UoS | Department of Engineering | Proposed

[larven]

It's not setting a new precedent at all. Listed buildings can be demolished if it is judged that there is sufficient merit in doing so.

Sheffield assess the proposed demolition and redevelopment of a listed building against the following criteria:

A proposal to demolish a Listed Building must demonstrate at minimum:

• That extensive efforts have been made to find new uses, or re-introduce original uses into the building, and that this has been unsuccessful.

• That no charitable or community ownership of the building is achievable or suitable, which could secure the future of the building.

• That redevelopment of the building plot would have benefits to the community which would substantially outweigh the loss to the community due to the demolition of the building.

• That enabling development which was sympathetic to the character, setting and potential uses of the building, which could facilitate its retention was not practical or achievable.

• That any replacement development should be of the highest quality, and be of a design sympathetic to the site and setting of the retained buildings.

[Cogitator]

That's the point, the Council's planners do not appear in their professional judgement to have been convinced, nor we're the statutory bodies.

[TakeMeHigher]

Do keep up Cogitator, or stop repeating the party line please. The planners position on the scheme in principle was clear from the outset, and the statutory bodies weren't consulted. All of this is well documented in public.

Originally Posted by lewisskinner

Sorry, I wasn't clear. I meant that the idea that council's can now ride roughshod over preservation order or listed status. Park Hill Flats cannot be demolished as they are listed, but the Jessop Hospital is fair game?

What if the builders/architects down at Green Lane Works decided it's just too much trouble to maintain the old entrance, and that they can squeeze an extra 4 apartments out of it by demolition? The bus station needs expanding to create an integrated hub with the train station - fuck the Queen's Head. There's some nice open land on Manor Lane ripe for lovely new family homes (the budget said we need more houses building, remember?) Who cares if that little turret gets torn down to make way?

In my opinion, this sets a dangerous precedent.

I agree with you that there is a precedent, but it's not the one that you're identifying. As Larven points out earlier, there is no reason to preserve or conserve for the sake of it. I would go so far as to say that applies whether or not a building is listed.

What we've seen is that the planning authority have shown themselves to be weak in both their understanding of their own policy and the implementation procedures of the process.

All that developers and designers require is clarity and consistency within a realistic and well informed policy framework.

The council have sent out a clear signal that they can be strongarmed into a decision that they think is wrong. It appears that the party politics has won out over planning legislation and the communities opinion, yet again.

Check who the MP for Sheffield Central is, and check what he used to do for a living, then look at the voting split at committee alongside the officers extended negotiation with the applicant.

[Cogitator]

Do keep up Takemehigher, they were consulted.....

Eventually.

[Bladerunner]

"Consultation" often involves asking for people's views, then ignoring them.

[TakeMeHigher]

I'd qualify that a little. Consultation usually involves asking questions on a foregone conclusion and then reporting that the consultation was a success with some tinkering around the edges to incorporate a few comments that validate the foregone conclusion. This is common in all authorities so it would be unfair to single out Sheffield.

Originally Posted by Cogitator

Do keep up Takemehigher, they were consulted.....

Eventually.

That's not true. Some were consulted, eventually. All responses from expert consultees objected to the demolition.

[AdamBlade]

Originally Posted by TakeMeHigher

I'd qualify that a little. Consultation usually involves asking questions on a foregone conclusion and then reporting that the consultation was a success with some tinkering around the edges to incorporate a few comments that validate the foregone conclusion. This is common in all authorities so it would be unfair to single out Sheffield.



That's not true. Some were consulted, eventually. All responses from expert consultees objected to the demolition.

We can talk about consultation all day, in the end no matter what the consultation response, a planners job is to weigh up all responses and assess the proposal against the Local Plan, NPPF and any other material considerations. I think we can see that the material considerations of improving one of Sheffield's best assets - the engineering dept at UoS, and the jobs that this will bring, were considered to outweigh other considerations. I believe that this is also in line with the many aspects of the NPPF.

It can be seen that the University have put pressure on the Council, but this is no different than every other applicant which goes in for planning permission on every day of the year.

[BlueBelge]

Stone cladding has started to go on the lower levels of the new Engineering Grad School. They were also taking delivery of huge precast stone/concrete blocks with brick fascia embedded.

[Steel City Suburb]

Legal challenge.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england...shire-22338915

Expect it to fail, if the SOS didn't call it in then its a waste of time.

[Cogitator]

Not necessarily, we have seen nothing of the merits of the action. The SoS is not an infallible oracle, but it is interesting they are not challenging the SoS decision not to call it in. This leaves the Council in the driving seat for litigation, not the SoS.

[Steel City Suburb]

Courts will not rule on the interpretation of policy, only the legality. The decision is legal, it's just one heritage groups find hard to swallow.

[Cogitator]

The Courts will rule on whether policy was reasonably applied or not, whether the planning application and listed building consent are good or bad is beyond their remit. The action could succeed, the process run again but exactly the same result achieved. Equally it could find the process was reasonable, even if the end result is bad on its merits and uphold the original decision.

The action isn't about the loss of a listed building, it's about the process leading to a decision about a listed building. The process has been mismanaged once and partly reundertaken as regards consultation with the heritage bodies. If that is the only problem that may have been rectified if the second minute is considered to be capable of validating the earlier decision.

[hjl_shef]

Not the new engineering building, but the new graduate wing - they've started putting the thin brick veneer panels up in places:



It'll be a reasonable match to the existing blocks by the looks of things.

[AdamBlade]

Update from Friday evening

[See Word Na]

I really like that they've done that. It's quite nice.

And better than it being a massive blank wall of brick!

[slother]

Smart. I like it.

[hella good]

yeah thats going to look good

[Vnofd5]

Apologies if this has already been posted...

Balfour picked for Sheffield University's engineering faculty
Balfour Beatty has won a £50m contract to build a new engineering faculty for the University of Sheffield.

The new six-storey New Engineering Building, designed by architect RMJM, is on the university’s Jessop East site. It will house lecture theatres, laboratories and other learning facilities.

Completion is expected in 2016.

As well as RMJM, the project team includes cost consultant Turner & Townsend, consulting engineer Arup and planning consultant Montagu Evans.

Balfour Beatty’s contract is part of an £81m investment plan by the university, which recently overtook Cambridge for engineering research income earned.

The new development is expected to create around 500 jobs during the construction phase alone and is predicted to bring £44.5m into the local economy during the construction phase and first year of operation.

Balfour Beatty is already working for the university on a £16m redevelopment of its Students Union building.

[hjl_shef]

A quick update on the Engineering Graduate School. Windows and panels going in, and they're also knocking through into the existing buildings at present.

[hella good]

good stuff! i think itll look great when done. Its actually very nice to have an addition to a building that respects its original design