Planning Ahead – March 2023 issue

Welcome to our March newsletter, marking hopefully the start of spring. In this issue we look at: the new Housing Minister, Rachel Maclean, and peoples reactions to this; the Westminster debate on updating green belt regulation; the Conservative Councillors Association Local Government Conference and their special guests.  We have a political update, our usual local plan update and some comment from us.

• New Housing Minster Rachel Maclean was confirmed as the new Housing Minister. This was due to Lucy Frazer being promoted during Rishi Sunak’s department shake-up on February 7. Maclean becomes the sixth Housing Minister in 12 months. First elected in 2017 for the Redditch Constituency, Maclean is seen as a steady and uncontroversial figure.More…
• Green Belt Westminster debate In modern politics, there are few occasions for consensus. But tightening regulation around the development of green land – and more specifically prioritising the development of brownfield sites – has garnered nonpartisan approval. More…
• Conservative Councillors Association On Friday 24 February, more than 170 Councillors, observers and sponsors gathered in Hinckley, Leicestershire for the Conservative Councillors Association Local Government Conference. The numbers were less than hoped for, but this is likely to be due to a clash of events as the District Councils Network in St Albans coincided.  More…