One NorthEast currently offers the best services of any Regional Development Agency (RDA) in the country, according to an evaluation by the National Audit Office.

Each of England’s nine RDAs is performing "well" or "strongly" - the best commendations available - the latest Independent Performance Assessment report reveals. (more…)

Recent developments in Scotland that have succeeded in engaging communities were recognised in an annual awards ceremony on Friday (March 9th).

A public project in Campbeltown known as Aquilibrium scooped the overall prize at the Scottish Awards for Quality in Planning for its energy efficient combination of playing fields, restaurant, swimming pool and creche, powered by wood chip biomass. (more…)

Stockton Council in County Durham remains the only authority in the country to offer a comprehensive online planning application and review service.

And locals are being urged to make use of the new technology, which is not only available 24 hours a day, but is also quicker and more practical than typical printed planning application services. (more…)

Housing minister Yvette Cooper has set aside £2 million for the development of ‘eco-towns’, which will be complete with efficient, non-polluting structures and strong transport links.

Forty-five councils nationwide with housing constraints have applied for government subsidies via the New Growth Points scheme, having submitted plans for new low carbon or zero carbon settlements that make use of brownfield land, as the remit dictates. (more…)

A group of building and planning stakeholders has called for the gap between the private and the public sectors to be closed.

The unique consortium’s report, entitled ‘Future Planners: Propositions for the next age of planning’, suggests that bridging this gap and using resources from both sectors is the only way in which the profession can prosper. (more…)