Chapman Lily Planning Ltd

Over the weekend, myself and my colleague Phillippa Gatehouse had the pleasure of attending the Royal Town Planning Institute Young Planners Conference, "connecting town and country" in Cambridge, organised by the brilliant East of England RTPI Young Planners team 🌟 The two-day event included some brilliant and thought provoking discussions: On Friday, the day began with discussions surrounding how we can balance growth whilst respecting the setting and significance of the historic environment. Some brilliant speeches and answers given by Tim Murphy Katharine Elliot, Daniele Haynes and Katie Thronburrow. We then moved away from the historic environment and facilitating growth, to the natural environment. This included some incredibly relevant tensions, such as the introduction and balancing of Biodiversity Net Gain. Thank you to Mark Hodgson Tom Holbrook Alex Shattock and John Cornell FRGS for their insights 🌱 We then split off into breakout sessions where my discussion focussed on development and the Green Belt, including some interesting topical discussions about Green Belt and the Government's introduction of Grey Belt with Sam Hollingworth, Matthew Hare and Andrea Pearson. A particular interest of mine is medical facilities and balancing practicality with design, so it was an absolute pleasure to be given a tour of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, led by the brilliant Ed Watson. It was incredibly interesting to hear about the Biomedical Campus masterplan, and upcoming expansions, including investment in the AstraZeneca Centre, the Heart and Lung Research Institute, and the introduction of a Cancer Research facility. The Cambridge Biomedical Campus also sits at a unique juncture, bordering the city's Green Belt. It was intriguing to hear Ed's discussions with the Council and design team as to how Cambridge can balance environmental preservation, and the need for built structures as important as medical research and practice facilities. On Saturday, we received a law update by Steph David, and then moved on to a panel discussion regarding the first 100 days of the new Labour Government and the changes to the planning system so far with Rachael Ferry-Jones and Colin Brown. My final breakout session was a roundtable discussion about how we can deliver affordable housing with Peter Canavan MRTPI, and the amazing and inspiring work of Lewis Herbert and Paul Morrish. The event concluded with a final panel session on how we can achieve the right development in the right place, including the creation of garden cities, and the importance of the local plan with Emma Goodings, David Ames and Andy Moffat. It was really lovely to connect with fellow young planners from across the country and hear about the impactful projects they're working on. A huge thank you to the East England RTPI for putting together such a thought-provoking event, and to all the speakers and sponsors!! Looking forward to next years, hosted in London. #YTPconf2024 #RTPI

CLP Macmillan Coffee Morning Last Friday, our team came together to bake, buy, and enjoy a variety of delicious cakes, all in support of Macmillan Cancer Support. A special thank you to Lisa for hosting us at Skate Not Bored, and to everyone who stopped by throughout the morning.

Thank you to Dorset Chamber for an excellent event this morning at the Dorset Business Festival Expo.

Planning Inspectorate report on Dorset Council’s 5 Year Housing Land Supply Annual Position Statement 2024 The Planning Inspectorate has now issued a report concerning Dorset Council’s 5 Year Housing Land Supply Annual Position Statement 2024.  The recommendation provided to the Council is that the Council’s draft Annual Position Statement (APS) dated 31 July 2024 can demonstrate a 5 year supply of deliverable housing sites, subject to the removal of 537 dwellings from its draft supply list. The planning inspector concluded that the total deliverable supply is 8,999 dwellings against a requirement of 8,965 dwellings. This results in a housing land supply of 5.02 years. As a consequence, the Council is now entitled to rely on the supply as shown in the draft APS (subject to the discount of 537 dwelling revisions) until 31 October 2025. On the assumption that the Council adopt the recommendations, this means that the Dorset Council cannot have its five-year deliverable housing land position challenged at either application or appeal until after 31st October 2025. Andy England (Associate Director) advised ‘the timing of the report in relation to the Government’s proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and other changes to the planning system, is fascinating, especially given that the Government indicated that they were proposing to remove the option for local planning authorities to ‘fix’ their 5-year housing land supply through Annual Position Statements. It will therefore be interesting to see how the reforms to NPPF are worded with regard to an APS which has been published in advance and whether it will be afforded any protection. Unfortunately, on the face of it the acceptance of the APS is likely to supress housing delivery for a year, leading to even greater deficit relative to the revised standard method in years to come.’

CLP welcome New Senior Planner Chapman Lily Planning are delighted to announce the addition of Jonathan Leigh to their team as a Senior Planner. Jonathan brings with him a wealth of experience and skills which will strengthen our capacity in promoting strategic land and our research capabilities. Jonathan shared his thoughts on his new role, saying: ‘I am thrilled to join Chapman Lily Planning and contribute to their reputation for excellence in the planning sector. With my experience in neighbourhood planning, stakeholder engagement, and managing major development projects across diverse regions, I am eager to apply my skills to deliver high-quality planning services to our clients. The team's commitment to attention to detail and comprehensive planning aligns perfectly with my professional approach. I am excited to be part of such an experienced and dynamic planning team, and I look forward to playing a role in the company's continued success and growth.’  

