The Yearbook 2024

WELCOME

by Ian Anderson Chief Executive

And breathe. When reflecting on the events that have unfolded over the past year it can sometimes feel like the deliberately provocative running order of a political podcast. Both home and away, macro political and economic events have shaped our working landscape. So when it comes to writing the introduction to the Iceni Yearbook it’s good to pause and take stock.

In spite (and not because) of everything that has played out, something strange has been quietly emerging, and it’s been bubbling under the surface for some time. For no good reason, without due explanation, and with all good reverence, the o-word is back – and we hope it will stick around for a while. Yes, I’m talking about optimism! Lower case for now rather than upper, but it’s there nonetheless. Iceni has seen sustained growth over the past 12 months, across the breadth of our different teams and regions. We have never worked on such rich and varied projects, and we have equally never had such stimulating and impressive clients – both in the public and private sector. As Iceni gets ready to turn 20, we are genuinely looking forward to our next chapter.

What’s causing this uptick in sentiment? There’s nothing like a general election to drive change, but I wonder whether there are other factors at play. Yes, we are in

the midst of many crises, be that housing, climate or economic, but those same sticks are equally carrots for growth. Both before and subsequent to the change of Government we have been struck by an increasing focus on collaboration: local authorities seeking to engage with business; developers exploring innovative ways of funding models; a shared focus on expediting decisions without sacrificing quality or community engagement. If the old adage is true that necessity is the mother of invention, renewed productivity is also much more likely to deliver growth, be that in housing, green energy, or economic development.

Our Yearbook is of course an insight into the activities of Iceni, but it is also a reflection of our clients and associates, and I never fail to marvel at the variety of things we have collectively achieved and undertaken. It is genuinely one of my favourite ‘tasks’ of the year, to sign off on the final edit, and I hope you will enjoy perusing the pages as much as I have. Until next year.

Enjoy the Yearbook, and see you in ’25.

YEARBOOK 2024 STATE OF THE NATION

THE POLITICAL YEAR IN REVIEW

by Sian Buckley Consultant, Engagement

The past year has been somewhat eventful for politics and planning in the UK. Just 12 months ago, Rishi Sunak and his Conservative Government were leading the country, and under Sunak, we started and finished 2023 with a review of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), as well as witnessing the introduction of The Levelling Up and Regeneration Act.

A lot has changed since then. Voters headed to the polls in May to have their say in local elections, voting in over 2,600 councillors and 10 mayors. The incumbent Greater Manchester and London Mayors, Andy Burnham and Sadiq Khan, retained their seats and a total of 1,158 Labour councillors were elected - an increase of 186 for the Party, while the Conservatives lost a huge 474 seats. The results were a precursor for what would happen next, when Sunak called a General Election just 20 days later.

The writing was on the wall, and on 4th July, the Labour landslide we all predicated was realised.

We are currently witnessing a fascinating and fast-moving political era for planning and development, and with the promise of greater stability in this government, we are looking forward to what happens next. ”

The General Election brought significant Conservative losses while the Lib Dems, Reform and Greens all made gains, and a Labour Government was elected for the first time in 14 years. There are also exciting opportunities to arise from the London Mayor and Central Government being the same Party – albeit some work may need to be done to bring their differences of opinion together!

With a freshly appointed Cabinet in place, the Government recommitted to its ambitious manifesto promise to build 1.5 million homes during the next Parliament, led by Angela Rayner at the rebranded Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. There has since been a rapid review of the NPPF, with proposed changes including the return of mandatory housing targets, a broadened definition of brownfield land alongside a brownfield-first approach to development, and the requirement for local authorities to identify grey belt land within their designated green belt.

Amidst all the excitement, Iceni Engagement expanded their political monitoring and intelligence

offer, providing comprehensive coverage of both the Local Elections and the General Election, spanning from research during the campaigns to analysis of the results.

We are currently witnessing a fascinating and fastmoving political era for planning and development, and with the promise of greater stability in this government, we are looking forward to what happens next.

BUT WILL THE NEW GOVERNMENT REALLY GET BRITAIN BUILDING?

by Lorna O’Carroll Director, Strategic Planning

At the start of 2024, predictions for the year ahead centred on the continued emergence of AI, the rate of inflation, interest rates, house prices, wars, the future of the workplace, climate change, favourites for the Euros and whether there would be an election... In terms of the latter, it was heavily mooted that the Tories would hold out for as long as possible and delay holding an election until the end of year, or as late as January 2025. For those of us in the corner of the planning sphere that focus on strategic land, we were predicting a potentially quiet year ahead, with waning market sentiment and an air of despair as we digested the revised NPPF (December 2023) which seemed to just make life even more difficult.

So, you can imagine we were caught by surprise, when on a wet day in May, in the slipstream of the local elections, Rishi Sunak stood on the steps of No. 10 and announced that the General Election would take place in July. Interesting timing, but it meant we might get six months back! Labour’s landslide victory enabled them to form the largest majority government in 25 years, with a manifesto which made lots of promises in relation to planning reform and a commitment to building 1.5 million homes over the next Parliament.

The new Government were quick out of the blocks, with Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ first speech - just four days after the election - setting out a roadmap to fixing the planning system. First up, reform of the NPPF, removal of the ban on new onshore wind, prioritising energy projects, creation of a taskforce to accelerate stalled housing sites, better resourcing for local planning authorities and firming up intervention powers. The recovery of two planning appeals for data centres presented as a statement of intent.

Alas, it has not been a quiet summer in the world of planning. Prior to the summer recess, consultation began on proposed changes to the NPPF and other changes to the planning system. Helpfully accompanied by explanatory notes, on the face of it, the thrust of the proposed changes sought to unblock some of the current system’s challenges and provide new opportunities to support development. Amongst the proposed changes are many green-shoots -

assumed acceptability in principle for development on brownfield land; a new land classification of “grey belt”; a new mandatory standard method for assessing local housing needs; strengthening of the presumption in favour of sustainable development; restoration of the five-year housing land supply; proposals for the reintroduction of strategic planning; a requirement for Green Belt reviews where needs cannot be met; support to build infrastructure, green energy and support for a modern economy; a shift from a predict and provide, to a vision-led approach to transport planning and finally, revisions to Local Plan intervention criteria.

Some elements are ambiguous and will require further clarification to be effective. For example, what does “limited contribution” to Green Belt purposes mean? Does the definition of “grey belt” open up many new sites?

Some of the changes may also result in unintended consequences. What impact will the requirement to deliver 50% affordable housing on Green Belt sites, paired with the proposals relating to setting Benchmark Land Values have on viability? Will this disrupt the land market or trigger delay to allow for renegotiation of agreements? Will the Local Plan transitional arrangements lead to further delays or rushed plans? There is also a missed opportunity to deal with the impacts of environmental protections on decisionmaking, with no amendments to deal with policies for managing flood risk and the approach on flood risk sequential test and Paragraph 14 unchanged, providing protection against the tilted balance in areas with an upto-date Neighbourhood Plan.

With all that said, on balance, the direction of travel is positive, and hopefully will translate into practical application, collaborative working and clear leadership at a local and national level to allow the Government’s aspirations for the economy and housebuilding to be quickly realised. It is fair to say that sentiment in the market has markedly improved, and I am feeling positive about the year ahead!

NAVIGATING SCOTLAND’S NEW PLANNING LANDSCAPE: ICENI AT THE FOREFRONT

by Helen Allan Associate, Planning, Scotland

Recent reforms in Scotland’s Local Development Plan Regulations have created a dynamic shift in the development landscape, propelling Iceni Projects into a crucial role in strategic land promotion. The transformative changes, driven by the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019, have redefined how Local Development Plans (LDPs) are crafted and implemented, ushering in a more collaborative and future-focused approach to planning.

Effective since 2022, these reforms have extended the Local Development Plan cycle from five to ten years, encouraging a longer-term perspective in planning and providing a more stable foundation for development. Additionally, the new regulations emphasise early engagement through a “Call for Ideas,” inviting contributions from landowners, developers and communities. This early input aims to foster a more inclusive planning process, allowing stakeholders to shape development plans from the start.

A key aspect of the new regulations is the alignment with Scotland’s National Planning Framework (NPF4),

which prioritises sustainability and climate resilience, and means that Local Plans must now integrate stringent goals related to carbon reduction and biodiversity enhancement, significantly influencing development practices across the country.

However, these changes come with their own set of challenges for developers. The extended planning cycle can reduce flexibility, while the increased focus on sustainability and public scrutiny adds layers of complexity and cost to projects. The competitive “Call for Ideas” process demands more proactive engagement, and developers must now navigate tougher sustainability requirements, raising costs for green infrastructure and energy-efficient solutions. Balancing these demands with project profitability and community expectations presents a significant challenge.

Our Scotland Planning team has been actively guiding clients through the complexities of this updated framework, and we have been instrumental in helping clients adapt to the new system by identifying and

advancing strategic sites during the early consultation phases to ensure our clients can fully leverage the opportunities presented by the reformed process.

Our ability to navigate the intricacies of Scotland’s new planning landscape is enabling us to be a key partner for developers aiming to successfully engage with the evolved planning system. Major land promotion projects we have supported include those on behalf of some of the industry’s most well-known names, including MacMic, Cruden Homes, Crown Estate Scotland and Hallam Land.

 Iceni’s new Glasgow Office

YEARBOOK 2024 THE TRIBE

LEARNING AT THE ICENI ACADEMY

by Rabeka Begum, Assistant Planner

At Iceni Academy, a learning environment is fostered for graduates and non-graduates to come together and expand their knowledge on various sectors and planning-related topics.

The weekly training sessions provide a unique opportunity for me to delve into new subjects, ask questions, and seek advice from experienced team members. Iceni Academy’s structure allows for a diverse range of topics to be covered, ensuring that I am exposed to subjects that I might not frequently encounter on a day-to-day basis. This diversity is enhanced by the participation of volunteers from across different disciplines within the company, who bring their expertise and experience to the table. Whether it’s a deep dive into planning regulations, a discussion on market trends, or tips on best practices in writing planning appraisals, each session offers something new and valuable.

Iceni Academy’s success lies in its ability to create an engaging and supportive learning environment. By encouraging open dialogue and sharing ideas, the academy enhances my knowledge and confidence in planning discourses. The sessions have proven to be a highly effective way for me to learn, grow, and stay informed about critical topics within the industry.

As I look to the future, I am committed to continuing these sessions and fostering environments of knowledge transfer – for myself and others.

Here are some insightful accounts from other Iceni Academy members:

“Iceni Academy has been useful in teaching what university doesn’t. It also enables junior members of staff to have a better understanding of the expectations when working with other Iceni disciplines, with disciplines and sectors frequently hosting sessions”

MATTHEW MADDEN, LONDON PLANNING TEAM

“It has provided a valuable platform for discussing policy updates and other crucial topics, explaining them at a level that is easy for graduates to comprehend.”

YASMIN HAMDE, STRATEGIC PLANNING TEAM

“Iceni Academy presents an opportunity for junior members of the Tribe to understand the fundamentals of planning and how we put this into practice.”

