Registration for places at the Planning Portal Virtual Conference 2020 is now open, with early bird tickets available for only £75 +VAT, and free to attend for public sector officials.
The conference will take place from 16 – 19 November and will provide 12 hours of content over the four-day event, including speakers and panel discussions covering the most important topics effecting planning and building. The agenda will include planning reform, zero carbon targets, and technology in both development management and in the planning process.
Johnson outlines plans to change the use classes order
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has set out new regulations that will see buildings and land changing use without planning permission, with a policy paper due in July outlining how ‘England’s seven-decade-old planning system will be reformed for modern society’.
Laura Edgar, The Planner
Risk that social value is spread too thin in construction, finds report
The lack of a common definition of what constitutes social value means there is a high risk of it ‘becoming too diffuse and lacking focus’, according to a report published by the Institute of Economic Development (IED).
The Planner
Regenerate the countryside to regenerate the economy, says CPRE
A countryside charity has called on the government to ensure that everyone has access to green space, after the early period of total lockdown to prevent the spread of Covid-19 highlighted the inequalities surrounding who has access to it.
Laura Edgar, The Planner
The Planning Portal are delighted to be hosting our second annual Conference, taking place virtually this year from 16-19 November.
The Conference will be held online to ensure we can still connect delegates with multiple industry-leading keynote speakers and panel discussions, whilst keeping everyone safe during the uncertainty of COVID-19.
Read more…Jenrick ‘insisted’ Westferry decision was made before CIL regime change came into force
Documents released by housing secretary Robert Jenrick regarding his decision to approve a 1,524-home scheme on the Isle of Dogs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets show he ‘insisted’ a decision was made before it was ‘impacted by a change in the London CIL regime’.
Laura Edgar, The Planner
Covid-19: Planning expiry deadlines extended
Housing secretary Robert Jenrick has announced that planning permission deadlines will be extended as the government puts in place measures to support the construction industry and ‘boost building’.
Laura Edgar, The Planner
Climate and nature recovery should be addressed as one, suggests report
Restoring degraded habitats would see them absorb a third of the UK’s carbon emissions, suggests a report, as a wildlife charity insists that the climate and nature crises should be tackled together as one.
Laura Edgar, The Planner
New planning rules have been announced by the Prime Minister, who said on Tuesday that he wanted the UK to “build, build, build” during the recovery from COVID-19, boosting the economy and the construction industry. The “radical” regulation changes will look to ease restrictions and grant increased liberties to change the use of properties and land without planning permission and allows residential homes to be constructed from unoccupied properties, such as vacant shops.
Read more…In case you missed it, recently Scott Alford, the Head of Business Development here at the Planning Portal, joined Peter Kemp from the Greater London Authority to take part in a #plantalk webinar, focusing on ‘How we can make the process of planning and building easier?’. #plantalk videos are an online resource, created by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and Greater London Authority to help connect the planning and building sector and update listeners about different areas within it.
Read more…The latest set of amendments to Permitted Development legislation have been published by Government.
From 1 August, these will implement changes to several of the current prior approval procedures for the creation of dwellings to ensure that “provision of adequate natural light to all habitable rooms” is considered by Local Authorities, and that they should refuse proposals that do not meet requirements.
Read more…We’re delighted to announce that our parent company TerraQuest Solutions has been awarded the contract to deliver the Regional Planning IT system by the Department for Infrastructure Northern Ireland.
Working in partnership with 10 Northern Irish councils and the Department for Infrastructure, the contract will last for 10 years until 2030, with an opportunity to extend the contract for a further 10 years. The modernised service for the region will provide improved planning services to the public, including the ability to submit planning applications online, as well as a more effective and efficient resource for council staff and consultees.
Read more…COVID-19: Councils call for 100,000 social homes a year to aid recovery
The Local Government Association (LGA) has called for councils to be given the powers to build thousands of ‘desperately needed’ council homes to ‘spearhead’ the recovery from COVID-19.
Laura Edgar, The Planner
Flexible zoning system is needed to deliver homes, says think tank
A position paper has recommended that a flexible zoning code be designed by national and devolved governments to set out patterns of development in local plans.
Laura Edgar, The Planner
Reform minerals planning system ‘to ensure supply’
The minerals planning system should be reformed so that it guarantees the supply of the minerals required to support construction of homes and infrastructure .
Laura Edgar, The Planner
Tally of high-rise residences still with combustible cladding is ‘shocking’
There are 300 buildings with ACM cladding awaiting remediation, and another 11,300 buildings with other forms of combustible cladding, three years on from the fire at Grenfell Tower in west London, which killed 72 people.
Laura Edgar, The Planner
Estate regeneration application submitted to London council
Havering Council and Wates Residential have submitted an application to regenerate the Waterloo Estate in Romford for the council’s planning committee to consider.
Laura Edgar, The Planner
Temporary changes to planning rules come into force in Cheltenham
Cheltenham Borough Council is accelerating applications for temporary changes to the use of public areas and private land to help businesses to recover from the effects of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
Laura Edgar, The Planner
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