Tag Archives: Local Plan

Planning Ahead: news, views and insights – October 2022

In this issue of Planning Ahead we have five articles. We review the Conservative Party Conference, look at yet another local plan being delayed and provide insights into the new DLUHC ministerial team. We also have two interesting snippets from the Government on planning consents and the size of the green belt.  Please do feel free to get in touch and share your thoughts.

  • Conservative Party Conference, Birmingham 2022 As always, the annual party conference was a hectic affair, but this year had the added spice of yet another new Government and Prime Minister, but all did not go to plan! We summarise the key elements relating to development and planning.  More…
  • Another local plan pushed into the long grass Basildon Council agreed last month the new LDS for its local plan, having withdrawn its previous one back in April. It has the new local plan adoption in 2027! This is the latest in a long line of councils dragging their feet – Uttlesford, St Albans, Castle Point, Hertsmere to name but a few. More…
  • New DLUHC Ministerial Team The new ministerial team at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and communities (DLUHC) is led by new Secretary of State, The Rt Hon Simon Clarke MP. More…
  • Planning consents fall The number of planning applications in England has fallen by 12 per cent, when compared with the same period in 2021. More…
  • Green belt is actually growing According to latest government statistics the green belt has grown by 24,150 hectares, or 1.5 per cent of the total. More…

Skills Summit: Social value from planning and procurement

Willmott Dixon hosted a skills summit at Harlow College in October. Speakers included Rt Hon Robert Halfon MP, who is chair of the Education Select Committee, together with Brentwood Council, Essex County Council and Westminster City Council. A full write-up of this will appear in the next issue.

Local Plan updates

Chelgate Local brings you Local Plan updates for councils across the south east: Basildon, Brentwood, Epping Forest, Harlow, Medway, Sevenoaks and many more…

Another local plan pushed into the long grass

Basildon Council agreed last month the new LDS for its local plan, having withdrawn its previous one back in April. It has the new local plan adoption in 2027! This is the latest in a long line of councils dragging their feet – Uttlesford, St Albans, Castle Point, Hertsmere to name but a few.

Councils reluctant

These Is a reluctance from some councils to give what amounts to consent to significant development within their areas where this could be considered politically unpalatable. The Government is in a difficult situation: it knows it needs to build more homes, but those homes are needed more in the south east, in the blue shires, where the prospect of development is not welcomed by Conservative grass root supporters. The Conservative leadership only has to look at the Amersham and Chesham by-election last year.

Councils know this, and DLUHC has done nothing to provide clarity with past ministers commenting on various aspects of local plans, undermining existing policy, including the sanctity of green belt, how the housing targets are calculated and the timescales.

The manifesto pledge to build 300,000 homes per year has not been mentioned recently, although it cannot be dropped, not officially anyway, it may be quietly parked and forgotten.

Growth, Growth, Growth

The Prime Minister has made her objective clear in her speech at the Conservative Party Conference last week; growth, growth, growth. Development and regeneration are key engines to any growth, as was seen after the Great Depression and after the Second World War.

The new Secretary of State, Simon Clark MP, has been leaking various proposals on planning reforms to gauge responses. These have included conducting a charm offensive turning NIMBYs into YIMBYs, a bonfire of red tape from the EU, reducing the requirement for affordable housing, amending nutrient pollution requirements and re-looking at biodiversity.

Housing Targets

Suggestions that the housing targets will be dropped is premature, but it is likely the way they are calculated could be changed. The onus may be upon planning authorities to come up with numbers, and then provide the evidence base to justify them to the inspector. That will undoubtedly lead to numerous court cases.

Clark has said that more detail on proposals will come out in the coming weeks and months. We will wait and see.

Planning news, views and insight – March 2019

Marching into Spring: Rosewell Review, focus on micro-homes, Housing Delivery Test, and importance of infrastructure

  • Rosewell ‘appeals’ for quicker decisions
    Time to determine planning appeals could be cut almost by half, a Government-commissioned review has found… Read more
  • Micro-housing under the microscope
    As Londoners spend almost a third of income on rent, and the number of homeowners under 45 falls by almost a million… Read more
  • Crunch time as over 100 councils fail Housing Delivery Test
    The results of the first MHCLG Housing Delivery Test – long touted as the mechanism that would hold councils to account for their failure… Read more
  • Is placemaking back on the agenda? 
    Quality design in all its facets and ‘place’ are key streams in the new revised NPPF, including a new chapter 12: “Achieving well-designed places”… Read more