HANNAH SALLY, GLASGOW PLANNING TEAM

THE ICENI ACADEMY –CO-ORDINATORS PERSPECTIVE

by Jamie Sullivan Director, Strategic Planning

Nearly two years ago, Iceni took a big step forward with the launch of our first apprenticeships. Then, in 2023, we formalised this and merged it with our new graduate programme known as the Iceni Academy. The idea was simple: to create a structured program that nurtures the best talent in the development sector. Starting with our existing apprentices and three new graduates from the Class of 2023, the Academy has made impressive progress in its first year.

BUILDING THE BEST

Our goal is ambitious: to develop top-tier professionals through the best graduate programme in the industry. It’s a high bar, but even in our first year, we’re seeing clear results. One of the standout features of the Academy is the personalised support we provide. Recognising that every individual has unique strengths and areas for growth, we’ve created tailored support systems to meet their needs.

TAILORED SUPPORT IN ACTION

A key part of our support is our weekly drop-in surgery sessions, which give graduates the chance to talk through specific challenges, with topics driven by them. Internal experts cover everything from how to meet client

expectations to navigating the intricacies of planning regulations. This tailored, graduate-led approach ensures each member gets the right guidance to succeed.

A TALENTED TEAM

What’s been most exciting to watch is the passion and commitment each graduate has brought to the Academy. From day one, their energy and eagerness to learn has been outstanding. Each member has contributed something different, and it’s been a privilege to see their skills develop over the year.

LOOKING AHEAD

As the Academy grows, we’re excited to welcome two new graduates into the Class of 2024. Their arrival marks the continued success of the programme and the evolution of our Tribe. We’re confident they’ll benefit from the supportive, dynamic learning environment we’ve created and make their own valuable contributions to the company as a whole.

To find out more about the Academy, get in touch by emailing: recruitment@iceniprojects.com

 Iceni Academy Alumni Yasmin Hamde and Matthew Madden celebrate graduation from UCL

THE TRIBE

WORK EXPERIENCE AT ICENI

by Neel Le Meur

The very first thing I did as a brand-new Iceni intern, was realise that I’d left my phone back in my bicycle’s basket. The second thing I did was go and retrieve it. Thus began my first day of ten at Iceni, where I spent my first week with the Strategic Planning team, and my second with London Planning.

It was, of course, nothing like that.

The first week with the Strategic team was the perfect introduction, with lower workloads to ease me gently into the position. This still managed to introduce and immerse me in national policy, Local Plans, pre-application meetings, the manifold documents in each application, and, of course, the manifold objections. Thus was my first week: gentle; slower; like the timescales of the applications that I was working with.

‘Come over to the London Planning team,’ they said. ‘Strategic is boring—all they care about is sand and dirt,’ they said. And in-between the lines, but then made more explicit in my second week: ‘by god we’re knackered please come help.’

The London Planning team was a whirlwind, in absolutely the most positive sense. I learned so much:

planning appraisals and statements and histories; LandStack and webcat and policy maps; similar and surrounding and previous applications; people asking if they could borrow me for a bit; casual off-handed statements like ‘so the Diocese of London is one of our clients’… and a team full of people who’d eagerly answer my questions, who gossip about the hottest tea, and who invited me out to a coffee trip.

Of course, my work experience was insightful—it’s hard to have some that isn’t—but whilst some experiences tell you exactly what you don’t want in a job, this one told me exactly what I did.

LAUNCHING OUR FIRST ESG STRATEGY

by Ashleigh Bullough, Associate Director, Planning

Laura Carver, Senior Consultant, Engagement

Grace Wileman, Associate, Iceni Futures

This year, the Iceni ESG Committee launched our inaugural ESG Strategy, marking a significant milestone in our sustainability journey.

Building on the longstanding work of our Environment and Sustainability Committee, first launched in 2018, the newly rebranded ESG Committee has grown to include nine dedicated members who meet quarterly. Our objective is to help the business lead the way in terms of environmental and social performance within the property industry, with Ashleigh Bullough leading the committee as a whole, Grace Wileman overseeing Environmental and Governance matters, and Laura Carver heading up social value.

Following an ESG survey which gathered views from across the company earlier in 2024, we agreed key targets for the year, including:

ƒ Maintaining our carbon-neutral status

ƒ Greater consideration of our travel options

ƒ Increasing staff volunteering days

ƒ Hosting more charity events

ƒ Continuing to support the Tribe through their professional chartership

Six months into our strategy, we have dramatically increased take-up of our Give a Day, Get a Day initiative (see additional articles in this section), we led the company through Plastic Free July, and are supporting our graduate planners through their chartership journey with the RTPI. But there is always more to do.

Achieving our goals means every individual across the whole company making small changes, so we will be carrying out our annual survey soon to begin the process of co-designing new targets. By involving everyone in the process, we are taking them on the journey with us –which will be crucial to our success.

You can take a look at our ESG strategy here.

THE ANNUAL ICENI SUMMER SHINDIG

by

Jennine Romeo, Business Development and Tender Co-ordinator

After a slow start to the summer, the sunshine did eventually show up and we made the most of it with our annual Summer Day Out.

We left the confines of our - albeit brightly lit - basement office in Farringdon and headed over to The Docklands for a whole company day out on a beautiful June day earlier this year.

Teams right across the Tribe shared news and views, celebrating project successes, new joiners and personal news alike. When the formalities were over, we made a splash in the dock with some very competitive dragon boat racing and guided walks across Mudchute Farm for those who were less keen on the water. The Tribe celebrated with a tasty BBQ whilst watching the Euros, with some partying into the early hours. Luckily it was not a school night!

THE GROWING ROLE OF STAFF FORUM

by Finn O’Donoghue, Planner

This spring, I was invited by colleagues to sit as Chair of Iceni’s Staff Forum, which acts as our internal communications and advocacy network. With membership including a representative below Associate level from every team in the company, the Forum meets every six weeks to discuss all matters Iceni, particularly focussing on wellbeing, workplace culture and ways to engage everyone, from the most senior to the most junior members of the business.

Chairing the Staff Forum has been an incredibly rewarding experience, allowing me to directly route staff ideas and concerns to senior leadership, while also communicating important updates and decisions from senior leaders to every Tribe member. It’s been great to see how this golden line of communication has boosted the company’s inclusive and forward-thinking culture.

The Staff Forum cuts across Iceni’s management structure, fostering transparency and promoting positive change across the company, while reflecting the quality and integrity of our culture. Key wins over the last year include securing greater transparency on gender pay (now a fixture of our bi-annual all-staff events) and securing a permanent Staff Forum seat at the company’s monthly Board meetings, giving us greater insight and involvement in corporate strategy and decision-making.

“Social value is an alphabet soup of a concept,” is what I was told at the start of my journey into Social Value UK’s Return on Investment Training earlier this year. Despite its various definitions, social value has emerged as a cornerstone in the new world of Corporate Social Responsibility, ESG, B-Corp, and Sustainable Development Goals. For me, its adaptability makes social value applicable across all industries, aiming to measure the positive and negative impacts of actions on environmental, social, and economic factors.

In the property sector, developers are increasingly recognising the importance of assessing their return on investment beyond financial metrics. I’ve seen this first hand this year at Iceni, with a growing demand from clients for social value strategies during the pre-planning stage. This isn’t merely the case where it is a validation requirement, as it is with Salford City Council; we’ve also seen it within the strategic land sector where developers are seeing the importance of creating strategies at the start of a project to deliver a better community – and improved commercial outcomes.

We’ve had some enjoyable experiences with our social value initiatives this year, demonstrating that it can be an engaging and creative process. Within our Engagement

SOCIAL VALUE: A CORE PART OF OUR BUSINESS AND OUR OFFER

by Laura Carver, Senior Consultant, Engagement

Team, we’ve explored ideas with stakeholders, working with local schools and youth centres to prepare local youth guides, and arranging history tours in conjunction with local historians. Going beyond the standard community engagement requirements is leading us to a far deeper understanding of the areas being developed.

Looking ahead to Iceni’s next Yearbook, I don’t expect social value to become any more clear-cut as a concept, but I do anticipate that developers will increasingly seek to incorporate and celebrate social value not merely as a metric, but as a dynamic force that drives meaningful change for all involved. This coupled with a new Labour government and transformed planning policy could hopefully lead to social value being even higher up in the planning agenda.

ICENI EDINBURGH HAS MOVED

by Penny Johnstone, Senior Planner, Scotland

Exactly five years since Iceni Edinburgh first opened its doors, we have just settled into our new Hill Street office.

August 2024 was already well-known as Edinburgh’s busiest ever month, so with hindsight, perhaps it wasn’t the wisest choice to undertake an office move through the centre of town on a Friday afternoon in peak Fringe season… However, following many journeys up and down multiple flights of stairs, a pint in the Assembly Rooms beer garden was a welcome relief!

The search for new workspace was not without its challenges in the ever-constrained central Edinburgh office market, which was particularly under pressure following the closure of several serviced offices for redevelopment. So we were excited to stumble across a light and airy dual-aspect loft space just a stone’s throw from George Street.

Our bigger space means we can now accommodate our Scottish Built Heritage and Townscape colleagues, and we have been delighted with the regular presence of Director Nick Walker and Graduate James Wood, who bring interesting anecdotes about Edinburgh and Glasgow’s historic buildings, as well as the occasional book or map from the 60’s.

EDINBURGH WAVERLEY

EDINBURGH CASTLE

ROYAL BOTANIC GARDEN

THE MEADOWS 14-18 HILL ST,

THE TRIBE

CELEBRATING DIVERSITY

by Georgia Foy, Associate Director, Built Heritage & Townscape

This is the fifth year of Iceni’s Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Panel, and we have progressed a number of initiatives aligning with our Mission Statement:

“At Iceni we want everyone to be themselves. We are committed to creating a culture that respects and embraces each other’s differences, that promotes dignity, equality and diversity and that encourages individuals to develop. Our challenge to ourselves, and those we work with, is to ensure that each individual knows that diversity and inclusion is their responsibility.”

A number of inspiring speakers joined us this year, including:

ƒ BAME in Property [now called PREACH Inclusion], who covered Racism and Microaggressions in the Workplace

ƒ Positive Support Services, who spoke about Neurodiversity and Neurodivergence in the Workplace

ƒ Sweet Peach Wellbeing and Coaching, who covered Eating Disorder Awareness

ƒ A prominent Managing Partner in the field, who discussed how to support trans colleagues in the workplace

ƒ Planning Out, who host a network event of LGBTQIA+ planning professionals

ƒ Pregnant then Screwed, who advised us on avoiding maternity discrimination

We also signed up to the NLA Diverse Leaders Pledge and celebrated International Women’s Week by hosting an internal panel of senior women who shared their experiences with the wider company.

Following internal research and training, our Neurodiversity and Neurodivergence taskforce is preparing a framework to ensure neurodivergent colleagues feel welcomed and supported.

We are now reviewing our EDI Strategy to identify priorities for the next year and beyond, so that we can continue to support positive ways of working at Iceni.

ONE PORTAL WAY, IMPERIAL COLLEGE

by Ian Mayhead, Director, Planning

Tall buildings are dead, long live tall buildings. Or something like that. A lot has been said about the future of building tall, whether from a more traditional design perspective, or due to more detailed considerations on fire safety, construction costs and viability. With all of this in mind, it was refreshing to be working on another scheme of significant height, with highquality architects Pilbrow and Partners, and a client with the vision to be truly transformational.

