Coronavirus and innovationSuddenly we have to start doing things in new ways. Q&A for Spring 2020 onwards.https://khub.net/c/message_boards/find_category?p_l_id=53683759&mbCategoryId=2955475842024-03-29T06:20:07Z2024-03-29T06:20:07ZHistoric England Planning Bulletin May 2020Robin Pagehttps://khub.net/c/message_boards/find_message?p_l_id=53683759&messageId=3164419652020-05-22T10:55:12Z2020-05-22T10:53:19Z<p>I'd like to share the may 2020 edition of Historic England's Planning
Bulletin, which includes notes o ntemporary measures stemming from the
Covid-19 pandemic</p>
<p>
<a href="https://historicengland.org.uk/content/docs/planning/planning-bulletin-may20/">https://historicengland.org.uk/content/docs/planning/planning-bulletin-may20/</a></p>Robin Page2020-05-22T10:53:19ZAccepting video as part of a plg application or repFormer Memberhttps://khub.net/c/message_boards/find_message?p_l_id=53683759&messageId=3115643622020-05-12T08:13:37Z2020-05-11T12:47:14Z<p>Apologies if this has already been asked but is any authority
accepting video's of sites to address the lack of site visits or in a
similar vein videos as reps. if so what system is being used to
facilitate the uploading of the video which are probably large and has
any other issues of importance been identified such as GDPR.</p>Former Member2020-05-11T12:47:14ZOther helpful resources - site notices and publicising applicationsMartin Hutchingshttps://khub.net/c/message_boards/find_message?p_l_id=53683759&messageId=3036202112020-04-16T08:03:51Z2020-04-15T17:37:33Z<p>Interesting piece from <a
href="https://www.kingschambers.com/latest-news/news/2020/04/15/focus-on-site-notices-publicity-for-planning-applications-in-the-coronavirus-outbreak/">Kings
Chambers</a> excerpt from conclusion:</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
<cite>In conclusion, the authors of this Article see no insurmountable
barriers to the determination of applications on the basis of the
publicity requirements of the legislation in during the coronavirus
outbreak. For most types of applications, alternatives exist to
publicising the application by way of site notice, but in any case,
the authors do not consider that the restrictions on movement in the
Coronavirus Regulations restrict LPA Officers from posting site
notices in fulfilment of their legal obligations.</cite>
</p>Martin Hutchings2020-04-15T17:37:33ZRE: Dealing with paper applicationsEmma Stirlandhttps://khub.net/c/message_boards/find_message?p_l_id=53683759&messageId=3031213422020-04-14T13:38:02Z2020-04-14T13:38:02Z<p>Hi Amanda, thanks for the reply and info. It's not easy is it, good
luck with it all.</p>
<p>Emma</p>Emma Stirland2020-04-14T13:38:02ZRE: Dealing with paper applicationsEmma Stirlandhttps://khub.net/c/message_boards/find_message?p_l_id=53683759&messageId=3031021542020-04-14T13:00:58Z2020-04-14T13:00:58Z<p>Hi Amanda, our mail room are also scanning letters and new
applications which has been a great help. Amanda, what are you doing
about site notices and site visits? Are you taking a similar approach
as Chris?</p>
<p>Keep well!</p>
<p>Emma</p>Emma Stirland2020-04-14T13:00:58ZDecision tree for making decisions during coronavirusRichard Crawleyhttps://khub.net/c/message_boards/find_message?p_l_id=53683759&messageId=3005945402020-04-07T14:21:21Z2020-04-07T14:11:06Z<p>Thanks to the lovely people of Cornwall planning department,here is a
decision tree [I love a decision tree] for choosing what happens to
planning applications. I like the reminder that we need increased
flexibility (I heard someone call it delegation+) but that it all gets
written down properly. </p>
<p>No decisions in smoky rooms, even if it is just about which channel
an application goes down. </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>Richard Crawley2020-04-07T14:11:06ZRE: Housing monitoring and forecastingMartin Hutchingshttps://khub.net/c/message_boards/find_message?p_l_id=53683759&messageId=2999972592020-04-06T07:29:30Z2020-04-06T07:29:30Z<p>On the edge of their seats no doubt!</p>Martin Hutchings2020-04-06T07:29:30ZRE: Housing monitoring and forecastingMartin Hutchingshttps://khub.net/c/message_boards/find_message?p_l_id=53683759&messageId=2999817822020-04-06T07:21:37Z2020-04-06T07:21:37Z<p style="margin-bottom: 11.0px;">
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">
<span style="line-height: 107.0%;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri , sans-serif;">Thanks Beth and
Steve of these contributions. The very fact that site visits are
the only way of having complete confidence in what is happening
on the ground says a lot about what we already know are massive
gaps in the local council’s/sector’s ability to record, collate
and analyse data with any confidence. Our FAQ basically says:
‘look to your colleagues in CTax, building control, bin
registrations etc. The physical inspection I agree could be done
safely in some circumstances but it probably doesn’t sit well
with the ‘essential visits’ / ‘stay at home’ advice, but your
council may be comfortable with some approach e.g. a 'drive-by'
- however manylarge sites will be inaccessible. The whole
deferring for a year thing opens up other issues as pointed out.
