Adam Greenslade’s Post

Rt Hon Rachel Reeves’ first speech as Chancellor this week has made it clear that planning reform is a key priority of this Government, with key changes being made to the Green Belt early on in the honeymoon period. The Green Belt is the planning designation most known about, but least understood so defining what it actually means to the general public is going to be an important part of the narrative. As Samuel Stafford from the Home Builders Federation stated in his interview on BBC #politicslive, the Green Belt is incredibly dated. It has lost its meaning. It is not naturally beautiful landscape - we have National Landscapes and National Parks for that. Nor is it inherently ecologically rich land - we have Special Protection Areas / Sites of Special Scientific Interest and the like for that. Instead, the Green Belt is a land use designation. Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities’ (now Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government…) most recent stats state that over 1.6 MILLION hectares of land is Green Belt. To put that into context, that is circa 10 TIMES the size of London. Clearly not all Green Belt land is going to be released for housing, and nor are we advocating for that. But we do, and will, support the reintroduction of Green Belt reviews and the development of Grey Belt land to assist in unlocking house building. However, to remove the confusion among the general public, and subjectivity of the terms among planners (which will no doubt lead to more appeals in the short-term), we would go a step further and consider rebranding this land use in its entirety. If you have a site or land within the Green or perhaps new Grey Belt, now is the time to understand what value could potentially be unlocked. Get in touch with our team on 02037138500 / contact@dlbp.uk.

#Green_built_development focuses on creating environmentally responsible and resource-efficient structures that minimize negative impacts on the environment and enhance occupant health. It promotes #sustainability through #energy_efficiency, #water_conservation, use of #sustainable_materials, and integration with natural surroundings.

This is excellent, and can help make the conversation more objective and less subjective about the assessment of the Green Belt & development in the Green Belt. If Councils are bring tasked with reviewing their Green Belts, I suggest we need the Government to set out a standard approach / method to review the land to help simplify the process, add more certainty and speed it up! To slot into the new Local Plan-making process too!

Our state is struggling to keep up with the housing demands of a growing population. To help boost the supply of homes, the future State Government needs to introduce an infrastructure contributions framework. Any new housing development needs the right infrastructure to support it, such as stormwater and sewerage connections. But this is an expensive undertaking and too often developers don't want to be the 'first mover' and bear the full cost of providing this infrastructure that other developers can also benefit from at little or no cost to them. This kind of stand-off halts development. A framework that evenly spreads the cost of infrastructure across all of the developer proponents who will benefit from it will solve this issue. This is what our CEO Dion Lester discusses in today's edition of The Mercury 👇

Thanks. And if you want to learn more about urban planning and land uses, register for my upcoming class. LEARN THE BASICS OF URBAN PLANNING: 1-Day, 5-Hours Live Online Class. Monday, May 20, 9:30 am to 2:30 pm. https://lnkd.in/ggiX4kbX   Learn what urban planning is, why we plan, types of plans, planning concepts and terms, the process of preparing and implementing plans, how municipal plans and policies interconnectedly influence real estate development, and how it all contributes to city building.   This condensed class is perfect for professionals who want to advance their capabilities, students interested in exploring planning as a career, and the general public looking to better understand local community plans and development initiatives. 

As we are aware the Kings Speech happend recently, here is a few pointers of what was discussed and how we may see some change. (much needed change) - "My ministers will get Britain building, including through planning reform, as they seek to accelerate the delivery of high-quality infrastructure and housing." Great for the people who work in planning, should equal more work and cases to work on. 👍 - Modernised Planning Committees: By modernising planning committees, the government hopes to increase the efficiency of application processing. This is expected to facilitate quicker decision-making, enabling faster project launches. 👍 pheww... - Nature Recovery and Development Funding: The government plans to leverage development projects to fund nature recovery initiatives. This approach seeks to balance environmental conservation with the need for development, addressing both ecological and housing needs simultaneously. one for the #enviroment 👍 Now for our Prime Ministers view: Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said - "Our work is urgent. There is no time to waste. We are hitting the ground running by bringing forward the laws we will need to rebuild our country for the long-term – and our ambitious, fully costed agenda is the downpayment on that change.." This is all looking positive for the planning community!!! To all the planners on here, i would love to know your thoughts on the plans, please feel free to share your views. #planning #townplanning

Today Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities published the revised National Planning Policy Framework. In our response, Richard Clewer welcomes many of the measures announced, but warns planning intervention must be proportionate and proposals lack a focus on strategic planning. Read more here 👉 https://lnkd.in/eShfmUhX

Hello friends and collaborators , join me and others on October 12th 2023 to discuss how we can leverage decarbonization investments in ways that support and preserve affordable housing. Zeroing in on Decarbonization in Affordable Housing Production & Preservation | Citizens' Housing And Planning Association (chapa.org)

📣 Calling public, private, and third-sector landowners and land-owning organisations: community land trusts, developers, housing associations, and estate managers. The London School of Economics (LSE) is hosting a roundtable event on 5 September 2024, gathering landowners from the public, private, and third sectors to discuss how to get the most “value” from land and how to facilitate landowners’ participation in value creation 🏗 🌾 . Land is a precious but finite resource. The affordable housing crisis, coupled with the climate and health crises, has brought the land back into the spotlight as a central determining factor in planning decisions. Moreover, the incoming Labour government’s planning agenda raises questions about how we get the best “value” from land. The roundtable is an open conversation amongst a diverse range of landowners based in the Greater London Area and the Wider South East to determine how we navigate the key tensions surrounding land-use decisions and how we might improve current land management and land value capture mechanisms in England. ➡️ If you are interested in attending, please contact Meg Hennessy at m.hennessy@lse.ac.uk. The event is part of a wider Oram Fellowship research project at the LSE, investigating the planning system using a values-based approach to explore the tensions surrounding its reform. Find out more about the project here: https://buff.ly/4aN49i6

2023 was a record-breaking economic development year for Chester County Economic Development. The county finished with nearly $2 billion in announced capital investment and 641 new jobs. In fact, two projects alone represented 18% of South Carolina’s total announced investment statewide. Read more about the massive impact Chester County is having on the state, and how county leaders plan to build on the success of these projects: https://ow.ly/zOTP50Qq0Lx