The site has ‘island’ characteristics and permeability was a key driver in the scheme, so we approached it from the inside out, focusing on planning the public realm and central garden space before turning to the ‘portals’ in order to create the best possible routes into and through the site – followed by a focus on development plots and ground floor uses. The team worked closely with the Council to establish suitable height parameters for different parts of the site, with an eye on microclimate.

The site was considered suitable for tall buildings and the scheme landed at the provision of three landmark buildings of over 50 storeys. We carefully future-proofed the plans to ensure the phasing strategy was appropriate,

enabling amendments to be made during the scheme’s delivery, and securing meanwhile uses.

A genuinely mixed community was proposed, with market private sale housing, traditional affordable housing, Build to Rent, co-living, student accommodation, offices, creative spaces, a hotel, and spaces for smaller scale retail outlets. The plans include:

ƒ 1325 homes, including BTR and market housing;

ƒ 383 co-living or student beds;

ƒ over 20,000sqm of commercial floorspace;

ƒ delivering over 2,000 jobs;

ƒ a new public garden providing 2.36 acres of public open space, the equivalent of around 49 tennis courts.

The development was approved in Spring 2024 and involved us working closely with the OPDC (as LPA), Ealing Council and their respective Design Review and Community Review Panels. This is a truly exciting development which we expect will be a catalyst for wider growth and improvement in the North Acton area.

ROLLING UP OUR SLEEVES FOR BASILDON YOUNG PEOPLE’S CHARITY

by Aidan Pearce, Engineer, Transport

Earlier this year, our Transport team switched their keyboards for paint rollers to help refurbish a Basildon charity centre as part of Iceni’s Give a Day, Get a Day initiative.

Brighter Opportunities for Special People (BOSP) is a charity helping children and young adults up to 25 years old with complex disabilities or life-limiting conditions and their families to live the best life possible.

Our team were tasked with painting the two main rooms which form the centre, so that members of staff could add finishing touches such as the charity colours and logos, before the children and young adults returned from their half-term break. By the end of the day, the rooms were unrecognisable from what they had been in the morning and the finishing touches that the BOSP team added later that week really transformed the space.

It was rewarding work and a day very well spent for all of us.

FUNDRAISING FOR LANDAID

by Maeve Ryan, Senior Consultant, Impact Management

On 7th March, 10 Iceni colleagues took part in the LandAid SleepOut to raise money for this well-known property industry charity focused on ending youth homelessness.

It was a cold and thought-provoking night, with a great atmosphere and much to learn about LandAid’s work.

Last year, 136,000 young people (age 16-25) in the UK approached their local council as they were either homeless or at risk of homelessness - enough people to fill 1.5 Wembley Stadiums. Almost a quarter of the youth homelessness population

identify as LGBTQ+, with the community 12 times more likely to experience homelessness.

In 2022-2023, LandAid awarded 41 grants (a total of £1.4m) and provided funding for 474 bed spaces.

The annual SleepOut is LandAid’s biggest fundraising event, raising £750,000 in total in 2024.

Iceni were delighted to raise over £3,000 through our efforts and will be back in 2025!

www.landaid.org

OUR ANNUAL ALPINE ADVENTURE

by Maeve Ryan, Senior Consultant, Impact Management

28 Iceni colleagues kicked the year off with the annual ski trip in January, which this year explored the slopes of Châtel in the French Alps. As usual, we had a mix of abilities; some charging down black runs, others (like me) ‘gracefully’ wiping out. Our group was also a blend of skiers and snowboarders, and with our equipment delivered straight to the chalet, it was simply a matter of gearing up and heading out!

Beyond the skiing, highlights included a heated spa pool - perfect for relaxing after a day on the slopes – along with the town’s vibrant nightlife and a fancy dress night at our chalet. We packed a lot into our four days and are already busy planning for next year!

YEARBOOK 2024

BIG TICKET EVENTS

RIDING TO REIIF

by Clive Burbridge, Director, Transport

On 17th May, 13 riders set off for UKREiiF for the second year running, this time in support of LandAid. The goal was to ride the 250 miles from Stratford Velodrome to Leeds in time for the conference, with the ride broken down into four bite-size chunks and fully supported by our mobile mechanic Matt (Grips of Rayleigh).

Day 1 was almost 63 miles with 1,009m of climbing which gently undulated throughout the day before arriving in Milton Keynes and celebrating Lorna O’Carroll’s birthday –a late night for some!

Day 2 started with a pleasant breakfast and a few sore heads, before setting off towards Northampton and then onto Leicester for our second overnight stop. This was the easiest day, with just 887m of climbing spread across the 64 miles. Our meal for the evening found us at the local Italian being serenaded on the trumpet by Tony Robinson of the Beautiful South.

Day 3 was the most challenging of the days, with the group heading to Chesterfield for our final overnight stop

before Leeds. The distance was the highest of the four days, at just over 68 miles with 1,219m of climbing. Matt met us at the top of the climb in Crich with a selection of ice lollies and a well-earned break before we headed off to a second climb around Ashover.

Spirits were high on Day 4 as we set off on the final 56 miles to Leeds skimming the Pennines and onto the finish line. This was another tough day with no less than 12 climbs totalling nearly 1,400m. Did it break anyone? No, we rode as a group, with each rider encouraging the next to enter Leeds together - with the biggest grins.

Looking ahead to next year, we will still be riding four days in support of LandAid - but the distance and route are changing. We depart London to head to Cambridge, Boston and Hull before approaching Leeds from the northeast. The distance has increased to 300 miles, but we will miss those tougher climbs, bringing the elevation down so we can enjoy the gentler terrain of the east coast. Let’s hope for another four dry days of cycling – but whatever happens, I know the company will be amazing.

Drop us a line if you would like to join us!

ICENI’S RETURN TO UKREIIF

by James Bompas, Director, Strategic Planning

Iceni proudly took part in the UK Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum (UKREiiF) in May. This key industry event was made all the more memorable by the announcement of a General Election amidst the pouring rain, as the famous 1997 Labour anthem, “Things Can Only Get Better,” played in the background.

UKREiiF 2024 showcased the value of collaboration between the public and private sectors, with both sharing a commitment to sustainable growth, social value and economic development. What stood out was the mutual drive to accelerate delivery and innovate together to achieve shared objectives.

Iceni had an incredibly busy schedule, filled with insightful presentations on decarbonisation, retrofitting, and the role of AI in the industry. We were pleased to see these topics take centre stage, especially as digital innovation was a key focus of our 2023 exhibition at UKREiiF.

One of our particular highlights was the Iceni curry night at Tharavadu Restaurant, where over 40 industry professionals joined us for an evening of great food and conversation. As we look ahead to UKREiiF 2025, we are excited to advance the discussion and continue knowledge-sharing within the sector amidst a changing political and economic backdrop.

THE CHANGING FOCUS OF MIPIM

by Lewis Westhoff, Director, Planning & Adam McConaghy, Associate, Scotland

This summer, we headed out to the south of France to represent Iceni at MIPIM.

This was the second year of our ‘new’ approach to MIPIM. Gone are the days of the Pool Party – instead, the Tribe has opted to send a smaller (and dare we say younger) delegation to Cannes to take part in the 4-day festival of breakfasts, seminars, lunches, dinners, and drinks. It was a fantastic opportunity to attend one of the world’s premier property networking events, take the pulse of prevailing industry sentiment, catch up with existing and new contacts, and of course take in some of the marvellous Cannes weather.

In particular, we picked up on a renewed sense of optimism within the industry fuelled by a combination of declining inflation and associated falling interest rates, lack of development activity within the market leading to a surplus of pent-up demand, and the prospect of political change with the (at the time) potential new Labour Government.

Six months on and most of these predictions have come to pass. Inflation in the UK fell back to the Bank of England’s 2% target, which in turn prompted a first round of interest rate cuts earlier in August, and Labour of course

swept into power in July, with a number of commitments seeking to unlock the industry and ‘get Britain building’.

Notwithstanding, despite some decline in inflation, overall interest rates remain relatively high and this is having a dampening effect on transaction volumes and development activity. Signs are positive that this trend will decline as interest rates fall further – potentially towards the end of the year and into 2025.

We had a fantastic four days at MIPIM. Despite the bad rep it sometimes gets in terms of diversity and environmental credentials, there were signs of a wider shift in approach, with many companies sending out smaller and more diverse delegations this year. This is a trend which we hope to see continue in years to come – and one which Iceni is committed to contributing to.

CELEBRATING SCOTLAND’S NEXT GENERATION

by Hannah Sally, Assistant Planner, Scotland

Iceni was proud to sponsor the annual Scottish Young Planners Conference in April, with this landmark event serving as an important platform for promoting the profession and fostering connections among young professionals.

In the midst of policy and political change, the conference highlighted the adaptation to the National Planning Framework 4 and the implementation of new-style Local Development Plans across all 32 Scottish Authorities. These changes, coupled with an intensified focus on sustainable development and biodiversity, set the direction of planning for the future.

A line-up of inspiring speakers explored the exciting opportunities that lie ahead in shaping Scotland’s urban environment, and the conference delivered a comprehensive agenda addressing key planning headlines including carbon literacy, community benefit, and renewable energy. Practical sessions on digital mapping skills, recruitment strategies, and effective communication techniques equipped young professionals with valuable tools for the progression of their careers.

The conference explored the pathways into planning through RTPI accredited university courses and inspired

attendees to consider joining or advancing their careers in the planning profession, while providing a unique perspective on the rewarding nature of being a planner and how we can make a difference in the field.

We left the event feeling inspired that planning holds the power to shape the future of Scotland’s cities, and energised that we can have an important part to play.

YEARBOOK 2024 SUCCESS

A VISION FOR THE GOVAN GRAVING DOCKS

by Lyndsay Macleod, Senior Planner, Scotland

On behalf of our client, New City Vision, Iceni submitted applications this year for Planning Permission and Listed Building Consent to Glasgow City Council for an exciting residential-led development at the former Govan Graving Docks, Glasgow.

The Govan Graving Docks is Category A-listed and sits within a post-industrial context along the River Clyde. As part of a wider vision for the Docks, the proposal would see the creation of new flatted residential development with ground floor commercial uses, parking and landscaping.

Although the site is allocated for housing development within the Local Development Plan, it presented technical challenges for the project design team to address such as flooding and heritage impact. The proposed development has therefore been sensitively designed to protect and conserve the historic environment, mitigate flood risk, enhance biodiversity, and deliver high-quality housing and public realm.

 CGI: Govan Graving Docks by O’DonnellBrown

The development was also designated a ‘National Development’ under Scotland’s National Planning Framework 4. Importantly, the Clyde Mission National Development provides land use support in principle for a range of developments, including mixed use, brownfield redevelopment and active travel infrastructure within 500m of the river’s edge for projects classified as ‘Major’ under the Town and Country Planning (Hierarchy of Developments) (Scotland) Regulations 2009. The proposal with its National Development designation will bring a prominent brownfield site back into positive use while generating growth along the River Clyde.

We anticipate the residential planning applications will be determined later in 2024 with the other vision elements coming forward in 2025.

Iceni Projects provided consultancy services for Planning, EIA, Built Heritage and Townscape and Socioeconomics. Iceni also provided graphic design services throughout the public consultation period.

