Planning Portal Blog

Many of England’s top wildlife sites are under threat from pollution, inappropriate grazing (particularly by deer) and the impact of invasive species.

That’s the assessment of a report just published as part of Natural England’s project to establish the long-term management of the country’s 338 Natura 2000 sites. These include Special Protection Areas (SPAs) and Special Areas of Conservation (SACs). Most are also Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

The initiative, known as the improvement programme for England’s Natura 2000 sites (IPENS) project, sets out a blueprint for the long-term management of these designated sites.

They include some of the country’s most familiar landscapes including the Northumberland coast, the New Forest, the Norfolk Broads and Salisbury Plain.

There are 338 Natura 2000 sites in England, in both marine and terrestrial locations, covering more than two million hectares.

A site improvement plan has been produced covering every site. The plans present the best available evidence in support of actions required to achieve and maintain sites in a good condition. More than 6,000 specific actions have been identified in the individual plans.

These include the need to draw up local plans to improve habitat connectivity, more adaptive coastal management and a programme of both lake and river restoration.

Dr Andy Clements, Natural England board member and director of the British Trust for Ornithology, said: “England has a diverse range of habitats resulting in a wonderfully rich and varied wildlife. The IPENS project has enabled Natural England, the Environment Agency and other partners to more effectively target our conservation efforts on Natura 2000 network sites and surrounding areas.”

View the IPENS summary report

View the IPENS report

Roger Milne

Energy watchdog Ofgem has opened investigations to see if five generators provided false or misleading information to National Grid about planning consents for some of their proposed generating units that took part in the December 2014 capacity auction.

The companies being investigated are Adret Ltd, Alkane Energy UK, Berangere Ltd, GF Power Peaking Ltd and Power Balancing Service Ltd.

A condition of participation in the first-ever auction last year was that any new-build generating units put forward had to have already secured planning approval.

The Capacity Market is part of the government’s reforms intended to ensure sufficient capacity on the system to keep the lights on. National Grid runs an annual auction to decide which generators and providers of demand-side response will be awarded a capacity agreement, in return for providing capacity at times of system stress.

An Ofgem spokesperson said: “The opening of these investigations does not imply that we have made any findings about non-compliance.”

GF Power Peaking Ltd secured capacity agreements for all nine of its new-build generators; Berangere Ltd (formerly registered as GFE 2015 Ltd) secured capacity agreements for all three of its new-build generators; Adret Ltd (formerly registered as GFE 2017 Ltd) secured capacity agreements for two out of three of its new-build generators in the capacity auction; Alkane Energy secured capacity agreements for nine of its ten new-build generators in the auction and, finally, Power Balancing Services Ltd secured capacity agreements for four of its six generating units.

View the Ofgem press release

Roger Milne

Greater Cambridge local plan hiatus

Planning inspectors considering the local plans for the greater Cambridge area have recommended that examination of the strategies should be suspended while the planning authorities do more work on the housing provision and the sustainability appraisals involved in the focus on new settlements.

However, the inspectors have stressed that this should not be interpreted as “an indication that further releases of green belt land would be necessary to ensure soundness”.

The inspectors questioned whether the way Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire District Council have assessed the number of new homes needed has taken account of market signals such as house prices and affordability, a requirement of new national planning guidance published after both councils had already worked with communities for over two years to prepare plans and were ready to submit them to government.

The submitted local plan for Cambridge included provision for 21,100 more jobs and 14,000 new homes. The plan submitted by South Cambridgeshire plan included proposals for 22,000 new jobs and 19,000 new homes up until 2031.

View the Cambridge City Council press release.

Pickles knighted for services to local government

Eric Pickles, the former Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, is being granted a knighthood for his service as an MP and to local government. He also has a new role as anti-corruption ‘tsar’, Downing Street has announced.

Pickles has been MP for Brentwood and Ongar since 1992 and served as chairman of the Conservative Party from 2009 to 2010.

