Golf Course approved at Leisure Lakes

West Lancashire Council unanimously approved proposals for a new 18 hole golf course at Leisure Lakes on 12 December.

The course has been designed to integrate with the existing landscape of drainage ditches and hedgerows and will provide significant gains for local ecology, especially a resident water vole community. 

The 18 hole course will add to an existing 9 hole course and driving range facilities at the leisure park situated near Tarleton, Lancashire.

MAZE Planning Solutions advised Leisure Lakes on the scheme, with specialist support provided by Planning & Landscape Associates, Waterco, ERAP and Apex Plans & Surveys.

The planning permission will be formally granted following completion of a legal agreement securing a £20,000 contribution to fund the improvement of local public transport infrastructure.

MAZE - the first decade

MAZE Planning Solutions is marking 10 years in business this month, reflecting on a busy and tumultuous period for the property industry.

Thank you to everyone who has played a part in helping the business reach this milestone as we look forward to the next 10 years with equal relish and enthusiasm.

The first 10 MAZE projects - a quick run through the filing cabinet in late 2003 and where the schemes ended up:

001 - Red City, Salford: providing retail impact work for what is now Salford City Stadium and associated retail warehouse development at Barton. The retail element is yet to be built.

002 - West Bowling, Bradford: a B&Q Warehouse store to kick start a major business park development for Landmark Development Projects.  Bradford Council liked it but the Secretary of State had other ideas and refused planning permission after a call-in inquiry.  The site is now home to Prologis Park, anchored by M&S's enourmous distribution warehouse.

003 - Electric Park, Trafford Park, Manchester: a major employment regeneration scheme for Green Property, now home to Kellogg's 35,000 square metre distribution warehouse and L'Oreal amongst others.

004 - Durham City Retail Park: a 20,000 square metre retail warehouse, restaurant and car showroom scheme for Consolidated Property Group, secured after a lengthy multi-party call-in inquiry.  The scheme was up and running soon after approval, with B&Q anchoring. 

005 - Chester Road, Manchester: an ambitious Ian Simpson designed glass-clad apartment scheme providing 90 units in the Castlefield basin, promoted for Sterling Capitol. Approved at the same planning committee as the nearby Deansgate Tower, but ultimately confined to the drawing board.  The site was sold on and remains vacant today. 

006 - St Anne Street, Liverpool: another 90 unit inner city apartment scheme, which this time failed to impress the City Planners, concerned about scale and density. The site remains in industrial use.

007 - Thornaby District Centre, Stockton-On-Tees: £30m town centre transformation project for Thornfield Developments and Stockton Council, approved and built before Thornfield's demise and now occupied by Home Bargains, Wilkinson and others.

008 - New Road, Crook: 57 houses and 1400sqm of office space for Wolff Developments to replace ageing warehouse and factory premises and provide access to a landlocked employment development allocation.  Housing now built and sold. 

009 - Dunnings Bridge Road, Bootle: working with JMP Consultants on behalf of the Highways Agency to appraise Ikea's proposals for its first Merseyside store.  Ikea pulled the plug in December 2005 when the Secretary of State intervened in Sefton Council's decision to grant planning permission.

010 - Altrincham Town Centre: working as part of the Sterling Capitol team to win and then almost immediately lose preferred developer status for regeneration of land at Oakfield Road after political wrangling at Trafford Council caused havoc. Now under Nikal's control the 'Altrair' scheme has recently been reinvigorated and looks set to progress.

Bromley Cross foodstore unveiled

MAZE Planning Solutions has submitted a detailed planning application to Bolton Council today (7 November) for a retail and office development in Bromley Cross. 

The application has been made on behalf of the landowner, CW Construction (North West) Ltd, and proposes redevelopment of the vacant former Green Bengal restaurant on Darwen Road.
 

The anchor foodstore has been designed in conjunction with Sainsbury's and the scheme also includes further unit shops as an expansion of the established Bromley Cross local shopping centre.
 

The new buildings will be constructed in natural stone and materials reclaimed from the existing building will be used to form boundary walls and other hard landscaping elements.  

