Client: Daventry District Council
Location: Daventry, Northamptonshire

Brief
Late in 2008, Daventry District Council (DDC) needed to instruct a landscape witness to give evidence at a conjoined inquiry for three urban extensions, due to commence in January 2009. DDC were one of two planning authorities involved, the other being the West Northamptonshire Development Corporation. DDC were particularly concerned about the landscape and cultural heritage impacts of one of the three schemes.

Approach
Due to the short timescale, it was necessary for Michelle Bolger of Liz Lake Associates to very quickly become familiar with the extensive documentation relating to the applications and the negotiations that had taken place between the three developers and the local planning authorities over a two-year period. At the same time, she needed to become familiar with the landscape surrounding Daventry and in particular with the sites proposed for the urban extensions. Michelle's work was praised for her ability to identify all the key issues and to produce a clearly argued and well-supported proof of evidence within the tight timescale.

Outcome
Michelle's evidence on the landscape and visual impacts of the proposal, which DCC were minded to refuse, was accepted by the Inspector and subsequently the Secretary of State. The recommendation of the Inspector, also accepted by the Secretary of State, was that, given the identified adverse landscape and cultural impacts, it would be inappropriate to approve development on the site until all possible alternatives had been explored and tested through the Local Development Framework process.

The Inspector's report and the Secretary of State's letter can be downloaded here

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