A Happy New Year to all our readers! Perhaps it hasn’t been entirely the start to the year that we were hoping for but a recent appeal decision (DCS Number 400-029-162) reminds us that planners are always looking ahead to a brighter future.
Monthly Archives: January 2021
News from PlanningResource
- May local elections ‘likely to be delayed’ January 11, 2021Speculation over whether May's local and mayoral elections will be postponed in light of the coronavirus upsurge and news of the completion of London’s “largest ever office building” feature in today's newspaper roundup.
- Number of housing sites planned on London's green belt has trebled in four years, report claims January 8, 2021The number of housing sites allocated on London's green belt in local plans has trebled in the past four years, according to a study by a conservation pressure group, which claims that planning inspectors are unnecessarily "insisting" on green belt reviews.
- Inspector allows 440-home scheme on allocated site after Kent council's 'unreasonable' refusal January 8, 2021A planning inspector has granted permission for up to 440 homes on an allocated greenfield site in Kent and issued a partial costs award against the local authority, after concluding that there was "no demonstrable evidence" backing up one of the council's reasons for refusal on highways grounds.
- Inspector backs north Essex joint local plan following removal of 34,000-home garden communities January 8, 2021Three north Essex councils may have to begin the process of identifying adequate land to make up for the deletion of two garden communities totalling 34,000 homes from their joint local plan, after a planning inspector backed the adoption of the document without the two proposed settlements.
- Homebuilding sector 'benefits from housing market boom’ January 8, 2021News of the resilience of the housebuilding sector during the pandemic leads our roundup of today's newspapers.
- What the government's latest housing need changes mean for the areas subject to higher requirement levels January 7, 2021The vast majority of the 52 local authorities that will have to apply a new 35 per cent uplift to their housing need levels under the revised standard method will be subject to figures far in excess of their recent delivery levels. Meeting such an increased need will be a challenge say observers and risks […]
- The implications of the government's latest housing need changes for councils not subject to the new uplift January 7, 2021The government's announcement that it will backtrack on plans to radically revise its standard method of assessing housing need means that almost 85 per cent of councils will see their local housing need levels unchanged compared to the existing formula. Commentators say that many English councils have been left with unambitious figures but ministers' change […]
- Inspector 'fell into fundamental error' in allowing mosque plans, Appeal Court rules January 7, 2021Permission for the conversion of a north west London builder's yard into a mosque has been overturned by the Court of Appeal, after a judge found there to have been a "fundamental defect" in a planning inspector's decision.
- Jenrick decides not to call in Cumbrian deep coal mine plan, despite environmental concerns January 7, 2021Communities secretary Robert Jenrick has decided not to call in a planning application for a deep coal mine in Cumbria, paving the way for the local council to grant it final approval.
- RTPI announces record membership levels of 26,000 January 7, 2021The Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) has announced a record number of members, saying it has exceeded 26,000 for the first time.