I guess you could collate whatever info you can via other means
so you are not sitting still, but if the only way you gain
ultimate confidence is by a SV then you’ll have to balance doing
this work in stages (i.e. collate what you can now, SVs at a
later date) with doing it all at once at a later date. </span>
</span>
</span>
</p>Martin Hutchings2020-04-06T07:21:37ZHousing monitoring and forecastingBeth Fletcherhttps://khub.net/c/message_boards/find_message?p_l_id=53683759&messageId=2985526262020-04-06T10:37:52Z2020-04-02T08:34:02Z<p>Hi all</p>
<p>I am currently mid way through our annual housing monitoring (which
under normal working conditions uses site visits and on-site
discussions as a primary source of information). I know that many
people will have a view on carrying out site visits - it's time
consuming; use BC records etc etc; but after 15 years of doing this
work, this has proven to be the most reliable and the most effective
method, particularly when every single completion, and every single
new dwelling forecast is scrutinised and debated at planning appeals.
However, we have now had to stop carrying out our site visits and I
would like some advice / information please on how other Local
Authorities are collecting housing completion data and also how
intelligence to inform forecasting is collected. <strong>We will of
course submit completions data (in some form) for the HFR and the HDT.</strong>
</p>
<p>
<br> In addition, with regards to forecasting, we are considering an
additional 1 year (12 month) lag time i.e not forecasting any
completions for the 2020-2021 period in order to take account of
the impacts of Covid-19 on the development industry and a cautious
assumption that house building will restart in 2021. Has anyone else
considered how they will incorporate / account for these impacts?</p>
<p>
<br> Kind regards</p>
<p>Beth</p>Beth Fletcher2020-04-02T08:34:02ZOther helpful resources - 50 Shades of Planning Podcast 28th Mch 2020Martin Hutchingshttps://khub.net/c/message_boards/find_message?p_l_id=53683759&messageId=2975541542020-03-31T09:15:41Z2020-03-30T21:27:33Z<p>PAS's very own Anna Rose <a
href="https://www.podbean.com/media/share/dir-df7k3-870d97b?utm_campaign=w_share_ep&utm_medium=dlink&utm_source=w_share">discusses
the impact of Coronavirus</a> on the planning system with 50 Shades'
Sam Stafford, Jonathan Easton (Barrister at Kings Chambers) and
Stefan Webb (Place Director at FutureGov).</p>Martin Hutchings2020-03-30T21:27:33ZOther helpful resources - Simonicity 2Martin Hutchingshttps://khub.net/c/message_boards/find_message?p_l_id=53683759&messageId=2972661842020-03-30T21:20:22Z2020-03-30T07:02:08Z<p>This is a useful record/update of where things have got to with committees.</p>
<p>
<a href="https://simonicity.com/2020/03/28/keeping-calm-carrying-on-planning-committee-meetings/">https://simonicity.com/2020/03/28/keeping-calm-carrying-on-planning-committee-meetings/</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>Martin Hutchings2020-03-30T07:02:08ZOther helpful sources - Mike Kiely on planning committeesRichard Crawleyhttps://khub.net/c/message_boards/find_message?p_l_id=53683759&messageId=2959309212020-03-26T10:49:42Z2020-03-26T10:05:53Z<p>Mike Kiely (chair of POS) put together this short note on planning committees:</p>
<p> </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 16.0px;">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">
<span style="page-break-after: avoid;">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic" , sans-serif;">
<b>PLANNING COMMITTEES AND COVID-19</b>
</span>
</span>
</span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 16.0px;">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">
<span
style="font-family: "Century Gothic" , sans-serif;">With
the current COVID-19 restrictions, planning committees have been
cancelled. This position is likely to persist for some time so not
determining those applications until the pandemic is over is not
really an option. Holding committees remotely is currently
unlawful but MHCLG have undertaken to legislate to facilitate
this. Whilst we are waiting for this it’s worth thinking about the
practicalities of how a conference-call or video-link type
committee might work. It is also important to remember that the
officers we will have at our disposal to administer any new
committee arrangements will reduce (possibly dramatically) so we
need to be realistic about what new processes we can put in place;
they need to be as efficient as possible.</span>
</span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 16.0px;">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">
<span
style="font-family: "Century Gothic" , sans-serif;">We
need to look at the practicalities of this from three different aspects:</span>