Before entering Parliament he was leader of Bradford Council from 1988 to 1990 after first becoming a councillor in 1979.

Go-ahead for Lancashire landfill extension

Communities Secretary Greg Clark has approved a Development Consent Order for the proposed extension of the Whitemoss landfill site at Skelmersdale, Lancashire.

The DCO – the first approved by the new Secretary of State – is for the construction of new hazardous waste management facilities at the site. This will involve the construction of new landfill void to the west of the existing landfill site for the disposal of hazardous waste together with associated development.

The project is earmarked for land in the green belt and was viewed as inappropriate development.

However, Clark agreed with the three planning inspectors who examined the proposals that there were “very special circumstances” which justified approval for the scheme which met national policy objectives, was in a suitable location and was planned to have a limited (20-year) lifespan before being restored.

View further information on the National Infrastructure planning website.

Brecon Beacon barn conversion charges row

Brecon Beacons National Park Authority has come under fire for proposals to triple the planning charge for dealing with barn conversions.

Groups including the Country Landowners’ Association have expressed concern about the Authority’ s policy on barn conversions and a move to set a fee of £90,000 per conversion.

View the consultation draft (PDF).

Call to protect tranquil areas

Conservationists have argued that national data and mapping are needed to protect most tranquil parts of England.

New research from the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), just published, shows that better data collection and a new indicator of tranquility are needed to increase protection for England’s most peaceful areas.

In surveying a range of authorities, from National Parks to borough councils, CPRE’s ‘Give peace a chance’ report shows that 90 per cent of authorities would like better guidance and new data to develop tranquility policies.

More than 90 per cent of respondents support the case for new national tranquility maps, which CPRE believes could greatly help local authorities when new infrastructure projects are planned.

View the CPRE’s ‘Give peace a chance’ report.

North Yorkshire fracking proposal submitted

Proposals to frack for shale gas in North Yorkshire have been submitted to the county council.

Third Energy has applied to fracture underground rocks at a site near the village of Kirby Misperton in Ryedale and then pump gas from the field.

The site, in the Vale of Pickering, is close to the Flamingo Land theme park and holiday resort. Protests against Third Energy’s plans have already been launched by local residents under the banner “Frack Free Ryedale”.

View Third Energy’s press release.

Wiltshire solar farm appeal dismissed

A planning inspector has backed Wiltshire Council and dismissed an appeal by solar farm developer Sun Edison for a 12-megawatt array on land at Little Chatfield close to listed buildings.

The proposed scheme is a mile from the Norrington Solar Farm, which although developed had its planning application quashed earlier this year after a legal challenge.

View the decision notice (PDF).

London round-up

• A new report has proposed that London’s Mayor should have a discretionary power to determine all planning applications for 50 homes or more in a borough for a set period of time if, over a three-year period, the borough fails to reach its annual averaged house building target and cannot demonstrate it is trying to improve its performance. That’s the headline recommendation of a London First document: ‘Carrots and Sticks: a targets and incentives approach to getting more homes built in London’, laying out new measures that could help solve the capital’s housing crisis. Also proposed is a new financial incentive – called the London Housing Delivery Bonus – to encourage boroughs to accommodate more new homes in their area. Co-authored with planning consultancy Nathaniel Lichfield and Partners, the report shows that only 18 out of 33 London boroughs met or exceeded their annual targets between 2010 and 2013, dropping to only 12 out of 33 boroughs between 2003 and 2013.
• London Mayor Boris Johnson has issued detailed advice – in the shape of Social Infrastructure Planning Guidance – to ensure the conurbation has the schools, hospitals, open spaces and places of worship it needs to flourish.
• Meanwhile, Johnson has also asked developers to respond to proposals to redevelop Albert Island, a slab of land owned by the Greater London Authority in London’s Royal Docks, where there is the potential to create hundreds of new jobs and build vital new marine facilities.

