Monthly Archives: March 2013

England’s government has announced how it plans to implement the principle of a one-stop-shop for non-planning consents for major infrastructure. The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) consulted on the issues last year and now the department has confirmed … Continue reading →

Karen Houghton has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the National Heritage Training Group (NHTG) following the formation of NHTG as a non-profit distributing company limited by guarantee. The NHTG is an independent specialist sector skills development group with … Continue reading →

England’s Skills Minister Matthew Hancock today welcomed the creation of the first graduate level Higher Apprenticeships in advanced manufacturing, commercial airline piloting and professional development for work based learning practitioners. Employers including BAE Systems and British Airways expect to recruit … Continue reading →

England’s Business Minister Michael Fallon has launched two consultations to re-shape the way regulators work with business, so that upholding standards does not act as a barrier to growth and enterprise. Businesses and regulators are invited to contribute to the … Continue reading →

An East Devon district councillor whose business as a planning consultant is being investigated has been suspended by his political party, as Councillors ‘for hire’ for planning advice feature in press. The councillor’s business as a planning consultant is being … Continue reading →

East Northamptonshire District Council has won a legal challenge in the High Court over a planning inspector’s decision to allow on appeal a four-turbine wind farm earmarked for a site one mile from a Grade l listed building. The challenge … Continue reading →

Responses to an independent stakeholder consultation on the merger between Historic Scotland and RCAHMS have now been published with success dependent on key including Retaining independence and the development of regional hubs. On the independence of RCAHMS the report notes: … Continue reading →

England’s Ministers have acted to reduce their involvement in the regime surrounding local development orders (LDOs). Government amendment tabled during the consideration of the Growth and Infrastructure Bill currently under detailed scrutiny in the Lords removes the requirement for the … Continue reading →

Built environment watchdog Design Council CABE is implementing further staffing cuts as it prepares for life without grant from the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG). Search Planning Resource: LINK

Eden in Cumbria has become the first area in England to vote through a new-look neighbourhood plan. A local referendum held on 7 March saw an overwhelming majority of those polled (over 90 per cent) backing the plan. The turnout … Continue reading →

Booking is now open for the major event in the year for the conservation professional, with the launch of the website for the IHBC’s 2013 Annual School, an event that will confront one of the biggest challenges for conservation today: … Continue reading →

The Joint Committee of the National Amenity Societies (JCNAS), of which the IHBC is a partner, has launched a free public information service that brings together for the first time the expertise offered by heritage organisations to offer support on … Continue reading →

The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) has issued a report revealing that just over half of English councils are not prepared for the Government’s planning reforms under way though the National planning Policy Framework (NPPF), with potentially damaging consequences … Continue reading →

Eleven places from across the country have put their names forward to become the UK City of Culture in 2017. They are, Aberdeen, Chester, Dundee, East Kent (covering Ashford, Canterbury, Dover, Folkestone and Thanet), Hastings and Bexhill on Sea, Hull, … Continue reading →

The JPICH (Joint Programming Initiative on Cultural Heritage and Global Change) has launched its first Joint Pilot Transnational Call for Proposals, aimed at funding projects in Cultural Heritage with topics covering areas such as materials and decay, use and re-use … Continue reading →

The National Trust (NT) has lost its legal challenge over the development of a £100m golf resort and hotel near the Giant’s Causeway in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The project was approved by environment minister Alex Attwood last year. High … Continue reading →

England’s Planning Advisory Service has prepared a short ‘crib sheet’ that acts as a starter for ten on the duty to co-operate and strategic planning. PAS Article: LINK

DCLG has decided not to call in the Peel Holdings proposals for the ambitious £5.5bn redevelopment of an area of redundant Liverpool docklands. The scheme is known as Liverpool Waters and is earmarked for what was once known as the … Continue reading →

The current Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) website was launched in 2009 and HLF are now in the early stages of planning a redevelopment of the site and so are seeking feedback. HLF writes We’ve put together a short survey to … Continue reading →

Bat conservation is damaging churches not just physically but financially and cannot be sustained, Environment Minister Richard Benyon MP has been told. The cost of replacing one small piece of a leaded window, for example, increased from £5 using plain … Continue reading →

The Home Builders Federation (HBF) has added two new planners to its planning team in a bid to make sure that the industry is represented at future local plan examinations. The trade body claimed this move – funded by its … Continue reading →

Applications are invited for grants under the Cultural Value Project of the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) with a closing date of 16 April 2013. Research types anticipated include: · approaches to cultural value and to its different components; … Continue reading →

Two old school friends who burned down a disused church have each been jailed for three-and-a-half years. Michael John Lill and Jason Sulley, both 23, torched the hospital church of St Faith’s in Pinderfields Park last June. The Grade II … Continue reading →

The ‘Significance’ issue of Context, membership journal of The Institute of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC), has been posted online, featuring reviews of the programme from the IHBC’s 2012 Annual School in Winchester. Online access to Context is free to all, … Continue reading →

The European Commission has confirmed it will take the UK to court in an attempt to force the Treasury to impose the full rate of VAT on energy-saving goods, warning that tax breaks will not help deliver the aims of … Continue reading →