Sharpening the commercial edge
The case for well-managed council commercial activity is one that needs to be defended if we want a mature and sustainable local state, argues Jonathan Werran.
Over £600m awarded to 26 new Town Deals
08/06/2021 The Government has announced the latest round of towns deals, which will see 26 towns across England share over £600m. |
Levelling up needs long-term approach, says report
10/05/2021 A shake-up of local government funding is required to achieve a levelling up of the country, a new report has concluded. |
Johnson announces £23.6m Truro Deal
07/04/2021 Truro has secured £23.6m from the Towns Fund to boost the local economy, create jobs and new homes. |
Unlocking the potential of the Oxford-Cambridge Arc
07/04/2021 Alex Robinson argues communities and the environment must be central to the Oxford-Cambridge Arc strategy to get local buy-in. |
Levelling up fund faces legal challenge
06/04/2021 The Government could face legal action over its ‘troublingly opaque’ allocation of the Levelling Up Fund. |
Jenrick steps in at 'dysfunctional' Liverpool
24/03/2021 Commissioners will be sent in to Liverpool City Council after an independent inquiry found serious mismanagement and a dysfunctional culture, communities secretary Robert Jenrick has told Parliament. |
Welsh government announces £15.2m ‘placemaking’ fund
04/03/2021 The Welsh government today announced a £15.2m ‘placemaking’ funding package to help revive Wales’ town centres in the wake of the pandemic. |
Council gives go-ahead to Everton FC’s new stadium plans
24/02/2021 Liverpool City Council have approved Everton FC’s plans for a new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock and a community-led legacy project at Goodison Park. |
New ‘Right to Regenerate’ proposals aim to turn derelict buildings into homes and community assets
10/02/2021 Matthew Feldman warns the new ‘Right to Regenerate’ proposals raise a number of unanswered questions for local government. |
‘Right to Regenerate’ to free up public land, Jenrick says
18/01/2021 The public will be able to convert vacant plots of land and derelict buildings into new homes or community spaces under ‘Right to Regenerate’ proposals. |
Jenrick announces £830m high street investment
04/01/2021 The Government has announced that millions of pounds of funding will be invested in 72 areas across England as part of the effort to help high streets recover from the impact of the pandemic. |
Top 100: Our most popular local government stories of 2020
16/12/2020 Although the dispute over council pay caused the most stir in the local government sector this year, the impact of dealing with the pandemic obviously dominated the headlines as well. |
Liverpool mayor believed to be one of five arrested in police investigation
04/12/2020 Liverpool City Council Mayor Joe Anderson is believed to be one of five people arrested as part of an ‘ongoing investigation’, local newspaper reports have claimed. |
Are joint ventures still relevant in a post COVID housing sector?
02/12/2020 What impact will COVID-19 have on joint ventures in the housing sector? Mash Halai reports. |
Allocation of £3.6bn towns fund appears 'politically motivated', watchdog warns
11/11/2020 The Government has been accused of 'political bias' when allocating funding from its £3.6bn Towns Fund by the public spending watchdog. |
Hollywood firm agrees deal to build Dagenham studio
04/11/2020 Barking and Dagenham Council has signed a deal with a Hollywood developer to build a film and TV production centre in Dagenham. |
Rethinking local regeneration
02/11/2020 If we to truly 'build back better', local authorities need a new approach to regeneration, argues Hannah Vickers. |
The regeneration of transport-linked land
27/10/2020 Transport-linked land must form an integral part of new local plans, argues Nick Markham. |
Seven areas across England set to receive nearly £180m investment
27/10/2020 Communities in seven areas across England are set to benefit from up to £178.7m in new Town Deals, communities secretary Robert Jenrick has announced. |
Oldham Council buys shopping centre to 'kickstart' town centre recovery
20/10/2020 Oldham Council has bought the Spindles Town Square Shopping Centre to provide a catalyst for town centre recovery. |
Community ownership is key to revival of high street, says report
01/10/2020 Councils have been urged to help local communities take ownership of empty buildings in order to secure the future of Britain’s high streets. |
100 towns to share £80m regeneration funding
25/09/2020 Over 100 towns in England will be given up to £1m each to boost regeneration, the Government has announced. |
Northampton BC buys M&S building for £1.45m
23/09/2020 Northampton Borough Council has bought a former Marks and Spencer building for £1.45m as part of an effort to transform the town centre. |
Modular housing a 'game-changer' for housing and jobs, experts claim
22/09/2020 Modular housing is a ‘game changer’ and could deliver 75,000 homes a year, a report from experts has claimed. |
Manchester CC launches consultation on 270 home regeneration proposal
