Darwen Aldridge Community Academy

Lancashire

Turley Associates was appointed to the project team as a planning and urban design advisor in the development of proposals for a 1600 place city academy and to prepare and submit a full planning application.

Location: Darwen, Lancashire
Status: New City Academy opened in September 2010
Size: 4 hectares
Scale: City / town district

This role was subsequently extended to include the provision of advice and support in respect of the assembly of the 4 hectare site for the academy, which is on a steeply sloping site at the edge of Darwen town centre in Lancashire.

At the time of our instruction a large part of the site, comprising an area of unfit housing, had been designated a Housing Clearance Area. Blackburn, with Darwen Council, was in the process of acquiring individual property interests by agreement and a Housing Act CPO was then promoted to complete the assembly of all of the former housing land. However, the Order was challenged by a number of local residents at the Public Inquiry and was not confirmed by the Secretary of State.

Turley Associates subsequently scoped out a new Planning Act CPO to complete the acquisition of the remaining residential properties and a substantial area of non residential land, which was also needed for the academy site. Working with the local authority and its legal team we prepared the Statement of Reasons, setting out what needed to be a very coherent and robust justification for the use of CPO powers.

In parallel with our inputs on the CPO, Turley Associates also prepared and submitted an application, under S247 of the Town & County Planning Act 1991, for the stopping up of all the public highways within the development site to facilitate the construction of the academy and provide the secure site that would be required to ensure the necessary child protection provisions. We also led discussions with Government Office in the preparation and publication of the draft Order and with the Highway Authority and utility companies to avoid any objections from these quarters.

Turley Associates reviewed the objections to both orders and, working with council officers produced detailed briefing material for Leading Counsel (David Elvin QC) to represent the council and our joint clients at the Public Inquiry.

Turley Associates presented expert planning evidence at the joint Public Inquiry at which the Orders were strongly contested by a small number of local residents. Both the CPO and Stopping Up Orders were confirmed in full and we were then retained to advise in respect of a subsequent, but unsuccessful, application for Judicial Review of those decisions.

Outcomes

• Compulsory Purchase Order under S226 of the Planning Act confirmed in full;
• S247 Stopping Up Order for all public highway within the development site made without amendment;
• Land Assembly successfully completed to allow development to proceed;
• New City Academy opened and accepted its first students in September 2010.