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On housing

Launched in Perth today by leader and Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, the SNP manifesto states that that Scotland has the highest house building rate in the UK, with over 60,000 affordable homes completed since 2007.

Over the current term of the Scottish Parliament, the party has pledged to invest over £3 billion at it attempts to deliver at least 50,000 new affordable homes. At least 35,000 of these have been designated for social rent.

The party has established a £25 million Rural Housing Fund and is also aiming to deliver 100 affordable homes in island communities through a dedicated £5 million fund.

On infrastructure

According to the manifesto, connecting Scotland to HS2 must be a priority, with construction starting in Scotland as well as England. A high speed connection between Glasgow, Edinburgh and the north of England must be a part of any high speed network.

SNP MPs would engage the UK Government in discussions about the feasibility of improving cross-border rail links, including link Carlisle to the Borders Railway.

The manifesto also highlights what the SNP has already pledged to improve Scotland’s infrastructure, including delivering the £1.4 billion Queensferry Crossing; upgrading motorways such as the M8, M73 and M74, and dualling the A9 between Perth and Inverness.

It also notes that £742 million is being invested to improve the Edinburgh to Glasgow railway line.

SNP MPs would call for the Universal Services Obligation (USO) to cover up to 30Mbps with an appropriate update mechanism to ensure that rural areas are not left behind, according to the manifesto.

The SNP plan to protect the country’s air connections to other parts of the UK and continue to work with local partners as part of city and regional deal to deliver an Inverness Airport Rail Hub.

On energy

The manifesto states that Scotland has a wealth of onshore and offshore renewable energy potential which is being undermined by the UK Government’s “ideologically-driven cuts to support for renewables”.

The party have said it will work to ensure low cost energy schemes to get long-term certainty needed to support further development and reductions in cost. The party’s MPs would press Westminster to include onshore wind in the industrial strategy. They would also support the development of wind and other renewable energy projects in the Northern and Western Isles.

The SNP want Scotland to be a leader in the development of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology and, according to the manifesto, is something that has the potential to create thousands of jobs in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, as well as the wider area.

The manifesto notes that party is opposed to the nuclear power station Hinkley Point C, while there is currently a moratorium against fracking in Scotland.

On the environment

According to the manifesto, Scotland has already met a world-leading target to reduce emissions by 42 per cent by 2020 and the Scottish Government has produced a draft Climate Change Plan. SNP MPs plan to press the UK Government match Scotland’s commitment and ambition.

The SNP manifesto can be found here (pdf).

General Election 2017 manifestos

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Image credit | Scottish Government

The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) housing statistical release also notes this is a 21 per cent increase on the same quarter in 2016.

The number of completions for the three months to 31 March 2017 is estimated to be 39,520 – 9 per cent higher than the previous quarter and 21 per cent higher than the same period in 2016.

In the year to March 2017, there were 162,880 new-build dwelling starts, an increase of 15 per cent when compared with the year to March 2016. Completions in this period totalled 147,960, up 6 per cent on the previous year.

The private sector made 4 per cent more new-build dwelling starts and 12 per cent more completions in the March quarter 2017 than in the previous three months. Housing associations made 2 per cent more starts and 5 per cent more completions in the same period compared with the March quarter in 2016.

The statistics can be found here (pdf).

Image credit | iStock

One site will be located off the A634 between Barnby Moor and Blyth.

This approval follows the completion of a legal agreement, required as part of the decision of the council’s planning and licensing committee on 21 March this year, to approve an application by Dart Energy Ltd to drill the exploratory wells at the site in Bassetlaw.

The Section 106 legal agreement includes several requirements, including lorries to enter and leave the site using a designated route to and from the A1, and payment of a bond that would be used to restore the site in the event that Dart Energy is unable to fulfil restoration requirements in the planning permission. The existing community liaison group must be retained for the length of the development.

Alongside the legal agreement, there are 52 separate conditions aimed at minimising the impact of the development on the environment and local communities.

The second site is on land off Spring Road, Misson, in Bassetlaw. This follows approval by the council’s planning and licensing committee on 15 November 2016 of Island Gas Ltd’s application to drill exploratory wells.

The Section 106 legal requirements include a designated route for all vehicles visiting and leaving the site, establishing a community liaison committee and the monitoring of water levels. There are 37 separate conditions in place alongside the legal agreement.

Both planning consents are valid for three years.

The council has said that no fracking is included as part of either development.