18/09/2020 Manchester City Council has launched a consultation on a regeneration plan that will see 270 new homes built in Collyhurst. |
Liverpool launches UK's first heritage-led development plan
11/09/2020 Liverpool is seeking to retain its World Heritage Status through the launch of the UK’s first heritage-led development plan |
Holyrood announces £30m regeneration fund
10/09/2020 The Scottish government has announced that Scotland’s local authorities will receive £30m of new investment for regeneration and town centres. |
Reinvigorating town centres through a root and branch redesign
12/08/2020 Ciara Keeling outlines how successful local authority town centre regeneration and development strategies should look like post COVID-19. |
Public back investment for ‘15-minute’ communities
07/08/2020 There is a growing trend to create '15-minute communities' through investment in public health, green infrastructure and town centres, a new survey has revealed. |
Solving the town centre regeneration puzzle
04/08/2020 A multi-disciplinary and data-driven approach to town regeneration is more important than ever, argues Brian Thompson. |
Turn high street shops into new homes, urges report
22/07/2020 The Government should stop trying to slow the ‘inevitable’ decline of the high street and instead embrace new ways of saving urban centres, a new paper has argued. |
Government appoints Arup-led consortium for £3.6bn Towns Fund delivery
15/06/2020 The engineering company Arup has been appointed to lead a consortium to help local authorities access the £3.6bn Towns Fund. |
Homes England agrees deals worth £300m
04/06/2020 Homes England has agreed three funding packages worth £300m to deliver 20,000 homes across the capital. |
Why recovery will bring a new healthcare estate
03/06/2020 Gareth Banks explains why Covid-19 will create a new impetus to revise healthcare estates and build a health infrastructure that can support new demands. |
Homes England to invest £61m for 6,500 new homes in Cambridgeshire
29/05/2020 Homes England has agreed to invest £61m with developer Urban&Civic to deliver 6,500 new homes at Waterbeach in Cambridgeshire. |
Building beautiful
31/03/2020 Edward Nash argues the challenge of embracing beauty is an opportunity for communities. |
Repurposing town centres
26/03/2020 Phil Mayall explains why local authority intervention is key to successful urban regeneration schemes. |
Making the most of empty spaces
23/03/2020 Will Kinnear outlines how flexible workspace can lead the way in regeneration for local authorities. |
Council puts forward plans for ‘digital city’
11/03/2020 Bolton Council is exploring joint venture options to create a ‘super connected digital city’. |
Lincolnshire council ‘delighted’ by £3.5m Grimsby investment
02/03/2020 The communities secretary today announced a multi-million pound funding boost for Grimsby town centre while on tour around the north eastern town. |
Club used in the film The Full Monty ‘temporarily’ saved
20/02/2020 The planned demolition of the working men’s club used in the film The Full Monty has been temporarily postponed. |
North disproportionately hit by housing cutbacks - research
19/02/2020 Increased funding and investment in planning skills are required to reverse disproportionate cuts to councils in the north of England, according to research published today. |
Only a month left to enter Street Design Awards 2020
30/01/2020 There is now only a month left to enter the Street Design Awards 2020, which celebrate best practice and innovation across the UK. |
Welsh government announces £90m package to revive ‘struggling’ town centres
27/01/2020 The Welsh government has announced a £90m investment package to revive struggling town centres across the country. |
New housing developments slammed for 'mediocre and poor' design
21/01/2020 Three-quarters of new housing developments should not have been approved due to their ‘poor’ or ‘mediocre’ design, a new report from campaigners has found. |
Council prepares to approve £306m investment strategy
20/01/2020 A multi-million pound investment strategy that will see the delivery of 2,000 new homes is set to be approved by Oldham Council. |
Think tank warns red tape is ‘strangling’ the high street
17/01/2020 National planning guidelines and local plans are failing to revitalise the high street, a new report by a think tank has warned. |
Former SSI steelworks secures £71m funding boost
10/01/2020 The Government has confirmed an extra £71m will be spent to get the former SSI steelworks in Redcar ready for redevelopment. |
Only one in 10 support ‘new towns’, study finds
08/01/2020 Just 10% of the UK population believes that the construction of new towns is the best way to tackle the UK housing crisis, according to a new report. |
Pilot areas announced as part of effort to ‘rejuvenate’ high streets
02/01/2020 The Government has announced 14 new pilot areas that will receive tailored expert support to assist in rejuvenating their town centres. |
Maximising the benefits of One Public Estate
18/12/2019 Donna Heath says a new approach to construction could help boost the outcomes of the Government’s One Public Estate programme. |
Renewables at no upfront cost?
