Council charges for ‘fast-track’ planning service
03/04/2024 Residents in Epsom and Ewell can pay to have planning applications decided faster as part of a new council service. |
Oxfordshire signs first scheme under new 'brownfield fund'
28/03/2024 Oxfordshire County Council is the first local authority to secure project funding through Homes England's Brownfield, Infrastructure and Land (BIL) Fund. |
Norfolk caught in bitter battle over bats
27/03/2024 A council leader has launched an attack on Natural England after the environment watchdog effectively blocked a £274m road scheme due to its impact on bats. |
VolkerFitzpatrick wins £38m Kent viaduct project
26/03/2024 Kent County Council has appointed VolkerFitzpatrick to design and build a highway crossing over a rail line and river near Canterbury. |
'Grave concerns' over phone switchover
22/03/2024 UK mayors have expressed ‘grave concerns’ about the impact on vulnerable people of the planned phase out of the analogue phone system. |
EV charge point rollout gets £185m boost
21/03/2024 Forty-four local authorities are set to receive a share of £185m to help accelerate the rollout of electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure. |
ALARM: Pothole-riddled roads need £16bn investment
19/03/2024 The condition of roads in England and Wales has continued to decline despite councils spending £143.5m filling in two million potholes this financial year. |
Progress stalls on EV charge points
05/03/2024 Many local authorities have fallen significantly behind on their electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure plans, new research has found. |
Councils support HS2 ‘green route’
26/02/2024 A new active travel route from Birmingham to Coventry along the HS2 line is a ‘no brainer’, West Midlands mayor Andy Street has said. |
£34m council land sale set for High Court
20/02/2024 The High Court will consider whether to review Hertfordshire County Council’s sale of a former airfield to a rail freight company. |
‘Brownfield first’ reforms unveiled
14/02/2024 Councils in England will be told to prioritise brownfield development and be ‘less bureaucratic’ in their approach to building on previously developed land. |
UK risks being stuck in EV ‘slow lane’
06/02/2024 Government must do more to speed up the transition to electric vehicles (EVs) if it is to reach net zero, including extending charging infrastructure support. |
Nearly 70% of EV owners unhappy with public chargers
01/02/2024 Nearly 70% of electric (EV) and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) vehicle owners who have used the UK’s public charging network have said they are unhappy with it. |
Local plan review process ‘ineffective’
18/01/2024 Reform is urgently required to improve the local plan review process and increase the number of up-to-date plans, according to new research. |
EVs only ‘part of the solution’, public health directors warn
03/01/2024 Directors of public health have welcomed the Government’s zero emission vehicle mandate but warned electric vehicles are ‘just part of the solution’. |
Review of 2023: a year in planning
20/12/2023 Karen Charles, executive director, Boyer (part of Leaders Romans Group), takes a look back at developments in planning policy over the last year. |
Skills shortage ‘putting brakes’ on net zero
12/12/2023 The skills shortage is undermining efforts to reduce carbon emissions and effectively tackle the climate crisis, local authority leaders in London have warned. |
£150k charging investment to support Hull’s EV transition
08/12/2023 Hull City Council has announced that it will invest £150,000 in new electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure. |
Gov announces £70m charge point pilot
06/12/2023 The Government has launched a £70m pilot scheme to boost the rollout of ultra-rapid electric vehicle charge points in motorway service areas. |
Tidal barrage could be new Wirral-Liverpool link
30/11/2023 A tidal barrage across the Mersey could provide a new link between Wirral and Liverpool, according to a report. |
Autumn Statement: Councils to be able to recover planning costs
22/11/2023 Councils will be able to recover the costs of business planning applications in return for being required to meet faster timelines, Chancellor says. |
Levelling Up Fund allocated
20/11/2023 The third round of the Levelling Up Fund has been awarded to unsuccessful bids from round two. |
Autumn Statement 2023: Where does all the HS2 money go now?
