On 15 – 18 November we hosted the third Planning Portal Annual Conference (and the second one delivered virtually). The week saw four days of industry experts come together to deliver insightful keynote speeches, panel discussions and breakout sessions.
Day one of the event was all about Planning Reform. One year on from the publication of the Government white paper Planning for the Future we heard from Joanna Averley, Chief Planner at the Department for Levelling Up, Communities and Housing. Discussing the 44,000 responses received in relation to the white paper, Joanna discussed how it highlights the importance of planning to everybody and promised that they are working to respond as soon as possible. In the meantime, she calls for all Local Authorities to progress with their local plans; to ignore the rumours about updates and to keep moving forward as many have out-of-date plans, or in fact, none at all. “It is always better to have a plan, it’s the most important way to shape the built and natural environment”.
Read more…We will soon be launching our new online planning application service to our customers, and as a user of the Planning Portal (www.planningportal.co.uk), we’d like to let you know what the change will mean for you on day one. Please take a few minutes to read this post and understand any action you may need to take.
Read more…Legislation will require new homes to have electric vehicle chargers
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has committed to legislation that will make it mandatory for new homes to have electric vehicle charging points installed from 2022.
Laura Edgar, The Planner
All neighbourhoods should have a parish council to aid levelling up, says report
A centre-right think tank has recommended strengthening the quality of governance in town and parish councils to help communities and places to level up.
Laura Edgar, The Planner
Minister refuses proposal for Pembrokeshire solar park
Welsh climate change minister Julie James has agreed with an inspector and rejected a proposal for a solar park close to the Pembrokeshire Coastal National Park (PCNP) after accepting that its benefits did not outweigh the harm to best-quality agricultural land.
Huw Morris, The Planner
Our latest Planning Market Insight Report included a feature from Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH). Below are their thoughts on the effects of the new Permitted Development (PD) rights.
Read more…Kwarteng approves South Humber Bank Energy Centre
Energy secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has granted a development consent order (DCO) for EP Waste Management Limited’s nationally significant South Humber Bank Energy Centre scheme.
Laura Edgar, The Planner
Swanscombe named as an SSSI
Swanscombe Peninsula has been selected as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) by Natural England’s board at a public meeting.
Laura Edgar, The Planner
Council sets up placemaking company
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council is establishing a placemaking company to drive forward stewardship-led regeneration across the area.
Laura Edgar, The Planner
Typically, we would expect to see a rise in the number of applications submitted in October when compared to September, however, this year continues to surprise us. It’s the first October since 2016 that we’ve seen application numbers drop below those received in the previous month, rather than increase.
Money for ‘vital’ infrastructure to be loaned to housebuilders
Housing minister Christopher Pincher has set out loan funding of at least £624 million to deliver schools, health services and transport links to support the delivery of new homes.
Laura Edgar, The Planner
COP26: Governments pledge to protect nature
‘Urgent’ action and investment to protect nature has been pledged by 45 governments, the UK Government has announced.
Laura Edgar, The Planner
Cash allocated for locally led projects
Levelling-up secretary Michael Gove has announced £200 million for 477 locally led projects that are intended to ‘breathe new life’ into UK towns, villages and coastal communities.
Laura Edgar, The Planner
The Royal Town Planning Institute’s (RTPI) Directory of Planning Consultants is open for 2022 renewals, you can now secure your listing before the 31 December 2021 deadline!
The RTPI Directory is a resource for individuals to actively find a planning consultant for their forthcoming developments.
Read more…COP26: Time is running out, says Johnson
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has told global leaders at the start of the COP26 conference that it is ‘one minute to midnight’ on the ‘Doomsday clock’ of climate change and that ‘we need to act now’.
Laura Edgar, The Planner
Budget and Spending Review: Sunak outlines £24bn housing settlement
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has committed to a multi-year investment worth £24 billion for housing, as well as confirming a £65 million investment to digitise the planning process.
Laura Edgar, The Planner
Budget and Spending Review: Sunak allocates first round of bids to Levelling Up Fund
In his Budget on 27 October Chancellor Rishi Sunak allocated the first round of bids from the Levelling Up Fund, which totals £1.7 billion for investment in more than 100 local areas.
Laura Edgar, The Planner
With nine months of 2021 passed, we thought it would be interesting to take look at residential proposals submitted during this time using the Full Planning and Outline forms.
When completing the Full Planning and Outline forms, applicants are required to provide information on residential units (including conversion) and whether proposals include the gain, loss or change of use of residential units. If this is the case, further details are then captured on the total number of existing and proposed dwellings that exist at present, as well as the number after the development is complete, by housing category and dwelling type.
Whilst the above data is captured on all forms, there is a difference between the national online Full Planning and Outline forms in England and the London Borough authorities. In light of these differing data requirements, the following analysis looks at the national residential submissions excluding London.
Read more…
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