Each week, you see examples of public consultations, planning applications and planning permissions as campuses develop and adapt to the rigours of TEF and REF and the implications they have for the future of education provision and the buildings in which students learn. This ever-changing environment is placing some new (and not so new) demands on universities as they deal with their estates. Here are some tips from us:
Whilst successive governments have for years espoused the mantra to “simplify and speed up” the planning process, the reality is rather different at the sharp end when you have to try and get to grips with a new planning regime. Wherever your local authority is in its Local Planning cycle, the key to successful long-term planning - both Local Plan and your own masterplan level - is engagement. Engagement with the Local Plan means you are far more likely to have a significant say in how your campus might be used or developed out in the future and to direct the land use that the university might want. This can be a once-in-a-generation/decade opportunity, so don’t lose it.
This exercise should involve all key stakeholders within the university, so that methods of teaching and engagement with external partners can all be tested and interrogated. It is also a chance for a longer-term relationship with your local planning authority and to get a feel for likely section 106 and potential Community Infrastructure Levy (if there’s a commercial use) charges which might be applied in any given circumstance.
Public consultation can bring its own challenges where you have a particular scheme in mind. However it's good practice, especially as it can give you a chance to address head-on any likely local opposition to your planned development. This can improve your ability to fashion and hone any planning application when you do eventually submit it. External advisers have an important role to play, including on the PR side. We have seen a number of land owners engage PR consultants to very good effect so that the university gets what it wants.
This is basic but fundamental, and it’s easy to slip up. Check the legal boundaries – do you own absolutely everything? Are you sure? An application has to be implementable and it’s harder to demonstrate that if you don’t own all the land on which the development is intended to take place! The other thing to check is that the plan appended as part of your application is exactly at one with your registered legal title. If it isn’t, then you’ve got some work to do.
The last thing you want is for a scheme design to suddenly impinge on third-party access rights. Typically these can include a service media easement in favour of a utilities company (which can be fearsomely expensive to move, assuming there are lift and shift provisions) or a right of way (whether adopted or not), which can add delay and cost into any development project. An early site meeting of your advising team can repay dividends in terms of forward planning and having a strategy to deal with site assembly issues. We have seen instances where the building is within a red line but a canopy overhanging the main entrance fell outside the legal boundary. These issues can usually be fixed but invariably cause delay and cost money.
It's all too easy to think that there won’t be issues once a development has begun and the contractors are working to the design scheme and the building is underway. Sadly the experience of Carillion and the consequential fall-out that is already being felt shows the importance of having well-drawn up contracts and appropriate insurance in place should the worst happen. A good understanding of who is doing what is vital, not only for the preparation of appointments but also where risks are to be placed and, consequently, insured against.
D&C professional indemnity insurance should be purchased for the contractor. If they outsource all the design work to third parties the insurers will charge less as the exposure becomes contingent. The contractor should also ensure that firms they outsource to also carry adequate insurance.
You should also ensure contractors purchase adequate contract all risk insurance to cover their contract works, their tools, public and employers liability and any hired-in plant. It would be important for any contractor to consider its total exposure throughout the length of a contract and adequately protect its assets and works. And the university would also want to see that a contractor carries employers' liability cover – a compulsory insurance and therefore a legal requirement even if it is only employing casual labourers.
These are some of the building blocks to consider and address in good time before you embark on a major project. With good practical common sense you can head-off issues before they become problems. Good advisers will point out the issues and give you workable solutions.