I’m delighted to announce the launch on our site of a new digital mapping tool, ReQuestaPlan. This competitive product, developed by our parent company TerraQuest, enables you to create location plans and site/block plans for submission with planning applications, alongside our other compliant mapping partners.
With ReQuestaPlan you pay per map, helping you control costs. And by supporting our service you’ll help us to keep the Planning Portal’s building control and planning application services free for our >500k individual website users.
The service allows you to create plans to show the location in its surroundings, or as a detailed site plan, just by using a postcode and simple drawing tools. The output can be previewed online to ensure its suitability before purchase.
How ReQuestaPlan helps your building project
- Easy to use
- Competitive prices
- Instant downloads
- No account required
- Free drawing tools
- Online video help available
Find out more about our new mapping tool.
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Green belt is key natural capital asset, says Helm
The green belt should be preserved and treated as a key part of the country’s natural capital ‘asset register’, according to the chair of the Natural Capital Committee…
Martin Read, The Planner
Northern Powerhouse must include housing element
Cities and regions in the north of England face a housing crisis unless steps are taken now to incorporate and accelerate residential development in plans for a Northern Powerhouse, says AECOM…
Laura Edgar, The Planner
Right to Build taskforce is launched
A Right to Build expert task force that aims to help 80 organisations across the UK deliver more homes over the next three years has been launched…
Laura Edgar, The Planner
Council sanctions £183m council housing investment
Birmingham City Council has approved a £183 million investment into its council housing…
Laura Edgar, The Planner
Offshore wind farm construction on a high – statistics
The total construction value for projects in the offshore wind farm sector reached £4.1 billion in 2016, increasing from £2.45 billion in 2015, according to latest statistics…
Laura Edgar, The Planner
A round-up of planning news…
- Sheffield mixed-use scheme green-lit
- Masterplan approved for Glasgow uni expansion
- London council approves hotel plans
- Contractor appointed for Manchester development
- Cotswolds to increase enforcement resources
- New appointments to HCA board
Laura Edgar, The Planner
Read the full story by clicking on the headline.
Neighbourhood Planning Bill: Communities should have a say over pub conversions
The House of Lords has debated permitted development rights that might see a pub’s use change and neighbourhood planning groups being informed of national infrastructure projects…~
Laura Edgar, The Planner
Bakerloo Line extension to support 25,000 new homes
Transport for London (TfL) has launched a consultation into the extension of the Bakerloo London Underground line, which could release 25,000 new homes…
Laura Edgar, The Planner
Report: Parks face period of decline
The contribution that parks make to public health, community integration and climate change mitigation needs more recognition, a Communities and Local Government committee report finds…
Laura Edgar, The Planner
Thames Estuary to become creative hub
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has published plans to transform the Thames Estuary into a focal point for the creative and cultural industries…
Laura Edgar, The Planner
Green light for 1,500-home scheme in Cardiff
Cardiff City Council has approved outline proposals from developer Persimmon Homes for a 1,500-home neighbourhood on the north-west flank of the Welsh capital…
Roger Milne, The Planner
News round up
A round-up of planning news
- Call for evidence in Scotland on building regulations
- £170 million plan to dual Somerset road
- Contractor appointed for Oxford scheme
- New Cornwall community approved
- Nathaniel Lichfield & Partners changes to Lichfields
- And more stories…
Laura Edgar, The Planner
Last year, Welsh government went out to tender for someone to run their online planning application service from 2018 and we’re delighted to announce that we were the successful bidder.
The Portal continuing to provide a comprehensive service across England and Wales is fantastic news for us and more importantly for our customers, many of whom submit across different local authorities in both regions and can continue to benefit from the consistency we provide.
It also provides a national platform for us to deliver additional services to Wales, such as our recent building control application service. These will be delivered outside of this contract in our mission to continue to transform planning and building.
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Government’s neighbourhood planning policy challenged
A growing group of claimants has sent a judicial review application letter to the High Court in relation to the government’s ministerial statement on neighbourhood plans…
Laura Edgar, The Planner
Guidance published to drive forward local growth
Advice that aims to enable pro-growth councils, the real estate sector and central government to development more innovative ways of driving forward local growth together has been published…
Laura Edgar, The Planner
Report: Focus should be on releasing land through planning system
Efforts should be focused on improving the release of land through the planning system to boost building levels, says a planning consultancy…
Laura Edgar, The Planner
Cardiff region city deal delivery plan approved
The City of Cardiff Council’s cabinet has approved a report setting out how the 10 local authorities in South East Wales involved with the Cardiff Capital Region City Deal will work together to ensure the £1.2 billion package delivers for the sub-region…
Roger Milne, The Planner
Dorset councils seek to merge
Six councils in Dorset have supported plans to change local government structures in the county and merger together…
Laura Edgar, The Planner
News in brief
A round-up of planning news…
- Employers to develop planning apprenticeship
- 17th century Monmouthshire building to be restored
- 275,000 sign petitions to save Nottinghamshire forest from fracking
- UK cities report record levels of construction
- Challenge to Heathrow third runway halted
- And more stories…
Laura Edgar, The Planner
January has whizzed past at a rate of knots and the increase in planning and building control applications continues. January saw 43,031 planning applications submitted to local authorities through the Planning Portal. That’s a rise of 7.6% on the number of applications submitted through our service last January.
Take-up to our building control application service also continues to grow. We now have more than 100 local authorities and 11 Approved Inspectors set up to receive applications, with around 1,250 applications successfully submitted since it went live late last year. Why not give it a try here if you haven’t already? If you’re a building control body who wants to receive applications and you aren’t already set up, please contact your Account Manager.
