The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has revoked a London council’s article 4 direction designed to remove office-to-home conversion permitted development rights from much of the borough’s area.
Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has granted outline planning permission for the development of a major rail freight interchange at a Green Belt location in Hertfordshire. A previous decision by the SoS to refuse permission was quashed by a High Court ruling.
Welsh mergers
The Welsh Government has published a White Paper with its official response to the Williams report which recommended the country’s 22 local authorities should be reduced by around half as a result of mergers.
The Government has confirmed details of £2bn of funding to be provided to local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) across England for infrastructure and housing development under the Local Growth Deals scheme.
Proposals for more than 1,100 homes on three sites in Droitwich Spa and Pebworth in Worcestershire have been approved on appeal. Communities Secretary Eric Pickles agreed with the inspectors that the local planning authority could not demonstrate a five-year housing supply.
A man who ignored a planning enforcement notice and continued to sell and store vehicles on Green Belt land in west Yorkshire has been ordered to pay back nearly £225,000 under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
There has been an increase in the success rate for planning appeals since the introduction of the Government’s National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) two years ago with a particularly significant improvement for residential appeals determined after public inquiries, according to new research published by Turley Associates.
Asset manager Henderson Global Investors’ application for consent for a £160m redevelopment of the former Smithfield Market in London’s EC1 has been rejected by Communities Secretary Eric Pickles.
Welsh Environment Minister dismissed
Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones has fired his Environment Minister Alun Davies and will not appoint a successor.
Davies was dismissed for putting pressure on civil servants for private information about opposition Assembly Members.
While not directly relevant to Portal business, I thought anyone involved in neighbourhood planning might be interested in this rather clever interactive tool.
Developed using open data, it has been recently launched by the good folks over at Boilerhouse Media as part of their Making A Difference with Data project.
The map shows where neighbourhood plans are in the process of being developed or are in place.
It also signposts help and advice for anyone considering developing a neighbourhood plan in their area and has a useful feed using the Twitter hashtag #neighbourhoodplanning.
Planning Portal Blog 