Farewell then, HS2 Phase 2.

Rishi Sunak’s public execution of its intended Birmingham to Manchester leg follows weeks of behind the scenes briefing, shaky obfuscation with the media and public lobbying against it from figures ranging from George Osborne to Manchester United.

Making the UK a better place to live and work.
Close your eyes for just a second and imagine that you live in a Country that takes pride in how many homes it builds for its populace. Until the 1960s this was a regular feature of UK public life; it now sounds like the demented ramblings of an errant idealist.

Decarbonising how we live and work

Chris Skidmore MP’s near six month review of the UK’s progress against its Net-Zero commitments came to a conclusion in mid January with the publication of a 340 page report with some 129 recommendations to Government, industry and public to accelerate the country’s transition and to make ‘green growth’ a central pillar of its industrial strategy.

Planning reform explained

It wouldn’t be the UK if we didn’t have a Government consultation landing immediately before Christmas – and it arrived, courtesy of the snazzily titled Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. This was a rather important one – the Government’s consultation document on proposed reforms to national planning policy and an indicative mark-up of its National Planning Policy Framework.

The future of planning in the UK

Welcome to an era of both small-sized and small-minded Government.

Analysis of the Autumn Statement

“It don’t mean a thing if you ain’t got that swing”. The UK Government has moved from setting a budget with an apparent £55bn giveaway to one that ostensibly claws back £60bn in a furious attempt to ‘balance the books’ in just five weeks.

Future Proofing Development

COP27‘s international participants had a stern warning ringing between their ears: that the world has little to no chance of delivering the Paris Agreement’s target of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels.

Bellona Advisors has officially been trading for a year in what can only be described as a tough but rewarding period of trading and personal development. Huge thanks to all who’ve helped the business get to this major milestone.

Gambling with other people’s money

£45 billion of tax cuts. This is biggest tax cutting event since 1972. Barber’s “dash for growth” then ended in disaster. That Budget is now known as the worst of modern times.

Making housing and development more energy efficient

In a Summer of arresting headlines, the Guardian’s piece entitled ‘England’s housing strategy would blow entire carbon budget, says study’ is one which immediately taps into an ever-growing problem: how do you make sure that people live in a proper place they can call home while minimising its effect on the planet?

Why aren’t we building more SRFI’s?

The sustainability challenge for future development is stark: it should contribute to tackling the big global environmental issues we need to resolve by 2030.

The levelling up and regeneration bill

There’s something about the Government’s much-vaunted plans for ‘levelling up’ that brings out their verbose side. The initial white paper on the subject from February totalled 332 pages….and this week’s Levelling Up & Regeneration Bill extended to a whopping 338 pages, with a 248 page side order of ‘explanatory notes’. Easy reading it isn’t.

Future proofing places

‘Creating healthier communities’ has been a priority for successive UK Governments throughout my 20-year professional career. The burden for delivering this enormous task however has usually been (unfairly) left at the door of healthcare professionals, despite the obvious imperative to develop actions to keep people away from the healthcare system.

Enough about Net-Zero: What about near-zero?

Hands up all those who think COP26 feels like years ago, rather than just four months ago? Whilst the conference can be described at best as a ‘qualified success’, a striking element of its outcome was the sheer number of 30 to 40 year targets for decarbonisation, with little focus on the immediate work needed to limit climate change.

The levelling up white paper

Huge thanks to the tour de force that is Simon Ricketts for inviting Iain Thomson onto his Clubhouse podcast with Catriona Riddell and Victoria Hutton to talk through the Government’s recently published (and eagerly awaited) Levelling Up White Paper.

The Green Green Belts of Home

Building enough new homes in the right places is an evergreen economic and social priority for the UK. A cursory glance at recent national and local headlines reveal a holy smorgasbord of invective in doing this however…..

Abandoning HS2 Phase 2b: A disaster that most don’t realise

What does the Government mantra of ‘levelling up’ actually mean? A quick google search suggests I’m not the only one who’s curious as to what the definition is, which areas it applies to, or what success looks like.