This month we bring you news on the Conservative opposition to the planning white paper, the latest on the local government structure reform, the fate of South Bucks and Chilterns Local Plan, information on the Essex Developer Engagement Events and much more…   Tory backlash on radical reforms By Liam Herbert, Chief Executive Officer It would seem that plans by No 10 and MHCLG to bring root and branch reform of local government have quietly fallen into the very very long grass. Following a robust reaction from many councils and districts Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) […]

  Our Chelgate Local team has today published an article on plans by No 10 and MHCLG to bring root and branch reform of local government   It would seem that plans by No 10 and MHCLG to bring root and branch reform of local government have quietly fallen into the very very long grass. Following a robust reaction from many councils and districts Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) used the COVID-19 announcements by the PM on Monday to quietly publish a ministerial position statement. This was then also covered in a letter to councillors – which […]

The following article written by Michael Hardware has been published in Placemaking Resource, part of Planning magazine. The article can be viewed on this link (registration required).     By Michael Hardware, Chelgate’s director of planning and property. He is also a serving county and district councillor. Several counties have seen the emergence of developer groups in recent years. These should not be confused with developer forums which tend to focus on individual plan areas. Developer groups cover a county, appealing to housebuilders, developers and their consultants which operate there. They also work in partnership with Local Enterprise Partnerships, county […]

  This month we bring you our series of online seminars on forthcoming proposals on reorganisation of local government and planning reforms. Read on for news on the Sevenoaks and St Albans Local Plans, Maidstone’s gamble to keep housing numbers down, the future of Cambridge, and much more…   Sevenoaks to St Albans By Michael Hardware, Director of Planning and Property Not usually associated but these two districts are currently on a similar path: planning inspectors have found both wanting in their duty to cooperate with adjoining authorities. Sevenoaks was in the High Court earlier this month with a judicial […]

  Hear more about forthcoming plans for the re-organisation of local government and reform of planning in Chelgate Local’s series of events!   We would like to invite you to join our latest series of live events being hosted by Chelgate Local. We have lined-up a range of speakers to help us dive into the Government’s proposed changes to local government and the planning system. We are starting with a general update, closely followed by separate briefings on Essex and Surrey, which are set to be in the first waves of local government reforms. Knight Frank will be our guests […]

The starting pistol on planning reform has been fired: the Government has today published a White Paper “Planning for the Future” for consultation. This coupled with the reform of local government potentially heralds a period of massive change for local government and developers in the coming years.   The White Paper proposes to simplify the planning system, making it quicker, more democratic and leading to more homes being built; the target is 300,000 per annum, a million new homes during the life of the present government. Planning consultants will be pouring over the detail of the White Paper, reporting on […]

Town and county halls across the country are in a state of near panic as plans are brought forward by the Government for a major restructuring of local government. This would see the abolition of county, district, borough and some city councils to be replaced by unitary authorities and elected mayors.   Although a commitment in the 2019 General Election manifesto, most thought it was unlikely these radical changes would be implemented, especially given the Covid 19 crisis. But Dominic Cummings has had other ideas. What is planned? This will be the biggest change in local government for decades, and […]

Inspectors have written to at least two authorities in Essex with unadopted local plans asking them to review their housing need numbers. This follows publication of the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) 2018 household projections.   The figures, published on 29th June, predict the number of households in England to grow on average by 149,960 per year over the next 25 years. This is a lower rate of growth than anticipated by ONS’s 2016 and 2014 publications. The Inspector examining Epping Forest District Council’s Local Plan wrote to the council on 16th July. In her letter she recommended that […]

This month we bring you news on the St Albans Local Plan, new government-appointed chief planner, projections on the housing and rental markets, COVID-19 and long-term strategic planning and much more… Government appoints new chief planner By Alia Khan, Consultant The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has appointed Joanna Averley as its new chief planner. She is the first female chief planner and assumes her post from September. Averley joins Whitehall from the Commission of Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE), where she was the deputy chief executive as well as design director at the Olympic Delivery […]

  This month we bring you housing delivery projections and Covid-19 house prices, and a vision of future working practices. We also recap our Live Planning Events with St Albans DC and provide a Covid-19 update from Maidstone Borough Council Is the UK Housing Delivery Doomed in 2020 by Alia Khan, Consultant A recent analysis conducted by the global property consultancy Knight Frank, suggested that the knock-on effects of the coronavirus will result in 56,000 fewer homes being delivered in the UK this year, a 35 per cent drop. The analysis indicates that, ‘private housing delivery across the UK will […]