Image credit | iStock

Land transaction tax will replace stamp duty land tax in Wales when it is devolved in April 2018.

First Minister Carwyn Jones applied the Welsh Seal to the Letters Patent at the sealing ceremony.

He said the act is a “significant step” in the country’s devolution journey.

“It will bring additional responsibility as we become responsible for raising a proportion of our own money and an opportunity to make a real difference to public services in Wales.”

Mark Drakeford, Welsh finance secretary, who also attended the ceremony, added that it will ensure that public services continue to benefit from the revenues raised by this important tax.

It is the first Welsh tax in almost 800 years.

Image credit | Shutterstock

Location ‘not automatically impractical’ after landslide that cut off utilities

An inspector has granted partial permission for a conversion of two agricultural buildings to homes near Bury, ruling that although a 2015 landslide had cut off mains water and electricity to the area, it was not an impractical location for development.

The Planner

Permanent toilet block for charity events ‘inappropriate’

Organisers may have to pay £1,800 to hire temporary toilets for future charity events at a rural location in Flintshire, North Wales, after an inspector ruled that a permanent toilet block constituted inappropriate countryside development.

The Planner

‘No public benefit’ from altering Arts & Crafts home’s original design

An inspector has blocked various alterations to an architecturally significant Arts & Crafts-style home after finding them damaging to the house’s historic design and not requisite to achieve its optimum viable use as a family home.

The Planner

Loft conversion would harm ‘group value’ of listed terrace

An inspector has rejected plans to add a roof dormer to one of 10 ‘group value listed’ terraced houses in Southwark, South London, after deciding that the houses derive architectural value from a uniform appearance that would be harmed by alterations to one of them.

The Planner

Air conditioning units for existing building ‘inappropriate in green belt’

Permission for two air conditioning units to serve a recently converted barn in Maidenhead has been refused, after an inspector ruled that they constitute inappropriate green belt development because they are free-standing and therefore ‘buildings in their own right’.

The Planner

‘No public benefit’ to conservation area home

An inspector has rejected a family’s plans to build a new home with ground-floor facilities for their disabled daughter, ruling that the scheme would bring no public benefit and therefore could not outweigh harm to the surrounding conservation area.

The Planner

Condition to limit HMO occupants would be ‘unenforceable’

An inspector has rejected a change of use to a seven-bedroom HMO in Kent, deciding that with no effective mechanism available to restrict the number of occupants in HMOs with more than six bedrooms, the proposal would disrupt the areas’s ‘tranquility’.

The Planner

Switching On: How Renewables Will Power the UK, by campaigners Friends of the Earth states that with the cost of renewable energy falling and advances in grid management and storage technology, the UK can “reliably be supplied with the clean, affordable energy it needs”.

The report claims that investors can’t ignore that onshore wind and solar are becoming the cheapest energy sources.

It notes that in 2016 renewables generated a quarter of UK electricity – up from 7 per cent in 2010.

Switching on suggests:

• Wind and solar are variable but are becoming increasingly predictable. Combined with a flexible backup, energy storage and smarter grids, wind and solar should be able to form the basis of a clean and affordable energy system.
• Citing government figures, the report states that by 2025, generating 50 terawatt hours of electricity from new wind or solar should be around £500 million a year cheaper than from new gas generation, including balancing costs. Therefore, integrating variable renewables will help reduce costs.
• According to the report, the biggest risk to the UK’s energy supply is disruption from ageing fossil fuel and nuclear plants, as well as extreme weather affecting the grid. To counter this, renewables can be the foundation of a secure energy system.

Alasdair Cameron, report author and energy campaigner for Friends of the Earth, said: “It’s increasingly recognised that renewables like wind and solar are among the cheapest options for generating power in the UK, and it is also clear that they can be the foundation of a stable and reliable energy system.

“If we get this right we should be able to provide at least three-quarters of our electricity from renewable sources by 2030, decarbonising our power supply as well as driving down costs and maintaining reliability.”

To decarbonise the UK’s electricity system, the report explains that renewable energy sources, high levels of storage and trading power across regions are the way to achieve it.

Cameron adds the renewables sector is where the “smart money” is going. He said now is the time to pressure candidates in the general election so that next government reforms the energy market.

“Electricity generation can be carbon-free by 2030, we can fall off a cliff edge or we can lead the world.”