</span>
</p>
<ul>
<li style="margin-bottom: 16.0px;">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">
<span
style="font-family: "Century Gothic" , sans-serif;">The
meeting itself</span>
</span>
<li style="margin-bottom: 16.0px;">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">
<span
style="font-family: "Century Gothic" , sans-serif;">Public speaking</span>
</span>
<li style="margin-bottom: 16.0px;">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">
<span
style="font-family: "Century Gothic" , sans-serif;">Public attendance</span>
</span>
</ul>
<p style="margin-bottom: 16.0px;">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">
<span
style="font-family: "Century Gothic" , sans-serif;">Authorising
the arrangements for any changes that are made to committee
procedures should be capable of decision by the Chief Executive
via the emergency provisions that are in most Constitutions.</span>
</span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 16.0px;">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">
<span style="page-break-after: avoid;">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic" , sans-serif;">
<b>The meeting itself</b>
</span>
</span>
</span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 16.0px;">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">
<span
style="font-family: "Century Gothic" , sans-serif;">Having
a conference-call or video-link meeting is relatively easy to
organise. The challenge is managing a very large group of people.
With probably 15 to 20 members and officers in attendance with
your current arrangements, it may be worth considering reducing
the size of the committee to make it more manageable. Officer
attendance should be kept to a minimum. The number of members
should also be reduced to the minimum necessary to maintain
political balance. This is required to enable the chair to manage
the meeting more effectively.</span>
</span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 16.0px;">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">
<span
style="font-family: "Century Gothic" , sans-serif;">As
the meeting will probably be listened to and not viewed by the
public (especially if it’s a conference call) it will be important
to have clear protocols so that people don’t speak over each other
and that people introduce themselves, so listeners know what is
happening. The role of the chair will be even more important than usual.</span>
</span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 16.0px;">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">
<span
style="font-family: "Century Gothic" , sans-serif;">Arrangements
will be necessary for handling visual material, but this should be
relatively straightforward. They can be distributed in advance as
PowerPoint or PDF packs and referred to in the meeting. Some video
conferencing facilities will enable them to be displayed during
the virtual meeting but you must be sure all participants can do
so – a simpler solution may be more resilient.</span>
</span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 16.0px;">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">
<span style="page-break-after: avoid;">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic" , sans-serif;">
<b>Public speaking</b>
</span>
</span>
</span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 16.0px;">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">
<span
style="font-family: "Century Gothic" , sans-serif;">Allowing
any public speakers to join a virtual meeting is likely to
challenge the technology. An alternative solution would be to ask
the speakers to record their speech (as an MP3 file) and email it
to officers in advance of the meeting. This is likely to be better
for most people as they can have several attempts at it until they
are happy it is right – and under the normal time limit. The only
potential downside is there would be no ability to ask questions,
but that should rarely be necessary. You could make arrangements
for speakers to supply their phone numbers and to be on standby so
that any really necessary questions could be done through a phone call.</span>
</span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 16.0px;">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">
<span style="page-break-after: avoid;">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic" , sans-serif;">
<b>Public attendance</b>
</span>
</span>
</span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 16.0px;">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">
<span
style="font-family: "Century Gothic" , sans-serif;">It
is important to remember that it is a meeting in public and not a
public meeting. The public are there to listen and that is all.
