Right Review

UK engineer teams up with French consultant Assystem

UK engineering giant Atkins has signed a deal with French nuclear expert Assytem to set up a joint venture to take advantage of the growing international nuclear new build market.

Called the Nuclear Atkins Assystem Alliance the alliance will be formed as a 50/50 joint venture to provide consultancy and engineering services to the 60 countries either using or considering developing a nuclear power capability.

Of the 27,000 employees at Atkins and Assystems, 3,000 have professional nuclear skills. Assystems already works with Areva and EDF in France, the two firms which are combining to build the first new nuclear reactor in the UK for thirty years at Hinkley Point in Somerset.

Article source: http://www.building.co.uk/sectors/infrastructure/atkins-creates-anglo-french-nuclear-venture/5010382.article

Bovis Lend Lease due to begin work on two school overhauls next year

Bovis Lend Lease has been given the green light to begin the £70m redevelopment of two secondary schools in Wandsworth, south-west London.

Detailed applications for Southfields Community College and Burntwood School in Tooting were approved last week by the council’s planning committee.

The schemes were among the last to receive funding under Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme before it was scrapped in the summer.

They aim to improve the outdated facilities and will increase capacity at both sites to help meet rising demand for school places.

Work is expected to start in spring next year with both projects scheduled for completion by the end of 2013.

Planning application committee chairman Councillor Nick Cuff said: “These outdated schools will be totally transformed and decked out with first class teaching facilities. The added capacity will help meet growing demand for secondary school places in our borough and ensure local students benefit from the very best learning environment.”

Article source: http://www.building.co.uk/sectors/education/wandsworth-council-approves-£70m-bsf-developments/5010364.article

Groundworks contractor blames over-ambition and recession for going into administration

Groundworks specialist CJ Haughey Construction has gone into administration, with the loss of 35 jobs.

The company, which had £25m annual turnover for the year to 28 February 2009, said a combination of over-ambition and the recession led to its demise.

It admitted that the £21m civil engineering package on the construction of a gas fired power station in Pembrokeshire, South-west Wales had proved a “bridge too far”.

Founded in 1999, the company is headed up by 33-year old Chris Haughey.

“We were ambitious to grow the company and we proved that we could achieve this,” he said. “Our targets were in hindsight probably too ambitious and a project of the magnitude of Pembrokshire combined with the economic downturn proved too much and has unfortunately spelt the end of the company.

“I am personally devastated and it is with regret that the company has been placed in administration with the loss of so many jobs.”

Martin Coyne, from the Coventry office of accountancy firm Poppleton and Appleby, has been appointed administrator and is now handling the company’s affairs.

“The company has, like many others, become a victim of the current economic climate and the downturn in construction,” he said. “We are currently reviewing the business, its contracts and work in progress.”

In its own statement, CJ Haughey said the administration had led to 250 “job losses”, although Poppleton Appelby confirmed it only employs 35 people directly.

Article source: http://www.building.co.uk/news/contractors/cj-haughey-collapses-with-loss-of-35-jobs/5010365.article

Concerns raised over neighbourhood plans and lack of support for housebuilders

Communities secretary Eric Pickles unveiled one of the government’s flagship programmes today, billed as a major transfer of power from Whitehall to communities.

The Localism Bill has been broadly welcomed by the industry, but concerns have been raised with aspects of the radical package.

Will neighbourhood plans work?

Liz Peace, chief executive of the BPF, said: “It is essential that neighbourhood plans do not simply add another level of bureaucracy. The neighbourhood plan pilot schemes planned by government whilst the bill is going through will be crucial in finding solutions to these issues.”

Bob Robinson, a partner at independent planning consultancy DPP said: “The government’s Localism Bill is great in principle, but is based on the assumption of commonality in purpose in communities which I am not sure exists.

“There is a danger that those more articulate and better educated interests within communities – for example, incomers to rural communities who perhaps want the village to stay the same as it is – will carry more weight in planning decisions. The losers are likely to be those less well educated and articulate communities that currently struggle to have their voice heard.

