Case Studies

Our workload varies from huge development projects, to smaller tasks for private clients.

Planning Permission Refused: Small Development

We won planning permission on a small village site through the Local Plan Review for 3 houses, but the Planners insisted 2 units should be semi-detached. This destroyed the land value.

By lobbying the Councillors, we won permission for 2 very large houses on the site which maximised site value. The original 3 unit consent remains extant, so scope remains to build a third unit!

Planning Permission Refused: Twin Tracking

We recently won a battle with the Cambridge City Planners who resisted high-density development on a brown field site. We advised clients to lodge an appeal against the refusal and by “twin-tracking”, won planning permission under threat of appeal. Time and again, detailed knowledge of the theory and practice of the planning regulations wins value for our clients.

Environmental Lobbying:

Keymer Cavendish acted for a local Environmental Action Group fighting the proposed 7 million sg ft of warehousing at Alconbury airfield. The generation of HGV traffic was their main concern. The case was taken to the House of Lords regarding the Secretary of State’s power to call in planning applications relating to Government land. This was a landmark case in national Policy and one with which Keymer Cavendish was privileged to have been associated.

Strategic Housing Development

In 1987, we advised landowners in the sale of 200 acres of potential development land. By 1993 the Developers had won Planning Permission and in 1998, a substantial uplift was paid to the original owners of this 1800 unit site. Phase 2 has followed on with Keymer Cavendish winning Planning permission in 2002 for “not less than 500 houses”. The site has now been sold to a consortium of 3 national house builders for a record price.