Consent granted for co-living and co-working scheme in Brighton, February 2024



Third Revolution are excited to have secured planning permission at appeal for the second phase of the Kosy Living co-living and co-working village in Brighton.

The scheme includes 269 coliving studios, which will provide much needed high-quality homes for an underserved part of the market. It will also provide around 1,000sqm of employment space, which will be available to residents and the community alike, along with landscaped gardens, gym and large communal spaces.

The application was refused against officer advice despite being on brownfield land allocated for development, with the appeal centred on the impact on the character of the area and the amenity of neighbours.

The scheme replaces a largely vacant and dilapidated 1950s office building with a development that better reflects the area's emerging character. Its location within the busy Lewes Road areas allows the development to be car free and will incorporate critical sustainability features to ensure it is future-proofed for the net zero transition.

The development is the second phase of the new village, with 83 studios and co-working space consented by Brighton & Hove's planning committee in 2021.

TRP welcomes Sandy Scott to the team as a Senior Planner, January 2024

Sandy joins the team as a Senior Planner. She is a charted town planner with experience working in the UK and Australia in the public and private sectors. 

Sandy has extensive experience on a range of projects across London and the south-east including applications for mixed use residential developments, managing portfolios and developing a long term masterplan for an education facility.

She will work on the full range of TRP projects, including renewable energy, residential and commercial applications.

Liz Alexander joins the TRP team as Planning Director, January 2024

The TRP team is very excited to welcome Liz into the fold to kick off the new year.

Liz is a chartered town planner with extensive town planning and property experience gained most recently with luxury housebuilder Octagon Developments and previously as a planning consultant. She has also had leading roles in planning policy at local authorities and has worked in a protected landscape. 

Liz will bring a wealth of experience to the team in all areas of planning, most recently specialising in residential development, leading on all stages of housing developments of all scales - from initial advice on the potential of sites to planning promotions and applications through to implementation and delivery on site. Her expertise also includes planning policy, all areas of planning Green Belt applications and appeals together with housing land supply analysis. 

TRP welcomes Josh Rogers to the team and congratulates Chloe and Ben on their promotions, October 2023

Josh is the latest recruit to our team and joins us as a Graduate Town Planner. He has an MSc in Urban Planning from the University of the West of England and is working towards becoming a chartered town planner.

Chloe Brown has been promoted to Associate Town Planner and Ben Wheeler to Town Planner. Both have made invaluable contributions to the team and are much deserved promotions.

Petra Elo Joins the TRP Team, September 2023

We are delighted to welcome Petra Elo to the TRP team. Petra joins us from Elements Green as a town planner, where she gained experience advising clients and preparing planning applications on a range of renewable energy projects.

She has a masters degree in Sustainable Urbanism from UCL and we will be supporting her in becoming a chartered town planner.

Totmonslow Solar Farm Approved, August 2023

The Third Revolution team has secured planning consent for a 19.8MWp solar farm near Upper Tean in Staffordshire, on behalf of RE Projects Development. The site is located on lower grade pasture land and will generate enough renewable energy to supply over 5,200 homes and businesses in the area.

The team worked with ecologists and landscape specialists to create a scheme that will benefit wildlife, enable continued grazing of livestock as well as generating energy. A long term management plan has been agreed which will ensure the proposed meadows, trees and hedges will be maintained for the duration of the project. An offsite mitigation area has also been included to allow space for birds to nest and to forage in the newly created habitats.

The scheme was approved by Staffordshire Moorlands planning committee and, following discharge of planning conditions, will commence to construction.

100MW Battery Energy Storage Project Approved in Green Belt,

Officers at South Gloucestershire Council have approved a 100MW battery project adjacent to the Iron Acton substation.

Working with client RE Projects Development, the Third Revolution team led the planning application process, including pre-application discussions with officers and specialist consultees, community engagement, preparation of application documents and submission of the application.

The Lower Larks site is in green belt and so the team had to present very special circumstances to justify the location of the project and to develop a landscaping strategy that would ensure the development would not be visible from the surrounding area.

Significant ecological enhancements have been included to benefit wildlife in the area.

We are looking for a Planning Director to join our team, August 2023

Third Revolution are delighted to share details for a new Director role in the business. If you are interested in hearing more about the exciting opportunity to join a dynamic, growing planning consultancy embedded in sustainability, please get in touch as soon as possible with our MD Rob Shaw 07742 352406 or robert.shaw@thirdrevolutionprojects.co.uk.

Third Revolution is a fast-growing, innovative, and forward-thinking Planning Consultancy embedded in Sustainability – a thought-leader in the future of sustainable, net zero, and low carbon planning. Established in 2017, we have a thriving public and private client portfolio, and our development areas include Residential, Commercial, Mixed Use, and Renewable Energy.

