• Landscape Institute Awards 09 The Caldew and Carlisle City Flood Alleviation Scheme, a project that AXIS has been involved with since its inception, has been short listed for an award in the Urban Design and Masterplanning category of the 2009 Landscape Institute Awards. The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony hosted by Jonathan Porritt on 19 November 2009 at the Old Truman Brewery in Brick Lane, London. The Awards are presented to encourage and recognise outstanding examples of work by the landscape profession
• Urban Design Award The news of the Landscape Institute Awards nomination builds on the success already achieved by the same project in gaining a Highly Commended award in the recent Institute of Highways and Transportation Awards at the RAF Museum, Hendon



• AXIS is going to be exhibiting at BWEA31 in Liverpool, 20-22 October 2009.  BWEA31 is the UK's leading three day renewable energy conference and exhibition. There will be a lot to see and do, and the exhibition is free to attend on Day 3. Come and see us at stand 5. You can find out all about it at www.bwea31.com

• Appointments AXIS continues to grow despite the difficult economic conditions and is pleased to welcome two new members of staff this summer. Andrew Barton joins the planning team in Wilmslow from RPS and Catherine Larmouth, formerly of Knight Frank has joined the planning team in Chester

New commissions:

• A477 St Clears to Red Roses Highway Improvement, Roadbridge Sisk Joint Venture has been awarded the contract to construct this £30m ECI road scheme in South Wales. AXIS is a key part of the consultancy team and will work closely with Gifford to provide design advice and inputs to the EIA process and any subsequent public inquiry
• Meir Primary Care Centre, AXIS has started work on the preparation of detailed Transport Assessment and Travel Plan reports to support the development of this development in Stoke on Trent. The project will consolidate seven GP practices and other supporting PCT services within a new state of the art public health building. AXIS will undertake staff and patient travel surveys and a detailed staff diary exercise.
• Country Park Visitor Study, AXIS has been commissioned jointly by Denbighshire County Council Countryside Services and Cadwyn Clwyd to undertake a visitor flow feasibility study for the Clwydian Range AONB focussing on Loggerheads Country Park. The study seeks to address parking problems along the A494(T) by considering the underlying reasons, exploring where additional parking capacity can be provided adjacent to SSSI/SAC boundaries and measures to prevent parking along verges to enhance the appearance of the AONB.
• Cae Ddol Park Ruthin, AXIS has been commissioned by Denbighshire County Council to prepare proposals for Cae Ddol, the main public park in Ruthin. Plans will be prepared showing an analysis of the existing strengths and weaknesses of the park and options for future improvements to be used in a forthcoming public consultation exercise.
• Wind Farm EIA, AXIS has secured a commission with E.ON Climate and Renewables to undertake an environmental impact assessment for a 9 turbine development. The project was secured following a competitive tender process.
• Gloucestershire PFI, AXIS has been appointed to provide planning advice to leading European waste management company Urbaser in its bid to secure the waste disposal contract in Gloucestershire. AXIS will undertake a planning policy review and site appraisals to inform the competitive dialogue process
• Traffic and Highway Assessment Work, the AXIS transportation team has been instructed on several projects including:
  - a new residential development on Middle Hillgate, Stockport.
  - conversion of existing commercial garage sales buildings and associated land for residential land use at Bosley, East Cheshire;
  - new residential development in Woodley, Stockport.
• Castle Hill Farm, AXIS has been commissioned to carry out a transport appraisal for a project to convert Castle Hill Farm and associated outbuildings into upto eight new residential units. The project involves the sensitive re-development of this landmark rural site, which includes a castle moat feature designated as a Scheduled Ancient Monument. AXIS will design the internal access layout, parking areas and a new connection to the local highway network
• Cherry Hill Waste, AXIS has been appointed to provide traffic and transportation engineering services for the development of an existing skip hire business to provide a 150,000 tonne waste transfer station, new household waste site and Energy from Waste plant at Newcastle under Lyme, Staffordshire.

