We’re always keen to exchange ideas, knowledge and experience of the development industry. Here’s some of our insights to date, we’d love to hear yours…
Despite a temporary Government stall on the roll out of the requirement for Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) with new development, it’s almost inevitably coming at us in one form or another. In a bid to get our heads around what it means for our clients and projects, we recently caught up with Sarah Curnow of Planning, Environment … Read More
Over the past few years, we’ve had a real flurry of queries concerning HMO developments (Houses in Multiple Occupation), including an illuminating appeal experience in Bristol very recently. Whilst they often (and sometimes deservedly) get bad press, HMO’s represent a very valid component of the housing market when managed professionally and effectively. Where else can … Read More
Have you struggled recently to move your application forward, foundered at registration stage with no case officer allocated for months or stalled in the early phases of consultation? We freely admit we have. Through no fault of their own, brutal budget cuts and post-covid application surges have left many LPA’s with mountains of cases to … Read More
With central Government policy turnabouts, cuts in LPA resources and endless delays in decision making, you might be forgiven for believing that the Planning system is currently only worth engaging with on the barest essential level i.e. through the formal application process. Pre-application enquiries (or pre-apps) certainly aren’t a priority today for many of the … Read More
Well, what a year it’s been, both professionally and personally. We don’t often find time to reflect on achievements, and we rarely, if ever, pat ourselves on the back. So for our annual December round-up, we thought we’d shine a festive light on some of our sparklers from 2022. Hope you enjoy:
On our theme this year of all things green and sustainable, Michele Lavelle of 4D Landscape Design followed up a fascinating chat we had with her over the sourcing, journey and lifespan of trees transplanted ‘to order’. Her thoughts about the sustainability and longevity of imported species yet the vulnerability of some own-grown native trees … Read More
National Park Cities – have you ever heard of these? No. Neither had we, until we read about them in Rob Hopkins Book ‘From What Is to What If, his manifesto to reclaim and unleash the creative power of our imaginations. Inspired by the model of our rural National Parks, which aim to promote our … Read More
Following on from a Jane Jacobs inspired walk for the RTPI that Jules recently led for Bristol’s Young Planners, and as part of our 2022 ‘sustainability’ theme, it seemed a good opportunity to consider what makes a place ‘sustainable’ in the wider sense. Not just from an environmental perspective, but what makes a successful place tick, how it works, how it evolves and thrives.
On our theme this year of looking at biodiversity, environmental protection and sustainability issues within the English planning system, Jane Fowles and Georgina Harvey of Novell Tullett Landscape Architects shared their thoughts with us about the beauty, history and fragility of Old Orchards. Their take on these unique landscape features completely encapsulates why we should uphold landscape policy designations…
Happy New Year, let’s hope it’s a good one. With a refreshed vigour for prioritising the climate crisis throughout our work, we’re going to use the year ahead to look at areas of the English planning system that support biodiversity, environmental protection and sustainability. So for our first blog offering of 2022, we take a … Read More