The role

As Planning Director and a key member of the leadership team, you’ll play a prominent role managing client relationships, directing projects, and driving both organic and new business. Reporting into Senior Leadership in a collaborative and diverse team of 10, you’ll hold a varied and rewarding position, and support the MD in shaping our future service offering. More specifically, you can expect to find yourself:

• Driving business growth through prospecting, engaging, and winning work with new clients.
• Managing client relationships and stimulating new projects/work from our existing clients.
• Being a trusted client partner, directing projects and project managing where required.
• Strategically contributing to the evolution and expansion of our innovative service offering.
• Leading projects end-to-end, from site selection, pre-application research and discussions, to hearings and post determination work, including planning appeals.
• Being actively involved in coordination and management of specialist external consultants, public consultations, and report writing.
• Acting as sustainability champion on major projects and providing strategic advice.
• Fostering a proudly supportive, collaborative, diverse, and inclusive work environment.

Candidate requirement

Our ideal candidate will be a seasoned Chartered Town Planner currently at Associate, Senior Associate, or Director level who would thrive with the high level of autonomy and influence this role has to offer.

As a small consultancy with a reputation for first-class expertise in sustainable development and high standards in service delivery, we are keen to find someone who also shares our values, passion, and entrepreneurial spirit.

The successful candidate will be someone who demonstrates:

• A proven track record of winning new work and fostering new client relationships.
• Experience leading a range of development projects, ideally including On-Shore Wind Power.
• Chartered MRTPI qualification, potentially with previous involvement in NSIPs, DNS or s36s.
• Existing expertise and knowledge of the UK planning space and UK planning authorities.
• Ability to comfortably manage a project portfolio with existing clients while stimulating organic new business and bringing in new clients.
• Confidence in your approach alongside excellent interpersonal, written, project management, IT and communication skills.
• Experience leading teams and delegating effectively while coaching and mentoring more junior colleagues.
• An entrepreneurial spirit with a thirst for knowledge and continuous learning.

Why join us?

You’d be joining at a very exciting time with the opportunity to rapidly advance your career with us whilst being at the forefront of our continued success. Our innovative Future Planning sustainability offering is supporting public and private promotors of large-scale urban extensions and new settlements and our UK-wide portfolio includes developments at local planning and nationally significant scales.

We offer a competitive salary, commensurate with your experience and skillset, a supportive and inclusive workplace culture, and a highly collaborative teamwork environment. Our other benefits include a company bonus scheme, private pension, and flexible hybrid working with most of the team based in our Waterloo office two days a week.

Chloe and Lewis join the TRP team, January 2023

The Third Revolution team are delighted to welcome Chloe Brown and Lewis McArthur to the team. Both joined in January as Senior Consultants and will support the growing pipeline of exciting projects.

Chloe is a charted town planner with experience in providing planning consultancy advice for the public and private sectors. She has worked on new build residential, healthcare and education applications and planning appeals. Prior to joining the company, she worked at Carter Jonas as a Senior Planner.

Lewis is a chartered town planner with experience gained working on a diverse range of projects at London planning consultancies. He has worked on planning applications in the residential, commercial, tourism and heritage sectors, including many where sustainability has been a key consideration.

Application for 60-bedroom care home submitted to Wokingham Borough Council, October 2022

TRP has submitted an application for a landscape-led care home just outside Crowthorne on behalf of Crowthorne Care Limited, a joint venture between REPD Projects Development and Barchester Healthcare Ltd.

The proposal is for a 60 bed care home for the elderly, to provide nursing and residential care, including care for individuals with dementia.

TRP has led a team of architects, landscape architects, and other specialists. The application will now be considered by planners at Wokingham Borough Council.

Planning consent will supply renewable energy to Norwich Food Enterprise Park, Summer 2022

TRP has helped Pathfinder Clean Energy gain planning consent for a large new solar farm near Norwich. The project will supply clean energy to the nearby Food Enterprise Park, which includes a vertical farm. This innovative project will help address the country's twin challenges of energy and food security.

Construction starts on student development in Guildford, April 2022

TRP has been working with CKC Properties on a purpose built student scheme close to the University in Guildford. Construction started in early 2022 on the development Ash Grove and it is expected to open in time to take students in 2023.

TRP has worked with the applicant and architects to make a series of amendments on a challenging site at the end of a cul-de-sac. These have secured additional rooms within the same footprint and significantly improved the amenity and biodiversity value of the site.

Climate change at the heart of Harrogate’s new settlement, April 2022

Planning and sustainability consultants Third Revolution have been engaged by Harrogate Borough Council (HBC) to create a climate change strategy for a proposed new settlement between Harrogate and York, with a view to supporting the delivery of net zero by 2038 in the borough.

The development takes place against the backdrop of major social, environmental, technological and economic change. Playing out over several decades, major global and local trends will be critical factors in its success. Understanding these is an essential part of creating a sustainable, future-proofed, commercially successful place that also delivers the homes, jobs and infrastructure needed in the Harrogate area. Development that does not do this, risks becoming obsolete before it’s even completed.

Therefore, we are engaged in future planning in which we're designing a place in 2022 that meets the needs of residents in 2032 and beyond. To achieve this, we must think exponentially about technology, not linearly, and in societal leaps. The Climate Change Strategy will help guide this process by placing ourselves in the shoes of those future residents and asking what their priorities will be. Only then can we work back to how it can be achieved in today's constraints.