20/11/2023 Jessica Bowles, director of strategic partnerships and impact at Bruntwood, discusses the future of Northern Powerhouse Rail. |
New Bradford station 'one step closer' with £400k award
14/11/2023 The Department for Transport (DfT) has awarded Bradford Council £400,000 ‘to kickstart master planning’ on a new railway station. |
Places must adapt for ageing population, says Whitty
13/11/2023 Places and infrastructure must be adapted to support an ageing population, particularly in rural areas, according to England's chief medical officer. |
Commission calls for £30bn public infrastructure investment
18/10/2023 Government should invest £30bn a year into public infrastructure to level up struggling areas and tackle climate change, says infrastructure commission. |
Local authority pension schemes invest £330m in renewables
13/10/2023 Six local authority pension schemes have agreed a multi-million-pound deal to invest in renewables projects in the southwest. |
Labour to tackle 'antiquated planning system'
09/10/2023 Labour has pledged to overhaul the planning system in a bid to ease the progress of infrastructure projects. |
Sinkhole swallows up bin lorry
06/10/2023 An investigation has been launched after a refuse collection vehicle in North Wales was partially swallowed up by a sinkhole. |
Place directors under ‘immense pressure’ publish strategic objectives
03/10/2023 Place directors have called for action on planning, infrastructure and the environment, including a financial regime enabling councils to build more affordable and ‘climate-ready’ homes. |
County areas behind on EV charging
28/09/2023 The number of publicly available electric vehicle (EV) charge points in England’s county and rural areas lags ‘far behind’ major towns and cities, according to a report. |
Cornwall exceeds EV charger installation target
26/09/2023 Cornwall has installed 184 electric vehicle charge points as part of a plan aimed to improve coverage in rural parts of the county. |
Unions call for £4bn investment in school estate
26/09/2023 In response to the RAAC crisis, trade unions have written to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak urging him to invest £4.4bn per year to improve the school estate. |
Increasing number of high-rises causing ‘longstanding harm’
12/09/2023 A heritage charity has called for a rethink on the proliferation of high-rise buildings across Manchester. |
Ministers fear public building disruption after school closures
07/09/2023 Some ministers fear disruption and huge costs if public buildings with RAAC are held to the standards the Department for Education set by closing schools. |
Manchester charges forward with 200 EV connectors
05/09/2023 Plans to install 200 electric vehicle charging connectors in Manchester are gathering pace as the city council looks to help residents switch to cleaner cars. |
Gloucestershire to roll out 1,000 EV chargers
24/08/2023 Gloucestershire County Council is set to begin the rollout of 1,000 electric vehicle charging points at the end of this month. |
Majority of councils do not have on-street EV charging strategy
15/08/2023 More than 70% of local authorities do not have a published strategy in place for residential on-street charging for electric vehicles (EV). |
MPs launch electric vehicle (EV) inquiry
09/08/2023 An inquiry into electric vehicles (EVs) has today been launched to help the Government better understand how the UK will reach net zero. |
Pace of EV charger installation by councils a ‘real concern’
31/07/2023 Poor investment at a local level means private investment will be required to meet a target to install 300,000 public EV chargers by 2030, law firm says. |
Harlow Council seeks injunction over missing community facilities
27/07/2023 Harlow Council said it has applied for an injunction against the three housebuilders of a new development who have failed to provide community facilities. |
The River Thames Scheme: infrastructure to deliver a greener future
26/07/2023 Carolyn McKenzie, director of Environment at Surrey County Council, discusses how the River Thames Scheme will respond to the challenges of climate change. |
Government concessions over infrastructure levy
19/07/2023 The Government has offered concessions on its planned infrastructure levy in the face of opposition from the House of Lords. |
Thames Water fined millions over roadwork problems
03/07/2023 London councils fined Thames Water more than £12m for late or badly managed roadworks over a five-year period, according to data obtained by the Green Party. |
Car park design in the 21st century
16/06/2023 Chris Whapples, Institution of Structural Engineers, looks at what local authorities need to consider when thinking about parking standards. |
Scrap proposed infrastructure levy, council chiefs say
16/06/2023 Council leaders, developers, and others have written to levelling up secretary Michael Gove criticising the Government’s proposed infrastructure levy. |
London boroughs agree first infrastructure framework
17/05/2023 All 33 local authorities across London have agreed an infrastructure framework on a cross-party, pan-London basis for the first time. |
Number of public EV charge points up 3,000
05/05/2023 The number of public electric vehicle (EV) charge points increased by over 3,000 in the first quarter of this year, up 8% compared to the start of January. |
Energy Efficient High Mast Lighting for UK City of Culture
25/04/2023 CU Phosco work with Balfour Beatty to replace Coventry’s high mast lighting, saving 30% energy with a payback period of less than four years. |
Planning system 'holding back' major infrastructure projects
19/04/2023 The planning system is holding back the building of major infrastructure projects, according to a new Government-commissioned report. |
Hackney Council to roll-out 2,500 chargers
30/03/2023 Hackney Council has signed a contract with charging specialists Zest to provide and operate its charge point roll-out of 2,500 fast and slow chargers. |
DfT shaves local funding from £400m charge point announcement
30/03/2023 Ministers appear to have cut Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) funding to local authorities by tens of millions over the next two years. |
Austerity made country poorer, think tank says
