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Traffic data specialist Inrix analysed tailbacks on motorways and A-roads between September 2016 and August 2017. It estimated there were more than 1.35 million jams equivalent to almost 3,700 a day.

Using a series of assumptions on the number of people typically on the road for work reasons and petrol use by average vehicles, the company said the tailbacks cost the economy £9 billion in lost time, fuel and extra carbon emissions.

Major causes of traffic jams include fuel spillage, emergency repairs, and vehicle breakdowns.

The single worst jam in the past year occurred on the M5 in Somerset after two lorries collided, spilling diesel on to the carriageway, which then had to be resurfaced. The incident caused a 36-miles tailback at its worst, took 15 hours to clear and cost £2.4 million.

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Under a planning pilot commissioned by the Department for Communities and Local Government, Future Cities Catapult designed a prototype to help speed up, reduce the costs and improve the quality, of plan-making and planning decisions.

The tool, known as the Land Information Platform, would help planners, real estate developers and citizens to identify and prioritise land for future development. The move aims to accelerate the allocation of land while predicting capacity and estimating costs.

Future Cities Catapult says such planning tools will automate a variety of processes, freeing up planners’ time, reducing costs, and creating a more transparent system.

“With the government’s manifesto commitment to create ‘the largest repository of open land data in the world, the Land Information Platform demonstrates one of the ways in which public information can be used to accelerate the development process, increase certainty, and improve transparency,” says Future Cities Catapult head of projects Stefan Webb.

“We believe open-source public data platforms can support an eco-system of new software for planning, much like the app store, allowing others to build digital products and services on top of this system, replacing time-consuming, expensively produced consultant reports that lie unread by man or machine.”

The prototype demonstrates how critical parts of local plan-making such as land identification, prioritisation and site allocations for development can be automated, speeding up and increasing certainty around housing capacity, Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessments or other similar processes.

RTPI head of policy Richard Blyth said: “Local planning authorities would greatly benefit from new digital tools which help them to collect and aggregate land and planning data. This prototype shows the art of the possible.”

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Latest government figures show that 278 of 391 local authorities in the UK have now declared Air Quality Management Areas, thereby admitting that air quality objectives are not or unlikely to be met. This is up from 258 in 2010.

The rise comes despite the government losing cases in the Supreme Court and High Court over illegal air pollution.

Environmental lawyers ClientEarth, which brought the two challenges, has now written to the government complaining that 45 authorities are not being required to take action to achieve air quality standards despite being forecast to breach air pollution limits. It is threatening to go back to court a third time.

The letter also criticises the government’s lack of progress on key national policies such as changes to the tax system to favour cleaner vehicles, introducing a targeted diesel scrappage scheme, and setting up a “clean air fund” to help local authorities tackle pollution.

“These new figures show that this is a national problem that requires a national solution,” said ClientEarth lawyer Alan Andrews. “The latest air quality plan simply passes the buck to local authorities, which will have little option but to impose charges on diesel vehicles.

“It is high time that the government kept up its end of the bargain and helped ordinary people and small businesses make the shift away from diesel towards cleaner forms of transport.

“If the government continues to fail in its duty to ensure legal levels of air pollution, then we will be left with no choice but to go back to court.”

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The summit, which lasted 75 minutes, was attended by ministers, the chiefs of Barratt Developments and Taylor Wimpey, alongside representatives from local government, registered social landlords, small builders and housing professionals.

A Downing Street spokesperson said May outlined her plans to increase housing supply “which means developers, big and small, local authorities and housing associations all stepping up to play their part”.

The summit discussed how to ensure planning permissions granted by councils delivered new homes, modern methods of construction, future supply of skilled workers and help for small and medium-sized builders.

“It was encouraging that everyone around the table agreed with us about the important role councils must play and pleasing that the prime minister is taking personal ownership of this challenge,” said Local Government Association chairman Lord Porter, who attended the summit.

“The last time we were building the number of homes that the country needs, in the 1970s, councils were building 40 per cent of them.

“Councils want to get on with the job of building the new homes that people in their areas desperately need again and are already playing their part by approving nine out of 10 planning applications.”

Commenting on the summit, Wedlake Bell planning partner Jay Das said no one person or organisation “has the magic wand” to solve the housing crisis.

“To be successful in the short term – before the next general election – the prime minister will need to focus on industrial and brownfield land, and more building by the public sector to show any real progress during her term of office,” she added.  “Any legislative reforms are highly unlikely."

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About 26 million passengers use Stansted each year – an increase of nearly 10 million passengers since five years ago. Stansted’s growth potential is currently limited by a planning cap that would prevent the airport handling more than 35 million passengers per annum (mppa).

Following a public consultation this summer, it will now apply to raise the cap to 43 mppa to enable it to meet forecast growth in the next decade. The revised proposal represents a smaller increase in passenger numbers than originally proposed at 44.5 mppa.

