out general enquiries, however it will inevitably slow down the planning process as well.  To ensure that this delay doesn’t have too great an impact on design development we feel it is essential that the response period is kept to a minimum.  Other authorities work on the basis of a reply within two working days which seems to work reasonably well.
2. Another change is that fees are to be introduced for pre-application consultations.  Again this seems to be rapidly becoming the industry standard, therefore while it is regrettable it is perhaps hardly a surprise.  Obviously it will be a temptation for developers to forgo pre-consultation and just try their luck with an application, however this may prove to be a false economy given the third change to the system under discussion.
3. The government is keen to force Local Authorities to keep to the 8 and 13 week periods for the determination of planning applications.  To ensure they meet these targets planners will be obliged to refuse an unsuitable scheme that might otherwise have been discussed with the developer and revised over an extended period of time, ultimately leading to an approval.  Thus getting a scheme right prior to application is going to become increasingly important – and often this will mean paying for pre-consultation advice.

These changes are still under discussion and we know that the Local Authority is keen to get as many views as possible on the proposals.  You can have your say by contacting Emma Curle at the planning department, on 0161 474 3542.  However some form of change seems to be inevitable, and when this comes it will be more important than ever to work with architects such as TADW who have an in depth knowledge of the planning system and a good working relationship with the planners who implement it.