Chapman Lily Planning Proud Sponsors of Swans RFC Chapman Lily Planning are delighted to continue sponsorship of Swanage and Wareham Rugby Club and are looking forward to welcoming friends and family to the club. Last week saw a great match with Swanage and Wareham traveling to Melksham resulting in a final score of MELKSHAM 20pts SWANAGE & WAREHAM 34pts Fantastic result, well done to all who played.

Chapman Lily Planning sends its comments to government on the proposed changes to the NPPF Chapman Lily Planning has responded to the invitation to comment upon the proposed changes to the NPPF. A lengthy piece of work as there was some 90 pages and a similar number of questions to be answered. The aim of the proposed changes is to speed up the planning process and remove barriers to economic growth and in particular, facilitate the building of 1.5 million new homes as soon as is practicable. Our feedback included (a) recommending a more proportionate approach to groundwater emergence flooding when say, only a minor non habitable part of an application site falls into the flood risk area,(b) welcoming the return to the previous ‘standard method’ of assessing the housing need for an area, and (c) making the government aware of the fact that some local authorities have a long history of significant under delivery of housing numbers which should be taken into account when calculating future housing need.  Alan Davies (Associate Director) commented; ‘this was a lengthy consultation, but we felt it imperative to responded on behalf of our clients, in order to share with government, the practical experience of our team, who deal with a vast range of planning application and planning policy issues. We broadly welcomed the thrust and direction proposals, particularly the obvious desire to simplify and speed up the application process and to ensure local plans are prepared swiftly and plan for the appropriate number of homes. Planners in all sectors really should see themselves as enablers and ‘can do’ people eager to find solutions to what is an acknowledged national crisis in providing homes for people. I look forward to seeing and reviewing the final version of the framework once published’.

New Forest District Council – revised Local Development Scheme The agenda for the forthcoming Cabinet meeting of New Forest District Council has been published, the agenda includes details of the proposed revisions to the Councils Local Development Scheme (LDS). The LDS sets the timetable for the progression of the Council’s Local Plan, if approved by the Council’s Cabinet the key milestones in the preparation of the Local Plan will be; October 2024 – 6 week Consultation on revised SCI and call for sites February 2025 – 6 week Issues and Scope consultation October 2025 – 8 week Regulation 18 consultation Giles Moir, Director at Chapman Lily Planning commented “hopefully the outcome of the Cabinet meeting will be to agree to the revised LDS timetable, this will provide some certainty regarding timeframes for landowners and developers looking to bring forward development opportunities in the New Forest District”. If you have any land interests within the New Forest District Chapman Lily Planning would be pleased to advise on a suitable strategy for promoting your site through the Local Plan process.

New Forest District Council – revised Local Development Scheme The agenda for the forthcoming Cabinet meeting of New Forest District Council has been published, the agenda includes details of the proposed revisions to the Councils Local Development Scheme (LDS). The LDS sets the timetable for the progression of the Council’s Local Plan, if approved by the Council’s Cabinet the key milestones in the preparation of the Local Plan will be; October 2024 – 6 week Consultation on revised SCI and call for sites February 2025 – 6 week Issues and Scope consultation October 2025 – 8 week Regulation 18 consultation Giles Moir, Director at Chapman Lily Planning commented “hopefully the outcome of the Cabinet meeting will be to agree to the revised LDS timetable, this will provide some certainty regarding timeframes for landowners and developers looking to bring forward development opportunities in the New Forest District”. If you have any land interests within the New Forest District Chapman Lily Planning would be pleased to advise on a suitable strategy for promoting your site through the Local Plan process.

Chapman Lily Planning sends its comments to government on the proposed changes to the NPPF Chapman Lily Planning has responded to the invitation to comment upon the proposed changes to the NPPF. A lengthy piece of work as there was some 90 pages and a similar number of questions to be answered. The aim of the proposed changes is to speed up the planning process and remove barriers to economic growth and in particular, facilitate the building of 1.5 million new homes as soon as is practicable. Our feedback included (a) recommending a more proportionate approach to groundwater emergence flooding when say, only a minor non habitable part of an application site falls into the flood risk area,(b) welcoming the return to the previous ‘standard method’ of assessing the housing need for an area, and (c) making the government aware of the fact that some local authorities have a long history of significant under delivery of housing numbers which should be taken into account when calculating future housing need.  Alan Davies (Associate Director) commented; ‘this was a lengthy consultation, but we felt it imperative to responded on behalf of our clients, in order to share with government, the practical experience of our team, who deal with a vast range of planning application and planning policy issues. We broadly welcomed the thrust and direction proposals, particularly the obvious desire to simplify and speed up the application process and to ensure local plans are prepared swiftly and plan for the appropriate number of homes. Planners in all sectors really should see themselves as enablers and ‘can do’ people eager to find solutions to what is an acknowledged national crisis in providing homes for people. I look forward to seeing and reviewing the final version of the framework once published’.