Stansted said this would enable growth to be met without increasing the number of aircraft movements currently permitted to operate each year.

“The feedback we received from our neighbours during our extensive consultation was clear – that they support the ongoing growth and investment in the airport and welcome a further increase in destinations and choice,” said chief executive Ken O’Toole.

“Local residents also told us that they were concerned about the proposal to increase the number of flights that the airport is permitted to operate each year. We’ve listened to those concerns and decided to adapt our proposals so growth can be met within the current cap on the number of aircraft movements,” he added.

“That means the airport’s growth over the next 10 years to serve 43 million passengers can be achieved without increasing the existing limits on aircraft movements and noise.”

Stansted said it had advised Uttlesford District Council about changes to its future planning application, which is due to be submitted in early 2018.

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Crown Estate sells land to housebuilders

The Crown Estate has announced that it has reached an agreement with Barratt and David Wilson Homes for the sale of land north of Bingham, Nottinghamshire.

The 225-acre site has outline planning permission for 1,050 homes and commercial space.

It forms part of the extension of the town, with a masterplan featuring a new community to the north of Bingham, with space for new local shops, a primary school and public space.

Savills advised the Crown Estate on the sale. The housebuilder is expected to start on site next year.

Vauxhall student scheme approved

Lambeth Council has approved a student residential and mixed-use scheme in Vauxhall.

tp bennett designed the site for developer Downing.

The approval will see a 37-storey student residential building and a six-storey commercial office development built on the west side of South Lambeth Road.

It will replace an existing two-storey, 18-unit commercial office space.

The residential building will provide 841 student beds, split into studios and en-suites for five, six or seven cluster units. These will be offered at different prices.

A 201-square metre ground-floor café and reception area will also be accommodated.

Students to design Liverpool cultural building

Architectural technology students in their final year at Liverpool John Moores University have been challenged to design a new cultural building at Liverpool Waters.

The Liverpool Waters masterplan includes proposals for a cultural building in the Central Dock neighbourhood. The students have been briefed to produce ideas for how this could look once developed.

The students have visited the site and met assistant project director Ian Pollitt.

Michael Farragher, senior lecturer in architectural technology at Liverpool John Moores University, said: “This project is all about getting students out of the classroom to tackle real-life challenges and put their skills into practice on a real project. This is the next generation of architects and it’s really important that they gain the practical skills that they will need to succeed in their career.”

Contributions sought for Worcestershire minerals plan

Worcestershire County Council is looking for local landowners to contribute to its new Minerals Local Plan.

The plan aims to guide what materials are needed and how much the council needs to be able to supply, where minerals should be extracted, how sites should be restored when work has finished, and how minerals development should protect and enhance the county’s people and places.

Worcestershire County Council is looking for landowners to submit additional sites that could be suitable for mineral working and could contribute to the local supply of minerals, especially sand, gravel, clay or hard rock.

The ideal site would have proven viable mineral resources, interest from a mineral operator and would not adversely affect environmental designations, homes or businesses.

The call for sites is open until 26 January 2018.

More information can be found on the Worcestershire County Council website. www.worcestershire.gov.uk/minerals

Mega-battery plant launches

A new energy storage facility at E.ON’s Blackburn Meadows biomass power station near Sheffield has now come online.

Nexus Planning secured planning permission for the extension in August 2016.

The new battery facility is capable of storing 10 megawatts of energy.

Nexus Planning said it marks an important development in the management of the national grid by enabling greater control over the balancing of electricity demand and supply.

Council supports empty homes campaign

Lichfield District Council has begun surveying the owners of properties that have been empty for a long time with the view to bringing them back into use.

As part of Empty Homes Week (16 October-22 October), the council is urging anyone who is struggling with an empty property and needs help to bring it back into use to contact it for advice.

The council also wants to hear from people who are concerned about an empty property in their area.

In the district there are an estimated 100 long-term empty properties. The council has a policy that aims to bring them back into domestic use.

Doug Pullen, cabinet member for regulatory services, housing & wellbeing, said: “Derelict properties can blight local communities and, with housing in short supply, they are wasted opportunities to create much-needed homes.

“Empty Homes Week is a good opportunity to highlight this issue locally, and to urge people to contact us if they own an empty property or are worried about a derelict property and want it dealt with.”

Local authorities should be afforded such discretion in areas where green belt protection is unwarranted, according to Localis.

The recommendation is one of three to feature in Disrupting the Housing Market, which has been sponsored by regeneration firm Lovell.

The report aims to break the housebuilding impasse and address structural problems affecting supply, demand and affordability of new homes nationwide.

