Ashford –The Ashford Local Plan 2030 was adopted in February 2019.  Aylesbury Vale – Following completion of the examination hearings and the publication of the Inspector’s Interim Findings the Council has worked with the Inspector to agree the modifications to the plan that are necessary to make it sound. Those modifications were …

  Chelgate’s Michael Hardware has been appointed Vice President of the Chartered Institute of Journalists (CIOJ). The CIOJ is the world’s oldest journalism professional body, having received its first Royal Warrant, from Queen Victoria, over 140 years ago.  Michael, who heads up Chelgate Local, has been a member of the …

This month we bring you updates on local plan sagas in Sevenoaks, St Albans and Uttlesford. We also recap the first two of our Live Planning Events with Cllr Linda Haysey from East Herts DC and Cllr Carlo Guglielmi, Tendring DC.   Sevenoaks in legal challenge over local plan It …

This article was published in PlacemakingResoruce on 30th March 2020 and can be found here (subscription required). By Michael Hardware, Director of Planning and Property  The development industry is pulling together so work can continue during the coronavirus restrictions. Efforts are being made to ensure the disruption caused to the housing supply is …

This month: Will planning stop and development be delayed?, Housing pledges in spring 2020 budget, Sevenoaks local plan is dead, Should beauty be at the centre of our planning system? and how the Environment Bill is likely to impact the planning system.   Will planning stop and development be delayed? …

By Michael Hardware, Director of Planning and Property  The Government is escalating its response to the Coronavirus pandemic, encouraging a comprehensive voluntary lockdown. It has just closed all the schools and is running down the transport infrastructure. The development industry has been affected with many developers and consultants now working from …

By Alia Khan, Consultant The Government first introduced the new Environment Bill in October 2019, with an updated version of the bill being introduced on 30 January after the first one was side-lined by the December 2019 general election. The bill comes at a time when there is heightened interest in …

By Ruby Burdett, Consultant  The late Roger Scruton alongside co-author Nicholas Boys Smith, coined the idea of “building better, building beautiful” (BBBB). The now government endorsed report, has been labelled a radical amalgamation of politics and philosophy.  Arguing that beauty is not subjective, Scruton asserts that we are obligated to safeguard …