Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023

The Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 (LURA 2023) received Royal Assent on 23 October 2023. It sets out significant reform of the planning system, including changes to developer contributions, environmental assessment, digital planning, the preparation of local plans, heritage protections, decision-making enforcement and compulsory purchase.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government announced the grant of Royal Assent in a statement published on 26 October 2023, stating that LURA 2023 would ‘speed up the planning system, hold developers to account, cut bureaucracy, and encourage more councils to put in place plans

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Latest Planning News

NESO to conduct Strategic Environmental Assessment for future network designs

The National Energy System Operator (NESO) has announced plans to conduct a Strategic Environmental Assessment as part of its strategic energy planning works for future network designs. Following the publication of the Pathway to 2030 and Beyond 2030 reports, which outline a Holistic Network Design for coordinating offshore electricity generation, NESO will undertake further work to develop an implementation plan for these designs. To support the Holistic Network Design, NESO will conduct a Strategic Environmental Assessment, which will be undertaken by consultants RPS, to ensure that environmental considerations are integrated into its final network design recommendations. NESO will also conduct a Habitats Regulations Assessment and a Marine Conservation Zone Assessment over the next twelve months.

HSE publishes four guidance documents on higher-risk buildings

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