“There is a danger that the Localism Bill’s ‘Big Society’ agenda will continue to favour those with a big voice.”

Kate Henderson, chief executive of the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA), said: “In order for a neighbourhood plan to be a meaningful choice, communities are going to need intellectual as well as financial support.”

Is there enough support for housebuilders?

Chris Cobbold, head of residential practice at global real estates services firm DTZ, welcomed the government’s flexible tenures proposal. He said: “With the freedom to let property on flexible tenancies, local authorities will be able to draw in additional private investment funds to get new homes built in areas the market would not currently touch. 

“A secure and predictable income in the short run, combined with a clear mechanism for capital repayment with the prospect of capital growth, will appeal to many investors. The flexible tenancy proposals in the Localism Bill are key to such innovation.”

Imtiaz Farookhi, chief executive of NHBC said: “One of the tests of this Bill’s success is whether it leads to more homes being built in areas where they are most needed.”

Empowering local authorities

Simon Randall, a consultant at law firm Winckworth Sherwood and former elected member of Bromley Council, said: “Powers of general competence may not sound particularly exciting, but it will allow local authorities to do what they want, when they want as long as they can afford it.

“The Bill will allow local authorities, town and parish councils to carry out any lawful activity, undertake any lawful works, operate any lawful business and enter into any lawful transaction.

 “The provision is intentionally vast and the government hopes it will usher in a new attitude amongst councillors and voters. If you want something to change in your town or village this provision allows that to happen without having to involve central government.”

Pre-application consultation could cost the industry

Peter Weatherhead, director of development consulting at global real estate services firm DTZ, said: “The legal requirement to consult at length with local communities is bound to front-load the planning process and elongate the timeframes for delivery of much-needed development.

Article source: http://www.building.co.uk/sectors/housing/industry-reacts-to-radical-localism-bill/5010375.article

Communities secretary Eric Pickles lays out huge Localism Bill

Proposals to overhaul radically the social housing and planning systems and return power to local authorities were today finally unveiled, following weeks of delay.

Communities secretary Eric Pickles published the Localism and Decentralisation Bill this morning, saying it will herald a “ground-breaking shift” in returning power to councils, starting a “new era of people power.”

The bill will abolish the regional planning system created by New Labour in 2004, removing centrally monitored targets for house building, and allow local communities to give approval upon new developments in their areas. It will also merge the recently-formed Infrastructure Planning Commission for major projects into the Planning Inspectorate.

The bill will also shake-up the social housing system, by allowing councils to decide who to allocate homes to, and giving them control over how to reinvest rents into maintenance. Home Information Packs, already suspended, will be formally scrapped.

Twelve cities will be given powers to create elected mayors, and further powers over social housing and planning will be devolved to London mayor Boris Johnson. The bill will also give Johnson the power to set up Development Corporations within the capital.

Pickles said the bill was “the centrepiece” of government efforts to rebalance power away from Whitehall. He said: “For too long, everything has been controlled from the centre – and look where it’s got us. Central government has kept local government on a tight leash, strangling the life out of councils in the belief that bureaucrats know best. 

Housing Minister Grant Shapps said: “With housebuilding at its lowest peacetime level since 1924, the time is right for radical shake up of the entire system. The Bill will end top-down targets – in their place communities with the vision and drive to build more homes will be given the freedom to achieve their ambitions, and this will be backed up with powerful cash incentives for councils that allow new development in their area.”

The publication of the bill, originally slated for November, was twice-delayed, with today’s publication only confirmed last Thursday when Shapps and Pickles used twitter to announce the date. Initial industry reaction said the success of the bill depended on whether it was actually able to allow housebuilding to recover from its current historic low levels.

Article source: http://www.building.co.uk/sectors/housing/housing-news/pickles-overhauls-planning-system/5010369.article