Planning Consents secured

• Mynydd y Betwys Windfarm - Appeal allowed, On 10 June 2009, the Welsh Assembly Government approved the Mynydd y Betwys Windfarm following a call-in inquiry in September 2008. AXIS reviewed the L&VIA submitted with the planning application and prepared expert witness evidence in respect of landscape and visual effects of this 16 turbine, 36.8MW scheme to address objections from CCW and a number of other third parties
• Aldi Knutsford, Aldi Stores has been successful with their planning application to construct a new store at their site in Knutsford. Knutsford suffers from significant traffic congestion during the peak periods and a new food store would potentially create further problems with the highway network left in its current form. Axis has designed and modelled an improvement scheme that not only mitigates increases in traffic movement as a result of the new food store but will also allow the Local Highway Authority to deliver an Urban Traffic Control system in the future. Through complex signal programming and connectivity Axis have demonstrated how movement of traffic can be improved and pedestrian crossings accommodated without detriment to vehicle delay times and queuing.
• Durham Gate Spennymoor, Following confirmation from Government Office that the application will not be called in, Carillion Arlington real Estate Partnership have been successful in securing planning permission for the vibrant Durham Gate development. The development, which is set to revitalize 60 acres of former industrial land, is underpinned by an innovative highway improvement scheme. The scheme, which was designed and tested by Axis, will provide increased highway capacity to accommodate 400,000sqft of office space, 400 new homes, a hotel and a local centre. Axis' staff have been responsible for the preparation and derivation of the innovative highway scheme and for ensuring that the development is not dominated by highway infrastructure to ensure urban realm initiatives can be realized.
• Danes Moss Landfill Extension of Life, AXIS has successfully secured planning permission on behalf of Waste Recycling Group for a three year extension of life at the Danes Moss landfill facility in East Cheshire, enabling 200,000m3 of remaining void to be utilised. The application also provided for re-phasing of the consented operations. Permission is granted subject to the signing of a legal agreement.
• Caldew and Carlisle City FAS, AXIS secured planning approval for a suit of amended proposals for the flood alleviation scheme including alterations to a habitat enhancement area on the banks of the River Eden, modifications to a Showman's Site and changes to the alignment of sections of walls
• Wigan FAS Phase 2, Wigan Council Planning Committee resolved to grant planning permission for the Wigan Dam, an Environment Agency promoted scheme to provide a 1:100 year standard of protection for the town centre by storing flood water in the Douglas Valley. Whilst a resolution has been taken, any decision will be subject to further consultation on 1 aspect, compliance with a set of conditions and entering into a legal agreement.
• Derbyshire Recycling Facilities, AXIS has secured planning permission for two new Household Waste Recycling Centres that will serve the residents of Derbyshire and assist in improving recycling rates in the County. The sites are located at Clay Cross and on the outskirts of Rowsley

Projects completed

• Primary Healthcare Facilities, AXIS has recently completed the preparation and submission of detailed Travel Plans for two new primary care healthcare facilities at Sparkbrook, Birmingham and at Hanley, Stoke on Trent.

Planning Submissions

• Meteorological mast application, AXIS has submitted a planning application to Eden District Council for a 60m meteorological mast at Lazonby Fell, Cumbria. The mast will be used to collect detailed wind speed data at the site, for which AXIS is currently preparing an environmental impact assessment for a 12.5MW windfarm

Eastcroft EfW Third Line Appeal Allowed. On 12 February AXIS received notification from the Secretary of State that the appeal (for non-determination) by Waste Recycling Group of their expansion of Nottingham's Eastcroft Energy from Waste facility had been allowed. The Inspector recommended both approval and a partial award of costs (in favour of WRG), both of which were supported by the S of S. AXIS submitted the planning application on behalf of WRG and provided expert witnesses in respect of planning & need, landscape & visual impacts and traffic & transportation. This major Inquiry (led for the appellants by Rhodri Price Lewis QC) was the first modern planning examination of the plant. The plant was originally granted planning permission in the early 1970s with Nottingham City Council being both applicant and determining authority.

