Read the full story on our website by clicking on the headline.
Ministers press ahead with pre-commencement conditions revamp and neighbourhood plan regime changes
Government publishes responses on consultations aimed at strengthening the neighbourhood planning regime and improving the use of planning conditions…
New Homes Bonus scheme revamp confirmed
Javid announces changes to the New Homes Bonus scheme including the introduction of a national baseline for housing growth of 0.4 per cent…
EIA modifications consultation launched
New consultation on the latest version of the Environment Impact Assessment launched, with potential changes to the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and the infrastructure planning regime…
National Infrastructure Commission bangs the drum for a 5G blueprint
New report, “Connected Future”, calls for prioritisation of digital infrastructure in local planning policy to ensure the UK is ready for 5G…
Historic England calls for a capital heritage strategy in new London Plan
New report from Historic England calls for a revised London Plan that encourages future planning and design to be inspired by a place’s historic character…
Planning round-up 22 December 2016
- Proposals for 2,000-home Northumberland garden village submitted
- Latest development control stats
- Northamptonshire housing scheme rebuffed again
- New Nantwich neighbourhood approved
- Peers call for changes to HS2 Bill powers and compensation package
- Javid blocks solar farm near Heathrow
- Think-tank warns that housing supply crisis worst in high growth areas
- Stratford on Avon acts to safeguard jobs on contested airfield site
- And more stories…
Roger Milne
So, Christmas and New Year are nearly upon us – how did that happen? It’s been another busy year at the Portal, but fantastic to see the team so full of energy and enthusiasm to deliver improvements and new products and services for our customers. Next year, the pace will continue unabated, but in the meantime there is time for a brief pause to reflect on the year’s work:
- We started the year with a new Planning Portal – a fresher look, but critically more modern infrastructure and a site which was designed to work as well on mobiles and tablets as it does on the desktop.
- Planning applications continued to grow despite fears around Brexit. The percentage submitted online is also growing. By the end of December, we will have seen around 550,000 applications submitted to English and Welsh authorities via the Portal and more than 3 million in total since we started.
- In the summer, we re-designed the Interactive House to make it accessible on mobile devices and traffic rose sharply as a result.
- We also launched a new ‘Find your local trade professional‘ service in partnership with the Federation of Master Builders and start-up Plentific.
- We’ve developed a strong partnership with the RTPI, the first step of which was to work with them on the promotion of The Planner Jobs.
- And we rounded the year off with the launch of our new national building control application service, which is already taking off in terms of building control bodies signed up and application numbers.
There are already plenty of announcements in the pipeline for the New Year – new partners, new services and improvements to the application services. You’ll also see a new look to our news publishing which I’m sure will be popular.
In the meantime, for those of you who will be working over the festive period our Support desk will be available as usual (except for the bank holidays) to help with any problems. Regardless of your plans, the whole team thanks you for your continuing support this year and we wish you all the very best for Christmas and the New Year.
Read the full story on our website by clicking on the headline.
Neighbourhood plans strengthened by government
Protection increased for neighbourhood plans so that they are no longer deemed out of date unless there is a significant lack of land supply in the wider local authority area…
Finance and new advice for estate regeneration
Planning’s role in transforming neighbourhoods is highlighted as the government announces an additional £32m of funding to help regenerate neglected housing estates…
New poll paints bleak picture of planning resources
Joint research finds that over 90 per cent of local authorities believe the government’s housing targets will be impossible to meet due to a lack of planning resources…
Developers who quashed Sussex neighbourhood plan lose appeal
Javid refuses appeal for redevelopment of the former Sandgate Nurseries, a decision that comes after the developers successfully challenged the lawfulness of the approved Henfield Neighbourhood Plan…
Javid allows out of town Sainsbury’s development at Southport
Javid agrees that a Sainsbury’s store should be approved for a Southport out-of-town retail park, stating that the scheme would not harm the vitality of the town centre…
Planning round-up 15 December 2016
– Developers criticise Greater Manchester strategy for lack of ambition
– Bristol’s Broadmead revamp
– Sheffield mulls urban outdoor facility
– Chocks away for Surrey airport homes proposal?