THE WIDER VISION

The residential-led proposals form part of a wider regenerative vision extending across almost 22 acres, with the Category A-listed Dry Docks complex taking up approximately 50% of the site.

The Dock complex has a significant history, which the wider vision will seek to celebrate whilst creating a new, vibrant mixed-use neighbourhood. It will create new homes, while preserving, repairing, and reopening the docks for historical ship repairing, and inviting in other compatible uses for new and existing communities. Importantly, part of the wider site Vision is to be transferred into community ownership, further promoting community wealth building.

The wider vision proposes the following elements:

ƒ Historic ship restoration at Dock 1 – Full Planning Permission and Listed Building Consent;

ƒ Flatted residential development along Govan Road and the Basin;

ƒ Active Travel routes throughout and beyond the site;

ƒ Improved green infrastructure throughout the site; and

ƒ Incorporation of a ‘Riverside Area’ to the north of the site.

As part of our ongoing work with a range of Registered Housing Providers, earlier this year Iceni Projects provided planning, heritage and townscape, and engagement services to Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing (MTVH) on a unique site next to Tulse Hill Station, in Lambeth.

The site is on a prominent corner position on the edge of Avenue Park Road and Thurlow Park Road, just outside Tulse Hill District centre, and Iceni worked with MTVH some years ago to get the site’s previous planning permission for a scheme of up to 4-storeys, delivering 45 homes. However, a lot has changed since that time. MTVH therefore approached us to help them further optimise the site, maximising the scale of development and the quantity of affordable housing. As one of the longest-standing vacant sites in Lambeth, we were confident the Council would be supportive of optimising the site, but this was not without its challenges.

Iceni led the planning process, taking the scheme through almost two years of pre-application meetings with the Council, with agreeing an approach to optimising density key to achieving the uplift in the number of homes needed to make the delivery of the affordable housing quantum possible. Our Heritage and Townscape team provided input throughout the pre-application process, ensuring that

AVENUE PARK ROAD, TULSE HILL: DELIVERING ON THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING AGENDA

by Ashleigh Bullough, Associate Director, Planning

Lambeth’s design officers understood the rationale behind the proposed heights and could understand the impact on key views, which was integral to getting the Council’s conservation and design officer on board with the increased height of up to 7-storeys. Meanwhile, our Engagement team gathered views and feedback from local neighbours and amenity groups, along with ward councillors.

The final scheme involved the provision of a part 5, 6 and 7-storey building stepping up along Avenue Park Road. The 7-storey element is located on the prominent frontage facing Thurlow Park Road, set back from the street to provide plenty of public realm improvements. The scheme will provide 76 socially rented homes, with a balanced housing mix and private amenity space for each home. It also has great environmental creds, with green roofs and a car-free design enhancing local ecology and biodiversity.

The application was granted planning permission with unanimous approval in May 2024, where the provision of 100% affordable housing was considered a significant benefit. We have significant experience advising a range of developers on affordable housing schemes, with our new Affordable Housing Brochure showcasing many of our recent projects.

PURPOSE BUILT STUDENT ACCOMMODATION IN BRENT CROSS WEST

by Tim Fleming, Senior Planner

Across various teams at Iceni we have been advising Astir Living Limited on a transformative redevelopment at of the existing Flip Out unit within Brent Cross West to deliver much needed purpose built student accommodation in Brent Cross West.

The site comprises underutilised brownfield land strategically located directly adjacent to the new Brent Cross West Station which opened in December 2023. Iceni have been working with the Applicant, the GLA and LB Barnet through an extensive phase of preapplication discussions including design review panel meetings to establish a high quality landmark scheme which aligns with their overall vision and masterplan for the Brent Cross West Growth Area.

The scheme would see the construction of a new landmark 26-storey tower comprising 844 purposebuilt student accommodation beds. This ambitious development includes a mix of cluster flats and studios, with 35% of the accommodation designated as affordable student housing, supporting local need.

The scheme would deliver best in class internal and external student amenity space. The design incorporates sustainable features, including Air Source

Heat Pumps, Photovoltaic panels, and green roofs, aiming for a significant biodiversity net gain. Public realm improvements and landscaping will enhance the surrounding area, providing a car-free environment with extensive cycle parking.

The application which involved a number of teams across Iceni, was submitted in July.

A RESPECTFUL NOD TO LEGACY IN EAST TILBURY

by Paul Drew, Director, Design

If you want to know what long-term professional commitment means, you need only to take a look at Iceni’s work in East Tilbury, out on a peninsular of the Thames.

It takes endurance to maintain a long-term vision, which includes thinking about East Tilbury’s environment, people, and economy - something that Iceni has sustained for the last twenty years.

Our extensive series of planning and design initiatives have had a positive effect on the community through our ability to build relationships with locals, businesses, elected representatives and the Local Authority. We have shown what it takes to engage and understand how a place can flourish over time.

The industrial estate and its historic Bata buildings are the town’s unassuming heart, which has been the catalyst for East Tilbury’s health; a barometer for the town’s optimism, decline and renaissance. From what was once a thriving shoemaker in the 1930s, through the finality of closure in the 1990s - and now, embracing

opportunities for change. Twenty years on, the estate and its Bata buildings are fully let amidst a new neighbourhood.

It has been a team effort. Iceni Design prepared the masterplan for 1,000 homes, a primary school, a local centre, and open spaces. Iceni Heritage managed approvals for the careful repair and renewal of Bata buildings, while our Planning colleagues delivered approvals for modern new homes, employment spaces and landscape. As for the town as a whole, Iceni Transport provided the case for a new railway over-bridge improving access across South Essex and supporting the town’s revitalisation.

Throughout this work, Iceni navigated the planning regulation mountain to ensure change was compliant with the range of technical requirements, including changes to the historic Bata buildings. Here, Iceni Heritage have seen through the myths of architectural nostalgia. Yes, modernist fans would like to see more historical interventions - nearly 1,000 new critell windows for example - and that’s just the start. The team

acknowledged that reaching a consensus on these elements would take time, while the vitality of the town must take the lead.

Even now, East Tilbury today is just a snapshot in time, with it on the cusp of a further wave of change including the potential Lower Thames Crossing. Iceni will continue to balance competing pressures, protecting a flourishing community with a buoyant economic at its heart, while maintaining a vision for the place which looks to the future.

THE YEAR IN PROJECTS –A VIEW FROM EDINBURGH

by Maura McCormack, Associate, Planning, Scotland

Our Edinburgh office have had a great year, with notable project wins including securing consent in May for some 1.5 million square foot of logistics space in Bathgate, West Lothian on behalf of Castlebrooke Investments, as well as providing input to the planning application for the new Mayfield Community Campus on behalf of Midlothian Council, which secured consent in June.

The team won an appeal on behalf of NHS Scotland for new residential development within the grounds of the Former Royal Liff Hospital in Dundee as well as securing further consents on behalf of Stoneacre (bespoke residential development in Corstorphine, Edinburgh), Morrison Community Care (care homes in Penicuik and Linlithgow), and TJ Morris (new Home Bargains store in Heartlands, West Lothian), and many more.

Overall, it’s been another busy year for Team Edinburgh, and we have more projects in the pipeline across multiple sectors, from hotels to PBSA, residential, third age living, education, retail, and logistics. We are excited about the year ahead!

Figure 1

Iceni were ahead of the curve when we started plotting our move to Farringdon from the West End in the mid-2010s. The wider Farringdon and Clerkenwell area is now one of London’s best places to work, with numerous cafes, restaurants, street food vendors and a plethora of pubs on offer to make the commute into the office worth it. The recent opening of the Elizabeth Line has only reinforced the area’s appeal, with Farringdon now one of the bestconnected parts of London.

The increased popularity in the area has been matched by significant investment by investors, building owners, developers and tenants, who have all sought to renew, reposition or repurpose existing commercial properties to ensure the office space on offer matches the quality of the amenities the area has. This investment has been focused on improving the ESG credentials of buildings, focusing on wellness, access to amenity space and good quality end of journey facilities. The office needs to be just as good as the area in which it is located.

ICENI’S TRACK RECORD IN OUR OWN BACKYARD

by Lewis Westhoff, Director, Planning

Iceni are proud to have played an important role in this transformation in recent years. Since 2021, we have secured planning permission for over 25 separate sites within walking distance of the office (refer to Figure 1). This work has ranged from major redevelopment/repurposing projects down to smaller asset management applications and have seen the skills of a number of Iceni’s teams utilised as part of our cross-team working approach.

Notable schemes where we have secured permission recently include 99 Charterhouse Street, 34 Farringdon Lane and Johnson Gardens.

It’s always a delight to walk past a building that you can say we have played an important role in shaping its future and we look forward to improving our track record locally in the years to come.

One of Farringdon’s largest commercial campuses, occupying an urban block fringed by Leather Lane, St Cross Street and Hatton Garden. Iceni worked closely with Arax Properties in a series of interventions across the various buildings to integrate these into the Johnson Gardens campus. This included the provision of numerous roof terraces, including Farringdon’s largest, land use swaps, advertisement consents and numerous landscaping enhancements. We also worked with Street Art for Mankind to secure planning permission for a striking mural on Leather Lane to help activate this area of the public realm.

99 Charterhouse Street

A dated commercial building that needed renewal. We worked closely with Launcelot Investments to secure permission to transform the building into a new state of the art office complex, with a new façade, extensions at roof and at rear, the provision of 4 x roof terraces and the provision of best in class end of journey facilities. This transformation was challenging with the site located in a conservation area, adjoining listed buildings and sitting opposite the listed Smithfield Market. Iceni’s Planning, Heritage, Townscape, Transport and Archaeology teams were involved. Existing and proposed images shown here.

34 Farringdon Lane

A Grade II listed building that was originally built as the HQ for John Greenwood’s clock making business in the 19th century. Fast forward to now, the space is tired, crumbling and was in need of significant renewal. Iceni’s planning and heritage teams helped secure planning permission and listed building consent for a conservation-led retrofit of the building, enhancing this neo-gothic gem of a building and ensuring the broken clock within the gable can work once again.

Johnson Gardens

WHERE SHOULD HEIGHT GO? A WEST EALING STORY

by Georgia Foy, Associate Director, Built Heritage & Townscape

As a townscape consultant, I have been noticing a growing trend – one I know I’m not alone in spotting. Plans around uplifting height and tall buildings have been becoming increasingly toxic, with many local authorities being more and more cautious in allowing taller buildings. Despite the explicit focus of the most recently published NPPF on brownfield land (which, of course, has its own issues), it became very clear that under the previous government, vague references to beauty and mansard roofs dominated the narrative, making it very difficult for sites to be ‘optimised’ and viably delivered.

It was in this context we began discussing proposals on two allocated sites in Broadway, West Ealing on behalf of Luxgrove Homes for housing and co-living, both of which would deliver an increase in height and density. Working with Savills, MAA Architects and the wider design team, we engaged in discussions with Ealing and have recently achieved consents on one of these sites (131 – 137 Broadway) for a co-living development of 4 to 9 storeys. While the site allocation identified it as an opportunity for optimisation to enhance the gateway into West Ealing, the site is currently 2 storeys and had not been identified for a tall building with emerging policy suggesting the maximum height should be 6 storeys. So how did we achieve a taller building here and what lessons did we learn in the process?

