Planning

18 February 2025

The future of East London and the Thames Estuary

Be First Interim Managing Director Caroline Harper discusses Barking & Dagenham’s growth potential, regeneration, housing, and transport plans to drive economic and social transformation.

Planning

04 February 2025

Digital Planning Directory launches: a milestone moment for the UK’s planning sector

Digital Task Force for Planning CEO, Dr Wei Yang, unveils The Digital Planning Directory, a key resource that connects the UK's planning sector with innovative digital solutions.

Culture, Education & Health, Housing, Industrial & Logistics, Net Zero, Planning, Technical, Transport & Infrastructure, Work

14 January 2025

Expert Panels 2024 Summaries

As we kick off 2025 Expert Panels, panel chairs share summaries, recommendations, reflections and key findings from across the 2024 meetings, visits and debates.

Planning

13 May 2024

Towards an age inclusive city

Oluwaseyi Sobogun, shares her thoughts on the recent webinar ‘Towards an age inclusive city’. Oluwaseyi is an ED&I coach and Architect in the Later Living team at PRP

Planning

08 April 2024

NLA Expert Panel: Planning

NLA Planning Expert Panel concluded its last cycle with a white paper that contributed to the New London Agenda. The white paper covered a range of topics.

Planning

15 January 2024

Meet The Expert - Jonny Popper

David Taylor talks to London Communication Agency’s Jonny Popper to get the lowdown on all things planning as part of his chairmanship of the expert panel group on the subject.

Planning

14 April 2023

Planning Expert Panel

Dr Riette Oosthuizen of HTA Design reflects on the latest meeting discussing social value, community engagement in planning, and the planning policy agenda.

Planning

21 March 2023

Can hostile vehicle mitigation improve the public realm?

Reflecting on our latest talk exploring the implementation of Hostile Vehicle Mitigation (HVM) and utilising CPNI’s recommendations when designing spaces for people.

Planning

23 February 2023

Planning for Social Value: are metrics the answer?

Hilary Satchwell of Tibbalds Planning and Urban Design reports from our latest NLA webinar exploring the use of social value metrics within the planning process.

Planning

15 December 2022

Planning Expert Panel

Jonny Popper, reflects on the latest Planning Expert Panel meeting with a strong focus on social value - the first of the three key priorities for the year ahead.

Culture, Planning

17 October 2022

East Bank: a new cultural identity

Marking one of NLA’s last events as part of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park Programme and residency at Westfield Stratford City over the summer, we take a look back on our recent event: East Bank: a...

Planning

01 September 2022

A year in summary: Planning

As we wrap up the latest cycle of NLA Expert Panels, Jonny Popper summarises strategic areas from the Planning Expert Panel that they will take forward into the next cycle.

Planning

16 May 2022

Social value and community engagement in planning

Jonny Popper, Chief Executive at LCA , and Chair of the NLA Expert Panel on Planning, reports from the latest meeting.

Planning

21 March 2022

Learning from Hatcham and Ilderton Road Design Code

Matias Piazza, Senior Urban Design at Farrells, reports from the NLA National Model Design Codes breakfast talk.

Planning

14 March 2022

Design codes aim to speed up and ‘demystify’ planning

Head of architecture at Levelling up, Housing and Communities says ambition is for faster planning, partly through National Model Design Codes roll-out

Planning

17 February 2022

Continued Uncertainty about Final Planning System Reforms and the Application of Design Codes in Practice

Riette Oosthuizen of HTA Design reports from the first meeting of the New Expert Panel on Planning.

Planning

04 February 2022

Demystifying the dark arts of planning with digital technology

Jason Hawthorne, Founding Director of VU.CITY responds to the recent NLA Precise Planning: The Role of Digital Technologies webinar

Planning

01 October 2021

‘Levelling Up’ agenda must not be at the expense of London, says NLA Expert Panel on Planning

Jonny Popper, Managing Director, London Communications Agency reports from the inaugural meeting of the new NLA Expert Panel on Planning.

Planning

07 September 2021

Redbridge: Child Friendly Communities

Last week NLA hosted a webinar looking at participatory projects that have been informed by young people.

Planning

02 August 2021

Is the 15-minute city having its 15 minutes of fame, or is it here to stay?

Holly Harrington of PDP London gives her view on what this could mean for our Capital

Planning

02 August 2021

Beauty and engagement – the new planning

Webinar hears how government is aiming to put communities – and ‘beauty’ – at the heart of the planning system under new reforms and codes being tested on the ground

Planning

28 June 2021

Inclusive design is fundamental

Access and inclusion must be integral to the built environment, webinar experts warn.

Planning

07 June 2021

Coffee Break, Charlotte Morphet

Charlotte Morphet, co-founder of Women in Planning and Planning Policy and design team leader at St Albans City & District Council on planning, planners, and diversity in the professions. As featured...

Planning

01 June 2021

Understanding social value: NLA Expert Panel on Planning

NLA Expert Panel on Planning ask: how can we improve on the delivery and measurement of social value?