Local Plan updates

Chelgate Local brings you Local Plan updates for Aylesbury Vale, Basildon, Brentwood, Central Beds, Chelmsford, Chiltern and South Bucks, Dacorum, East Herts, Epping, Epsom and Ewell, Harlow, Medway, Milton Keynes, Mole Valley and many more…

March Breakfast Briefing in Herts on Infrastructure-led Growth

Our breakfast briefing in March is on ‘Infrastructure-led growth’ and will take a look at the key projects driving growth throughout the South East.

Keynote speakers will be joining us from MHCLG, Lichfields and local authorities in London and Hertfordshire to set out their views on how infrastructure should be delivered to help our new communities take shape.

Presentations will be followed by a panel discussion, and a full networking breakfast will be provided.

Join us on Wednesday 6th March, from 8:00am – 10:00am, at the De Vere Theobalds Estate in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire. Click here to register.

Planning news, views and insight – February 2019

2019 picks up speed: Land values languish, key infrastructure projects, jobs boom but young suffer, and breakfast briefing recap

  • Three key infrastructure projects to watch in 2019
    Ahead of Chelgate’s Breakfast Briefing on ‘Infrastructure-led Growth’ , we take a look at three of the key infrastructure projects set to drive growth… Read more
  • Land values languish amid Brexit uncertainty
    Land values slumped at the end of 2018 thanks to increasing build costs and economic uncertainty over Brexit, according to Knight Frank… Read more
  • Jobs boom but young are left bust
    Britain is seeing unprecedented jobs and employment growth despite an ageing population and increased health problems, a new report has shown… Read more
  • Waking up to an ageing population
    January saw Chelgate Local kick off 2019 with another successful breakfast briefing event. The Chelgate team partnered up with Barton Willmore to host… Read more

Local Plan updates

Chelgate Local brings you Local Plan updates for Aylesbury Vale, Basildon, Brentwood, Central Beds, Chelmsford, Chiltern and South Bucks, Dacorum, East Herts, Epping, Epsom and Ewell, Harlow, Medway, Milton Keynes, Mole Valley and many more…

March Breakfast Briefing in Herts on Infrastructure-led Growth

Our breakfast briefing in March is on ‘Infrastructure-led growth’ and will take a look at the key projects driving growth throughout the South East.

Keynote speakers will be joining us from MHCLG, Lichfields and local authorities in London and Hertfordshire to set out their views on how infrastructure should be delivered to help our new communities take shape.

Presentations will be followed by a panel discussion, and a full networking breakfast will be provided.

Join us on Wednesday 6th March, from 8:00am – 10:00am, at the De Vere Theobalds Estate in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire. Click here to register.

Planning news, views and insight – January 2019

In our first edition of 2019: Housing an ageing population, modular houses, bank of mum and dad, movers stick close to home, and breakfast briefing debrief

    • Hesitant home movers stick to what they know
      Half of home movers move less than 10 miles, and we are moving half as often as we did 30 years ago, new research shows… Read more
    • Breakfast Briefing recap – County councils in the spotlight
      Chelgate Local’s latest breakfast briefing went with a bang last month, as keen delegates braved a miserable rainy morning… Read more
    • Why building modular homes is the Housing Minister’s new year’s resolution
      Whatever your new year’s resolutions are, they are probably not as ambitious as Kit Malthouse’s… Read more
    • Cashing in on the Bank of Mum and Dad
      Young people whose parents have property wealth are now almost three times as likely to be homeowners by the age of 30… Read more

Local Plan updates

Chelgate Local brings you Local Plan updates for Aylesbury Vale, Basildon, Brentwood, Central Beds, Chelmsford, Chiltern and South Bucks, Dacorum, East Herts, Epping, Epsom and Ewell, Harlow, Medway, Milton Keynes, Mole Valley and many more…

Chelgate Local invites you to our January Breakfast Briefing in Maidstone, Kent

Our breakfast briefing in January is on the impact of an ageing population on housing provision.

We have a keynote speaker from MHCLG to explain the latest guidance and policies.

You will also hear from planning consultants, local politicians and developers on their views about housing provision and the impact of an increasingly ageing population.

