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Merry Christmas to you all. I hope that you have some well-deserved time out to spend with loved ones and come back to work ready for the year ahead.
We have some new programmes of support coming forward over the next year which we can’t wait to launch. We will also have some new programmes to design when we agree our 2020/21 work programme with MHCLG. So exciting times ahead for PAS.
We are available in between Christmas and New Year for those people not able or not wanting to take leave. For everyone else, we look forward to hearing from you in 2020.
Here’s to a healthy and happy new year for us all.
Kind regards,
Anna Rose
Head of PAS
We have some exciting news to announce, we are about to start on a new venture. In April 2020 we will launch our new LGA sponsored ‘return to planning’ programme. This programme builds on the success of the ‘return to social work’ programme which is currently in operation across England.
We are looking to partner with authorities holding vacancies to help to match them with people wishing to return to local authority planning after a career break. We will provide training to get returners comfortable with current issues in planning and provide support for the recruitment process.
In the period running up to April, we will be needing to call on our friends to help us to design the most appropriate programme. Please contact us pas@local.gov.uk if you want to be part of the programme and particularly if you feel like you could help with the design.
We will set a date for a first sounding board early in the New Year. We look forward to hearing from you.
We have been providing advice and support to some of the new unitary councils, and wondered whether there is demand for a workshop or two. This would bring together people from some of the unitaries planned for 2020 along with those already in existence – including the decade of experience in Cornwall and Wiltshire.
It is both a significant challenge and a great opportunity to set up committees, ICT and local plans so there is lots of ground to cover.
Register your interest so we can understand whether it is worthwhile putting something like this together.
We recently published a significant update to our local plan soundness self-assessment tool that responds to the new NPPF and the requirement to review a local plan regularly.
The Route Mapper and Toolkit is designed for LPAs to use themselves to help to review and update their local plans.
You can see the materials we used at our introductory events, as well as helpful links to the materials itself and a KHub for discussion.
The LGA are supporting a short project to establish the key barriers that local planning authorities face in negotiating inclusion of Gypsy Traveller sites in local plans – most particularly in urban extension areas.
Part of the project involves a short, 9 question survey for planners. If you have ever been involved in allocating sites for the G&T community please consider taking part.
In case you missed it - the RTPI has recently published new practice advice on Biodiversity in planning: Obligations and opportunities to promote biodiversity through the UK planning systems. It sets out the key challenges relating to biodiversity and the current national statutory duties and guidance that should be addressed through planning.
You can read the full report on the RTPI website.
Remember the Knowledge hub draws together 6,000 people to ask and answer tricky questions and on occasion let off a little steam.
Finney and section 73 applications
Removing developed sites from the brownfield register (or not)
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