View the Social Infrastructure Planning Guidance (PDF).

Stafford access road project moves forward

A £35m proposed access road in Stafford has received the backing of the county council’s cabinet and will be the subject of a planning application.

The route is being partly funded by £16.1m from a government growth deal. Other funding is coming from the Local Enterprise Partnership and the council itself.

The Stafford Western Access Route will be a new road connecting the A518 Newport Road to the A34 Foregate Street

The road, between Martin Drive and Grey Friars Place, will link into a further section of carriageway being built by developers who are building to build 2,200 homes to the west of Stafford.

View more information on the Stafford Western Access Route.

Lake District bangs the drum for World Heritage status

A bid for the Lake District to win World Heritage status has been backed by local councils, tourism chiefs, businesses and charities and supported by a detailed report arguing the case for the sub-region’s inclusion on the Unesco list. This will be presented to the government before a formal submission to the UN body in 2016.

View more information on the Lake District website.

Heritage site funding

Lottery funding worth nearly £100m is being given to nine heritage sites, including projects to preserve Britain’s scientific and technological history.

One of the biggest awards – worth £12.1m – is for Jodrell Bank in Cheshire one of the birthplaces of radio astronomy.

In addition, the funding will mean:

• £8m to revamp the Science Museum’s extensive Medicine Galleries
• £9.3m to restore and open up Derby Silk Mill in the Derwent Valley
• £10m to make Great Central Railway a unique double-track ‘preserved’ railway between Loughborough and Leicester
• £9.5m to digitise the British Library’s Save our Sounds Collection
• £10.3m to redevelop Dorset County Museum
• £12.4m to restore Lincoln Cathedral
• £15m to refurbish Glasgow’s award-wining Burrell Collection
• £11m to transform East London’s the Geffrye Museum

View more information on the Heritage Lottery Funding website.

Exeter homes scheme sorted

Communities Secretary Greg Clark has confirmed his predecessor’s ‘minded to allow’ decision involving Millwood Homes (Devon) Ltd’s appeal over proposals for 420 new homes and two care homes on land at Pinn Hill near Exeter originally refused by East Devon District Council.

As part of this successful appeal determination, the developer will be expected to pay an increased contribution for each new dwelling which will be used for nearby Special Protection Areas and a Special Area of Conservation.

View the decision letter and Inspector’s Report.

Snub for ex-PM Heath’s Salisbury garden plans

Plans for events to be staged in the garden of the former home of Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath in Salsbury have been turned down by Wiltshire Council.

The Sir Edward Heath Charitable Foundation wanted to stage 24 events a year for up to 150 people at Arundells, in Cathedral Close, Salisbury. But the planning committee refused the proposal on the grounds of the impact it would have on neighbours despite officers recommending the use should go-ahead.

View more information about Arundells.

Kent council mulls Manston airfield CPO

The new UKIP-led Thanet District Council has confirmed it is reviewing an earlier decision not to pursue the compulsory purchase of the Manston Airport site in Kent.

The council held an extraordinary meeting to decide if it should review the decision made by the previous administration.

Kent County Council has said it cannot support a compulsory purchase order on the information currently available.

The airport closed in May 2014 and several months later, a majority stake was sold to Chris Musgrave and Trevor Cartner for redevelopment.

View more information on the Thanet District Council website.

Appeal Court judges spell out why Luton’s legal challenge failed

The Court of Appeal has given its reasons for rejecting Luton Borough Council’s challenge to the grant of planning permission by a neighbouring authority, Central Bedfordshire, for a controversial urban extension at Houghton Regis.

View more information.

Roger Milne

A City Devolution Bill will be one of the highlights of next week’s Queen’s Speech, chancellor George Osborne has confirmed.

However, he has made it clear that what the government is calling “a radical new model of city government” will depend on the metropolitan areas involved agreeing to an elected mayor.

