Monthly Archives: January 2011

The new ‘Localism Bill’ could threaten England’s historic places, the IHBC has highlighted, as current provisions will allow new local planning procedures to override national priorities for the country’s valued places. Jo Evans, Chair of  The Institute of Historic Building and … Continue reading →

The Civic Voice,  the national charity for the civic movement in England, is polling the public on which policy is most important for inclusion in the new planning framework currently under production by the government. The poll, carried on the home … Continue reading →

Cardiff University and partners will host a conference about the architect George Pace on 12 February 2011. The organisers note as follows: George Pace (1915-75) was an architect whose uncompromising Modernism still shocks conservatives while his respect for tradition and use of craftsmanship alienated … Continue reading →

The Conference on Training in Architectural Conservation (COTAC) last year published its aims and objectives 2010-15 in the document Half a Century On. COTAC, which was established in 1959, is a charity devoted to improving the standard of education for everyone involved in … Continue reading →

RICS has established an independent Land and Society Commission to examine how communities can shape their neighbourhoods and would like to hear evidence from those with expertise in the field. RICS has established an independent Commission to examine how communities … Continue reading →

The new organisation formed by the merger between community sector umbrella bodies Bassac and the Development Trusts Association (DTA) is to be called Locality and led by Steve Wyler, it has been announced, and it will start operating in April. Regeneration.Net: LINK

The Cabinet Office has today made available small scale contracts and grants for organisations to develop and implement activity within England, as part of the national work programme for European Year of Volunteering. 2011 has been designated as the European Year of … Continue reading →

The Giving Green Paper sets out the Government’s initial ideas for building a stronger culture of giving time and money to start a national debate on our society’s attitude to giving, and is not a conventional green paper. Government says: ‘We want … Continue reading →

Haymarket, the publishers of Planning Magazine, have taken the decision to change the frequency of the publication from weekly to fortnightly from 14 January 2011. Letter [extract] to RTPI members from Sara Drake, RTPI Managing Director I am writing to let you … Continue reading →

A new set of Government Guidance notes which covers everything you need to know about managing change in the historic environment has just been launched. The fourteen guidance notes will replace the Memorandum of Guidance on Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas, which was … Continue reading →

The Department for Communities and Local Government wants local authorities to lead on the implementation of the Community Infrastructure Levy. The following news release was published by the Department for Communities and Local Government on 24 December 2010: The Department for Communities and … Continue reading →

The National Planning Application Register hosted by the Planning Portal has been closed down following a decision by the private company running the service. The register was established in November 2005 as a pilot service initially intended to run for 18 months. … Continue reading →

A council has been forced to reapprove a number of planning applications after it discovered that comments submitted on its website were not being read by planners. Ribble Valley Borough Council found that more than 100 comments on 51 applications had been … Continue reading →

Sheffield’s Castle Market listing is rejected, allowing demolition to reveal ‘what’s really under there’. It’s not one of Sheffield’s grandest structures but the stark appearance of the Sixties-built Castle Market has its fans. So much so that the Government’s conservation agency was … Continue reading →

A UK survey currently under circulation by the Church of England, among others, registers the scale of Faith group activities across society, including their roles in supporting and enabling the care of places of worship. Becky Paine, Policy Officer at the … Continue reading →

The Young Foundation has published guidance on promoting the Big Society at community level. The Community Action Toolkit can be used to find out what people want from the Big Society, what makes people feel like they belong in a place, what … Continue reading →