– East Sussex parish councillors resign over Javid appeal decision
– East Leeds 1,100-home project makes progress
– Shortfall in custom builders’ registers revealed
– Bentley’s Crewe master-plan unveiled
– And more stories…
Roger Milne
Read the full story on our website by clicking on the headline.
Report warns of ‘inappropriate’ development in National Parks
A report published this week by three key conservation bodies highlights the threat to National Parks from major developments and fracking…
Three new rail stations proposed for Leeds in ambitious transport strategy
Leeds City Council has unveiled proposals for three new rail stations and an airport rail link as part of a planned £270m investment in transport for the city…
Master plan submitted for 1,000-home mixed-use project in Rochdale
Russell Homes has proposed a ‘long-term’ development of a 130-hectare site in South Heywood, involving up to 1,000 new homes…
Communities Secretary approves 680-home new neighbourhood for Eastleigh
Javid allows appeal for a sustainable development near Eastleigh, concluding that the adverse impacts of the scheme do not significantly and demonstrably outweigh the identified benefits…
Scottish government proposes huge hike in planning charges
Proposals for the fees of major planning applications to be increased fourfold have been put forward by Scottish government…
Planning round-up 8 December 2016
– Boost for private rented provision
– Deal over Leeds skyscraper risks
– Shale gas planning aid
– Homes & Communities Agency regulatory reform backed
– Durham pause local plan pending Housing White Paper
– Surrey solar farm blocked
– Green light for Bristol redevelopment
– Birmingham free school approved
– And more stories…
Roger Milne
With Christmas approaching at a rate of knots, the planning application numbers continue to rise. November saw 45,834 applications submitted, that’s an 11% increase on November last year. So far, we’ve seen no sign of the Christmas slow-down, although history tells us that some applications will even go in on Christmas Day!
On building control, we’re also seeing an uptake in the number of building control bodies signed up and the number of applications submitted. In the eight weeks since launch, we’ve seen 59 local authorities and 9 approved inspectors go live with the service. In the same time period, we’ve seen around 4,500 building regulations approval applications started. We’re just testing the first post-launch release to the service as well, so as soon as its passed testing, I’ll post an update on what’s included and when its coming here. If your are a building control body and haven’t yet signed up, please do speak to your Account Manager.
This chart is based on the average number of applications submitted through the Planning Portal on a working day
Sorry this post isn’t about beer or even last orders, but at least I got your attention!
It’s about our latest release at the weekend, which included a new message to warn users when they are getting close to being timed out of our planning application service.
For most users this hasn’t been a problem, but we understand that there is nothing more frustrating than taking a long call or popping out to a meeting without saving the application, only to find that you’ve been timed out and may have lost some work.
Of course, time outs are necessary for data and system security. Our service will still time you out after 30 minutes of inactivity, but now you will get a message 10 minutes before, warning you what is about to happen.
It’s still best to hit the ‘Next’ or ‘Previous’ button at the bottom of each page before you step away from the application you’re working on, as this will save all your work so far, but at least this change should provide a little extra comfort.
Read the full story on our website by clicking on the headline.