Townscape analysis and a detailed understanding of character can be a powerful tool during pre-application discussions for demonstrating why a site is a sustainable location for increasing height and density. For this project, we created a Townscape Framework of criteria on what makes a good location for taller buildings to assess the site and the scheme against. This drew heavily on London Plan Policy D9, National Design Guide and best practice urban design guidance, and was supplemented with character mapping and graphics to create a clear and compelling narrative.

Design quality is important, as is designing a strong base, middle and top. However, just because a building is taller, does not necessarily mean it needs a ‘crown’ or to be

overly complicated in its materials or façade treatment. For taller buildings which are not towers, defining the top of the building is often most effective when it is simple. And, as with all taller buildings, the treatment of the base and activation of the ground floor is vital.

Finally, high-quality verified views and visual analysis are key to understanding and articulating visual effects. We used Vu.City to support our visual analysis, including preparing a Zone of Theoretical Visibility and identifying a selection of views. And for the applications, Blackpoint worked with MAA Architects to prepare several high-quality verified rendered views and CGIs to support the scheme.

While they are certainly not unique in this and townscape was one part of a much wider design team effort, it was refreshing as part of this process to have positive and constructive discussions with Ealing on opportunities to optimise this site. I am optimistic with the consultation draft NPPF removing vague references to beauty, mansard roofs and being ‘consistent with prevailing heights’ that, under this current government, we might see a more forward-thinking approach to increasing height and density in sustainable urban locations. Particularly for alternative residential models such as co-living.

WHAT REALLY IS LANDSCAPE-LED MASTERPLANNING?

by Silke Gruner, Director, Landscape

I do not think there is consensus on what landscape-led masterplanning really entails, and it is probably easier to identify masterplans or development which were not landscape-led. Years ago when I started working as a landscape architect and masterplanner, we would receive schemes from architects, with the proposed designs neatly contained within the red line site boundary. No context around the site would be shown on any plans. All too often, the architects had assumed that the site was flat, and that whatever vegetation was on the site was irrelevant, and therefore not shown on their plans, let alone taken into consideration within their designs. In fact, it would appear as if they had designed the scheme without even going to site.

As a landscape architect, I may have been unconsciously designing landscape-led masterplans all along. I had to visit the site to ascertain which parts of it could be developed from a landscape sensitivity point of view, or else the scheme stood no chance at the inevitable appeal inquiry.

Landscape-led design includes considering the elements and features on and around your site, and retaining and enhancing those. This includes trees

and hedgerows, views, high and low points. It entails identifying and drawing these on your plan first, and then fitting the streets and buildings around them. It means creating linked green spaces which are multi-functional, as opposed to trying to ‘fit’ a use to the green space left over after you have placed your built form. It relies on working with the natural environment, and recreating natural systems, such as utilising Sustainable Drainage Systems as opposed to piping surface water run-off. Importantly, it requires you to consider how people will use the spaces around the built form to relax, move, and appreciate their surroundings.

In fact, landscape-led masterplanning really does not entail anything above the basics of good urban design: a consideration of the characteristics of the site and its context, and using the natural environment and natural features to achieve social, ecological and economic benefits.

CASE STUDY THE BIG BROTHER HOUSE

by Will Clutton, Associate, Planning

As Planners, we spend our time contributing to the development of the country’s physical landscape. Opportunities to contribute to the development of the country’s cultural landscape can be a little rarer.

Big Brother is one of the most iconic pop culture institutions of the 21st Century and the catalyst for the emergence of the reality TV landscape we all know today. Delivery of such a huge commercial TV operation requires the input of a large number of skilled professionals to ensure things work like clockwork – and planners are right in the mix to ensure the whole operation is undertaken lawfully. After all, building a house is ‘development’, whether it’s a permanent family home, or a temporary structure for a dozen ‘housemates’ to have every moment of their lives filmed for two months.

Iceni’s Planning and Transport Teams have been working with Banijay UK, the production company for Big Brother, to help secure the relevant planning permissions for the next series of this iconic show at a Site in West London owned by Garden Studios. This includes the Big Brother House, as well as the associated infrastructure such as lighting rigs, the stage, and acoustic wall as well as the data wire which sends details of evictions across to the hosts on live TV.

Whereas there are Permitted Development Rights allowing for the erection of infrastructure for filming, these requirements are subject to time limitations, as well as the size and scale of infrastructure. Accordingly, noting the height and scale of some of the infrastructure in question, Iceni have worked with Brent Council to bring forward a temporary full planning permission for the site instead. As well as the physical impacts of such infrastructure, management of highways impacts and the use of sustainable transport by contestants, celebrities and audience members alike are also key considerations for such a large-scale operation.

Iceni have worked collaboratively with the Council’s Planning and Highways Teams - who have recognised the benefits to large scale, high-profile commercial TV projects in the Borough – to successfully address these key issues and ensure planning permission is in place for the duration of the filming process for the next series of Big Brother and Celebrity Big Brother, starting in Autumn 2024.

It has been an enjoyable and enlightening experience, working with a creative, enthusiastic team, getting a unique perspective of the work that goes into delivering a high-profile commercial TV enterprise, and helping devise the best planning strategy to secure the relevant permission for our client. We now look forward to grabbing the popcorn as Big Brother Series 24 graces the nation’s screens next month.

ICENI ENGAGEMENT & PLACE: A YEAR IN REVIEW

by Ruby Maynard Smith, Senior Consultant, Engagement & Place

Team Engagement has made significant moves this year, from launching our Place service to strengthening our social value and post-consent offer.

Exhibitions, pop-ups, walk and talks, outreach programmes and workshops together with community and political monitoring have seen us support successful planning approvals in 12 local authority areas, totalling over 4,000 homes. We have worked with local artists, historians and schools and led targeted digital engagement programmes.

Our work is wide-ranging, with us currently supporting a large urban extension, key infrastructure projects, several Town Fund programmes, a resident estate ballot and a globally significant leisure destination.

To make our engagement processes as inclusive as possible, the team immersed themselves in local communities to understand specific challenges and priorities. We made a real effort to engage with those less often heard to ensure a range of perspectives and life experiences.

Particular highlights include the successful Resolution to Grant Planning Permission for 2,000 new homes at

the Bromley-by-Bow Gasworks in Newham, involving the refurbishment of seven Grade II listed gasholders; being part of the Waterloo Station Vision team shortlisted in the World Architecture Festival 2024; and launching a Young Person’s Guide for Beckton, gaining the expertise of young people and working with a local artist.

Communities are changing and we are continuously adapting the way we work to successfully connect local people to change in their area, making sure underrepresented voices are heard.

5,841

PEOPLE VOTED ONLINE IN OUR DIGITAL CONSULTATIONS A YEAR IN NUMBERS

1,737 INDIVIDUALS ENGAGED IN-PERSON

130 YOUNG PEOPLE ATTENDED OUR WORKSHOPS

67 IN-PERSON CONSULTATION EVENTS HELD

21 HERITAGE TOURS CELEBRATING LOCAL HISTORY

12

LOCAL AUTHORITIES WHERE WE SUPPORTED PLANNING CONSENTS

HERE COMES THE SUN

by Sam Griffiths, Associate Director, Landscape

Every three years or so, the world’s solar capacity doubles. Here in England, the new Labour Government approved three DCO scale solar farms within the first few days in power. And solar is still getting started. Solar power is likely to be the biggest source of power in the world by 2035. Here at home, the target is to install 70GW of solar power by 2035. That’s over 4.5 times the amount installed today.

And yet, the path isn’t easy. Never have so many competing demands been placed on the countryside. Between protection for biodiversity and valued landscapes, home grown food and new homes, space is at a premium.

To add a level of complexity, the countryside as we know it is changing. Recent years have seen an unprecedented frequency of extreme weather up and down the country. Once unpredictable, flooding is now predictable. Drought and wildfires are becoming more common, creating increasingly hostile conditions for the flora and fauna which are so fundamental to the rural character of the countryside and so often some of the most valued features by the communities who enjoy them.

So watt next (excuse the pun….) So often criticised under the banner of protecting the environment, the installation of renewable energy and energy transmission must be front and centre.

DCO scale solar farms, such as those amounting to over 3.5GW that Iceni are working on, can provide clean energy for homes and businesses, rest exhausted soils, provide income to the rural economy, provide energy security, enhance recreational access and create opportunity for widescale nature restoration. Not to mention contribute to slowing the effects of climate change that, if unchecked, will relegate our green and pleasant land to a memory of a by-gone era.

Such valuable change requires careful design and planning. Iceni are working to embed good design in these projects, protecting what’s most valued about our countryside, whilst working to ensure it is there for tomorrow’s generation to enjoy.

LIFE SCIENCES IN GREATER CAMBRIDGE AND BEYOND

by Matt Kinghan, Director, Economics

Cambridge is one of the UK’s most dynamic local economies, a national and global centre for life sciences and ICT. Iceni Projects is a retained advisor to the Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Service comprised of Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire, supporting their plan making particularly in relation to economic development.

This year Iceni has completed research on the future premises needs of the life sciences and ICT sectors in Greater Cambridge, published in 2024. This is the first study of its kind. The work involved:

ƒ interviews with over 20 life science and ICT sector leaders in Greater Cambridge

ƒ a business survey with over 50 participants

ƒ international case studies

Key messages from the work include:

Greater Cambridge remains one of the most desirable places in the UK and the world for both the ICT and life sciences sectors. Its outstanding legacy of academic and research institutions, businesses, science parks, labour and networks continue to support innovation, indigenous growth and attract inward investment.

Prioritising ‘place based’ business destinations for life science and ICT:

ƒ high quality modern work spaces;

ƒ preferably form part of a larger cluster / community to enable knowledge exchange;

ƒ are in attractive settings;

ƒ offer a range of amenities including food and beverage; and

ƒ are well served by public transport as well as car.

Recognising that even Greater Cambridge’s most successful life science locations such as Cambridge Biomedical Cluster and Cambridge Science Park will need to evolve to provide best-in-class occupier place based destinations that can offer the full range of commercial accommodation, facilities and amenities.

Seeking to provide a range of premises in terms of scale, ensuring that smaller start-up and scale-ups are provided for. Start-up / scale-up provision is considered to function best in the supported campus environment rather than in isolation; and starts ups in supported institutional environments.

The work is intended as a guide for private, public and institutional partners to help guide development and ensure optimal outcomes for sector economic growth.

Building on this work, Iceni is also the lead consultant on work for the Oxford to Cambridge Pan Regional Partnership (formerly the ARC) on a study looking at the future needs of Science and Technology premises across the whole region. This will be published later in 2024.

ALMA ESTATE PLANNING APPLICATION SUBMITTED ON BEHALF OF VISTRY GROUP

by Nick Grant, Director, Design

This is the type of project that we really do love at Iceni. It provides us with the opportunity to demonstrate that we are much more than just a planning consultancy, and that we operate at our best when we can bring the expertise of multiple Iceni teams to the party.

Iceni were instructed by Vistry to provide Planning, EIA, Heritage and Townscape, Sustainability, and Transport services, to help deliver the final phases of the wider Alma Estate masterplan, in partnership with the London Borough of Enfield.