Osborne said the legislation would “pave the way for Greater Manchester – and, importantly, other cities as well, to take greater control and responsibility over all the key things that make a city work, from transport and housing to skills, and key public services like health and social care”.

Osborne told councils: “We will hand power from the centre to cities to give you greater control over your local transport, housing, skills and healthcare. And we’ll give the levers you need to grow your local economy and make sure local people keep the rewards.

“But it’s right people have a single point of accountability: someone they elect, who takes the decisions and carries the can.

“So with these new powers for cities must come new city-wide elected mayors who work with local councils. I will not impose this model on anyone. But nor will I settle for less.”

The chancellor pointed out that London had a mayor and that Greater Manchester had agreed to have a mayor as part of the Northern Powerhouse initiative.

In the speech Osborne also promised the new administration would extend a form of the City Deals programme to cover counties and towns. In addition he invited bids for the creation of more Enterprise Zones.

View the full speech on GOV.UK

Roger Milne

The Bill ushering in major changes to the Welsh planning system including a new requirement to consider the implications for the Welsh language completed its passage through the Senedd this week.

Assembly Members voted 39 to 10 to approve the Planning (Wales) Bill on Tuesday evening (19 May).

The legislation will obtain Royal Assent later this summer after a four-week period during which the legality of the measures are double-checked.

Planning minister Carl Sargeant said the Bill would create a world-class planning system “delivering timely, fair and consistent decisions that will enhance the built, natural and historic environment in Wales”.

The Bill introduces a new legal framework for Welsh ministers to prepare a national land use plan, to be known as the National Development Framework for Wales. This framework will set out national land use priorities and infrastructure requirements.

The legislation also makes provision for the production of so-called Strategic Development Plans to tackle larger-than-local cross-boundary issues, such as housing supply and areas for economic growth and regeneration. These will focus on three areas: Cardiff, Swansea and the A55 corridor.

In addition, the Bill emphasises the need for pre-application consultation and requires local planning authorities to provide pre-application services.

The new measures also mean that planning applications for nationally-significant projects will be made to Welsh ministers. Applicants for planning permission will also be able to apply to the Welsh ministers for planning permission where a local planning authority is deemed to be poorly performing.

The legislation will also reform the development management system, improve enforcement and appeal procedures and make changes in relation to applications to register town and village greens in line with reforms introduced in England.

View more information on the Planning (Wales) Bill

Roger Milne

Two more English local plans are facing an uncertain future following stand-offs involving the local authorities involved – Durham County Council and Maldon District Council – and the planning inspectors examining the strategies.

Durham County Council is seeking a judicial review after failing to persuade an inspector to review an earlier highly critical interim report into the authority’s development plan for the county.

The strategy was branded as “unrealistic” and “flawed” in term of key elements like job creation, housing provision, the need for green belt development and the environmental impact of new roads. The inspector refused to review his criticism of the county plan.

Ian Thompson, the council’s corporate director of regeneration and economic development, said: “It came as a disappointment that the planning inspector has declined to reopen the examination.

“We maintain the plan offers the best prospect for economic growth and have explored every option and opportunity in our efforts to demonstrate this, which has included employing independent planning experts to review our business-backed predictions for growth.

“We now have no choice but to pursue this matter through the courts by way of a Judicial Review.”

In the plan, the county council said it wanted to build 31,400 homes and create thousands of jobs over the next 20 years, in a bid to attract more businesses and people to the area.

Separately, the inspector examining Maldon District Council’s local development plan has incensed the Essex local authority by suggesting it should withdraw the strategy after issuing an interim report concluding it was unsound because its provision for traveller sites was based on an outdated and inadequate assessment of housing needs.

In a statement Maldon DC said it was “shocked and extremely concerned” about the planning implications of the inspector’s ‘interim findings’. The council had suggested it should produce a separate plan to deal with the traveller issues. This course of action was rejected by the inspector.