Planning

17 February 2021

Permitted Development Rights and London Plan: NLA Expert Panel on Planning

In the first meeting of 2021, the NLA Expert Panel on Planning came together to discuss pressing issues in the planning sector, including changes to Permitted Development Rights (PDR) and the latest o...

Planning

02 December 2020

Neighbourhood planning faces white paper ‘power drain’

Neighbourhood planning can be a powerful tool to engage with and help communities to deliver growth, fostering relationships between local authorities and the citizens they serve, and even reinforcing...

Planning

18 November 2020

Design quality wins endorsement

Chief planner Joanna Averley has emphasised the role design will play in a ‘reset’ of the planning system, with a message on quality from ‘the very top in government’ and recognised that London has ‘u...

Planning

29 October 2020

NLA responds to government’s Planning White Paper on implications for Greater London

NLA has this week submitted its response to the government’s consultation, focusing on the impact of the proposed planning reforms on Greater London. Led by the NLA Expert Panel on Planning, informed...

Planning

01 October 2020

The Reforms: An opportunity for planning to rediscover its purpose

In this thought piece, Nexus Planning Executive Director Shaun Andrews delves into a few of the elements of the government’s recently announced planning reforms which are close to the Nexus Planning t...

Planning

09 September 2020

Soapbox: Will the proposed planning reforms curb the Mayor of London’s powers?

The envy of many city governments, the Mayor of London’s powers over planning and housing could be under threat. The 1999 act which established them will be soon by over-ridden by proposed reforms to...

Planning

21 August 2020

The Place for PlanTech in ‘Planning for the Future.’

VU.CITY’s Piers Mulroney takes an in-depth look at the Planning for the Future White Paper and likes what he sees when it comes to the potential for the UK to become global leaders in digital planning...

Planning

07 August 2020

Planning reforms receive mixed reaction from NLA Expert Panel

NLA’s Expert Panel reacted with concern over planning authority funding at housing, communities and local government secretary Robert Jenrick’s ‘Planning for the Future’ consultation paper and his bid...

Planning

24 July 2020

City of London unveils Fleet Street court and police complex plan

Arresting development – City of London launches plans for an 18-courtroom court and police complex on Fleet Street, with a masterplan and design work undertaken by Eric Parry Architects. The project i...

Planning

15 July 2020

From the archive: The London Plan

With the current standoff over the London Plan between Robert Jenrick and Sadiq Khan, it is interesting to look back at the last days of Boris Johnson’s administration when the Mayor’s Design Advisory...

Planning

10 July 2020

NLA expert panel - planning

London Communications Agency managing director Jonny Popper sets out the findings from the NLA’s first planning expert panel session, including the radical planning changes expected later this month,...

Planning

02 July 2020

Planning Reform – time to put the plan back into planning

In a busy week for all things related to the construction industry and urban reforms, Tom Venables, Director of Town Planning at Prior + Partners, says it’s time to put the plan back into planning

Planning

26 June 2020

Studio Egret West and Hawkins/Brown scoop Earls Court masterplan

Studio Egret West and Hawkins\Brown collaborate again and triumph in six-month international competition to masterplan Earl's Court – and plan new ‘global standard for sustainable development and vibr...

Planning

25 June 2020

Soapbox: Museum of London decision shows virtual planning here to stay

The decision to award planning permission to the Museum of London’s West Smithfield scheme this week reveals a vital and perhaps permanent role for ever-slicker – and more democratic – virtual plannin...

Planning

12 June 2020

Digital boost for planning and consultation

A special webinar on digital planning looked at the advances made and new technologies grasped in helping architects and developers get planning permission and improve consultation, but found there wa...

Planning

30 April 2020

Project of the week – Bollo Lane

David Weatherhead, Design Principal at HOK’s London Studio, sets out why the practice’s Bollo Lane project – now in for planning – is a trailblazer for London’s land around stations and the first proj...

Planning

09 April 2020

PTE scores with virtual permission for £190m Leyton project

Waltham Forest’s largest ever planning application – from Pollard Thomas Edwards for its Coronation Square project – last week became one of the first major projects to win permission from a virtual p...

Planning

03 April 2020

Planning's response to Covid-19

Local authorities across London are mobilising to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic with ‘pragmatism and leadership’ – to keep business moving by harnessing virtual planning and other technologies.

Planning

04 March 2020

The London Plan – dissected

The London Plan is more of a forecast for what might happen to the capital than a strategy for how it could change.

Planning

23 July 2019

‘Supergroup’ reimagines Central Somers Town

A ‘supergroup’ of four collaborating practices showed how their dynamic approaches to masterplanning and designing a new landscape-led urban framework are bearing fruit for cent...

Planning

10 July 2019

Create planning ‘champions’ to rebuild trust, urges NLA sounding board

London’s development community needs to work harder to enshrine social value in procurement decisions, but the capital also needs to make planning more accessible, with recognis...

Planning

26 April 2019

Follow the Old Kent Road – and engage communities

London needs more genuine engagement and communication between the public and plan-makers in order to bring more certainty – and less risk – to both parties. That was...