Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page.

PAS Bulletin: July 2021

As we head into the holiday season, the PAS team have had to remind ourselves that, as lovely as this time is, it usually flies by, and before we know it, it's September. Communication is crucial to the success of the PAS programme. We know that there is a lot of our programme to deliver over the next few months and that this will be made more difficult as our team and council teams take well-earned leave. So, I make a plea that if we contact you to offer support could you please respond with the name of the person who is available to have this conversation with us? This will help us to keep the show on the road. In return, we have organised ourselves so that we can be responsive to council requests that come through pas@local.gov.uk. Thank you.

Anna Rose

Head of PAS

Planning for First Homes workshop

The recent Written Ministerial Statement amended planning policy for affordable homes by introducing the requirement to deliver First Homes and with updated planning practice guidance. There’s a lot to get to grips with. We are holding an event to explore the practicalities of implementing First Homes. Book your place.

Planning for Natura 2000 sites: lessons in Nutrient Neutrality Workshop

We're running a second Planning for Natura 2000 sites: lessons in nutrient neutrality workshop at 1.30pm, Thursday 29 July. The event is for local authorities wanting to understand this issue, how to deal with it and plan proactively, with presentations from MHCLG, Defra, Natural England and the Environment Agency, as well as local case studies.

Biodiversity Metric 3.0

The new Biodiversity Metric 3.0 was launched on 7 July, alongside a Small Sites Metric in beta test format. A recording of the launch event is on YouTube. In addition, Defra's report on lessons learned from the Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) pilots was published on 12 July.

New Design Code Pilot Programme – come and hear about the opportunity

The Office for Place has launched a second phase of design code pilots and we are holding two remote session for interested LPAs on 30 July and 1 September to find out about the programme, how they can bid to become a pilot, and the support that will be available.

New Publication – Improving the Governance of Developer Contributions

In preparation of the planning reforms, now is a good time to review how effective you are in your governance of developer contributions. To help we have published a guidance handbook on improving the governance of developer contributions which brings together practical learning from councils focusing on how the whole system should work to deliver necessary infrastructure. It also includes a self-assessment toolkit for councils.

Would you like support in reviewing your governance processes?

Following the publication of the guidance handbook on improving the governance of developer contributions we will be supporting individual councils to help understand where improvements are needed. We will work with you to co-create ways to ensure that money collected is used to deliver infrastructure in an efficient, transparent, robust and effective way. If you are interested contact us at pas@local.gov.uk

The Latest PAS Blog

You can read the latest blog from Anna Rose (head of PAS) PAS – an introduction or a timely reminder about what PAS does and our passion for planning.

Post Grenfell Fire Safety – Planning Gateway One 

From 1 August 2021, fire safety measures must be considered in the determination of planning applications for schemes involving relevant high-rise residential buildings. To help planners understand these new legislative requirements Fire Risk Consultancy has published a free online training course. Access the course.

The latest Khub posts

• Local Plan review timescales
• Meeting a 35 per cent uplift in housing need for top 20 cities - where?
• S106 monitoring fees