The planning authority added: “The council has spent a great deal of time, money and goodwill to produce a local development plan to help meet the needs of the local community whilst protecting the local environment and the character of the district.

“The council will be strongly challenging the planning Inspector’s interim findings and is requesting that the examination in public is continued so that the plan can be adopted as soon as possible. “

View more information about the County Durham Plan

View the latest documents for the County Durham Plan

Roger Milne

Sheffield City Council this week began consultation on ambitious plans designed to transform the city centre into a top shopping destination.

Proposals for what is known as the Sheffield Retail Quarter include new offices, homes and restaurants as well as new shops for the first time, detailed proposals have been released to give a flavour of what could be possible around Barkers Pool, Pinstone Street and Moorhead.

The proposed scheme, designed by Leonard Design Architects, comprises approximately 84,000 square metres of mixed-use development. As well as new retail and leisure floor space just under a quarter of the scheme will involve offices and around 120 flats.

The proposed design reflects the rest of the city with attractive public squares, historic buildings and outdoor streetscapes. There could also be new car parks, bus and cycle routes and a new cycle hub.
The council has stressed that the proposals will incorporate the best of contemporary design while preserving the historic character of the area. The planning authority is working closely with English Heritage and will preserve Leah’s Yard and The Citadel (Salvation Army building), as well as facades along Pinstone Street and of the old Sunday school.

The city council has been assessing the best way forward for the city centre since ending a partnership with developer Hammerson in 2013.

Simon Green, Sheffield’s Executive Director for Place, said: “Everyone recognises that Sheffield’s city centre needs a massive boost, which is why we are proposing this ambitious scheme.

“The retail quarter can play an important role in securing Sheffield’s economic future, and will complement regeneration schemes such as Castlegate, The Moor, West Bar and the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District.”

View further details on the Sheffield Retail Quarter website

Roger Milne

Three county councils in the middle of England are putting the finishing touches to their joint case for a government-backed five-year growth deal for the region, unifying the various funding streams available for strategic projects and economic growth.

The counties – Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire – have formed an alliance badged as ‘England’s Economic Heartland’ to develop the initiative.

In the next couple of weeks the cabinets of the three councils will consider a report detailing progress so far and setting out the next steps.

Together the counties provide a home for a significant proportion of UK science and technology innovation. The region has a combined economy estimated at £46.6bn and has calculated that achieving a deal with the administration could boost that figure by a further £9bn each year, creating at least 135,000 new jobs by 2020.

Work has started already on preparing a single sub-national infrastructure and economic development framework. The councils have stressed that they will work closely with local planning authorities to ensure this strategy supports their growth ambitions.

The three counties argue that establishing a stronger voice for the area will increase the councils’ influence on longer term planning processes like those associated with the strategic road network and rail infrastructure.

View the Northamptonshire County Council news release on England’s Economic Heartland

Roger Milne

Onshore turbines targeted

Energy secretary Amber Rudd has insisted that Conservative manifesto promises to give local communities a final say over onshore wind farms and to axe their subsidy regime would be implemented by May next year.
Her comments came in an interview in the Sunday Times where she highlighted these as departmental priorities.
She is quoted as saying: “I’ve already got my team working on it. That’s going to be one of the first things we’re going to do.”
The department is thought to be considering changing the planning regulations so wind farms of 50 megawatts capacity or more are no longer treated as nationally significant infrastructure projects and subject to the 2008 Planning Act regime.
These moves are not expected to affect onshore wind projects already in planning. Nearly seven gigawatts of new capacity is currently believed to be in the in the pipeline.

View the full interview on the Sunday Times website (subscription required)

View more information on Amber Rudd MP at GOV.UK

 

Inspector considers fate of ‘hobbit house’

The future of a turf-roofed roundhouse in Pembrokeshire, dubbed the “hobbit house”, has been considered by a planning inspector this week who will determine whether the scheme should enjoy retrospective planning permission as a development which meets government guidelines on sustainable development under the so-called One Planet Development policy.

