Room 106

In this issue, we will be discussing the following stories and asking whether they show a toughening of the government’s line against local authorities that it believes to be resisting development:Housing secretary Angela Rayner calling in plans for an 8,400-home garden village in Kent just three hours before the council was due to consider it;An inspector allowing up to 1,000 homes on green belt land in Essex on the basis of the council’s ‘extremely poor’ housing delivery record;Other inspectors cancelling examination hearings into Shropshire Council’s local plan after raising "significant" concerns about the strategy’s soundness.Key planning news, and why it’s important, brought to you by the team behind Planning magazine, the leading source of independent intelligence for planning professionals for more than 50 years. Find the latest planning news at planningresource.co.uk and @planningMag Room 106 was the Professional Publishers Association’s Podcast of the Year 2023/24. It was also highly commended in the Best Use of Audio category in the Association of Online Publishers’ Digital Publishing Awards 2024.  

This week, we discuss:Research by housebuilders on how much unspent developer contribution cash councils are holding onto in their reserves;Further local plans falling victim to the new hardline approach from planning inspectors on the duration of plan examinations:Two unusual planning enforcement cases.We also round up the other key news from the past week to make sure you’re up to speed on all the goings-on in the planning sector.  Key planning news, and why it’s important, brought to you by the team behind Planning magazine, the leading source of independent intelligence for planning professionals for more than 50 years. Find the latest planning news at planningresource.co.uk and @planningMag Room 106 was the Professional Publishers Association’s Podcast of the Year 2023/24. It was also highly commended in the Best Use of Audio category in the Association of Online Publishers’ Digital Publishing Awards 2024.

In this Deep Dive edition, we'll be discussing: How draft National Planning Policy Framework revisions would allow more green belt applications to avoid going through the tough “very special circumstances” decision-making test; Why ministerial efforts to speed up local plan examinations is likely to see more plans fail in the short term but should force councils to submit better quality strategies.We also round up the other key news from the past week to make sure you’re up to speed on all the goings-on in the planning sector. Key planning news, and why it’s important, brought to you by the team behind Planning magazine, the leading source of independent intelligence for planning professionals for more than 50 years. Find the latest planning news at planningresource.co.uk and @planningMag Room 106 was the Professional Publishers Association’s Podcast of the Year 2023/24. It was also highly commended in the Best Use of Audio category in the Association of Online Publishers’ Digital Publishing Awards 2024.

This week, we discuss:Why planning consultants and lawyers are alarmed about new requirements for the early submission of planning obligation agreements as part of written representation appeals; Three more councils announcing delays to their local plans in response to the government’s proposed national planning policy changes;A council in Oxfordshire being condemned as "wholly irresponsible" for a £213,000 overspend on defending appeals so far this year;Seven planning partners defect from one of the country’s biggest planning law firms to a rival outfit.We also round up the other key news from the past week to make sure you’re up to speed on all the goings-on in the planning sector. Key planning news, and why it’s important, brought to you by the team behind Planning magazine, the leading source of independent intelligence for planning professionals for more than 50 years. Find the latest planning news at planningresource.co.uk and @planningMag Room 106 was the Professional Publishers Association’s Podcast of the Year 2023/24. It was also highly commended in the Best Use of Audio category in the Association of Online Publishers’ Digital Publishing Awards 2024.

In this Deep Dive edition, we’ll be discussing:Why so many local authorities are spending money on agency staff to work in their planning teams, what problems this causes, and how councils can make best use of them;The planning highlights from last week’s Conservative Party Conference. We also round up the other key news from the past week to make sure you’re up to speed on all the goings-on in the planning sector. Key planning news, and why it’s important, brought to you by the team behind Planning magazine, the leading source of independent intelligence for planning professionals for more than 50 years. Find the latest planning news at planningresource.co.uk and @planningMag Room 106 was the Professional Publishers Association’s Podcast of the Year 2023/24. It was also highly commended in the Best Use of Audio category in the Association of Online Publishers’ Digital Publishing Awards 2024.

In this edition, we examine:The key news from last week’s Labour Party conference in Liverpool, including a possible delay to the publication of the final version of the new National Planning Policy Framework;The government’s publication of new details on its proposal for “brownfield passports” to speed up development on previously used land; The highlights from the Liberal Democrat autumn 2024 conference in Brighton. We also round up the other key news from the past week to make sure you’re up to speed on all the goings-on in the planning sector. Key planning news, and why it’s important, brought to you by the team behind Planning magazine, the leading source of independent intelligence for planning professionals for more than 50 years. Find the latest planning news at planningresource.co.uk and @planningMag Room 106 was the Professional Publishers Association’s Podcast of the Year 2023/24. It was also highly commended in the Best Use of Audio category in the Association of Online Publishers’ Digital Publishing Awards 2024.

In this Deep Dive edition, we’ll be examining two big proposed changes in the draft National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF):What revisions to national policy on affordable housing would mean for planners, and how effective they would be in boosting the delivery of homes for social rent; The implications of the government’s intention to make urban brownfield developments ‘acceptable in principle’, and other related NPPF tweaks around brownfield land.We also round up the other key news from the past week to make sure you’re up to speed on all the goings-on in the planning sector. Key planning news, and why it’s important, brought to you by the team behind Planning magazine, the leading source of independent intelligence for planning professionals for more than 50 years. Find the latest planning news at planningresource.co.uk and @planningMag Room 106 was the Professional Publishers Association’s Podcast of the Year 2023/24. It was also highly commended in the Best Use of Audio category in the Association of Online Publishers’ Digital Publishing Awards 2024.

This week, we discuss: The High Court quashing the secretary of state’s controversial permission for a new coal mine in Cumbria; Planning inspectors recommending that a council withdraws its local plan due to its “unwillingness” to release green belt sites to meet housing need;Voters in a town overwhelmingly rejected a neighbourhood plan in a referendum after fears were raised about green belt protection.We also round up the other key news from the past week to make sure you’re up to speed on all the goings-on in the planning sector. Key planning news, and why it’s important, brought to you by the team behind Planning magazine, the leading source of independent intelligence for planning professionals for more than 50 years. Find the latest planning news at planningresource.co.uk and @planningMag Room 106 was the Professional Publishers Association’s Podcast of the Year 2023/24. It was also highly commended in the Best Use of Audio category in the Association of Online Publishers’ Digital Publishing Awards 2024.