Urban Design Award. The Caldew and Carlisle City Flood Alleviation Scheme - a project that AXIS has been involved with since its inception - has been short listed to receive an Urban Design Award at the forthcoming Institute of Highways and Transportation Awards at the RAF Museum, Hendon in June 09. In further recognition of the plaudits that the project is receiving, the president of the ICE visited the works during March.

Carlisle Flood Defences - Final Phase. Detailed design of the final, downstream phase of the Carlisle flood defences has now commenced, incorporating environmental enhancement works alongside the River Eden. Opportunities are being taken to introduce extensive areas of wet woodland, ponds and reed beds

Wilmslow Half Marathon. Three AXIS runners - Oliver Meek and Alistair Yates from the Wilmslow office and Alistair McNay from the Chester office - competed in the Wilmslow Half Marathon on the 29th of March. The event contained a high calibre field as it hosted the English Half Marathon Championships. In what turned out to be a warm day, none of our athletes challenged the front of the field but all returned respectable times.

New commissions:

• Airport Viewing Facility. AXIS has been commissioned by Peel Holdings to take forward the development of an airport viewing facility on a former landfill site close to its Robin Hood (Finningley) Airport, near Doncaster. AXIS will first regularise existing planning consents for the site, which has been used as an inert waste landfill and skip recycling facility. The proposal is then to infill the remaining void and to complete the restoration of the site to provide an area of scrub, woodland and pasture, together with a raised airport viewing platform at the site's southern extremity.
• Specialist Environmental Studies. Manchester Airport has commissioned AXIS to carry out a study of sites around the periphery of its operational area to determine whether these are suitable for a range of development opportunities. The output of the study will form part of Manchester Airport's evidence base for submissions to Manchester City Council and Cheshire East Council in their respective LDP documents
• Noise impact assessment. Environment Agency has commissioned AXIS to coordinate preparation of a noise impact assessment of the proposed earth moving and sheet steel piling activities associated with the construction of the Lunt Meadows Washlands flood storage area at Sefton, Merseyside. The results of the assessment will allow discharge of a pre-commencement condition attached to an earlier consent, thereby enabling commencement of the development
• Remembrance Park. Axis has been commissioned by Co-Operative Funeralcare, to undertake a wholesale site redesign of the Mayfield's Remembrance Park at Eastham on the Wirral peninsular. The site is set within greenbelt and commands extensive views across the River Mersey to Liverpool and John Lennon Airport. The new layout will provide areas within the site with varying character, screening and shelter while still maintaining key vistas and the overall feel of openness inherent in the surrounding greenbelt.
• Residential development. AXIS has been commissioned to undertake a Transport Assessment for a development of 102 residential units on the fringes of Winsford, Cheshire by Anwyl Homes.
• Central Manchester Travel Plan. AXIS has been commissioned by Eastern Green Ltd to prepare a Travel Plan for its Adelphi Square mixed use development at Piccadilly, Manchester. The development will provide a mix of offices and A3 commercial accommodation.
• Farm Building Regeneration Scheme. AXIS has been commissioned by Hallams Commercials Ltd. to consider a scheme to provide new office accommodation within existing farm buildings at Irongates Farm, Alderley Edge, Cheshire.

