CSR were engaged by Jack and Jill to represent the concerns of the charity and their service users in respect of the new Children’s Hospital proposed at St James’s Hospital. CSR were responsible for assembling a team of experts to prepare evidence, preparing evidence on the planning and visual amenity aspects of the scheme and presenting the evidence to the oral hearing.

The 2ha site is comprised of a former nursery premises and two neighbouring residential properties. It is located between the residential part of Mervue and the Mervue commercial and industrial area. The development proposals had to respond to this diverse urban context, including sensitive residential neighbours, and a complex planning policy context requiring a mix of residential and commercial use on the site.

CSR’s planners and landscape team collaborated with Gilroy McMahon Architects and Tobin Consulting Engineers on the project. The uses were arranged and the housing estate laid out to make the most efficient use of the valuable urban site while protecting the amenities of neighbouring properties, creating an estate of particularly high amenity value and enhancing the environmental quality of the wider neighbourhood.

For CSR’s planning team, challenges to overcome included residential development policy requiring relatively high density housing but market demand for family homes. Part V negotiations with the Council were instrumental in arriving at the solution. Uses were selected for the commercial building with a view to (a) minimising the area of the site given over to parking, and (b) minimising conflicts with the existing and proposed residential use.

CSR’s landscape team collaborated with Gilroy McMahon in the development of an innovative homezone treatment for the internal streetscape and quality open spaces to compliment the very attractive houses ranging from 2 to 5 bedrooms.