Planning for Localism; a Community Workshop in Elmbridge

The Coalition’s flagship Localism Act 2011 aims to make planning decisions more democratic and more efficient by involving local communities in local planning policy.

Elmbridge Borough Council, in affluent North Surrey, recently hosted a community workshop event to ask residents of Molesey what sort of development they’d like and where the council should be investing money from the Community Infrastructure Levy, or CIL.

The Colour Green – Jargon-busting the NPPF

The Coalition Government's proposed* changes to national planning policy have received a lot of attention recently. In particular the National Planning Policy Framework's 'presumption in favour of sustainable development' has been criticised as a builder's charter that will allow greedy developers to concrete over the English Countryside. 

Public perception of the NPPF and planning policy in general is not helped by the often bewildering interpretation of apparently straightforward language. In particular I am thinking of the word 'green' which is key to our understanding both policies and places.


This article looks at the policy-specific meaning of the word 'green' and how this tallies (or otherwise) with what you might expect it to mean.

Green Belt Planning Policy – PPG2 Explained in Plain English

Architects, landowners and developers are often wary of Green Belt sites as they think it cannot be built on. In fact, keys parts of local and national planning policies actually encourage development of Green Belt sites, so long as it is the right kind of building, supporting the right kind of use. 

This article looks at how the key planning policies promote Green Belt development and how you can use them to guide your scheme towards gaining planning permission.