Alma Estate is a landmark estate regeneration project next to Ponders End station, and it is one of the most strategically important housing developments in Enfield. It is a project that originally began almost 10 years ago, illustrating the challenges and complexities associated with bringing forward estate regeneration developments. The site has an extant permission which allows for the redevelopment of the entire estate to provide 1,080 homes, with over 650 of those homes having already been delivered.

Given that the design process began so long ago, our initial thoughts were that the planning and development context had shifted significantly during this time. It was therefore imperative that the final phases respond accordingly to this new world. The ambitions were to provide a significant uplift in homes to respond to the pressing housing need in Enfield. The strategy to achieve this focussed on responding positively to evolved policies on sustainability, urban greening, transport behaviours, wellness, and more.

The proposals for the final phases, designed by PTE Architects, included the provision of 725 homes, increasing the total number of homes across the entire estate to 1,402. The proposals range in height from 6 to 16-storeys, providing landmark taller buildings in key strategic locations along the railway line and on prominent corners.

Given the sustainable location adjacent to Ponders End station, the new scheme has sought to replace car parking with landscaping, and focus on creating a

 CGI: Alma Estate by Pollard Thomas Edwards

ground floor that improves access to green space, promotes wellness, and encourages biodiversity.

The Iceni team have worked collaboratively with Council throughout an extensive pre-application process, which has also included a variety of community consultation events.

And just to keep us on our toes, working closely with our friends at Town Legal, Iceni have helped Vistry navigate the very complex implications of ‘Hillside’ and ‘drop-in’ applications, devising a strategy which avoided any conflict with the masterplan permission and provided comfort to all parties.

The planning application was submitted in August 2024 and we are targeting a decision by Christmas….watch this space!

OTHER NEWS

SPRINGTIME IN GLASGOW

by Maura McCormack, Associate, Planning, Scotland

As the daffodils started blooming and the cooler winter air moved on (we wish!), spring brought with it an exciting new chapter for the Glasgow Team with our move to a stunning new office. Though we only moved a few doors up the same street, we traded our old office for a more spacious, ground-floor space, providing our growing Planning and Built Heritage and Townscape teams with a much brighter and more inspiring place to work.

We also had the privilege of hosting an enlightening breakfast discussion on the future of tall buildings in Glasgow. We were joined by esteemed speakers, Paul Sweeney MSP and Tracy Meller from RSHP, who were hosted by our own Nick Walker. The event showcased our guests’ excellent local, UK and international knowledge on building tall and the tensions this can bring about if not handled expertly. We are really excited about the possibilities ahead as we explore strategic ways to unlock these developments across Glasgow.

The annual Spring Party was a great success this year, and we were thrilled that so many colleagues, clients and friends from across the industry were able to join us in the opportunity to celebrate a great year. The dancing and karaoke went on until the wee hours of the morning!

YEARBOOK 2024 WHAT’S NEXT?

LOOKING THROUGH THE MIRROR - THE WORLD OF AI

by Matias Iversson Piazza, Associate, Design

Some may call it laziness, but I began this article by asking ChatGPT to craft a 200-word design manifesto reflecting on the new government and emerging changes to the NPPF. This tool continues to amaze me, whether I need to review text, check facts, or just find a few words to kickstart my thoughts. Naturally (and perhaps naively), I hoped for something extraordinary. Short, insightful, and inspirational was the goal.

Although I’m far from an expert, I experimented with various prompts, keywords, and references. I tried instructing it in different linguistic styles, citing specific authors, and even feeding it passages from books. By now, you’ve probably guessed the result was a disaster. Each of the 12 versions it generated was packed with an absurd density of adjectives and buzzwords, failing to form coherent paragraphs. I adjusted my prompts, asked it to avoid certain words, only to find more ludicrous nonsense.

Some might argue that the fault lies with me for not using the right language. That’s likely true—perhaps with more patience, I could have attained better results. But this experience led me to reflect on a fundamental principle of AI: it learns from what we feed it. When it produces phrases like, “imagine our cities and towns, not as static entities, but as evolving landscapes of possibility,” it’s not coming up with them from thin air. It’s simply recycling something similar from the probable billions of pages written by fellow professionals.

I now focus on a few of its sentences: “Streets become pathways of connection, where public spaces invite both relaxation and a deep sense of belonging.” I’ve likely written something similar in a Design and Access Statement. Or, “Gardens flourish, blending seamlessly into the natural world, creating sanctuaries of wellbeing at the heart of our neighbourhoods.” That could easily be something I’d say before a Design and Review Panel. Then there’s, “In this vision, our towns and cities become not just places to live, but expressions of the possible—a living museum of what can be achieved when we build with intention, respect, and hope.” I’m not sure who wrote that, but I certainly won’t take the blame for it.

This raises the question: are we providing AI with the right material to learn from? Are we educating it properly? After all, you wouldn’t be shocked if a child started swearing after watching a few episodes of a violent TV show.

To clarify, this experiment focuses solely on language. As a tool, ChatGPT is designed to replicate rather than create, making it incapable of achieving the original. It undermines the effort, trials and errors that are at the core of the creative process. And, many times, I’ve shared a smile when reading or hearing the above sentences, presented in the right context, with that unique sense of accomplishment.

That being said, ChatGPT has successfully fulfilled its supporting role in reviewing this article, for which I’m grateful.

DEVELOPING THE HISTORIC BUILT ENVIRONMENT IN SCOTLAND WITH NPF4

by Aidan Ball Albessard, Senior Consultant, Built Heritage & Townscape

We have completed our first year with the new National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4), and it has not only put greater emphasis on the need for historic environment assessment in Scotland but also connected it with wider environmental, design and commercial opportunities.

Environmental opportunities are huge and to a certain degree remain untapped. We have been undertaking a considerable amount of heritage work which benefits the environment, but there is potential for much more in Scotland. Connections between heritage and the wider environment include development and enhancement of brownfield sites, vacant land and empty buildings. This year, we have undertaken several projects involving the retrofit and conversion of empty buildings - mainly large town centre department stores. We have also advised on brownfield and vacant land sites with heritage considerations which have unlocked those sites, bringing the land into productive use.

NPF4 has enabled new design opportunities within the historic environment, seeing a particular change in enabling appropriate tall building developments in sensitive areas. This has also tied to greater potential for holistic improvement to our town centres by increasing density and introducing new uses into neglected

heritage assets. In the past year, we have been advising on developments in Gap Sites which will rejuvenate key areas of Glasgow, alongside a multitude of strategic land opportunities which will help tackle the housing crisis while enhancing forgotten areas of the historic environment.

Commercially, the historic environment is closely tied-in with our tourism industry as well as our urban centres. In the past year we have been using NPF4 for development and conservation projects that will increase footfall and promote businesses, with projects involving the conservation and development of significant docklands, bringing multiple uses back to previously derelict sites.

NPF4 has so far been excellent in highlighting the potential cumulative benefits to be derived from a wide range of our projects in Scotland. It is proving to be more targeted than previous Scottish policy and will hopefully offer a starting point for even more discussion around these intersecting topics. There is of course room for improvement; for example, the historic assets policy could directly promote retrofit to a greater extent. However, there is huge potential and I’m excited to continue to help preserve and enhance our historic environment while delivering on these exciting opportunities.

ICENI’S NEWEST SECTOR: COMMERCIAL RETROFIT AND REPURPOSING

by Lewis Westhoff, Director, Planning

London’s commercial office sector is a fascinating sector to work in. Since the pandemic, there has been a marked shift in the way we work and the way in which our offices need to work to entice us back to our city centres.

We are seeing a flight to quality in amenity rich areas of London, with the supply for high end, Grade A office space unable to match burgeoning tenant demand. This places significant emphasis on landowners and developers to invest in the right way and in the right location.

This is all happening in a backdrop of the ambition for London to become a Net Zero Carbon City by 2030.

Savvy building owners, investment funds and developers are tackling this challenge with a strong desire to retrofit and repurpose existing buildings to improve their environmental credentials and performance. Tenants also demand this type of space, many of which having their own ambitious ESG policies dictating the quality of space they can use.

Providers of development finance are also offering preferential deals for schemes that seek the highest environmental standards.

Government regulation is also driving this change, with the proposed Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard suggesting that it shall be a legal requirement for all commercial property to have an EPC rating of B by 2030 in order for new leases to be granted.

This will be no mean feat, with estimates suggesting that some areas of central London have up to 75% of existing office stock falling below an EPC B at present.

Councils also have an obligation to work with the built environment industry to achieve these outcomes. The majority of central London authorities have declared a ‘Climate Emergency’ and this is now manifesting in planning policies being updated to introduce a Retrofit First principle.

London’s historic environment also poses a challenge, with many of the areas in which investors and tenants

 CGI: Parklife by Akoya London

wish to operate being within conservation areas. How do we achieve the net zero ambitions while protecting our rich heritage?

But what happens if it is not viable or feasible to retain existing commercial uses? We are now seeing a rise in repurposing and conversion schemes, including to residential uses through Permitted Development Rights and to hotel and serviced apartment uses thanks to a slow relaxing of ‘loss of office’ planning policies.

These are all issues that the newly formed Commercial Retrofit and Repurposing Sector deal with day to day and are excited to develop further. This is a sector that we see real growth and potential in and we look forward to the year ahead.

A TALE OF TWO CITIES –COULD E-SCOOTERS BE HERE TO STAY?

by Aidan Pearce, Engineer, Transport OTHER

E-Scooters are quickly becoming a popular method of travel - despite the fact that they are currently illegal to use on the public highway. In London, many people are using them to commute to the office, nip to the shops or visit family and friends. In 2023, TfL set up a trial period of rented e-Scooters, and in September last year they announced that they would be progressing to Phase 2 of the trial, suggesting that we could be moving towards legalising private use.

However, if you’ve travelled to other European cities, you’ll have noticed that e-Scooters are everywhere and often used by sight-seeing tourists to get around quickly. Paris was the first European city to begin trialling rentals, but as soon as the trial ended, they were banned with the scooters collected up in the night.

Love them or hate them, it appears e-Scooters are set to stay in London for now, but who knows what this could mean for developments in the years to come. Will the high e-Scooter usage mean that they need to be catered for more by developments and on the public highway? I guess we’ll have to wait and find out!

WHAT’S NEXT?

COHABS

by Charlotte Tate, Senior Planner

As a young professional who rents in London, I am always delighted to learn of new and innovative rental products –anything to avoid the inevitably damp and pokey box room found on SpareRoom. Providing a new approach to shared rental accommodation, Iceni are delighted to have been supporting Cohabs with their first acquisitions in London.

Cohabs were established in Belgium and have since expanded across Europe and the United States, with over 2,200 beds around the world. They are a global co-living brand who purchase old and often derelict buildings, undertake intensive refurbishment and then retain the buildings to professionally manage. In UK planning terms, the properties are operated mostly as Sui Generis large houses in multiple occupation (‘HMO’).

Iceni have been Cohabs expert planning advisor whilst they have made their first steps into the UK market. We have been digging deep into planning history and lawful use, with the help of legal opinions and decades of evidence to establish the buildings are fit for the Cohabs model.