The other two recommendations are:

• State investment in, and ownership of, new housing factories to disrupt the housing industry and produce a generation of new modular homes for onsite assembly.
• Extension of the principle of auto-enrolment from pensions to saving deposits among 18-40 year olds to speed up the time it takes young people to earn the deposit for their first home.

A YouGov poll conducted for the report reveals that 58 per cent of those asked who did not own a home say they are not saving anything each month, with just 23 per cent saying they were saving for a new home. It also suggests that 78 per cent of homeowners were either happy or fairly happy with their accommodation.

The report also comprises a number of suggestions for overcoming “deep-rooted” structural obstacles to speeding up housebuilding, including:

• Giving local authorities more flexibility to plan for new homes.
• Tasking the National Infrastructure Commission with creating a programme of new towns where they are needed around the south-east of England.
• A more direct use of surplus public land to site new housing developments.
• Extending protections and flexibilities for families who use the private rented sector by allowing them to choose their initial tenancy length at six-month intervals up to 36 months, with a one-month break option after six months.

Jonathan Goring, managing director of Lovell, said: “We are calling for more flexible and imaginative use of green belt and public land, and more widespread use of modern construction techniques. These measures will more swiftly deliver new homes in places where people want to live.

“Our proposals are practical and logical, provide a solution to the housing crisis, and will enable the next and future generations to enjoy the benefits of affordable property ownership.”

Disrupting the Housing Market can be found on the Localis website (pdf).

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Richard Blyth, head of policy at the RTPI, told The Planner:  "The report by Localis is impressive in its wide reach – not, as some do, focusing on one single solution. We think a better solution to the challenge posed by green belts is to change the purposes so as to include an additional social purpose. We commend the strong support for strategic planning in the report, although the National Infrastructure Commission would need professional planning membership if it is to grow in this direction.

John Fuller, chairman of the District Councils’ Network (DCN), said he is pleased that the report accepts that strategies to increase the supply of homes must be ‘locally-led’.

“It will be district councils, working in partnership with neighbouring authorities, who provide the planning and housing expertise required to unlock the potential of housing deals. Our members look forward to bringing forward innovative and ambitious proposals underpinned by our track record of delivery.

“It will be vital for the Government to leverage our strengths as stockholding authorities and housing company operators by lifting of the HRA cap, implementing the CIL review, ensuring greater flexibility in the use of right to buy receipts and strengthened compulsory purchase powers for councils to build more market and social housing of the right type in the right place. It will be these game changing measures that allow us to get on with the serious business of addressing the housing crisis.”

Philip Atkins, chairman of the County Councils Network (CCN) Vice-Chairman and leader of Staffordshire County Council, said: “With counties containing the most unaffordable housing outside of London, there is a near-unanimous view that the system needs reform. Counties, as strategic authorities, provide a platform to pinpoint the most viable sites for development over a wider area, while providing the certainty on where and when growth will happen for potential investors, as Localis argues.

“This approach will also allow for the joining up of planning and infrastructure – two pieces of the same jigsaw – so that there is no fragmentation in the system and it provides the mitigating infrastructure so communities do not feel the extra pressure on local services when development is completed.”

* The YouGov poll had a sample size of 1,593 adults.

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More than 50 businesses gave feedback to a Birmingham City University study on the view of people working in the construction sector to see how they think Brexit will affect jobs, projects and industry.

Of the respondents, 86 per cent expect to see a rise in the demand for skilled workers, while 92 per cent think freedom of movement is beneficial to the UK’s construction industry.

It also suggested that 86 per cent thought leaving the European Union would lead to many government infrastructure projects not going ahead, with 88 per cent believing the UK relies on skilled labour from Europe.

Marwan Mohamed, a recent built environment graduate from Birmingham City University, led the study, alongside Erika Pärn, lecturer in architectural technology at Birmingham City University.

Brexit: Measuring The Impact Upon Skilled Labour In The UK Construction Industry was produced as part of their final year dissertation.

It has now been published in the International Journal of Building Pathology and Adaptation.

Mohamed said: “This research deals with a topical, historic and unprecedented matter that is currently shrouding the UK construction sector.

“It concludes that the UK construction sector relies upon EU skilled labour, that there is widespread industry opposition to Brexit, and that many within the sector believe Brexit will reduce the supply of skilled labour from the EU rather than increase or enhance it.”

The study makes a number of recommendations:

• Retaining free movement by remaining in the European Economic Area.
• Retaining current workers through increasing wages, providing guaranteed overtime and reducing physical exertion by expanding the use of technology.
• Creating more apprenticeship opportunities.
• Improving the image of a career in construction to appeal more to young people.

Pärn said: “The publication of this work has not only grabbed the attention and interest of academic audience, but also seeks to engage the industry awareness and generate debate on this pressing matter affecting a plethora of the built environment professionals.”

