International PR firm, Chelgate Ltd , today announced that it will give a one-off £1,000 cost-of-living crisis bonus to every employee on their staff in their September pay packets.   The Consultancy’s Executive Chairman Terence Fane-Saunders explained : “ These are horribly difficult times, and with the arrival of autumn, and heating bills soaring, things will grow even more difficult. We realise that we can’t solve this Government’s problems, nor wholly protect our staff from the grim times the whole country- in fact, most of the world – is facing, but we have a committed and hard-working team at […]

  This month we have four articles looking at this week’s local elections, levelling up, planning gain reform and the current shape of the local plan system. We also have our local plan updates and an invitation to a seminar on Housing Policy and Older People. Please do feel free to get in touch and share your thoughts.   2022 Local Elections It is that time of year again By Michael Hardware, Director of Planning and Property It is that time of year again: tomorrow sees a plethora of district, borough, city and parish elections, together with all the London […]

  Local plans and housing policies are failing to provide homes for older people and the most vulnerable, writes Michael Hardware.   The article was published in Placemaking Resource. No one would argue with the fact that there is a housing crisis in the UK, caused by decades of not building enough new homes. Although the government is trying hard to address this, are our housing policies really working? Are we providing all the housing our communities need through local plans and housing policies? The overheated housing market, with ever-growing property prices, certainly impacts heavily on younger people – the […]

  This is our first newsletter of 2022 and we have four thought-provoking articles looking at current government policies. Although the NHS reforms are in the process of being implemented, local government reforms are still being formulated or yet to be reviewed. Housing numbers and housing policies are like the planning reforms: yet to be finalised. Local government reforms By Michael Hardware, Director of Planning and Property Despite being pushed into the long grass last year, local government reforms have certainly not gone away. Originally in the 2019 election manifesto, there was a brief reveal in the summer last year […]

Consultation to remain a key part of the planning process   The Times today is reporting that the Government has changed its approach to reforming the planning system.   The aim was to replace the existing planning process with a zonal system and mandatory housing targets. This would shift planning consent to the local plan stage with no need for applications to then come to planning committees. This would remove the opportunity for input from residents, reduce the role of local councillors in determining planning applications, and reduce consultation overall. The plans did provoke significant feedback from grass roots Conservatives […]