Come along on 22nd January, 8-10am at the Macure Maidstone Great Dane Hotel. Click here to register.

Raynsford Review

Planning Ahead – December 2018

This month: Raynsford Review, understanding councillors, super-prime market steadies, Castlepoint crisis and new homes growth slow.

Raynsford reins in ‘patchwork’ planning system
There is a ‘chaotic patchwork’ of different planning responsibilities in the country, the long-awaited Raynsford Review of the planning system warned… Read more

STOP PRESS: First council intervention now on the cards…
Castle Point council this week voted its draft local plan down. As the council is on the Secretary of State’s ‘naughty list’ it looks likely… Read more

Understanding councillors
We have all at some point come out of a planning committee wondering what had just happened… Read more

Growth in new homes slows as Local Plan deadline looms
The growth in the number of new homes in England has slowed significantly despite more than 222,000 homes being built in England last year… Read more

Pent-up demand for penthouses?
The super-prime market is rarely affected by the vagaries of the general housing market, but it is a very good guide to confidence in the economy… Read more

Local Plan updates
Chelgate Local brings you Local Plan updates for Aylesbury Vale, Basildon, Brentwood, Central Beds, Chelmsford, Chiltern and South Bucks, Dacorum, East Herts, Epping, Epsom and Ewell, Harlow, Medway, Milton Keynes, Mole Valley and many more…

Chelgate Local invites you to our January Breakfast Briefing in Maidstone, Kent
Our breakfast briefing in January is on the impact of an ageing population on housing provision. We have a keynote speaker from MHCLG to explain the new guidance and policies the ministry is due to publish later in December.

You will also hear from planning consultants, local politicians and developers on their views about housing provision and the impact of an increasingly ageing population.

Come along on 22nd January, 8-10am at the Macure Maidstone Great Dane Hotel.

Click here to register.

STOP PRESS: Council intervention on the cards…

By Michael Hardware, Director of Planning and Property

Castle Point council this week voted its draft local plan down. As the council is on the Secretary of State James Brokenshire’s ‘naughty list’ it looks likely that the Government will intervene and the south Essex authority will become the first in the country to have its plan-making powers taken away.

Councillors were expected to approve the draft local plan for 4,800 homes so it could go to Regulation 19 consultation and submission for inspection in January, keeping within the timetable set out. But councillors voted 16-15 to reject the local plan as it stands.

Castle Point were issued a warning in November last year requiring it to complete its local plan by January this year. It did not conform so in March MHCLG wrote advising that ‘intervention’ would take place if completion did not materialise. The scene is now set for the Government to take over.

There are plans in place for Government to pass the plan-making powers from any failing local authority to the respective county council, although it not clear how that will happen. As Essex County Council does not really have the experience or expertise to take this on, it is likely planning consultants will be appointed under its auspices to undertake the task. Whether that would be under the cabinet member responsible for planning or the Development and Regulation Committee we will wait and see.

It has been rumoured that MHCLG has been looking to make an example of a local authority as that would have the impact of bringing many of the other wayward local authorities into line. Some have viewed the Government’s threat as simply that, but now we will see just how sharp MHCLG’s teeth are.

Hertfordshire Council Challenge Fails

 

St Albans council has failed in its bid to overturn an inspector’s view that its local plan was unsound.

The council launched a judicial review to challenge David Hogger’s interim findings that the council had failed to fulfil its duty to cooperate. The case was heard in the High Court last month, and the decision was announced today.

In dismissing St Albans Council’s challenge, the judge, Sir Ross Cranston, said he could detect no legal flaw in the inspector’s decision. He went on to say that Hogger’s conclusions were neither irrational nor unlawful and there was nothing wrong with him “expressing concern” about the soundness of St Albans’ strategic housing plan.

St Albans has yet to comment but it is thought the council will now need to withdraw its local plan and may well need to repeat stages of the local plan process, engaging properly with its neighbours. Nine councils were named as “interested parties” in the case. They were: Dacorum, Hertsmere, Three Rivers, Watford, Welwyn Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Central Bedfordshire and North Hertfordshire.

St Albans is infamous as having the oldest local plan in England, dating back to 1994. This issue falls now to the new leader of the council, Cllr Alec Campbell, to resolve, following Cllr Julian Daly’s resignation earlier this year.

R on the Application of St Albans City and District Council v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. Case Number: CO/26/2017