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Research undertaken by the trade body suggests that over half of construction SMEs in Northern Ireland believe that a hard border between the two countries would have a negative impact on purchasing products and materials from the Republic.

According to the survey, nearly half of Northern Ireland construction SMEs buy building materials or other products from the Republic, with almost a third employing people from across the border.

For just under 40 per cent of construction SMEs in Northern Ireland, a hard border would disrupt their ability to employ people from Ireland.

One in three builders from Northern Ireland reported that margins have been squeezed on projects since the depreciation of the pound following Brexit, owing to its impact on material prices. Almost a quarter said the depreciation has threatened the financial well-being of their business.

Brian Berry, chief executive at the FMB, said: “Our research clearly shows that a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic would dampen growth among construction SMEs.”

The FMB has called for a return to the pre-1973 arrangement of free movement of people between the UK and Ireland.

Berry said a typical Northern Irish construction firm transports materials, products and labour from the Republic into Northern Ireland on a regular basis and anything that interferes with their ability to do that quickly and easily must be dealt with sensitively.

“Brexit is already making its presence felt in Northern Ireland, with builders feeling the pinch since material prices have risen following the depreciation of sterling after the EU referendum. Indeed, more than a third of NI builders have reported that their margins have been squeezed since the EU vote last summer. Let’s remember that the construction industry is central to the health of the NI economy. The construction sector employs around 65,000 people and has an output of £2.4 billion per annum in Northern Ireland alone. Furthermore, it’s an enabling industry as without it, we won’t be able to deliver the new homes, roads, schools and hospitals that Northern Ireland so desperately needs.”

Rory Reagan, director of Regan Building Contractors, said: “A hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic would make the day-to-day running of my business much more difficult. My firm employs individuals from the Republic and my fear is that they will find themselves in long queues at border checkpoints every morning. I also worry about the impact a border will have on my firm’s ability to purchase materials from the Republic. My hope is that the EU, UK and the Republic of Ireland will manage to negotiate a post-Brexit border agreement that provides for the status quo.”

The FMB’s research was carried out between 22 September and 10 October 2017. A survey was sent to 250 FMB members in Northern Ireland, and 11 per cent responded.

The RTPI is holding a conference on the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland to explore potential implications of Brexit. More information can be found on the RTPI website.

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Speaking in Birmingham alongside five of seven metro mayors, Adonis also cautioned that the UK faces slower mobile connections and “ever-worsening” air quality.

He was launching the commission’s interim National Infrastructure Assessment, Congestion, Capacity, Carbon: Priorities for National Infrastructure.

A long-term plan is needed to ensure that it is fit for the future, and that must include a decision on “perhaps the most serious infrastructure failure of all” – expanding Heathrow.

The UK is at risk of falling behind other countries in its next-generation mobile and broadband connections and urgent action must be taken to avoid this.

For Adonis, the government must tackle the “three Cs”:

• Congestion: Invest in projects, including HS3 and Crossrail 2, as well as new and improved public transport and cycling facilities in cities.
• Capacity: Ensure that everyone has access to the latest digital communications technology and build new infrastructure to support new homes, and have sufficient water supply and flood protection to manage weather extremes.
• Carbon: Get ready for electric vehicles, face up to the challenge of removing carbon emissions from heating and waste, and take advantage of the falling costs of renewables in electricity generation.

Adonis said: “We have a proud history in this country of delivering world-class infrastructure – but for years funding has been squeezed, policy decisions have been erratic and the network is showing signs of age and strain.

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“The endless delay to a parliamentary decision on Heathrow is a case in point – and perhaps the most serious infrastructure failure of all. If we are to make the most of our economic potential and compete globally, we need the ‘Heathrow is full’ sign to come down.”

Making infrastructure fit for the future is not just a job for Whitehall, said Adonis. He urged local leaders, including the mayors, to develop their own infrastructure plans.

Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, James Palmer, Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Tim Bowles, Mayor of the West of England, and Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, all attended the launch in Birmingham.

Palmer said: “There is a clear need for us rethink the way we go about delivering transport infrastructure in this country. The timescales involved are too long and the processes too cumbersome. Brexit magnifies the importance of us stepping up to the challenge.

“I hope that the new National Infrastructure Assessment can play a significant role in challenging conventional thinking and comes up with bold solutions for tackling the infrastructure challenge across the country.

“Cambridgeshire and Peterborough is one of the most economically dynamic regions in the country. However, it will only achieve its true economic potential if we are prepared to take bold decisions and overhaul our transport infrastructure.”

Burnham added: “The assessment from the National Infrastructure Commission underlines the clear need to invest in our cities – only by investing in our transport and other infrastructure will the great cities of the North be able to realise their full economic potential.”

A consultation on Congestion, Capacity, Carbon: Priorities for National Infrastructure closes on 12 January, 2018. It can be found here on the National Infrastructure Commission website.

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