Perhaps the biggest surprise has been the continued resistance to HMO accommodation, despite the housing crisis being one of the greatest challenges we are facing in London today. We are hopeful that Cohabs approach to addressing shortcomings in the London real estate market by tackling affordability, loneliness and quality of housing can help to change the stigma once attached to HMO accommodation.

THIS IS NOT JUST ANY SECONDMENT. THIS IS AN M&S SECONDMENT.

by Charlotte Tate, Senior Planner

In June 2024, I was afforded the opportunity to undertake a secondment at one of Iceni’s clients, Marks and Spencer. For 5 months, I joined M&S’s Town Planning Team, sitting within the wider property team, working alongside store planners, construction managers, surveyors, property lawyers and the like.

As of Q1 2024, M&S has experienced 12 consecutive quarters of growth. The ambition of the property team is no different, and indeed was required to support the physical store presence which is essential for the continued growth strategy of the business. As a result, my secondment saw me take a whirlwind trip to M&S stores nationwide, providing planning advice as an integral cog in the well-oiled property machine.

The acquisition of new stores is at the heart of the business’ continued success. By supporting with this process, I was quickly able to learn the importance of quantifying planning risk, a thread

that ran from initial site appraisals for board meetings through to informing onerous conditions in Agreements for Lease. At later stages, I was also closely involved with developer discussions, engaging with wider consultant teams to ensure planning submissions reflected the quality of the M&S brand. More often than not, this involved a critical review of sequential tests and retail impact assessments - thereby taming the illusive beast of retail planning, which has now become part of my technical expertise.

Notably, M&S recognise the equal importance of their existing stores and have therefore committed to considerable investment in their wider renewal programme. As a recent example, M&S committed significant investment in the Bristol area. Informed by a strategic understanding of the Bristol market, the upgraded store will complement the new Bristol City Centre location at Cabot Circus to deliver a best-inclass offer for customers. To support with the renewals programme, I was responsible for the development management side of the process, submitting advertisement consent for upgraded signage to

reflect national branding, amending restrictive floorspace conditions and making applications for upgrades to more energy efficient plant. From the latter, I came to learn the importance of robust noise impact assessments for the successful operation of stores and protection of neighbouring amenity – an incredibly technical part of the planning process, the impact of which I shall never underestimate again.

Perhaps the most interesting takeaway was realising the benefit of a nationally renowned (and loved) brand in resolving blockages we are all experiencing so frequently within the planning system. By directing key messaging from the client side, Councils were able to understand the level of investment and commitment M&S would be making in the region, often helping to unlock the development proposals.

Overall, an enriching and rewarding experience, offering valuable insights and learning opportunities. After all, it wasn’t just planning, it was M&S planning.

A GROWING DESIGN AND LANDSCAPE TEAM

by Harpriya Matharu, Urban Designer, Design

Rosie Hammonds, Associate, Landscape

Celia Sagkovits, Urban Design Consultant, Design

Iceni’s Design and Landscape team has seen significant growth over the 12 months and is now made up of 13 Landscape Architects and Urban Designers. As an integrated team, collaboration is at the heart of what we do. With such a diverse collective range of skills, the team are constantly looking to learn from one another and to foster a culture of continuous development, no matter if you’re a graduate or a director. To accomplish this, the team hold regular skill share sessions, lunch and learns, and study trips to broaden our collective expertise and to learn from one another outside of the office environment.

Our influence has spread far and wide within the company - we’ve become regular fixtures in Iceni’s committees, panels, clubs, and the ever-popular ‘Thirsty Thursdays.’ We’ve even picked up a few skiing skills, snagged the ‘Plastic-Free Awards,’ and stayed involved in all the action. On top of that, we discovered hidden rowing talents, adding a sporty touch to our team’s ever-growing list of accomplishments.

Illustrations and drawings consume much of our time (thankfully), and when things get too serious, we rely on the rest of the team to step in. In exchange, we’re the go-to team for resolving tough issues, answering complex questions, and managing last-minute changes. Our hard work is most definitely depicted in the ‘Horndon St Mary’s’ project, which has pushed us to find the most effective ways to collaborate and to deliver top-quality work.

Inspired by ‘Urban Sketchers London’ and prompted by a rare sunny day, the team recently ventured to St John

Priory Church and the Barbican, using these locations as backdrops for a series of drawing exercises. Warming up with 1-minute and 5-minute drawing sessions, before ending with a flexible session. By limiting the drawing time, we were encouraged to capture only the key components of what we could see, resulting in some candid and expressive sketches.

Drawing is a fundamental skill shared across the Design and Landscape team, as it’s how we communicate ideas, visualise concepts, and solve challenging layouts. We’re looking forward to our next session where we will take a site visit around a newly built development!

HEALTH IMPACT ASSESSMENTS –FOCUSING ON HEALTH IN PLANNING

by

Katy Field, Associate Director, Impact Management

Jon Wright, Associate, Impact Management

Consideration of population health is becoming an increasingly important component of planning. Before, whilst it was generally understood that health can be impacted by the place in which we live, health in planning was often narrowly equated to adhering to health and safety regulations. Things like ensuring that buildings had adequate firefighting shafts, lifts and escape stairs or met ventilation requirements often took precedence over the availability of natural light, natural surveillance or access to greenspace. However, the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown really highlighted the importance of the living environment for our overall health and wellbeing.

To put it into perspective, it is estimated that 60% of all health outcomes are determined by our socioeconomic and physical environments - things like

access to employment, low levels of neighbourhood crime and opportunities for active travel can impact our health far more than treatments or GP visits. This is a particularly powerful statistic given the current strains on the health system.

A Health Impact Assessment (HIA) offers a practical solution to ensure that health is considered in planning, and that a focus on reducing health inequalities is maintained. As a tool, an HIA is designed to ensure that proposed developments minimise negative and maximise positive health impacts. An HIA is most effective when undertaken at an early stage of the process, to enable findings to shape the design of proposed developments.

Whilst there is no statutory requirement to undertake HIA, the NPPF requires planning policies and decisions to “enable and support healthy lifestyles, especially where this would address identified local health and wellbeing needs”. On a local level, a growing number of local authorities are including HIAs in their validation requirements. Just this year, nine Greater Manchester districts published the Places for Everyone plan to recommend HIAs for proposals that are likely to have a notable impact on health and wellbeing.

An HIA is also useful for providing a series of evidencebased practical recommendations and mitigations. Mitigations don’t have to be costly or burdensome for developers - a case in point is the humble bench. One of our previous HIAs identified that a high proportion of the local older population lived alone, so we suggested that the scheme implemented ‘happy to chat’ benches for people to meet others informally in their neighbourhood and combat loneliness. Another HIA indicated that there was a high level of crime locally, so any benches planned for the scheme should be fire retardant and avoid any slots or gaps for drugs to be stored. Finally, in an area with a higher proportion of older people, we advised that benches should be a suitable height and with arm rests to be accessible for those with reduced mobility.

LOCAL CARBON OFFSET FUNDSAN ALTERNATIVE TO THE TRADITIONAL VOLUNTARY CARBON OFFSET MARKET?

by Luke Bajic , Senior Sustainability Consultant, Iceni Futures

What is Carbon offsetting?

“financially compensating for greenhouse gas emissions arising from polluting human activity, often in schemes designed to make equivalent greenhouse gas reductions in the atmosphere.”

And what about Carbon insetting?

“using equivalent market compensation rates for greenhouse gases to bring the carbon reduction process ‘in-house’, investing in related processes that seek to make improvements within an organisation’s own value or supply chain.”

Voluntary carbon offset markets (VCOM) are not working. Estimated to be worth over £1.5bn a year globally in 2022, a newly published report from nonprofit Ecosystem Marketplace suggested VCOMs’ value had more than halved by the end of 2023 to under £600m. Last year, a joint investigation by the Guardian, Die Zeit and Source Material found that a range of forest carbon offsets approved by the world’s leading certifier were largely worthless, a key attributor to VCOM’s dramatic deflation

Whilst some companies are legally mandated to offset their carbon emissions, most are not required to do so by law and act voluntarily. Companies generally spend from £20 to upwards of £100 per tonne to offset their emissions in the form of carbon avoidance schemes, such as investment in renewable energy projects from India to Mexico, or carbon removal schemes, including reforestation or peatland restoration. For example, at Iceni, our ESG Strategy includes a commitment to carbon neutrality using VCOM, investing in carbon avoidance via a global renewable energy portfolio.

Whilst certified international offsetting will clearly be necessary and will continue to be the major market player, there could be an opportunity to drive greater benefit for our communities.

How can we use carbon offsetting to maximise positive social benefits for London?

By using the city of London as a collective ‘insetting’ scheme, a local carbon offset fund would enable businesses in that area to offset emissions within their own ‘supply chain’ – in this instance their local Borough.

London’s housing stock is responsible for a third of all carbon emissions in the city, and 80% of all homes expected to exist in 2050 have already been built, making retrofitting an essential task. Taking the London Borough of Southwark as an example, approximately 15% of households are in fuel poverty with average annual gas and electricity bills around £2,500. Conversely, London is the fifth wealthiest city in the world [1]

Could voluntary offsetting and charitable funds available within London businesses be used to promote home retrofitting interventions?

This is especially relevant given the demand by residents to enhance their home energy efficiency.

The Camden Climate Fund already uses a similar model, providing up to 50% of funding for homes, businesses and community spaces through local carbon offset payments. These payments, which are collected through the planning system when new developments fall short of the Mayor of London’s Net Zero carbon target, could also be used to support voluntary commercial offsets within a wider local fund.

In part instigated by the pandemic, there seems to be growing appreciation of the importance of ‘local’ once again. A local carbon offset fund could continue to support this sentiment, reducing emissions and truly improving living standards at a local level while benefiting all stakeholders.

At Iceni Futures, we make sustainability an integral part of our projects daily, driving carbon reduction through an integrated range of services. To see how we could support your sustainability aspirations, get in touch:

Luke Bajic Senior Sustainability Consultant, Iceni Futures

T: 07586 184 000

E: 020 3640 8508

[1] www.henleyglobal.com/publications/wealthiest-cities-2024

BECOMING THE CHIEF PLANNERS OF TOMORROW

by Archie Noden, Senior Planner

Every year, Urban Planners with under 10 years of experience in the industry attempt to sign up to the oversubscribed RTPI Chief Planners of Tomorrow initiative, which offers the experience of shadowing a council’s Chief Planner in England or Wales for the day. The initiative gives young planners the opportunity to step into the shoes of a chief planning officer, to experience the difficulties and challenges of the role and understand the complexities of decision-making at a strategic level. It builds on work undertaken by the RTPI to champion good leadership in planning and provides Chief Planners with an opportunity to pass down wisdom and inspire future planning leads in both the public and private sector.

Two members of the Iceni London Planning Team - William Clutton and myself – have been accepted onto the Chief Planners initiative and will be shadowing senior teams this autumn. Will is to shadow the Chief Planning team at the London Borough of Haringey for a day whilst, I will learn from the senior planning team at the London Borough of Barnet. Through the initiative, we will be presenting our experiences to the RTPI and future participants of the RTPI Chief Planners of Tomorrow Initiative. We are both really looking forward to the experience and hope to gain some invaluable insights through the whole initiative.

