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The Government’s new draft guidance on planning committees, published on 26 March 2026, points to a major change in how planning decisions may be made in England. The core idea is straightforward: more routine and technical decisions should be made by officers, with planning committees focusing only on genuinely significant proposals. The most notable practical change is that familiar local mechanisms such as ward member call-ins and committee referral based purely on objec

A recent North Warwickshire appeal decision is a useful reminder of how strongly housing land supply is now influencing outcomes. The Inspector allowed up to 39 dwellings at Newton Regis even though the scheme conflicted with the settlement hierarchy and was found to be disproportionate in scale for a small village. The reason was simple: the Council could only show around 2.2 years of housing land supply , so the benefits of delivering housing, including 40% affordable h

Draft NPPF consultation: what it means for SME housing and strategic sites The Government is consulting on a revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and related reforms aimed at improving delivery and certainty. For most landowners and SME developers, the immediate relevance is practical: the draft direction of travel is likely to shape how LPAs negotiate, how applications are evidenced, and what Inspectors expect to see at appeal. The parts most likely to affect li

The Government has launched a 12-week consultation on a revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), setting out wide-ranging changes intended to create a more rules-based and predictable planning system. The proposals focus on boosting housing delivery in well-connected locations, strengthening the brownfield-first approach, and encouraging higher-density development around railway stations. These are consultation proposals only , and the Government is seeking views f

Solihull Council is revising its Local Development Scheme (LDS) to realign the Local Plan timetable with the emerging West Midlands Spatial Development Strategy (SDS) . The SDS will set out housing and employment growth across the region, and as such Solihull is avoiding moving ahead too early and risking failure on the duty-to-cooperate. Under the updated LDS timetable, the Plan will go through Issues & Options in early 2026, with two further rounds of mandatory consultati

Wootton Wawen Tyler-Parkes is delighted to have secured Permission in Principle for the development of a single dwelling on an infill plot in Wootton Wawen, within Stratford District. The application site is located within the Wootton Wawen infill boundary, where residential development can be supported. Stratford District Council only has a 2.74-year housing land supply, falling considerably short of the required five years. Consequently, the tilted balance is triggere

Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook has written to the Planning Inspectorate confirming that inspectors can once again recommend local planning authorities undertake Green Belt reviews as part of the Local Plan examination process. The announcement, made in October 2025, marks a significant shift in planning policy and restores a power removed more than a decade ago. It means that where a submitted Local Plan is found to fall short of housing or employment land requirements, P

dreamstime.com The government is actively reviewing the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) regulations amid growing concern that the...