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News and in-depth coverage of environmental issues and the effect of climate change on town planning.
Page Title RSS feedEnvironment News
Emerging plan's 3,500-home allocation next to rewilding project 'would stop nature in its tracks', conservation figures tell Jenrick
More than 30 senior conservation figures have criticised the government's planning policies for having "not caught up" with its wider pledges to protect and enhance the natural world and have highlighted an emerging local plan's 3,500-home site allocation next to one of England's most high-profile rewilding sites.
Kwarteng delays 1.8GW wind farm decision following court's quashing of sister project
Business and energy secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has delayed a decision on a development consent order (DCO) for a 1.8 gigawatt wind farm off the Norfolk coast, after the High Court earlier in the year overturned consent for the scheme's sister project.
Plans submitted for solar 'green hydrogen' facility in Dorset green belt
A renewable energy company has submitted a planning application to produce so-called 'green hydrogen' from a new solar farm in the Dorset green belt.
Campaigners mull legal action after councillors overturn planning committee vote to approve Southampton Airport runway extension
Campaigners have said they are taking legal advice after full council members resolved to approve plans for an extension to Southampton International Airport’s runway, overturning a separate planning committee vote against the application on climate change grounds.
Green light for 1,300-home West Sussex scheme with 80% biodiversity net gain on site allocated for 1,000 units
Plans have been approved for a 1,300-home scheme proposing an 80 per cent biodiversity net gain on a West Sussex greenfield site, after officers advised that, though the number of units would exceed the local plan site allocation, the development would help meet the council's housing land supply deficit.
Campaigners seek to continue legal battle after High Court rejects challenge to Oxfordshire plan
An environmental campaign group has said it is continuing its legal battle to overturn the adoption of South Oxfordshire District Council’s (SODC) local plan after a High Court judge rejected its judicial review application and ordered it to pay the council's £8,000 court costs.
Latest Environment Opinion
How planning is frustrating the drive to quadruple offshore wind power capacity by 2030, by Angus Walker
Years of delays to major offshore wind projects suggest that the planning system is not playing its part in achieving the government's aim of quadrupling capacity by 2030.
Letter: Recent approval is a prime example of the type of unsustainable development we must reject
The recent approval of plans for a 1,100-home greenfield urban extension to Preston, despite the site being identified as open countryside in the council's adopted local plan, represents the opposite of what the planning system is meant to achieve.
A year on: How Covid has changed planning forever, by Catriona Riddell
As we pass the one year mark from our first Covid lockdown, many will be reflecting on the changes this exceptional year has brought to the world, including the way we plan places.
The choices and opportunities that await the OxCam arc's spatial planners, by Angus Walker
As the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government finally announces a spatial plan for the Oxford to Cambridge arc, a chance to pursue the ideas set out in its energy white paper also presents itself.
- Team Leader - Plan Making and Infrastructure – Spatial Planning Ashford Borough Council Ashford, Kent
- Registration Team Leader South Oxfordshire District Council & Vale of White Horse District Council Didcot, Oxfordshire
- Senior Planner Whaleback Hove, East Sussex
- Specialist Advisor – Conservation Lewes District and Eastbourne Borough Councils Eastbourne & Lewes
- Associate Planner / Director with Energy Sector experience (UK wide) Pegasus Group. Bristol, Cirencester and Leeds
Environment In Depth
The practical implications of government directions to ensure tree-lined streets
Proposed changes to the National Planning Policy Framework will see authorities required to make new streets tree-lined, but don’t resolve the financial issues that make highways authorities reluctant to adopt them
How local plans are being changed by councils’ climate emergency declarations
Many councils have declared “climate emergencies”, with some reviewing their local plans to introduce policies aiming to cut carbon emissions. But practitioners have warned that such local changes are constrained by national policies and guidance which conflict with climate change objectives.
Why draft changes to the NPPF 'sustainable development' definition would mean plan-makers focusing more on urban housing and climate change
A proposed expansion of the national planning policy definition of sustainable development for plan-making, is likely to mean that those preparing development strategies will have to focus more on allocating housing in urban areas, as well as on environmental considerations, practitioners have suggested. However, some consultants have warned that it could make it easier for recalcitrant councils to resist fully meeting their development needs.
How the UK-EU trade agreement could change the planning system: the Planning Briefing
What Britain’s departure from the European Union means for planning regulations and environmental protection laws.