Charities that own assets in the form of land and buildings have the opportunity to generate both energy and income. We have advised a number of charities on the potential for wind, hydro,geothermal and solar […]
Drive, walk, cycle or use public transport?
It’s always a challenge to be mindful of the environmental impact of how you work- At ethical partnership we are always looking to minimise the amount of car journeys we make – particularly solo journeys ! […]
Planning permission secured for charity’s solar farm
Durham county council have granted permission for our clients proposed 5MW Solar farm in Comsett. Ethical partnership were the agents for the application and prepared the scheme designs together with the heritage and landscape impact assesments […]
Government proposals for planning reforms – our response
The pace of change in planning policy seems relentless, its great that our professional institute is on the ball and responding to the tide of proposals for reform. We are pleased to support the latest […]
Planners welcome updated professional ‘Code of Practice’
Our professional team of planners at ethical partnership have all welcomed the news that the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) has recently published its updated Code of Professional Conduct (the Code). The RTPI’s five key principles […]
The next privatisation – flood defences!
Hard on the heels of opening up the processing of planning applications to the private sector comes the ‘opportunity’ for private water companies to now deliver and be responsible for flood defences. Water minister Rory […]
Lords call for government rethink on the built environment
The National Policy for the Built Environment Committee has recently asserted the importance of delivering a better built environment and is concerned about; the quality of new developments and the risk of housing delivery being […]
Lords issue critical report on government housing policies
Peers have added their voice to those criticising current government policies as unlikely to meet demand for either the quantity or quality of new homes needed. The Lords Select Committee on National Policy for the […]
‘Enabling development’ – How much is too much?
The English Heritage (now Historic England) criteria used to assess the acceptability of enabling development require that only the minimum necessary (development) is consented to secure the future of the asset. An economic assessment is […]
Heritage assets – the art of ‘enabling development’
The term ‘enabling development’ is not a statutory one. It generally refers to a state of affairs in which development that would otherwise be considered harmful is considered acceptable because it would facilitate (or ‘enable’) […]
Privatising planning by the back door
The Government has fired the starting gun on the privatisation of the planning system. Thinly veiled to speed up the planning process, developers in a few pilot areas will be able to choose who processes […]
Demystifying how planning applications are decided…..
The process of applying for planning permission need not be complex – as chartered planners we’re here to help, we’ve tried to simplify it in this flow chart – if you want to know more? […]