16/12/2019 Rebecca Lawson explains why local authorities are embracing community energy. |
Cities of the past, for the future
12/12/2019 Dominic Manfredi discusses why taking learnings from ancient cities could provide the key to promoting wellbeing in the modern built environment. |
Top 100: Our most popular local government stories of 2019
10/12/2019 From calls to a 10% pay rise for council staff to declaring a climate change emergency, here is our countdown of the 100 most popular stories on LocalGov during 2019. |
Garden Communities set to deliver over 400,000 homes
09/12/2019 Garden city developments are set to deliver over 400,000 new homes, the equivalent to a city the size of Birmingham, new research has revealed. |
PWLB hike: A rise too far?
09/12/2019 What impact will the increase to the Public Works Loan Board rate have on councils’ housing and other capital schemes? Neil Merrick investigates. |
Sky announces plans for ‘state-of-the-art’ studio in Elstree
04/12/2019 Sky’s plans to build a 32-acre TV and film studio at Elstree could lead to 2000 new jobs for the local economy, the telecommunications company says. |
Report highlights nine inspirational towns
29/11/2019 A collection of case studies to show how towns can prevent decline and create new opportunities for change has been published. |
Council buys town centre in £43m property deal
25/11/2019 Knowsley Council has completed a £43.8m deal to acquire 87 shops and over 12 acres of land from St Modwen. |
Best practice in resident ballots
06/11/2019 Residents on the South Kilburn Estate overwhelmingly voted in favour of council plans to regenerate their neighbourhood in October 2019. Brent’s strategic director for regeneration and environment Amar Dave shares the lessons learned for other landlords holding resident ballots. |
Whitehall announces £16.4m to ‘boost’ town centres
01/11/2019 Selected local authorities will receive a share of £16.4m to help them access a fund aimed at boosting town centres and improving infrastructure, Whitehall has announced. |
Restoring the glory days of the British seaside
29/10/2019 The traditional seaside resort is having a hard time, new figures on bankruptcies show. But experts say a combination of support and greater freedom could turn them around, as Mark Whitehead found out. |
Seaside towns dominate top 20 bankruptcy list
22/10/2019 British seaside towns dominate a list of the top 20 places for bankruptcies in the UK. |
South Kilburn residents ‘overwhelmingly’ back regeneration
17/10/2019 Residents of South Kilburn Estate in Brent have overwhelmingly backed council plans to rebuild their neighbourhood following the biggest ever resident ballot of its kind in London. |
Stockton’s reinvention of the high street
11/10/2019 A town in the North East with a proud industrial heritage is steaming forward into the 21st century with a bold and highly successful regeneration initiative. |
Public property hubs to be delivered in Birmingham and Peterborough
11/10/2019 Peterborough and Birmingham are the latest places to benefit from a government programme to regenerate city centre sites. |
Cambridge’s pioneering cohousing scheme
07/10/2019 Laura Sharman visits Marmalade Lane – Cambridge’s first cohousing development and the largest scheme of its type in the UK. |
Sussex council green lights 3,000 new homes
07/10/2019 A planning committee in Sussex has given the green light to a construction project that will see thousands of new homes delivered in the area. |
Trafford Council signs £50m property deal
03/10/2019 Trafford Council and Bruntwood Works have exchanged contracts on a £50m joint venture. |
Council buys waterfront land for £1
27/09/2019 Liverpool City Council has bought more than 55,000 sq metres of prime waterfront land for £1. |
£150m housing scheme to go ahead on former Toys R Us site
12/09/2019 Housing and new offices are set to go ahead on a former Toys R Us site in Southampton. |
100 places chosen to develop new town deals
06/09/2019 Towns across England have been invited to develop proposals for new multi-million pound Town Deals. |
£450m flagship regeneration project scrapped
28/08/2019 Southampton City Council has terminated an agreement for a multi-million pound regeneration project. |
Government increases high street fund to £1bn
27/08/2019 The Government has announced 50 more towns will be eligible to bid for a share of funding to revitalise their high street. |
Developer withdraws from multi-million Hove scheme
15/08/2019 Crest Nicholson has withdrawn from plans to deliver a £50m leisure centre and new housing in Hove. |
Whitehall urged to develop £10bn ‘regeneration strategy’
02/08/2019 The Government should develop a £10bn ‘national regeneration strategy’ to help boost towns and cities across the North and Midlands, a new study says. |
Brentwood Council signs £1bn joint venture
02/08/2019 A £1bn joint venture to deliver new homes, public spaces and local facilities has been agreed between Brentwood Borough Council and Morgan Sindall Investments. |
Rethinking the town centre