Image credit | Shutterstock

Couple given one year to demolish house built without permission

The Irish Supreme Court has given a County Meath couple 12 months to demolish a house they built more than a decade ago in “flagrant breach of the planning laws”.

Irish Times

High Court stops compulsory purchase by council of home in poor state of repair

Stevenage Borough Council is taking further legal advice after failing to convince the High Court that it should be able to compulsorily purchase a home described by a planning inspector as in such poor condition as to be harmful to the locality.

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Resident pursues judicial review over development partner choice

A local resident has launched a legal challenge over Haringey Council’s decision to press ahead with a development vehicle for one of London’s largest regeneration schemes.

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Runway faces third legal bid

A third legal challenge over a decision extending planning permission for development of a new €320 million runway at Dublin Airport has been fast-tracked by the Irish Commercial Court.

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Council wins injunction over occupation following unlawful land clearance

Runnymede Borough Council has won an extended injunction preventing further development on green belt farmland in Chertsey, Surrey which has been occupied by nearly 40 caravans.

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Waverley Borough Council taken to High Court over 1,800-home planning permission for Dunsfold Aerodrome

Waverley Borough Council is facing a judicial review of its decision to grant planning permission for 1,800 new homes at Dunsfold Aerodrome, Surrey.

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£1.4bn Brent Cross redevelopment plans submitted

A detailed planning application has been submitted to Barnet Council for a £1.4 billion regeneration of the Brent Cross Shopping Centre in North London.

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General Election 2017: Greens back living rent for all

The Green Party has outlined a commitment to introduce the living rent for everyone and to build zero-carbon homes.

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Council decides to not determine retrospective planning application 

Basildon Council has decided against determining a planning application that sought to retrospectively allow six caravan pitches on land west of Hovefields Avenue.

Southend Standard

Calls for land north of Oxford to be saved from homes

Cutteslowe Park residents have called for Oxford’s ‘last green lung’ to be saved amid the threat of thousands of homes being built north of the city.

Oxford Times

HS2 likely to create polarisation of high-skill jobs in London, says LSE

Better high-speed rail links could lead to highly skilled managerial jobs being “geographically polarised” in London, research conducted by the London School of Economics (LSE) has suggested.

Rail Technology Magazine

Stanningley: Mixed response to new housing plans

Plans for nine houses in Stanningley have been met with local concerns. Work would include the demolition of the existing garages, outhouses and a lean-to extension.

West Leeds Dispatch

Starter homes to be built on former Stoke-on-Trent school sites

Two former school sites are set to be redeveloped to provide more than 430 new houses built at key sites across the city, with half of them available to buy at a 20 per cent discount.

Stoke Sentinel

Birmingham Airport considering terminal building for new HS2 station  

Birmingham Airport is proposing to build a new terminal at the Birmingham Interchange station in an attempt to improve passenger experience.

Birmingham Post

Mayor of London pledges £500k for North London affordable housing scheme

Not-for-profit developer Naked House has said it will provide 22 homes priced from £150,000 on land supplied by North London council Enfield by 2020, with Mayor of London Sadiq Khan contributing £500,000. 

Evening Standard

Wind turbines start producing energy

The world’s largest wind turbines, standing over 640 feet with 262-foot-long blades in Liverpool Bay, officially started producing energy for the UK on May 17.

Renewable Energy Magazine

Appeal over fate of Budleigh’s old hospital garden

An appeal has been launched against a controversial planning application to build houses on Budleigh Salterton’s historic former hospital garden.

Exmouth Journal

MPA publishes long-term demand and supply study

The Mineral Products Association (MPA) has set out long-term aggregate demand and supply scenarios for Great Britain until 2030.

Agg-Net 

Applicant hits out at rejection of watersports centre plans

The applicant behind rejected proposals to create an activity centre for wakeboarders, kayakers and swimmers near Alderley Edge has claimed that there was "simply no legitimate reason" for councillors to refuse planning permission.

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Draft masterplan published for 1,000 Dublin homes

Dublin City Council has begun a consultation on proposals to build 1,000 homes near the capital’s South Circular Road.

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EIB likely to fund key Irish infrastructural projects, says Noonan

The European Investment Bank is likely to play a key role in funding badly needed infrastructural projects in Ireland, specifically in the areas of housing and transport, finance minister Michael Noonan has signalled.

Irish Times

Tivoli Theatre demolition plans refused by council

Plans to demolish the Tivoli Theatre in Dublin’s Liberties district and replace it with a six-storey, 289-bed aparthotel have been refused by Dublin City Council.

