Our planning news is published in association with The Planner, the official magazine of the Royal Town Planning Institute. Land-use task force required in the UKThe Geospatial Commission recommends that a Land Use Analysis Taskforce should be established to make sure national priorities related to infrastructure, housing, agriculture and the environment are delivered across the UK. Stockport names its partner for town centre schemeStockport Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC) has announced that it is partnering with The English Cities Fund (ECF) on a long-term joint venture that will see th ..read more

Following on from the huge success of the first ever National Planning Conference last year, we are excited to announce that the National Planning Conference 2023 will take place on 9 & 10 November in the Mercian suite at the Birmingham Conference and Event Centre.  The event will be held in collaboration between ourselves and the Royal Town Planning Institute.  More information on the National Planning Conference 2023 will follow soon.  If you would like to register your interest in the National Planning Conference, please sign up to our NPC 2023 mailing list here.   ..read more

Once an application has been received by a Local Authority, an amendment may be needed. Both the applicant/agent and the Local Authority can instigate this:  Applicant/Agent initiated – wants to update proposal (e.g. revised plans) or make a correction (e.g. details were accidentally omitted)  Local Authority initiated – needs applicant/agent to resolve a validation issue (e.g. incorrect fee or missing/incorrect information)  Guidance for applicants and agents on making an amendment is available on the site.  In all cases, we advise that parties should contact each othe ..read more

Our planning news is published in association with The Planner, the official magazine of the Royal Town Planning Institute. Maclean announces student bursary for planning degreesStudents from across England will benefit from a bursary of £5,000 to follow a career in planning, housing minister Rachel Maclean has announced. The Planner College improvements and homes plan submitted in SurreyA planning application to upgrade the Brooklands College campus in Weybridge and deliver more than 300 homes, including units designated as affordable, has been lodged with Elmbridge Borough Council. Laura Edg ..read more

There was a total of 47,282 applications submitted through the Planning Portal in April 2023. This is 9% lower than the number of total applications that were submitted in April 2022. Read our article for further insight into the latest planning application submission activity ..read more

Our planning news is published in association with The Planner, the official magazine of the Royal Town Planning Institute. Decline in workload for SME housebuilding sectorA survey has shown that workloads declined during the first quarter of 2023 for the SME housebuilding sector. Laura Edgar, The Planner Plans submitted for upgrade to Liverpool Street stationA planning application has been lodged with the City of London Corporation to turn Liverpool Street station into a ‘world-class transport hub and landmark seven-days-a-week destination’. Laura Edgar, The Planner Record flood defence spend ..read more

The introduction to the Planning Portal of the location plan feature, launched last week, has proven to be working well and we are delighted with the successful implementation.   Over the first four working days since its introduction, 953 applications were submitted using the new feature to draw the site boundary and create a location plan. In addition, 1,933 applicants also used the tool to begin their application and created a draft to return to later. The data also shows us that both large and smaller site boundaries are being drawn to cater for all types of proposal.   ..read more

It’s been twenty years since the first online planning application was submitted! In 2002, Planning Portal was established by the UK government to provide an entry point to online planning information and allow planning applications in England and Wales to be submitted online. And according to this RTPI News article from 4 April 2003, the first ever electronic planning application was submitted to Huntingdonshire District Council on 25 February 2003! This is a significant milestone for us and represents a great opportunity to reflect on how the Planning Portal has not just benefitted, but revo ..read more

Our planning news is published in association with The Planner, the official magazine of the Royal Town Planning Institute. 1,500 homes approved for garden townEast Herts District Council has granted planning permission for the seventh Gilston village, which will complete the planned development at Harlow and Gilston Garden Town. Laura Edgar, The Planner DLUHC proposes planning permission requirement for short-term letsThe Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) is consulting on proposals that would see planning permission required for an existing home to be used as a shor ..read more

There was a total of 60,285 applications submitted through the Planning Portal in March 2023. This was just 4% lower than the number of total applications submitted in March 2022. Read our article for further insight into the latest planning application submission activity ..read more