30/03/2023 The UK’s long-term failure to invest in transport, housing, healthcare and local services has made Britain poorer, according to the Resolution Foundation. |
Surrey CC begins roll-out of record 10,000 EV chargers
23/03/2023 EV owners in Surrey will soon have access to 10,000 public chargers as the council announces the largest deployment of charge points by a UK local authority. |
Number of ‘substandard’ bridges falls to 3,090
17/03/2023 The proportion of council-managed road bridges classified as ‘substandard’ has fallen slightly over the past year despite local authority budget limitations. |
Hunt stumps up tens of billions for infrastructure
15/03/2023 The chancellor has announced 'up to' £20bn for carbon capture and storage, alongside a new round of funding for city regions and £1bn for Levelling up. |
Council pension fund managers support social investments
15/03/2023 Most local government pension fund managers support investment that can achieve positive social benefits as well as financial returns, according to a survey. |
Suffolk CC to invest nearly £11m in new bridges
14/03/2023 Suffolk County Council is investing almost £11m into delivering two new bridges and a raft of regeneration projects. |
‘Highest performing’ active travel councils named
13/03/2023 Leicester and Nottingham councils have been rated as two of the highest performing local authorities in the first ever Government review of active travel. |
EV streets for all
09/03/2023 Dr Chao Long, a researcher at Cranfield University, argues that local government urgently needs data on EV use in order to avoid mistakes around funding. |
Digitisation must not lead to ‘two-tier society’, auditor says
09/03/2023 Spending on internet infrastructure must be balanced with measures to prevent creating a two-tier society when it comes to services, Welsh government says. |
Planning overhaul needed for climate change ‘resilience’, think tank says
08/03/2023 Successfully adapting to climate change will need an overhaul of the planning system to create measurable local targets, according to researchers. |
Councils should become primary provider of childcare, survey finds
06/03/2023 Councils should become the primary provider of state-subsidised childcare designed to get parents back to work and boost productivity, a new survey has found. |
Pedestrian falls cost taxpayers up to £500m a year
01/03/2023 Pedestrian falls on dangerous pavements potentially cost taxpayers up to £500m a year, a new report has revealed. |
District chiefs welcome proposed planning fee boost
01/03/2023 District council leaders have welcomed a proposal that could see an increase in planning fees to help over-stretched local planning departments. |
Counties’ infrastructure funding faces cuts, report claims
28/02/2023 Funding for infrastructure in county areas could be cut under new planning reforms, council leaders have warned. |
Government releases planning reform 'action plan'
24/02/2023 The Government has published an Action Plan setting out reforms to the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIP) regime. |
Councils urged to plan better for floods
21/02/2023 Planning experts have called on local authorities to do more to embed climate resilience into new developments and local plans. |
Charge point roll out gets £56m cash injection
21/02/2023 Sixteen councils are set to benefit from a £56m injection of cash aimed at driving forward the roll out of thousands of new EV charge points. |
The SWARCO team wins big at the 2023 E-Mobility Awards
15/02/2023 SWARCO Smart Charging won awards in two categories – EV Service Team of the Year and EV Network Operator of the Year – at the 2023 E-Mobility Awards. |
Charity calls for ban on pavement parking to improve accessibility
09/02/2023 People with disabilities struggle to move around their communities due to ‘inadequate infrastructure’, a sustainable transport charity has found. |
Seven bids win £30m decarbonisation cash
26/01/2023 Ministers have announced the seven projects that will receive a share of £30m under the ADEPT Live Labs 2: Decarbonising Local Roads programme. |
Council's £100m fight against potholes pays off
25/01/2023 Gloucestershire County Council’s plan to spend £100m over four years improving the quality of its roads is already paying off, the highway authority has said. |
Khan faces new pushback over ULEZ expansion
20/01/2023 A London council has vowed to continue its fight to delay the expansion of the capital’s ultra low emission zone (ULEZ). |
Council’s £8m EV programme branded a ‘fiasco’
11/01/2023 York Council’s EV programme has been branded a ‘fiasco’ after it spent £8m on a fleet of EVs without having the right charging infrastructure fully in place. |
EV charging: An alternative strategy
06/12/2022 From earning money to making use of wind power, Colin Townend outlines the benefits of overnight home charging. |
Transforming Dorset’s planning system as a new unitary authority
02/12/2022 Cllr David Walsh, portfolio holder for planning, Dorset Council looks at how levelling up opportunities for infrastructure improvements are put into practice. |
Funding request to rescue inflation-hit City Deal
30/11/2022 Derry City & Strabane DC is to request more funding to back its £250m City Deal as inflation threatens to force planned projects to be scaled back. |
Flood plans should touch on surface risks, councils told
22/11/2022 Local authorities must do more to prepare for flash flooding as official figures reveal tens of thousands of homes are built in at-risk areas. |
Autumn statement: Investment zones ‘refocus’ in Autumn Statement
17/11/2022 Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt has binned ‘existing expressions of interest’ from councils to set up investment zones as the Government moves to ‘refocus’ the programme. |
Autumn Statement: Northern Powerhouse Rail to be 'core' only
17/11/2022 The chancellor Jeremy Hunt has confirmed hopes for Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) to be completed in full have been dashed. |
Shift towards public and destination EV charging presents opportunities for local authorities
16/11/2022 Cecilia Routledge examines how can local authorities take advantage of the growing demand for public EV charging. |
Could key infrastructure at risk if PFI contract expiry isn’t taken seriously?