Megan Williams and Charlie Hague, both 27, have now spent more than three years fighting against the demolition of their distinctive home.

 

Welsh round-up

• The owners of a Welsh ‘holistic’ retreat established on a small-holding near Llandrindod Wells have appealed an enforcement notice requiring them to remove structures that include three shepherds’ huts, an eco classroom and a ‘tree house’ which has a kitchen, a lounge, off-grid electricity, a hot tub and shower. Powys County Council served the order on the couple who have lived at the site for nine years arguing the developments required planning permission.
• A public inquiry has opened into an appeal by South Wales Land Developments into the non-determination by Cardiff City Council of its proposals for 1,200 new homes on land at Lisvane on the northern edge of the Welsh capital.

 

Legal round-up

• Neighbours of the Kensington town house painted in red and white stripes to annoy opponents of plans to demolish it and replace with a new house plus a basement are mounting a legal challenge over consent for the scheme, won on appeal.
  The owner of the town house also faces action from Kensington and Chelsea Borough Council, which wants the stripes removed as the planning authority claims they adversely affect the amenity of a conservation area.
• The decision of Northern Ireland environment minister Mark H Durkan to approve a major mixed-used development on the outskirts of Newry was legally flawed, Belfast High Court was told last week.
• The former lead councillor for planning at Guildford Borough Council has pleaded guilty to a charge of wilfully pretending to be a barrister and will be sentenced later this month. Monika Juneja of Doverfield Road, Guildford also pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to three charges of forgery and one of obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception.

 

London round-up

• University proposals to demolish a row of Victorian buildings in central London have been put on hold while ministers consider whether or not to call in the scheme which has been approved by Westminster City Council.
• Thousands of people have signed a petition to stop King’s College London replacing the buildings on the Strand with a new, bigger academic building and a link to the existing Somerset House. Save Britain’s Heritage campaigners said the new building would be “bland”.
• Office workers in east London could soon be hanging out among the trees now Hackney Council is providing temporary office space for up to eight people in the canopy of a tree in Hoxton Square from June. The council said the booking fees would help maintain the park and other open spaces, and community groups could book the space free of charge at weekends. Between six and eight people will be able to hold meetings or work on laptops in the weather-proof structure, which will be built around the tree. The tree office has been designed by Australian-American artist Natalie Jeremijenko along with “collaborative artists” Shuster and Moseley, and architect firms Tate Harmer and Gensler.

View more information about the TREExOFFICE on the Groundwork London website

View more information on Hoxton Square

 

Essex nature reserve extension

The Environment Agency has started construction work this week on a major extension to the Essex Wildlife Trust’s Fingringhoe Wick Nature Reserve, on the Colne estuary.

The estuary has national and international designations because of its conservation importance and has recently been included in a Marine Conservation Zone designation.

Coastal habitats that make the area special include tidal mudflats, salt marshes and Essex coastal grazing marsh.

The project, which is a partnership between the Trust and the Environment Agency, will see 22 hectares of new intertidal habitat created by breaching the existing seawall – allowing the tide to enter the site. The habitat will be a mix of salt marsh, mudflat and saline lagoon, with a further 1.5 hectares of new reed bed.

View the full press release on GOV.UK

 

County council objects to major Surrey housing project

Surrey County Council has recommended that proposals to build more than 2,000 homes on Wisley Airfield near Guildford on land adjoining the A3 should be rejected because of traffic issues.

 

Go-ahead for Teesside homes

Leading planning and design consultancy Barton Willmore has helped secure outline planning permission on behalf of Leebell Developments for a scheme of up to 500 homes in Upper Warren in the Tees Valley near Hartlepool.

The development, to the north-west of the town close to the A179, includes up to 75 affordable homes. Leebell Developments is a joint venture between Persimmon Homes (North East) Ltd and Bellway Homes (North East) Ltd. The scheme has been brought forward in tandem with the council’s emerging local plan.