Ministers warned over latest reforms to pre-commencement conditions
The British Property Federation and the Planning Officers Society have advised that current legislative proposals set out in the Neighbourhood Planning Bill do not allow enough flexibility and risk adding further delays to the planning process…
Campaign to Protect Rural England claims sufficient brownfield sites are available for over 1.1m new homes
New research incorporating data from the brownfield register, calculates that suitable brownfield sites can provide between 1.1 and 1.4 million new homes across England…
Government rejects call by peers for built environment specialist
The National Policy for the Built Environment Committee’s recommendation for the creation of a Chief Built Environment Adviser has been refused by the government…
MoD identifies 91 surplus sites to sell for new housing
Defence secretary announces that more than 13,152-hectares of excess defence land are to be released to support the MOD’s target to provide enough land for 55,000 homes…
Cheshire homes schemes allowed on appeal despite neighbourhood plan conflicts
Communities Secretary allows two housing developments on appeal, concluding in both cases that the schemes demonstrated sustainable development…
Planning round-up 10 November 2016
– Major housing scheme timelines
– Enforcement boost in Northamptonshire
– RTPI bangs drum over green belt and greenfield homes
– Council borrowing freedom needed to increase affordable housing delivery
– Key Liverpool master plan unveiled
– Basement review
– Confederation of British Industry urges more coherent housing strategy
– Think-tanks call for Welsh Valleys enterprise zone
– And more stories…
Roger Milne
We’re pleased to be sponsoring this year’s ArchitEx event in Liverpool next week (15/16 November). The event started last year and was a great success.
The programme has come together well – if you haven’t decided to attend yet, its worth taking a look it here.
If you’re planning to be there, do make sure that you stop by our stand (B33) to say hello to the team. Or if you’d like to arrange a meeting, email us at communications@planningportal.co.uk
Read the full story on our website by clicking on the headline.
MPs urge radical overhaul of flood management in England
In a report on future flood prevention the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee have recommended a new governance model to coordinate regional delivery of national flood management plans…
County councils warm to potential new local plan-making role
Amendments made to the Neighbourhood Planning Bill will allow county councils ‘by invitation’ to prepare development plan documents where a district council was failing to do so…
Think-tank report calls for more ‘Metro Mayor’ housing powers
IPPR North report highlights ‘Metro Mayors’ as best placed to tackle housing issues in their areas and argues for more control over planning and housing to be devolved to them…
Neighbourhood plan concerns help sink Hereford and Cheshire housing schemes
Communities Secretary refuses a development in Bartestree for 100 homes and separately a 200 home scheme in Sandbach, both were in conflict with neighbourhood plans…
Heathrow decision faces turbulent take-off
According to experts, the government’s decision on Heathrow is likely to face a number of legal challenges as well as parliamentary scrutiny that could delay work starting until the late 2020s…
Planning round-up 3 November 2016
– Greater Manchester blueprint makes progress
– National Infrastructure Commission gathers momentum
– Farm turbines allowed in Yorkshire and Cornwall, Herts solar farm blocked
– Homes and Communities Agency shake-up on the cards…
– Cardiff container ‘city’ mooted
– Green light for Cornish ‘six-star’ resort
– Hertfordshire council’s basement advice surfaces
– And more stories…
Roger Milne
Read the full story on our website by clicking on the headline.
Government promises new local plan reforms in Bill
Planning Minister tells MPs what he wants to achieve with amendments that are planned for the Neighbourhood Planning Bill as it is scrutinised in the Commons…
Ministers opt for third runway at Heathrow
Government expects Heathrow expansion to bring a major boost to the UK economy worth up to £61bn, however it faces the prospect of a series of legal challenges to its airport capacity decision…
Residents reject Derbyshire neighbourhood plan
Swanwick Neighbourhood Plan rejected by local residents, the first time a ‘no’ vote has been registered out of around 250 referendums on the new type of development plans…
Decision due for draft Greater Manchester spatial framework
Local authority leaders in Greater Manchester are scheduled to meet on 28 October to decide whether to approve the draft Greater Manchester Spatial Framework…
Khan outlines proposals for higher density capital
London Mayor outlines the capital’s development strategy in ‘A City for All Londoners’, highlighting higher density development in areas where new transport links are set to open…
Planning round-up 27 October 2016
– National Grid proposes major undergrounding project for National Park
– Latest Heritage at Risk Register published
– Sheerness redevelopment project
– Major Bournemouth redevelopment mooted
– Woking proposes new strategic green belt site release
– Social housing sales figures
– Leeds edge of centre retail scheme
– And more stories…
Roger Milne
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