The outputs will provide an evidence base for policy in the emerging Development Plan Document and will also inform discussions with the site promoter, with the aim of delivering the highest possible standard of development.

We've won best UK mixed use and best East Sussex residential project in the UK Property Awards, October 2021

Fantastic night on Friday with wins for our Brighton co-living and co-working development with Kosy Co-Living and Brundell Property.

Third Revolution led the planning application for this first of its kind project in the city and will shortly be followed by applications for two further phases. Wonderful recognition for a hard won consent in which the team had to take Brighton's officers on a journey and overcome some significant policy and design challenges.

We were supported by West Port Architects and a team of specialist consultants.

Third Revolution Projects extends its pipeline of residential projects, August 2021

We are delighted to be working with GVD Strategic Land Promotion on their Bellhouse Farm proposal for 33 new homes on the edge of Maisemore, Gloucestershire. The team has supported GVD post application, and the scheme is due to be determined by planning committee in early Autumn.

Two solar and battery storage projects have secured planning approval for PACE, August 2021

Our team suggessfully gained planning consent for Burgate and Three Bridges solar farms, both co-located with battery energy storage systems for Pathfinder Clean Energy (PACE). Both received unanimous approvals from Broadlands and Breckland planning committees. Together they will generate over 40MW of clean energy and have been designed to achieve over a 100% increase in habitat to help minimise the decline in British wildlife, and also allow for continued agriculture. TRP led the planning process, public consultation and managed a specialist team of consultants.

Another 18MW project near Attleborough will be decided by Breckland's planning committee in September and the team has another 300MW with PACE alone in the planning pipeline.

Third Revolution helps PACE submit its first subsidy free solar farms, October 2020

We have helped Pathfinder Clean Energy (PACE) submit its first two subsidy-free solar farm projects into planning. Both will include the ability to co-locate energy storage, and will enter operation in the middle of 2021, subject to planning and financing.

The two 20MWp solar projects in Norfolk will sit on agricultural land, with one a site known as Three Bridges seven miles north-east of Dereham and the second known as Burgate eight miles north of Norwich.  PACE has a development pipeline of 1GW of solar projects in the UK and abroad.

Swara Shah becomes the latest addition to the Third Revolution team

Swara joined Third Revolution at the start of August 2020 and will support the company's growing portfolio of residential and low carbon energy projects. She has a Masters in Urban Design from Oxford Brookes University, and previously worked as a consultant at  Foddy Consult and as a masterplanner in the United Arab Emirates. 

Consent secured for co-living in Brighton, June 2020

Third Revolution is delighted to have successfully secured planning consent to develop Brighton’s first combined co-living and co-working scheme.

The development replaces a tired set of industrial units with high quality modern employment space and much needed residential homes, including affordable homes. The proposals include a café, cinema and communal space.

The space will also incorporate new facilities for the Nam Yang Community Association: a martial arts and wellbeing charity. The well loved local association currently rents poor quality space above one of the car garages and the applicant has worked with them and the neighbouring school to incorporate new facilities at low rent.

Third Revolution has led the planning process, including managing specialist consultants and the design team, consultation with the community, pre-application discussions, submission of the application and negotiation of the Section 106 Agreement.

Harman Sond joins the Third Revolution team, March 2020

We are delighted to welcome Harman Sond to the team, who joins as Senior Planner. Prior to this, Harman was at Gerald Eve and Cushman & Wakefield. He is a chartered town planner with experience in public and private sectors and will support the team with its growing portfolio of student accommodation, co-living, retirement schemes and renewable energy projects.

Transformational thinking for Homes England, January 2020

Third Revolution is delighted to be working with Homes England, Turner & Townsend and Prior+Partners on a Future Thinking and sustainability strategy for the West of Ifield new community. Our innovative approach is helping the team build an understanding of what an exemplar sustainable place looks like.

The world is undergoing dramatic change. Revolutions in technology, society and economies mean we are planning West of Ifield for a vastly different world. The pandemic and imminent global recession will accelerate pre-existing trends as people realise that remote working benefits their lives, remote GP consultations are possible, that communities are valuable, and that healthy lifestyles are achievable when everything is located closer together.

Therefore, we are planning West of Ifield against a backdrop of a new normal. The purposes of the sustainability work are to help understand the implications and to guide appropriate responses. Getting this right and making the right investments will increase values and bring a better financial return to Treasury, but requires the aspirations of people, developers and third parties be brought together.

Our work uses a Drivers-Revolutions-Impacts-Opportunities paradigm, which begins with analysis of major environmental, social, economic and technological drivers of change and their interactions with revolutions in how people travel, live, shop, learn and play. It then explores the impacts and opportunities that each creates for the proposed development.

Rising to the Climate Crisis - Latest Article from Third Revolution

If you're excited, daunted or just interested in how spatial planning and places need to respond to the climate emergency then read our thoughts in our latest article . We'd love to hear your views, so please get in touch.