BUILDINGS AND COLLECTIVE MEMORY

by Nick Walker, Director, Built Heritage & Townscape

I am lucky to teach architecture one day a week at The Glasgow School of Art, and this year one of my students presented their final fourth year project entitled ‘Industrial Amnesia.’ He asked the question: ‘What difference would it make to the built environment if memory was to become an explicit element of architectural thinking and making?’

In Glasgow this year, that question is particularly poignant, as it is the ten-year anniversary of the first fire that partially destroyed Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s building at The Glasgow School of Art, ‘the Mack.’ Sadly, a second fire then completely destroyed the building in 2018.

So how much of a building can be lost before the memories that are contained within it, are just that? For the Mack, where only the outside walls now remain, will any future reconstruction provide us with a facsimile of something lost, a pastiche? Can we hope that any new iteration, if it faithfully rebuilds Mackintosh’s masterpiece, will bring back all

those memories, or is there a point at which the level of destruction is so total that the venue’s cultural memory is no longer connected to the new site?

In the edge of Hatton Garden and at the end of the street our London office sits within, is a 1970s building retrofitted by Amin Taha and Groupwork. The façade has been reworked to upgrade its insulation, whilst playfully incorporating heritage and architecturally inspired elements from a bygone past. The practice describes the façade as ‘misremembered, corrupted and a trick to our nostalgic expectations.’

The Financial Times, in their review of the building, noted: ‘It cannot be condemned, as most historical revivalism usually is, as pastiche, because this is not an imitation but rather an evocation.’

This is an interesting take on memory as the building’s reworking conjures up associations with a built heritage inspired by a past that never actually existed! It perhaps ties into the fragile concept of memory. Our memories are nuanced, subjective and inconsistent – so does this give

us the opportunity to be more creative and less rigorous about the memory that is being evoked?

On some occasions we work with our clients to incorporate references to a site’s history into their developments and encourage all of them to find ways of celebrating our collective memories, even if the original buildings themselves no longer exist.

Iceni’s Built Heritage and Townscape team’s work is an important part of the planning process. We research the history and cultural significance of our clients’ buildings and sites, to ensure that a comprehensive record of what has preceded new developments, redevelopment or retrofitting can be set down in writing for posterity.

Memory is an important aspect of how we understand and experience our townscape, and our collective recollections of the past are important in creating a sense of place and identity and are key to creating well-loved and well used places for the future.

THE VIEW FROM MANCHESTER: NEW JOB, NEW CITY, NEW HOME

by Tom Humphreys, Assistant Planner, Manchester

My first real exposure to planning came when I studied Geography & Planning at West Liberty University, West Virginia, USA. After graduating, I took a two-year position as a graduate planner in Taunton, before joining Iceni’s Manchester office this year and now support the team on a wide range of projects, from commercial to residential ventures.

However, relocating to Manchester came with its challenges. A particularly tough pill to swallow was being a town planner, while experiencing first-hand the difficulties of finding somewhere affordable and available to rent within the City Centre.

The Private Rental Sector in Manchester has seen some significant changes in the last year, including:

ƒ Rent increases: As of June 2024, the average private market rent in Manchester had risen to £1,241 per month - a 12.5% increase from 2023.

ƒ Higher demand: Competition for rental properties remains intense, with around 15 households vying for every available rental, double the pre-pandemic average and making it statistically easier to secure a ticket to Oasis’ reunion tour. Manchester is also projecting

population growth of 70,000 people over the next decade, further boosting demand for rental properties.

ƒ Economic factors: Inflation and wages have not kept up with rent rises. While inflation has dropped to 2.2%, average rent has increased by 12.5% over the past year. With home ownership becoming increasingly unaffordable, people are forced to live in rental properties for longer periods.

ƒ Rising house prices: Manchester’s average house price in June 2024 was around £243,000, a 3.9% increase from June 2023.

With demand far outstripping supply and its anticipated future growth, Manchester has a compelling reason to support PRS alongside affordable routes to home ownership. The proposed changes to the NPPF aim to significantly increase housing supply, with a focus on affordable and brownfield developments, and if adopted, this could help boost the availability and affordability of rental properties on the market through increased Buildto-Rent and mixed-use developments. However, it will be interesting to observe how these changes to national policy and future growth impact the City’s existing built form, and how its industrial heritage and sense of place is affected as a result. In other words, watch this space.

FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE –PLANNING IN A CLIMATE CRISIS

by Seona Macbean, Assistant Planner, Scotland

This article has been written by Seona MacBean (Assistant Planner), an MSc City Planning Student and Laurie Whamond (Student Intern), an MA (Hons) Urban Planning Student. Both Seona and Laurie are in the early stages of their professional planning careers and reflect on the recently declared climate crisis in theory and practice below.

Having recently joined Iceni Projects we have found Iceni’s commitment to supporting individuals evident through comprehensive training and research sessions, guidance from experienced professionals, and an exposure to a variety of projects and sectors. Specifically, with the introduction of NPF4, it has been interesting to see how the policies impact and influence development management decisions alongside our academic studies.

For example, ‘Tackling the climate crisis’ is a common theme that extends from research into the professional planning environment, and now more than ever with Scotland’s Fourth National Planning Framework (“NPF4”). It is vital that the global climate emergency is addressed in both urban and rural areas, with research showing that by 2050, two out of every three people are likely to be living in cities or other urban centres. This places the planning profession at the forefront of addressing these urban issues.

Having previously engaged with the climate crisis from a theoretical standpoint, it has been interesting to assess current development proposals in practice via the application of relevant planning policies. NPF4 has a distinct climate-oriented focus where Policy 1 gives significant weight to the global climate and nature crises and Policy 2 requires development proposals to minimise lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions to mitigate future climate change risks.

While there is still a role for sustainable greenfield development, there are significant opportunities to address the climate crisis through the re-use of brownfield sites and retrofit of existing buildings. Such development proposals draw support from NPF4 Policy 9 – (Brownfield, vacant and derelict land and empty buildings) and thus promote compact urban growth and recycling of existing assets which ensures emissions from development are minimised.

We look forward to working on more brownfield projects as they often present interesting challenges and opportunities for the development industry, requiring innovative and creative solutions to transform existing spaces into sustainable places for the future.

Iceni’s training, research and guidance for young planners makes it an ideal workplace for students to transition from academic studies to practical planning work.

THE CITY OF LONDON CHAMBER

by Kieron Hodgson, Director, Planning

Iceni is proud to be a member of the City of London Chamber of Commerce.

You have probably heard about the Chambers of Commerce; there are many examples throughout the UK. However, there was never, until recently, a dedicated Chamber of Commerce for the City of London. Why? Well - it was always assumed that the City would do well. It was not a place which required ‘levelling up’ – it could be left to get on with it, make its money, pay its taxes and we could all be confident of its success.

Things have changed a bit over the last few years. We had Brexit, a global pandemic and a war in Europe –we lost our place to New York as the world’s premier financial centre – so it was felt, hey, perhaps we shouldn’t take this square mile of land that generates nearly £100 billion a year in economic output so much for granted.

Cue – the dedicated City of London Chamber - a business group within London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) specifically designed to support and champion businesses within the Square Mile, representing their interests in the forums of policy debate and helping to address local business issues. I am delighted to have a seat on the Committee on Iceni’s behalf, alongside the Chamber’s Chairman Alderman Prem Goyal and many talented members.

As someone who has worked on planning and development projects within the City for more than 20 years, it was privilege to be asked to participate and we have been influential in informing the Chamber’s key priorities, which include Net Zero, Fintech, police and cybersecurity, transport, international trade and of course planning.

What I like the most is that the activities of the Chamber are so well supported by the City’s community and institutions, which amplifies our output, providing opportunities for synergy and collaboration. Our work has real impact for businesses across the City.

The City of London has taken back its crown as the top global financial centre and remains home to major banks and other financial and professional institutions. It is the heart of the insurance industry and legal profession, and the leader in sustainable finance with UK companies committed to ESG and investors increasingly allocating to sustainable finance strategies.

Small and medium-sized businesses are significant contributors within the City, making up over 98% of all businesses in the Square Mile and the City of London is home to one of the youngest, most highly skilled and international workforces in the country. The vitality of these and all businesses operating in the Square Mile should not be taken for granted, and they must have access to targeted support to continue to grow and prosper.

I am proud of the City’s history and heritage and am excited about the role we all have to play in its future.

GETTING RESULTS THROUGH GENUINE CONSULTATION

by Gemma Gallant, Director, Engagement & Place

Traditional consultations are held in village halls and community centres with attendees made up primarily of the usual suspects – middle aged or older, white and majority male. Only those with especially strong feelings on a plan are likely to take part – and stronger feelings usually equate to objections, missing out huge swathes of our communities in the process.

Inclusive consultation takes more time and effort. Challenges in engaging vary from time-poor parents juggling work and childcare to multicultural communities where English is not their first language, younger people who don’t think the consultation affects them, and those who aren’t used to using computers or are uncomfortable about attending formal meetings. Like the rest of us, if individuals in these groups are not directly impacted by the housing crisis themselves, they will know someone who is.

With the new Labour Government pledging to modernise the planning system, it’s time to get onboard with proper consultation too.

INSPIRING ENGAGEMENT

Most of the people we meet at informal consultation events have never taken part in a planning consultation before, didn’t know a consultation was underway, and don’t know what a Local Plan is. It is our job to inspire them

and show there is something in it for them.

Engaging with communities where they already are, on their terms is something I am passionate about. This means hosting informal engagement events on the high street, at fairs and fetes, with schools and youth groups, at sports events and with faith groups. It means understanding the people who make up our communities and tailoring our approach to them.

To reach bigger numbers, in-person activity has to be paired with digital engagement, again taken to where people already are – this time, social media. We have used Give My View to great benefit in producing gamified digital surveys which are then marketed through Facebook and Instagram to reach specific areas and demographics. This enables us to engage thousands of people who have never engaged before, in both rural and urban settings.

With homeowners and older people currently speaking on behalf of private renters, social housing tenants, and those on waiting lists desperate for a home, it is time to reset the balance.

The Sustainable Development Scorecard

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) has running throughout it the ‘golden thread of sustainable development’. In spite of this, there is no clear-cut, NPPF-based assessment criteria to consider a site or project’s sustainable development credentials, making current assessment processes both tricky and subjective.

The Sustainable Development Commission was established to address this recognised issue with our planning system. Made up of a balanced cross-section of industry professionals, the Commission has debated the issues and found solutions, culminating in the creation of the Sustainable Development Scorecard.

The Scorecard website is free to use and accessible to anyone with a vested interest in development, including developers, architects, planners, community groups and members of the public. By crystallising the NPPF’s guidance into a simple, online analysis tool, the Commission aims to provide a more consistent approach to sustainable development, leading to a more sustainable built environment.

Birmingham: The Colmore Building, 20 Colmore Circus Queensway, Birmingham B4 6AT

Edinburgh: 14 -18 Hill Street, Edinburgh EH2 3JZ

Glasgow: 201 West George Street, Glasgow G2 2LW

London: Da Vinci House, 44 Saffron Hill, London EC1N 8FH

Manchester: WeWork, Dalton Place, 29 John Dalton Street, Manchester M2 6FW www.iceniprojects.com iceni-projects iceniprojects iceniprojects