Grenfell Tower
The Deputy Prime Minister met bereaved families and survivors of the Grenfell Tower tragedy, and has written to them and local residents explaining that the tower will be taken down. The Government issued an update on the process.
Many residential blocks of flats have unsafe cladding on the walls which owners are finding expensive to replace. The Government published Cladding Remediation Guidance in July 2022.
Natural flood management
The Government reviewed the latest research on natural flood management and updated the ‘Working with Natural Processes’ evidence directory. The measures protect, restore or emulate the natural functions of rivers, floodplains, catchments and the coast to reduce flooding and coastal erosion. The report and findings are here.
BPF calls for more planners
British Property Federation (BPF) has called on Government for 3000 more planners (only 300 had been pledged) and more resources for the Building Safety Regulator, to unlock delivery of thousands of new homes across the country, as here.
They propose the Government could unlock an additional £20bn private capital to deliver 240,000 units of social housing over the next five years.
Old Kent Road Area Action Plan Consultation
The Walworth Society are reporting a consultation on the Old Kent Road Area Action Plan.
The plan will incorporate around 20,000 new homes, including affordable, 10,000 new jobs, community facilities new parks and public transport improvements, including the proposed extension to the Bakerloo Line and new underground stations.
More details are on Southwark’s website. You can provide your comments on their consultation page until Friday 11th April.
Friary Park update
Both GLA and independent analysis of viability for the Friary Park scheme in LB Ealing indicate a profit of up to £18m compared with Mount Anvil’s claims of their £30m loss, as explained in the video, which could affect the amount of affordable housing in the development.
The Assembly will be asked to consider the situation and DHCLG will be informed.
The Government is considering bringing into force an unimplemented part of the Levelling-Up and Regeneration Act 2023 on how a developer’s past behaviour could be taken into account by a Council for any new applications they submit.… Read more...
Culture funding
The DCMS £270m ‘Arts Everywhere Fund’ includes £15m for repairing Heritage at Risk and a new £4.85m Heritage Revival Fund. There is also an £85m ‘Creative Foundations Fund’ for capital works to venues, £25m for capital works to museums via the ‘Museum Estate and Development Fund’, £120m for capital works to DCMS-sponsored bodies via the ‘Public Bodies Infrastructure Fund’, and £3.2m for cultural education including the ‘Heritage Schools Programme’.
What’s Happening to London’s Population?
An Historical Introduction
London’s population peaked in the 1930s, reaching about 8.6 million in 1939. For the next half century it fell steadily, to 6.8 million in the 1980s, before beginning to rise again, to over 9.1 million now. But the experiences of inner London (broadly, the area governed by the London County Council (LCC) from 1889 to 1963) and of outer London (broadly, the areas added to the county when the Greater London Council (GLA) was created in 1965) have differed greatly.… Read more...
Infrastructure Strategy
The Government has set out its working paper for developing a 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy which seeks to bring together a plan for the country’s social, economic and housing infrastructure. The Strategy will also describe an institutional framework to support its implementation, including setting out the role of public financial institutions and how the Strategy will support other strategies, such as the industrial strategy.
Environment improvement
There is a statement from DEFRA’s Secretary of State, Steve Reed, providing an update on the rapid review of the Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) launched on 30 July 2024. It sets out key strategic findings from the rapid review and plans for revising the EIP.
Great British Railways consultation launched
The government has at last launched a formal consultation on the creation of Great British Railways (GBR), several years after the launch of the Williams Review in 2018 that ended up as the Williams-Shapps report in 2021 recommending a GBR.
Although the previous Conservative governments gave oral support to a proposal which bore the name of their transport secretary, the closest they came to implementing it was a dummy Bill, a kind of dress rehearsal for what might become the real thing before the script had been written.… Read more...
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Response to New Towns Draft Programme Consultation
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Planning, Environment and Transport committee meeting
📅 Thu 11th June | 14:00 - 16:00
🚩 Room B1 70 Cowcross St, EC1M 6EJ (map)
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How Effective is Planning Enforcement ?
📆 Mon 29th June | 18:30 - 20:30
🚩 77 Cowcross Street, EC1M 6EL (map)
How can we make it work better? Planning enforcement is important. Unless it’s done effectively, the integrity of the whole planning system is put at risk. But it’s one of the most frustrating issues for civic societies and local community groups. We’ll discuss this and related issues at this Open Meeting on 29th June. Please book here Cases typically range from: Large developments that grossly fail to meet planning conditions or even submitted drawings and plans; Illegal demolitions; Unauthorised residential alterations and extensions; Additional floors built on top of blocks of flats;…