Caffe Nero and Carphone Warehouse open in Malvern

Caffe Nero and Carphone Warehouse are now open at Malvern Shopping Park, occupying a new building next to Marks & Spencer. 

The Caffe Nero space includes a terrace with 40 seats, high quality internal fit out and eye-catching external graphics to enliven the gable wall.

Maze Planning Solutions secured planning permission for the development in January 2013, acting for the retail park owner CPG South Ltd, a Consolidated Property Group company.

Ratcliffe Groves Partnership designed the building and Savills acted for CPG to secure the lettings and are managing agents for the development.

Burscough Housing Scheme Approved

West Lancashire Borough Council has given its approval to proposals for development of 86 houses on land at the junction of Liverpool Road South and Abbey Lane in Burscough.

The planning application was made by MAZE Planning Solutions on behalf of the landowner, Time Token Ltd.

The Council's decision, reached on 05 September, brings to a close a lengthy planning application process needed to explore and resolve issues relating to ground conditions, ecology, noise and drainage.

The site has a chequered planning history, with several failed and withdrawn applications.  MAZE worked with the Borough Council over an extended period prior to submission of the application to ensure that the emerging Local Plan document supported the principle of housing development, clearing the way for a successful application this time around.

The planning permission is subject to a S106 agreement that will secure a significant financial contribution towards the Burscough/Ormskirk Linear Park initiative and a mechanism to ensure a viable level of affordable housing is provided when development takes place.

Clough & Willis is managing completion of the S106 agreement and Nolan Redshaw Chartered Surveyors is handling the sale of the site for Time Token.

MAZE was assisted during the applications by contributions from:
Nolan Redshaw Chartered Surveyors
The Harris Partnership
Croft Transport Solutions
ERAP Consultant Ecologists
Nicholls Colton Geotechnical
Hepworth Acoustics
Waterco
Urban Green
Utility Connections Management Ltd
Waterline Environmental

Standish foodstore application submitted

Proposals for development of a foodstore at High Street in Standish have been submitted to Wigan Council following public consultation earlier this year.

The planning application was submitted on 1 July by MAZE Planning Solutions and is  promoted by the landowner, Noel Chadwick Ltd.  It will enable comprehensive redevelopment of the site at 51-67 High Street to provide a foodstore designed to meet the need for additional convenience retail space to serve the local population.


The application proposes a building of 2,618 square metres, with a net retail sales area of 1,571 square metres and a café of 100 square metres, served by 150 space car park which will be available free of charge on a short stay basis to enable users to visit other shops, services and schools in the town centre area.

The applicant 's design team engaged in a lengthy period of pre-application consultation with Borough Council officers and latterly the public in February and March this year.  This revealed that a significant majority of respondents are supportive of a new foodstore, welcoming the benefits they consider that would bring in terms of shopping choice, competition and quality, much need car parking for the town centre, and local job opportunities.

The foodstore will replace the existing collection of buildings on the site which include an abattoir, restaurant and butcher/delicatessen which are all operated by the applicant.  The design process has been particularly rigorous as parts of the site are situated in the Standish Conservation Area dictating the need for great care with design detail and materials proposed for the store.

Further details of the development can be viewed on Wigan Council's website by clicking here and searching for planning application number A/13/78303.

Lancashire golf course application submitted

MAZE Planning Solutions has submitted a planning application for development of an 18 hole golf course at Leisure Lakes, near Southport.

Leisure Lakes has facilities for camping, caravanning, walking, cycling, fishing, equestrian, golf, football, jet-ski and jet-boat activities, supported by cafes, a pub, children's outdoor play area and recently added Jollies Barn, a brand new indoor play centre.

The leisure park has an existing 9 hole golf course, 18 bay driving range, golf shop and professional tuition provided by Southport Golf Academy.  The proposed 18 hole course will site alongside the established golfing facilities covering an area of almost 56 hectares (138 acres), set within a retained landscape framework of existing fields, hedgerows and drainage ditches which will provide the basis for new water bodies and woodlands, with significant benefits for ecology and biodiversity.

Full details of the planning application can be viewed on West Lancashire Borough Council's website by clicking on this link and searching for application 2013/0385/FUL