This is true, and we have failed to meet their needs for many years. Local plans produced by districts, boroughs, and cities across the country rarely have provision for housing for older people, and where they do, it is usually unsophisticated and limited to care homes or sheltered accommodations. Councils …

By Michael Hardware, Director of Planning and Property The Government has decided that legislation to hold council meetings virtually will not be extended. This means all future meetings will have to be exclusively physical in nature, held again in council chambers and committee rooms across the country.  The lockdown last year to …

By Ruby Burdett, Consultant  In March 2021, our client, Inspired Villages, hosted a workshop entitled ‘Housing-with-care’ at the Conservative Councillor’s Association (CCA) Local Government Conference. The presentation highlighted the current lack of provision of housing for older people, the limited choice and flexibility, and the impacts this is having on society.   Currently, living options for older people are limited: they can stay in their own home, they can move into retirement …

  Chelgate’s Michael Hardware has been appointed Vice President of the Chartered Institute of Journalists (CIOJ). The CIOJ is the world’s oldest journalism professional body, having received its first Royal Warrant, from Queen Victoria, over 140 years ago.  Michael, who heads up Chelgate Local, has been a member of the …

Chelgate Local’s work for Redrow Homes South East on a project in Maidstone, Kent, was a finalist in the Public Relations Consultants Association (PRCA) awards in December. Springfield Mill was shortlisted in the PRCA Planning Project of the Year category recognising Chelgate Local’s political and community engagement role with the …

Michael Hardware has been appointed to head Chelgate’s planning public affairs division, Chelgate Local. With a career spanning over 30 years, 24 of them at Chelgate, Michael has a wealth of experience in property and construction. Over those years he has worked with many of the leading developers and housebuilders …

Councils planning new garden towns and villages are set to receive a boost under fresh regulations, but the devil is in the detail. Housing Minister Dominic Raab MP has proposed shifting responsibility for New Town Development Corporations (NTDCs) from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) over to …

In an article published by Housebuilder seven years ago, ahead of the 2010 general election, Michael Hardware, executive vice-president of Chelgate, foresaw the demise of regional planning under a Conservative government. In this article, seven years later, he suggests that planning has come full circle, and regional structures are on the …