Planning application for Passive homes in Havering

Posted on: 20 March 2013
By: mackene
No Comments »
Filed under: News

A new partnership between Circle Housing Group and Climate Energy Homes is to lead to the creation of a new 51-home Passive House compliant development in the London Borough of Havering. The development designed by Maccreanor Lavington Architects comprises 51 Passive houses and apartments together with amenity space, car and cycle parking, landscaping, pumping station and associated works. The scheme pioneers the provision of 51 affordable Passive homes as one of the largest Passive House projects in the UK and Europe. This is the report to Havering’s Regulatory Services Committee on 21 February 2013.

Read more online

Connecting urban and renewal: Final report of the Sustainable Urban Fringes (SURF) Project

Posted on: 19 March 2013
By: mackene
No Comments »
Filed under: News

The Sustainable Urban Fringes (SURF) project has published its findings after 3 years of research. The conducted research is informed by practical projects demonstrating how the urban fringe (outskirts urban land) can make a real contribution to sustainable development in our city regions. The project is part of the Interreg IVB North Sea Region Programme and partly funded by the European Regional Development Fund. In total, 13 project partners from 5 countries worked together, exchanging knowledge on the effective management and development of the urban fringe. The findings highlight the need for specific policy to address urban fringe development and management; acknowledging the positive economic, social and environmental potential of these areas where urban meets rural. The report sets out a series of local, regional and European policy recommendations that seek to make positive changes to the urban fringe, recognizing how they can add value to the quality of life in urban and rural areas. The project also revealed effective approaches and practices which allow urban fringe areas to be developed and efficiently managed. Soft governance approaches proved to be successful enablers for urban fringe projects.

Read more online

Changing the culture of Scottish planning

Posted on: 19 March 2013
By: mackene
No Comments »
Filed under: News

This report aims to improve the understanding of Scotland’s planning culture, practices, power relations and identities that shape this as well as the role of cultural change in the implementation of planning reform. Focusing on Scotland, this research has investigated what ‘culture change’ means to different actors, how it is influencing planning in practice, and whether it has helped to address the concerns of the property industry and others that prompted reform. Register on the RICS website to view the document.

Read more online

Countryside promises: Planning realities

Posted on: 18 March 2013
By: mackene
No Comments »
Filed under: News

The Campaign to Protect Rural England has published a report which warns that the national planning policy framework launched nearly a year ago has led to less local control and more greenfield development. The report has examined major housing planning applications and reports from 20 local plan examinations.

Read more online

A right to build: Local homes for local people

Posted on: 18 March 2013
By: mackene
No Comments »
Filed under: News

The Policy Exchange has published a report which  argues that councils that fail to hit their own housing targets should have to release land to local people who want to design their own homes. The government could use this self-build model to ensure that councils hit their housebuilding targets, doubling the amount of new homes to over 200,000 by 2014 and giving the construction sector a much needed shot in the arm.

Read more online

Supporting communities in neighbourhood planning 2012-15

Posted on: 15 March 2013
By: mackene
No Comments »
Filed under: News

The government has awarded a contract to Locality in partnership with the Royal Town Planning Institute, Planning Aid England and partners to deliver a new £9.5 million, 2-year programme to support communities to progress their neighbourhood development plans and neighbourhood development orders. This factsheet provides further information about the programme.

Read more online

Conversion of offices into housing: Impact on London

Posted on: 14 March 2013
By: mackene
No Comments »
Filed under: News

This is a webcast of the London Assembly’s Planning Committee which met on 12 March 2013 to discuss Government plans to allow developers a free hand to convert offices into housing without planning permission. Concern has been expressed that this could see central London lose a quarter of its office space and make it impossible for many small firms to remain in the capital.

Find out more online

Grand Paris takes off

Posted on: 13 March 2013
By: mackene
No Comments »
Filed under: News

Considers the plans for the future of Greater Paris.

Read more online

Built Infrastructure for Older People’s Care in Conditions of Climate Change (BIOPICCC)

Posted on: 13 March 2013
By: mackene
No Comments »
Filed under: News

The BIOPICCC Toolkit provides a series of resources to assist local authorities, partner organisations, and neighbourhood and community groups with local level resilience planning. Specifically, the resources are designed to support users to develop plans to make health and social care services for older people (aged 65 years and older) more resilient to the effects of extreme weather.

Find out more online

Notes on Neighbourhood Planning

Posted on: 13 March 2013
By: mackene
No Comments »
Filed under: News

The Department for Communities and Local Government Regular produces bulletins from the neighbourhood planning team containing latest news and policy developments in neighbourhood planning. The fourth issue, dated March 2013, is now available.

Read more online