Cheering, booing, clapping and other forms of “participation” are
all against the rules and shouldn’t really happen anyway!
Accordingly, the public are in effect witnesses to the process.
Involving them “live” in a virtual meeting would be impracticable
if not impossible. If a live webcast can be facilitated then fine,
but as an alternative a recording could be made of the virtual
meeting which is then uploaded ASAP to the Council’s website. Such
an approach should cover this element of the process adequately
and not prejudice any party.</span>
</span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 16.0px;">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">
<span style="page-break-after: avoid;">
<span style="font-family: "Century Gothic" , sans-serif;">
<b>Conclusions</b>
</span>
</span>
</span>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 16.0px;">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">
<span
style="font-family: "Century Gothic" , sans-serif;">It
is hoped that these notes assist in making decisions around these
issues. It is essential to design new procedures that are as
simple as possible and do not rely on complex technology
arrangements. Broadband capacity is already under strain, so
telephony may be more resilient. It is also important to remember
that the human resources we have to service new arrangements will
diminish and possibly do so significantly.</span>
</span>
</p>Richard Crawley2020-03-26T10:05:53ZDealing with paper applicationsrachel almondhttps://khub.net/c/message_boards/find_message?p_l_id=53683759&messageId=2957127322020-03-26T09:35:15Z2020-03-25T18:51:38Z<p>Hi - has anyone decided to refuse to accept paper applications being
submitted? We don't get many now but we're having to deploy staff to
the office to collect and scan. I'd like to stop accepting them but I
don't think regs allow for this at the moment.</p>rachel almond2020-03-25T18:51:38ZOther helpful sources - FTB and virtual planning meetingsRichard Crawleyhttps://khub.net/c/message_boards/find_message?p_l_id=53683759&messageId=2955932072020-03-25T13:22:31Z2020-03-25T12:34:01Z<p>A quick summary of the relevant part of the Covid Bill</p>
<p>
<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri , sans-serif;">
<a href="https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/0J3UCxGjLh17mPGH8JbQy" style="color: rgb(5,99,193);text-decoration: underline;">https://www.ftbchambers.co.uk/articles/virtual-local-authority-meetings-coronavirus-bill-amended-ruling-out-uncertainty</a></span>
</span>
</p>
<p> </p>Richard Crawley2020-03-25T12:34:01ZOther helpful sources - SimonicityRichard Crawleyhttps://khub.net/c/message_boards/find_message?p_l_id=53683759&messageId=2955930062020-03-25T13:22:22Z2020-03-25T12:31:24Z<p>Simon Ricketts has an excellent blog with a post summarising some of
the issues at play delivering services remotely</p>
<p>
<a href="https://simonicity.com/2020/03/21/what-to-do/">https://simonicity.com/2020/03/21/what-to-do/</a></p>
<p>These things might age quite quickly - note this is 21st March</p>
<p> </p>Richard Crawley2020-03-25T12:31:24ZNew forum - coronavirus and innovationRichard Crawleyhttps://khub.net/c/message_boards/find_message?p_l_id=53683759&messageId=2955507912020-03-25T11:49:33Z2020-03-25T10:50:17Z<p>Two things to begin with:</p>
<p>- we have started a <a
href="https://local.gov.uk/pas/pas-topics/coronavirus">FAQ on our
main website</a> which we will keep up-to-date</p>
<p>- if you haven't used KHub before you should think about setting
notifications. You can get a daily or weekly digest. </p>
<p>Please feel free to ask anything you like - it is good to compare
notes with people. </p>
<p>The coronavirus is going to radically change how we do planning, and
accelerate innovation almost overnight. </p>Richard Crawley2020-03-25T10:50:17Z