31/07/2019 Andrea Arnall explains how local authorities can maximise the potential of town centre regeneration and attract investment. |
Vaux: Transforming Sunderland
18/07/2019 The iconic Vaux Brewery site in Sunderland has been transformed into THE BEAM: a mixed use hub in the heart of the city centre. |
£15 fund to make ‘creative’ use of historic buildings launched
02/07/2019 A multi-million pound fund has been launched to help transform high streets through the ‘creative’ use of underused historic buildings. |
The future of town halls
28/06/2019 Jamie Coath explains how councils can unlock the potential of town halls to deliver social value and revenue. |
The winners of the 2019 Street Design Awards
26/06/2019 From the restoration of a historic burial site to a successful and innovative road safety scheme, the winners of the 2019 Street Design Awards have been revealed. |
Urban Green Space Runner-up: Sovereign Square, Leeds City Council and re-form landscape architecture
25/06/2019 The runner-up in the Urban Green Space category is the redevelopment of Sovereign Square in Leeds. |
Urban Green Space Winner: Muslim War Cemetery Peace Garden, The terra firma Consultancy and Woking Borough Council
25/06/2019 The regeneration of the Muslim War Cemetery Peace Garden in Woking has been crowned the winner of the Urban Green Space category. |
Children's Play Highly Commended: Golden Lane Estate Playground, City of London Corporation
25/06/2019 The Highly Commended title of the Children's Play category has been awarded to the refurbishment of the Golden Lane Estate in London. |
How councils can transform neglected town centres
25/06/2019 Karle Burford discusses how local authorities can utilise effective placemaking and masterplanning to succesfully regenerate neglected town centres. |
Pedestrian Environment Runner-up: Keel Square, Sunderland City Council
24/06/2019 Sunderland City Council has been chosen as the runner-up in the Pedestrian Environment category for its regeneration of Keel Square. |
Pedestrian Environment Winner: Italian Gardens, North Somerset Council
24/06/2019 North Somerset Council has won the Pedestrian Environment category for its transformation of the Italian Gardens. |
Innovation is the new regeneration
24/06/2019 Rachel Dickie explains how a new joint venture will help cities across the country to create new ‘innovation districts’. |
Council makes ‘radical move’ to buy town centre
24/05/2019 Knowsley Council has made an offer to buy Kirkby town centre in what it describes as a ‘radical move’. |
The second coming
29/03/2019 Paul Brown explains the grand compromise seeking to make Greater Manchester a top global city region. |
Waves of engagement in estate regeneration
28/03/2019 Estate regeneration requires careful and sensitive consideration with close involvement of people living in these areas. Amanda Taylor explains how recent work in Somerset has shown how this approach can deliver better outcomes for everyone. |
Council announces joint venture worth £1bn
22/03/2019 Brentwood Borough Council has announced a new contract with Morgan Sindall Investments to deliver new homes and commercial facilities. |
Review finds lack of due diligence over council's commercial workspace project
21/03/2019 King’s Lynn & West Norfolk BC should ‘build on the lessons learned’ from the construction of a state-of-the-art commercial workspace, the council’s chief executive has said. |
Stevenage BC signs ‘major’ development deal worth £350m
15/03/2019 Stevenage Borough Council and Mace have signed a ‘major new agreement’ to work in partnership on the long-term transformation of Stevenage town centre. |
Five areas chosen for Future Places scheme
13/03/2019 Five areas have been announced to take part in a programme to recognise and support 'high quality placemaking'. |
Opening doors on the High Street
11/03/2019 Can the government's pilot scheme open doors on the High Street? Fiona Sawyer and Frances Edwards report. |
Historical guildhall to undergo first ‘major restoration’ in decades
11/02/2019 York's Guildhall, one of the city’s most historically significant buildings, could be in line for its first major restoration in more than 60 years. |
Glasgow could move council offices to regeneration areas
30/01/2019 Plans to move council offices from the city centre to key regeneration sites are being considered by Glasgow City Council. |
Whitehall announces £1.5m for Midlands digital map
14/01/2019 Local authorities across the Midlands will benefit from a new digital map which will identify the best investment and regeneration opportunities across the area. |
This issue of Public Property examines how how flexible workspaces can lead the way in regeneration for local authorities, Why local authority intervention is key to successful urban regeneration schemes and if the Government’s challenge of embracing beauty is an opportunity for communities.
The March issue also takes a closer look at Blackburn with Darwen Council's first digital health hub to help people gain control over health and care services.
