DLP secured full planning permission on behalf of Willmott Dixon Construction (acting for the Department for Education) for a new 1,200 place Academy within the Chapeltown area of Leeds.
The Academy was required to address an acute need for school places within the locality and it was necessary to deliver the project expediently to enable the facility to open in accordance with the academic calendar. DLP undertook detailed pre-application discussions with Leeds City Council, and prepared the planning application for submission within 3 months of instruction, submitting the application in accordance with the client’s overall programme of works for the project.
The site presented several planning challenges, not least because of the split nature of the site, being bisected by a busy arterial road from the centre of Leeds. DLP coordinated a multi-disciplinary consultant team to resolve the issues, including the replacement provision of designated open space, the inclusion of a secure bridge solution over the highway and traffic calming measures in the adjacent residential streets. DLP also responded to significant resident and Ward Councillor design concerns regarding the combined nature of the primary and secondary education provision, within a single 3 storey building, and concerns from future occupiers of a neighbouring co-housing project, which was permitted but not constructed.
The scheme was twice presented to Members of the Planning Committee and responses were provided by DLP as part of the questioning by Members. Planning permission was successfully secured.
