Alderley Park win planning award
ALDERLEY PARK WIN LEADING REGIONAL PLANNING AWARD
Alderley Park and its partners at Cheshire East Council and HOW Planning received a prestigious regional honour at the RTPI North West Awards for Planning Excellence.
More than 400 people attended the awards at the Hilton Hotel in Manchester on Friday 7 October, where the leading life science park triumphed in the Regeneration category for its successful planning submission for a multi-million pound expansion at the 400-acre Cheshire site.
Approval was granted in February for the new development, which will provide an additional 38,000 sq m of space for life sciences companies along with new and reconfigured commercial space. The development will also deliver up to 275 new homes, village shop, gastro pub and sports facilities.
Judges from RTPI (The Royal Town Planning Institute) said:
“This is a very interesting project which piqued the judge’s attention given the economic and political context, including the Northern Powerhouse. This is an example of good solid planning by the project team, who sought to work alongside the planning system and the local authority planners to bring forward a successful framework for future development. “The judges were impressed with how the framework sought to offer a viable and realistic future for this big (and important) site and how it could contribute to the wider economic growth of the city region.”
Dr Chris Doherty, Managing Director of Alderley Park, received the award along with Jo Wise and Adrian Crowther from the Planning Team at Cheshire East Council and Gary Halman, Managing Partner at HOW Planning, the planning consultancy which submitted the application.
Dr Doherty said: “We are delighted to receive this acknowledgement from the Institute. Before submitting the planning application we undertook extensive consultation and were pleased to be able to outline our vision and ambition for Alderley Park, which we believe is a hugely important asset for the North.
“Our partners at HOW did a first class job and the Alderley Park team are now firmly focused on delivering the development and ensuring the massive potential of this site is fulfilled.”