ask Pat..

If you have any question regarding the Construction Industry, ask Pat and his elite team of  specialists, at askpat@pat-and-co.com

25/05/2010

Having read your book, what would you do to improve Bracknell Town Centre now that money is tight? 

Adam (I can't stand Bracknell either) Phillips

Many town centres need to look for ways to introduce the key principles underpinning good urban design.  Having small interlinked blocks of development with fronts facing the public is important.  So too is having a mixture of uses, including some old buildings where rents can be lower.  Each town centre should also cultivate its own unique character and leisure activities to help counter the tendency for the chain stores to take over, and enable them to compete with out-of-town retail centres.

In Bracknell’s case the central square (Charles Square) should have the concrete ramp filling the centre of it removed.  The market could then be allowed into the centre rather than stuck under a remote redundant office block, which would then start to enliven the centre with the minimum of expenditure.  A series of events could be staged in the square once the ramp has been removed.  The largely pointless Inner Ring Road should be removed which would be relatively cheap in comparison with the potential gain in releasing a lot of blighted land, getting rid of several underpasses and enhancing pedestrian approaches.

Residential and other uses encouraging night life should be encouraged on central land that is underused.  The A329 should be re-routed to by-pass the town rather than sub-divide it with a ‘traffic sewer’ that causes congestion at peak times.

Good urban design considers how development should be phased, taking account of costs, in addition to having an ultimate goal.  In the current economic climate public benefits need to be extracted from private investment that is carefully managed so the value exceeds the sum of the parts.  Sometimes a lick of paint or strategic planting is enough to start reversing a cycle of decline.

My neighbour’s trees are starting to damage our property – what can we do? 

Rachel (very annoyed) Barker  

Start by discussing the matter with your neighbour and notify your home insurers, as gradual changes to ground conditions may be less damaging than sudden ones.  Trees in close proximity to buildings is a common cause of problem particularly when the tree comes after the building and where the subsoil is of shrinkable clay.  Some types of tree (eg. Willow) are likely to cause more damage than others.  Trees can also block light and leaves may cause additional problems in autumn.

Taking legal advice can get very expensive, so only use this as a last resort.

You are within your rights to chop off branches overhanging your boundary as long as you give them back to your neighbour, and make sure you are not breaching any Tree Preservation Order.

The same applies to encroaching roots, though obviously this is harder to deal with and you may want to seek costs from your neighbour’s insurer.

We have found that polythene sheeting is effective at deflecting new tree roots away from where they are heading, and that a copper nail and diesel coating help avoid the remnant trunks of felled trees, where the stump is left, from re-sprouting.

Would it be possible to have truly affordable housing that could be bought for say £30,000?  

S.  Smith

Other than resorting to tents, we think modern pre-fabricated homes could be efficiently designed, produced and craned into position to create good housing for the young and elderly.

Laboriously laying bricks in the wet, cold and mud should be consigned to history.

Councils could make land available cheaply, some pre-fabs could be placed in gardens over a certain size, and the units could be extended, moved or used for alternative uses over time.

Are zero energy buildings really deliverable?  

Jessica (is hoping that with the sunny weather stays around for a while so won't need it) South

Yes.  In fact some buildings actually generate more energy than they use through a combination of being super insulated and generating energy from renewable sources like the sun and the wind.  Surplus electricity can be sold back to the National Grid.  However, it isn’t always economic, particularly in the short-term, to try to make all buildings attain such high standards, and in many cases the true energy total including the energy used in making and transporting components gets left out of the equation.

Do you think our current system for procuring buildings should be reformed?  Jack Thomas

The Planning system controls what can be built where, and the Building Regulations control minimum standards for construction.  The Party Wall etc Act protects neighbours from having their property damaged, and Permitted Development entitles certain extensions and outbuildings to be built automatically.   Ongoing reform is constantly being made (eg. Permitted Development changes were made in October 2008, and recently the need for Home Information Packs has been removed).  In our opinion the scope of Permitted Development should be extended and clarified to remove the numerous ambiguities.

These answers are only the opinions of Pat & Co.