Irish Times

3,000 social housing offers turned down in past two years

More than 3,000 offers of social housing properties were turned down over the past two years, with figures suggesting the rate of refusal has increased in some of the country’s largest local authorities.

Irish Examiner

New mobile observatory for Kerry

Plans for a mobile observatory, the first of its kind in Europe, are under way for the Skelligs area in Kerry where the 700-square kilometre Kerry International Dark-Sky Reserve is located.

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Save Cork City Group outlines €135m tidal barrier plan

A group campaigning to maintain access to the River Lee has unveiled plans for a €135 million tidal barrier which they say will remove the need for building flood defences in the city centre.

Irish Times  

Marlet wants to add 76 apartments to Bluebell development 

Marlet property group, formerly New Generation Homes, wants to revise a consented development in the capital’s south-western suburbs by adding 76 flats to the scheme.

Irish Times

460,000 people at risk from cancer-causing radon gas

A new map has indicated that up to 460,000 people in the state – one in 10 of the population – are at risk from unsafe exposure to naturally occurring indoor radon gas, which may cause lung cancer.

Irish Times

Dublin councils accused of preventing housing development

Dublin local authorities are holding back the development of housing through their failure to deal with regulatory constraints and restrictions on height, economist and Irish Times columnist John FitzGerald has said.

Irish Times

Councillors claim houses being built before planning is secured

Fears have been voiced that too many people are building houses in County Cork and then seeking retrospective planning permission.

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Consultation on Temple Bar

Temple Bar Cultural Trust, in conjunction with the Temple Bar Steering Committee, have commissioned Future Analytics Consulting to prepare “a new vision” for the historic and much-visited Temple Bar area of the capital.

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Tayto Park unveils plan for 250-bedroom hotel

The owners of the Tayto Park theme park in County Meath have submitted plans for a €48 million 250-bedroom hotel and health spa at the facility in Ashbourne.

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Masterplans out for consultation

Galway City Council has started consulting on draft masterplans for two areas: South Park and Kingston Lands.

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Titanic Belfast expansion plans submitted

Plans to expand and reconfigure elements of the Titanic Belfast and the Odyssey Pavilion complex in the Titanic Quarter of Belfast have been lodged with the city council.

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General Election 2017: Greens back living rent for all

The Green Party has outlined a commitment to introduce the living rent for everyone and to build zero-carbon homes.

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Work begins to repair the wonder wall of the Mournes

A major restoration project has been announced for the famous 22-mile Mourne wall more than a century after construction started.

Belfast Telegraph

NI public spending highest in UK – £14,020 per head

Northern Ireland has the highest level of public spending of any region in the UK, new figures have suggested, with one economist warning the the Province is a “big deficit" economy.

Belfast Telegraph

Student housing developers appealing scheme’s rejection

The developers behind a 620-bed student accommodation scheme that was to be part of a £300 million Belfast regeneration project are appealing against a decision to refuse it planning permission.

Belfast Telegraph

Derry ‘ghost estate’ thrown a lifeline

A so-called ‘ghost estate’ in Londonderry is to be finished off by new owners five years after its original builders went into administration.

Belfast Telegraph

Plans revealed for NI holiday parks

Two tourist caravan parks in Portrush and Antrim are set to be created after Danske Bank provided a £4 million refinance package to the company involved.

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Casement Park ‘movement consultant’ appointed

The Department for Communities is funding a ‘movement consultant’ to examine GAA plans to build a new stadium at Casement Park in west Belfast. AECOM will analyse how pedestrians and vehicles interact during an emergency.

Irish News

NI Water ‘stalling’ new building projects, says developer

Northern Ireland Water, the state-owned company that provides water and sewerage services, has been publicly accused by a leading property development firm of “stalling new-build” projects because of “excessive “charges.

Irish Times

Council gets update on infrastructure projects for Causeway Coast and Glens

The Department for Infrastructure has insisted that the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council area should see significant benefits once the £55million A26 Frosses Road dualling project is completed next month.

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Travel survey published

The Travel Survey for Northern Ireland Urban-Rural report, containing statistics for 2013-2015, is now available.

Department for Infrastructure

Northern Ireland tourism on the rise

Latest annual tourist statistics highlight that the Giant’s Causeway is Northern Ireland’s most popular tourist spot with nearly a million visitors a year.

Belfast Telegraph