Oxford: Milton Park’s LDO takes Terence O'Rourke and MEPC to winning spot

Terence O'Rourke, a national planning, design and environmental consultancy with offices in Bournemouth and London, has been awarded its fourth accolade in just two months at the Planning Awards (November 17).

 

The planning consultancy was named the winner of the 'Planning for Economic Growth' category for the Milton Park Local Development Order (LDO). Designed to last for 15 years, the LDO removes the need for planning permission for identified use classes, including office, research, industrial, storage and distribution uses, across the entire 100-hectare site managed by MEPC. It also allows for small-scale retail and leisure uses, to help support, diversify and sustain the established business community.

The simplified planning process has been influential in generating significant investment from business. The collaboration between the Vale of White Horse District Council and MEPC has seen more than 30,000m2 of development under the LDO over the past 18 months, including approvals for major office and industrial schemes, a hotel, and retail facilities.

The judges agreed that the evidence showed that the LDO had improved and was likely to continue to improve the economic and social well-being of the community, and had the potential for long-lasting impact.

Existing and new businesses benefit from the simplified planning controls and timescales and local stakeholders benefit from the confidence that the park is being managed as a cohesive whole, rather than facing ad-hoc planning applications.

The Planning Awards continue Terence O'Rourke's long line of awards this year, most recently having also been presented with a Scottish Government Award for Quality in Planning (November 10) and two RTPI South East Awards for Planning Excellence in October.

Tim Hancock, managing director of Terence O'Rourke, said: "The Milton Park LDO has given real confidence on the deliverability of new development and has helped to enable the Oxford region to provide a genuinely competitive international offer. This is a brilliant achievement and credit to our talented, award-winning team.

"To have our work recognised as among the best in the country at these successive awards is an honour."

Philip Campbell, commercial director at MEPC, said: “Simplifying planning is complicated and it’s great that the Milton Park LDO has been recognised once again. It’s been a real benefit to our customers and continues to underpin our ongoing development and investment at Milton Park. The Vale council and the team at Terence O’Rourke should be very proud of what they have achieved. ”