NEW The housing minister Matthew Pennycook has taken Bristol City Council out of special measures, after finding it had improved its handling of planning applications
It means Bristol regains control of its planning decisions
Story👇
www.planningresource.co.uk/article/1946...
🚨 The government has admitted it made a “serious logical error” in approving a huge green belt data centre without assessing its environmental impact
The High Court also said govt should pay the campaigners who lodged the challenge up to £70,000 in costs
www.planningresource.co.uk/article/1946...
NEW Ministers are considering a report by @labourtogether.bsky.social that recommends the gov set up a development corporation to deliver the Ox-Cam Corridor
Its authors say the DC should be able to “bypass local politics” and report directly to chancellor
www.planningresource.co.uk/article/1946...
The housing secretary Steve Reed has acknowledged that the government’s objective of delivering 1.5 million homes this parliament is “challenging” but insisted it remains “doable”
Savills predicts that 840,000 homes will be delivered this parliament
www.planningresource.co.uk/article/1945...
NEW Steve Reed, the housing secretary, has approved controversial plans for a new Chinese embassy in London
Reed said there was “no suggestion” that the new embassy's proximity to sensitive underground communication cables would present a security risk
www.planningresource.co.uk/article/1945...
Excl
Birmingham to Manchester is back on
as.ft.com/r/771bb6e6-4...
NEW The National Audit Office has said an “imbalance in capacity and capability between the public and private sector” means developers can “manipulate” their viability assessments to cut infrastructure contributions
More 👇
www.planningresource.co.uk/article/1920...
🚨 One of the government's own advisors on biodiversity net gain has raised concerns about its proposal to exempt small housing schemes from the duty
www.planningresource.co.uk/article/1919...
NEW The government has proposed that residential schemes of up to 9 homes be exempt from biodiversity net gain in order to speed up construction
More 👇
www.planningresource.co.uk/article/1919...
76% of planning committee members in England say gov’s 1.5m homes target is “unachievable”, a survey by SEC Newgate finds
-33% cited a shortage in construction skills as the main blocker
-19% blamed the “negative impact of perceived developer land-banking”
www.planningresource.co.uk/article/1919...
from all the calls I have been getting from journalists Reform UK seem to be quoting an @instituteforgovernment.org.uk explainer from 2021 www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/article/expl...
One Reform council leader told me they were “not planning to cut roles”, but warned: “We have four key focuses. If it doesn’t look after an elderly or vulnerable person, educate a child, clean a street or fill a pothole, we will question everything - and I mean everything.”
Reform’s drive to “cut council waste” and its renewed focus on frontline services could benefit planning departments, some people suggested
But some roles could be at risk. You may want to rebrand if you are a 'net zero officer' for example
www.lgcplus.com/politics/gov...
A bigger concern for some though is that the government’s “fear of Reform” will lead it “to knee jerk into their agenda to claw back disaffected Labour voters”
This may articulate itself in the gov watering down nature protections and climate targets in national planning policy
Again though, local plans have to follow national guidance” and be signed off by the Planning Inspectorate
“Plans will be refused if they do not conform to national guidance,” one commentator said. “So Reform rhetoric will eventually hit a proverbial brick wall.”
Reform politicians could wield influence over strategic planning
“If Reform are smart about this, they will make amendments to local plans,” said one observer
Both Northamptonshire councils are in early stages of preparing new plans, Doncaster and Durham due to review theirs
That said, councils have to adhere to national planning policy when deciding apps
Developers can appeal if their schemes are refused. If they win, costs are awarded against the council
If Reform councils go against national guidance, they could soon be in financial trouble
Where Reform councils do make decisions on schemes, expect lots of opposition to green belt schemes and renewable energy infrastructure, particularly in places like Lincolnshire and Doncaster, where Reform is now the largest party and energy secretary Ed Miliband is the local MP
Then again, county councils can wield influence through infrastructure development, one Reform county council leader told me
“County councils tend to do big infrastructure projects like highways,” they said. “It’s difficult to put up a new housing estate if there's no highways.”
But what can Reform councils actually do?
Most planning decisions take place at the district level and Reform only took two district councils. Reform councils therefore won't decide many applications
Nor do their mayors have the power to intervene on schemes like London's mayor
Reform have upped the ante since the elections, with deputy leader Richard Tice saying his party would wage “war” on net zero projects in the countryside
He said Reform councils would use “planning blockages” and “judicial reviews” to frustrate such plans
www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/202...
Some Reform candidates opposed development over infrastructure concerns, others to protect the green belt
Some, of course, linked immigration and housing
x.com/darrengrimes...
What did Reform promise to do? Broadly speaking, they ran on anti-development and net zero scepticism
Greater Lincolnshire mayor Andrea Jenkyns, for instance, campaigned against new solar farms in the county
hopenothate.org.uk/2025/04/17/a...
…- Gained 2 mayors (Greater Lincolnshire, Hull & East Yorkshire)
-And a new MP in Runcorn & Helsby
This is the best result a party led by Nigel Farage has had in locals. Next best was 2015 when precursor UKIP took Thanet and became largest group in Thurrock.
Neither UKIP or Reform have had mayors
But first, how did Reform do?
- It won 677 council seats
- Seized 7 county councils (Durham, Lancashire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Kent)
- Gained 2 district councils (West Northamptonshire and North Northamptonshire) …
With @reform-uk-official.bsky.social now in control of 9 councils and 2 mayoralties, I've been investigating how much planning power it wields, the kinds of schemes it may back or block and what Reform control means for planning officers in those councils🧵
www.planningresource.co.uk/article/1918...
Bats and newts did not cause planning delays last year, new research by @the-wildlifetrusts.bsky.social and @rspb.bsky.social suggests
Analysis of 17,433 planning appeals in England in 2024 found newts were relevant in 140 (0.8%) of cases and bats in 432 (2.48%)
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
NEW Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, has announced he will “actively explore” releasing bits of London's green belt for development
Khan claimed GB “can often be low-quality land” that is “rarely enjoyed by Londoners”
He opposed building on it until 2024
www.planningresource.co.uk/article/1917...
'The climate movement is experiencing a lull. We must broaden our tactics if we are to maintain popular support and reframe the narrative.'
Check out our latest article from writer and community activist, Joe Attlee.
Please like and share 🌿
www.gndmedia.co.uk/articles/sab...
The government's proposal to cut a requirement for developers to consult on major infrastructure schemes before submitting an application is a “panicked misstep” that would be “disastrous for the natural world”, warns @the-wildlifetrusts.bsky.social
www.planningresource.co.uk/article/1916...
