The Planning Blog

I blogged yesterday about the row over the government’s planning reforms and how the furore increased in intensity between July and October 2011. A key feature of the campaign against the National Planning Policy Framework was that celebrities lined up to criticise the reforms, helping to keep the issue in the headlines. Big names to come out against the government’s planning reforms include US travel writer Bill Bryson, television presenters Lloyd Grossman and Kirstie Allsopp and composer Lord Lloyd-Webber. Read more »

Planning permission has been granted this week for a property described by its architect as the UK’s first ‘amphibious’ house. According to Baca Architects, the firm behind the plans, an amphibious house is a building that “rests on the ground on fixed foundations but, whenever a flood occurs, the entire building rises up in its dock and floats there, buoyed by the floodwater”. Read more »

In September and October 2011, when the furore over the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) was at its peak, planning found itself in the unusual position of featuring regularly and prominently in national headlines. The Telegraph’s “Hands off our Land” campaign, in particular, ensured that an unprecedented number of front page column inches were devoted to planning. At the time, I blogged about how the newspaper appeared to be going to extraordinary lengths to keep the NPPF on its front page. Read more »

CIL Watch is 10 today! Today’s update includes the latest on the London mayoral levy and details of the next councils to have their levy plans examined. Read more »

The latest CIL Watch update includes news of the top 10 highest Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) charges to so far have been proposed by councils, plus details of all the latest developments relating to the new developer tariff. Read more »

News that Portsmouth City Council has become the latest authority to have its Community Infrastructure Levy plans backed by an examiner and details of the first schemes to fall under the charge feature in the first CIL Watch of 2012. Read more »

Read on for a summary of 10 key news stories that broke over the Christmas holidays, including reports that Margaret Thatcher was urged to abandon Liverpool to ‘managed decline’ and the appointment of a senior civil servant who will oversee the coalition’s planning reforms. Read more »

Read on for our round-up of the 10 key dates to look out for in the first six months of 2012. Read more »

If all you want for Christmas is an update on the latest CIL charging schedules to be published, then you are in the right place. News of boroughs’ concerns over the London mayor’s proposed Community Infrastructure Levy charges, new draft charging schedules and the latest contract wins feature in our festive CIL Watch update – the final update of 2011. Read more »

Reaction to the Portas review has been flooding in since the TV retail guru published her recommendations this morning. Click here to read our news story on the review, and here for Planning editor Richard Garlick’s verdict. Read on for the planning sector’s response to the review’s contents. Read more »