View the full press release on the Barton Willmore website

 

Leicester developments announced

A new development combining office space, shops and homes has been announced for the site of the former Leicester City Council offices at New Walk Centre.

Local developer Ingleby has been chosen as the preferred developer to transform the one hectare site at the junction of New Walk, Welford Road and Belvoir Street.

Initial designs for the new development include two buildings up to five storeys high, with a central tree-lined public square linked to New Walk, and an open thoroughfare connecting the development to Welford Road.

Meanwhile, in a separate but related development the city council has outlined plans to renovate and restore an area near the cathedral under an £1.6m scheme which will focus on 20 Georgian buildings. The plan is known as the Greyfriars Townscape Heritage Initiative.

View more information on the Leicester City Council website

 

Flats plan for Reading listed buildings

Three early 19th Century buildings in Reading are to be converted into private homes, under plans published by the University of Reading.

The listed properties on London Road were last used by the Witan International College 10 years ago. The university, which owns the buildings, and a private developer plan to convert them into 53 flats.

View more information on the planning details on the Reading Borough Council website

 

Corrie tram line concern

Coronation Street bosses have objected to a planned expansion of Greater Manchester’s tram network because they fear the noise could disrupt filming.

ITV have raised an official complaint about Metrolink’s plans for a new route – linking central Manchester with the Trafford Centre – which would run past the soap’s Media City set in Salford

The company said it would be happier with earlier plans which bypassed the area. The proposals will be examined during a public inquiry due in July.

 

Derby homes re-think

The Conservative group leader of a Derbyshire council, which until the recent local elections was Labour-controlled, has announced he will try to axe proposals for 400 new homes on a site at Allestree near Derby.

The site is allocated for residential development under Amber Valley District Council’s draft local plan which has yet to complete its examination. The scheme has been put forward by Catesby Estates

 

Kent AONB undergrounding

Overhead power lines have been removed from a 4.5 kilometre stretch of protected countryside in Kent.

UK Power Networks said the £482,000 scheme would improve the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Engineers have replaced electricity lines and 43 wooden poles near Canterbury with underground cables.

 

Underperforming cities report

A report recommending practical steps for regenerating underperforming cities has been published by a group of professional bodies including the Royal Town Planning Institute.

The document ‘A brighter future for our towns and cities’ is the product of a unique collaboration involving the RTPI, Association of Town and City Management (ATCM) and Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

Trudi Elliott, RTPI chief executive, said: “It is essential that we do not abandon our underperforming towns and cities, and in collaboration with other professional bodies, we have outlined practical measures for boosting local economies.

“We call on the new government to encourage positive regeneration outcomes through investment in local planning, the incentivisation of cooperation between local authorities and better coordination of policies for housing, infrastructure and service delivery.”

View a copy of the full report (1.2mb PDF)

 

Coventry backs West Midlands combined authority

Coventry has moved a step closer to joining the proposal for a West Midlands combined authority. The city council voted to support the move in principle on Monday.

The councils controlling Birmingham, Walsall, Sandwell, Wolverhampton and Dudley have already backed the plan. Solihull could also follow suit.

View the full press release on the Coventry City Council website

 

Portsmouth minister named

Mark Francois MP, the new Minister of State at the Department for Communities and Local Government has also been confirmed as Minister for Portsmouth, a role which dovetails with his ministerial responsibilities for coastal communities in the department.

View the full press release on GOV.UK

 

Potteries statue taller than the Angel of the North

A 21-metre tall sculpture has been unveiled in North Staffordshire. The work – called Golden – is taller than the Angel of the North and stands on the former Goldendale ironworks site in the Chatterley Valley near Stoke-on-Trent. It is made of corten steel and glass prisms and has LED lights that shine at night.

View the full press release on the City of Stoke on Trent website

 

Roger Milne