Planning Consents secured

• Gas Storage. Axis has secured planning permission, on behalf of EDF Trading Gas Storage Limited, for the conversion of 10 underground brine cavities to store natural gas, the extension of an existing gas processing plant and link to the National Gas Transmission System, electricity and manifold compounds and associated infrastructure, on a 107 hectare site at Hill Top Farm, Hole House Farm, Parkfield Farm and Spring Moss Farm, Near Warmingham, Cheshire. Cheshire County Council resolved to grant consent at their Development Regulatory Committee on the 9 March 2009, and following the completion of a Section 106 Legal Agreement providing for, amongst other things, the creation of a local liaison meeting, a green travel plan and financial contribution to a highway improvement scheme, planning permission was granted on the 31 March 2009. The permission provides for the displacement of approximately 1.9 million tonnes of brine, which will be processed at the existing British Salt factory in Middlewich, and subsequent storage and processing of up to 224,000 tonnes of natural gas.
• Hazardous Substances Consent. Axis has secured a Hazardous Substances Consent (HSC), on behalf of EDF Trading Gas Storage Limited, for the storage and processing of 224,000 tonnes of natural gas at Hill Top and Hole House Farms, Near Warmingham, Cheshire. Cheshire County Council issued the HSC on the 30 March 2009.
• Integrated Materials Recycling Facility. AXIS submitted a planning application for a new 100,000 tpa Integrated Materials Recycling Facility (IMRF) on behalf of Peterborough City Council earlier this year. On 14 April planning permission was granted, leaving open the way for the determination of a second application, for an Energy from Waste plant, on the existing MRF site. The EfW application was also submitted by AXIS and is scheduled for determination in June this year.
• Green Waste Composting. On 13 March, AXIS secured planning permission for an open windrow composting facility for a 12,000 tpa green waste management facility at Moreton on Lugg in Herefordshire. This is latest of around 25 planning permissions secured by AXIS staff for Mercia Waste Management who hold the 25 year waste PFI contract for Worcestershire and Herefordshire. The application process involved extensive public consultation and was supported by several specialist studies, AXIS having established that it was not EIA development.
• New Nursery Access. Approval has been secured for a new access layout on Green Belt land for Cronton Nurseries, at their site in Knowsley, Merseyside.
• Recycling Facility. On 19 March AXIS secured planning permission, on behalf of Veolia Environmental Services, for the change of use of an industrial unit to a recyclables bulking facility in Hertfordshire.
• Materials Recycling Facility / Refuse Derived Fuel and Gasification Plant. On 19 February, Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council resolved to grant plant permission, subject to a Section 106 Agreement, for a new 400,000 tpa waste management facility at Hooton. The scheme comprises: materials recycling, intermediate treatment to form a refuse derived fuel and a gasification plant (Waste Incineration Directive compliant). AXIS acted on behalf of the developers, New Earth Biossence Ltd, an SPV involving New Earth Energy, as specialist planning advisors, a role they have undertaken for over 18 months. AXIS is presently advising on planning conditions and the S 106 Agreement.
• Green Waste Composting Facilities. Planning permissions have been secured on behalf of 3C Waste Limited to extend the life of existing Green Waste Composting Facilities located within two strategically important landfill sites (Gowy and Maw Green) in Cheshire.

Planning Submissions

• Biomass Power Station. In March AXIS prepared a revised submission for a 40MW straw fired power station at Brigg in North Lincolnshire, on behalf of Eco 2 Ltd. The application includes extensive modifications to the flood mitigation scheme included with the previous application, bringing all mitigation measures 'on-site' in an innovative solution jointly developed by AXIS staff.
• British Land plc. AXIS has submitted two Section 73 applications on behalf of British Land plc (on of the UK's largest development companies) to vary a number of planning conditions associated with the extension of Broughton Shopping Park, near Chester. The applications seek to facilitate the early implementation of an extension to the existing Tesco Extra, with a new 90,000 sq ft Marks & Spencer (and other retail units) following on in a second phase. AXIS secured the original extension permission for a 200,000 sq ft extension of the Park in 2007.
• Household Waste Site. On 28 April AXIS submitted a planning application for a wholly new Household Waste Site to serve Kington in Herefordshire on behalf of Mercia Waste Management who hold the 25 year waste PFI contract for Worcestershire and Herefordshire.
• Carlisle Flood Defence Works. A number of planning applications have been submitted on behalf of the Environment Agency for flood defence works at Parham Beck and alongside the River Eden. These are the latest in a series of planning applications relating to the £25m flood defence scheme.