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250,000 social rented homes could be lost by 2020 – CIH
Nearly 250,000 of the cheapest rented homes could be lost between 2012 and 2020 in England, according to the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH)…
Laura Edgar, The Planner
Redhill cinema scheme approved
Reigate & Banstead Borough Council’s planning committee has approved a £40 million multiplex cinema, restaurants and shops in Redhill town centre, Surrey…
Laura Edgar, The Planner
Planning tool upgraded to help London’s transport challenges
Transport for London (TfL) has upgraded its online planning tool in an attempt to help the capital’s planners design housing and business developments for the future…
Laura Edgar, The Planner
Study suggests disconnect over housing development viability in Wales
A report that looks at why viability issues are stalling housing developments assessed as deliverable in local development plans highlights a disconnect between the aspirations of house builders/developers and local planning authorities…
Roger Milne, The Planner
Report: Estate regeneration demands a new approach
A fresh approach to regenerating London’s estates is required, and London businesses suggest that it could include building on disused spaces such as empty garages…
Laura Edgar, The Planner
News in brief
A round-up of planning news
- Construction begins on Manchester build to rent scheme
- Birmingham industrial unit approved
- New hospital to be built in Westminster
- Belfast residents invited to contribute to city’s development
- Northern Line extension tunnelling to begin
- Buntingford care home approved
- And more stories…
Laura Edgar, The Planner
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Neighbourhood Planning Bill: Lords express concerns about planning conditions measures
Members of the House of Lords have expressed both support for and concern about measures for pre-commencement planning conditions laid out in the Neighbourhood Planning Bill – some calling for more evidence to suggest they delay house building…
Laura Edgar, the Planner
£1.2 billion allocated for England’s roads
Transport minister Andrew Jones has announced the allocation of £1.2 billion of roads funding in England…
Laura Edgar, The Planner
Report: Helping SME builders could boost housing delivery
The number of SME builders has reduced by approximately 80 per cent over the last 25 years, according to a new report by the Home Builders Federation (HBF)…
Laura Edgar, The Planner
Canterbury Cathedral welcome centre approved
Canterbury City Council has granted planning approval and listed building consent for the design of a new welcome centre for Canterbury Cathedral…
Laura Edgar, The Planner
Key report backs Swansea tidal lagoon as ‘pathfinder project’
Swansea Council leader Rob Stewart has welcomed the publication of an independent review by former energy minister Charles Hendry, backing proposals for a £1.3 billion tidal lagoon in Swansea Bay…
Roger Milne, The Planner
News in brief
A round-up of planning news:
- RTPI publishes Neighbourhood Planning Bill brief
- Incentives for pensioners to downsize
- Pollution zones in Scotland rise to 38
- Site clearance for Midland Metro begins
- RTPI calls for bursary sponsors
- New homes for historic Leicestershire village
Laura Edgar, The Planner
Read the full story by clicking on the headline.
72% of councillors think planning system is undemocratic
Councillors in England think that the planning system works in the interests of developers over councils and local communities, according to new survey…
Laura Edgar, The Planner
Britain to get quick-build homes – Javid
Communities secretary Sajid Javid says Britain will get thousands of new homes through a quick-build modular method…
Laura Edgar, The Planner
Javid assigns £7bn to affordable homes
Communities secretary Sajid Javid has unlocked £7 billion in an expansion of the government’s affordable housing programme that aims to help the country’s housing needs to be met…
Laura Edgar, The Planner
Scheme launched to stop infrastructure delays halting house building
A pilot scheme to stop infrastructure hold-ups delaying construction of new homes has been launched by the Housing & Finance Institute. The government has backed the scheme…
Laura Edgar, The Planner
Swansea ‘box village’ project unveiled
The University of Wales Trinity St David has unveiled proposals for a so-called Swansea ‘box village’ made up of thousands of former shipping containers providing up to 18,580 square metres of floor space…
Roger Milne, The Planner
News in brief – A Round-up of planning news
• RTPI awards for planning excellence 2017 entries closed
• 60-bed Cheshire care home approved
• Government to announce support for Swansea lagoon
• Kier granted £42m by HCA
• Khan announces new low-emission bus zones
• Ealing regeneration project approved
• Europa Way application submitted in Warwick
• Buyer secured for Birmingham development site.
Laura Edgar, The Planner
A belated happy new year to you all! Is it just me, or is Christmas already a distant memory?!
As anticipated, things quietened down over the festive period, but as always planning applications continued to go in every day, including Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day which saw 21, 54 and 131 applications respectively!
I’m kicking off the year with a couple of announcements about strategic partnerships which we finalised just before Christmas. Our mission is to continue to transform planning and building, but we recognise that the best way to do this is by working in partnership with other strong, credible organisations who share our values and aspirations.
Last year, I mentioned that we had formed a partnership with the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and were now promoting the jobs vacancies from their official magazine, The Planner on our site. If you are looking for a new challenge or looking to recruit, you can take a look at it here. We’re pleased that we’ve recently agreed to extend this partnership to include their extensive and up-to-the minute news coverage in our site too. So, you can now find all the latest planning news in our site on our revamped pages and our newsletter will still bring you the highlights every week in a neat digestible package.
Also just before Christmas we were pleased to enter a strategic partnership with LABC, the not-for-profit organisation which represents local authority building control teams across England and Wales. We look forward to working closely with them to enhance our existing building control content, advice and guidance, as well as our application service. Anyone wishing to make a building control application can do so here. Any building control body not yet signed up to receive applications via the service should contact the Portal Account Manager in their area.
It’s going to be a busy year, we’re working hard on enhancements to both the planning and building control application services, as well as other innovative products and services which will help to transform planning and building. I’ll post more here as those things move on, but in the meantime it just remains for me to wish everyone a happy, healthy and prosperous 2017.
Planning Portal Blog 