15/11/2022 Andrew Hirst warns the process and complexity for returning PFI contracts back to local authorities is being ‘vastly underestimated’. |
Green gatekeepers: How local authorities are creating sustainable cities
14/11/2022 Steve McIntyre outlines how local authorities are leading the green charge to welcome nature back into cities. |
Top local authorities for boosting public charging provision named in new research
10/11/2022 Welwyn Hatfield in Hertfordshire is the best performing local authority in terms of recording the highest percentage growth in public charging provision per 100,000 people, according to new research. |
The North needs 470 electric charge points per week by 2025, new analysis reveals
08/11/2022 Up to 470 electric vehicle charge points per week must be installed across the North by 2030 to meet decarbonisation ambitions, a new report has said. |
The place principle
02/11/2022 Chris Malcolm discusses how a holistic, people-centric vision can achieve better results across publicly funded projects. |
Councils set to double number of EV chargers
24/10/2022 Local authorities are set to double the number of electric vehicle charging points they install over the next year, according to new data released today. |
Balfour Beatty appointed as sole contractor to £4bn framework
28/09/2022 International infrastructure group Balfour Beatty has been appointed as the sole contractor to two SCAPE civil engineering frameworks worth a total of £4bn. |
Cost to use public charge points up over 40%
26/09/2022 The cost to charge an electric car on a pay-as-you-go basis at a publicly accessible ‘rapid’ charger has increased by 42%, the RAC reports. |
Mini-Budget: Chancellor promises to accelerate infrastructure schemes
23/09/2022 Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has pledged to accelerate a long list of infrastructure projects and raised the prospect of planning and regulatory reform. |
Majority of EV drivers ‘dissatisfied’ with charging infrastructure
23/09/2022 Three-quarters of electric vehicle owners say that they are dissatisfied with the charging infrastructure available, new research has revealed. |
Councils to decide on infrastructure levy spending
12/09/2022 Councils will have more freedom on spending funds from the infrastructure levy under a Government amendment to the Levelling Up Bill. |
The future of EV charging in Wales: Making experience count
26/08/2022 Anne Buckingham explains how SWARCO Smart Charging is helping councils across Wales install the right infrastructure. |
Levelling up little more than a ‘slogan’, MPs say
24/08/2022 MPs have criticised the Government’s flagship levelling up Bill for a lack of clarity and funding commitments. |
Nine councils set to benefit from £20m EV charge point pilot
24/08/2022 A multi-million-pound electric vehicle (EV) charge point pilot looks set to deliver an estimated 1,000 new chargers across the country. |
Leeds council opens new £126m route
23/08/2022 Councillors in Leeds have put a green spin on the new £126m East Leeds Orbital Route (ELOR), which is now open to traffic. |
£161m Oxford station revamp gets green light
18/08/2022 Ministers have confirmed a further £78.6m for Network Rail to support the redevelopment of Oxford rail station and rail lines in the area. |
Grimsby welcomes £8m infrastructure boost
12/08/2022 The leader of North East Lincolnshire Council has welcomed an £8m boost to help repair vital bridges connecting Grimsby and Immingham. |
Oxfordshire councils abandon joint housing plan
04/08/2022 The five local planning authorities in Oxfordshire who have been working together on a joint plan for 2050 have announced they will go their separate ways. |
Shell is helping power the journey towards a circular paving industry with Shell Bitumen LT R, a new product for roads that uses plastics destined for landfill as part of the additives to make the bitumen.
Effective Energy Group is now offering its support to the 40 Local Authorities who have received a share of the £430m to deliver their projects on the ground by surveying properties and installing measures.
Dougie Belmore explains how one of the main interfaces between you and Bacs is about to change.