Information Links
Planning Resource
Main Navigation
News & Analysis
The latest UK town planning news, including development management, housing, retail & town centres, development plans, key appeal decisions, NPPF and changes to the planning system.
Take a look at our new email news bulletins.
Page Title RSS feedLatest News
Kensington and Chelsea 'to host England's first fully virtual planning committee meeting'
A London council is to this week hold what it claims is likely to be England's first "fully virtual" planning committee meeting since the government legislated to allow such events to be held remotely in response to the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.
Coronavirus: Pre-referendum neighbourhood plans to be given ‘significant weight’
Draft neighbourhood plans can be given "significant weight" in planning decisions if referendums have been delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic, updated government planning guidance has advised.
Coronavirus: Scottish planners told to consult online to keep system moving
Allowing online pre-application consultation events and suspending the need to post site notices are among a series of fresh measures being introduced by the Scottish Government in a bid to keep the planning system functioning during the coronavirus outbreak.
-
Appeal Court dismisses latest bid by 'planning recidivist' to seek approval for unlawful Surrey green belt home
-
PINS rejects Essex gas plant application over use of 'outdated' climate change data
-
Coronavirus 'has exposed class-based housing and green space issues'
-
Starmer names new shadow communities ministers
-
Quartermain appointed to public affairs role
-
Six councils ask government to confirm their housing land supply positions for a year
-
High Court upholds 760-home approval, despite 'incoherent' planning report
-
British construction activity 'fell at fastest rate since records began in March'
- Senior Specialist – Local Plan (Principal Policy Planner) Maldon District Council Maldon, Essex
- Project Officer - Planning Exeter City Council Exeter, Devon
- Senior Planning Officers North Lincolnshire Council North Lincolnshire
- Planner- Principal Planner (Career Grade) London Borough of Bexley Bexley (City/Town), London (Greater)
- Senior Policy Planners Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Cambridgeshire
- Principal Policy Planner (Project Manager) Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Cambridgeshire
- Assistant Planner - Solar Development Low Carbon Gloucester, Gloucestershire
- Forward Planning and Economic Growth Team Manager Mansfield and Ashfield Shared Service Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Nottingham
- Planning Officer Falkland Islands Government Falkland Islands (FK)
- Senior Planning Policy Officers X 2 Royal Borough of Kingston Kingston Upon Thames (City/Town), London (Greater)
Latest Features & Analysis
Neighbourhood Watch: Pandemic leads to referendum cancellations
News that the coronavirus pandemic has led to the cancellation of a series of neighbourhood plan referendums features in the latest Neighbourhood Watch update.
How to adapt local plan consultation in response to the Covid-19 outbreak
Councils will need to make better use of social media and online consultation methods to effectively consult on their local plans during the coronavirus crisis, say experts, but some warn that such techniques may not currently be suitable for all aspects of the process.
The implications of delegated and virtual decision-making
Local authorities are looking at using emergency delegated powers and a system of 'virtual' planning committees to allow decision-making to continue during the coronavirus outbreak. But practitioners warn that delegated powers are likely to be suitable for just a limited number of applications, while virtual committees face technical challenges and are likely to limit public participation.
Why councils may struggle to meet the government's new local plan deadline
Some practitioners say the government's latest December 2023 deadline for local plan adoption is an ambitious target that, given the slow progress of plan production to date, will be a challenge for many councils to meet. However, other observers say it should be achievable given the timescale.
Latest Comment
Virus lockdown has highlighted the things that should matter most to planners, by Catriona Riddell
During this current COVID-19 crisis we are in uncharted territory and are being asked to live one day at a time and not plan for tomorrow.
Legal Viewpoint: Planning to meet the needs of the present
Faced with the force majeure of Covid-19, the past fortnight has exposed our planning system’s core features and its social and political spine. Central to this is the ability for decisions to be taken in a public forum.
Efforts to keep the system moving through the pandemic are essential, by Richard Garlick
As we went to press, strenuous efforts were being made to keep the planning system moving in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
Another View, by Old
Planning's cartoonist casts his eye over the month's news....
What previous experience reveals about the pros and cons of zoning, by Cliff Hague
Robert Jenrick’s recent statement ahead of another planning White Paper flirts with the idea of switching planning in England from a policy-based to a zoning-based system.
Why the Building Better Building Beautiful Commission recommends Building Passports, by Euan Mills
Buried amongst the many recommendations of the Building Better Building Beautiful Commission is a recommendation to introduce Digital Building Passports.
Latest CIL Watch
Policy News & Updates
-
New committee meeting rules 'will allow planning system to move into 21st century'
-
Local Authorities and Police and Crime Panels (Coronavirus) (Flexibility of Local Authority and Police and Crime Panel Meetings) (England and Wales) Regulations 2020
-
Planning Procedures and COVID-19: Scottish Chief Planner letter
-
Revitalisation of the high street
-
Chief planner letter - Covid 19 advice