Release date: 01 August 2012
The Cabe team at Design Council and the Planning Advisory Service (PAS) have announced that they will be joining forces to scale up the free Local Plan Panel Review service for local authorities. Cabe has provided the services to 123 local authorities over the past five years, and the partnership with the Planning Advisory Service will mean that the number of sessions offered annually will increase. The new service will represent a more complete offer to local authorities who are looking to get up to date plans in place quickly, and create well designed and successful places while adapting to the new planning system.
The Local Plan Panel Review helps local authorities progress with their plans and embed good quality design and place-making into their documents. The review is a one-on-one working session between the local authority and a panel of experts from Cabe’s new Built Environment Experts network and PAS representatives. During the review the expert panel provides peer support, critical friend feedback and discussion
about how to really think about “place” in the development of local plans. It is an opportunity for local authorities to get free expert advice, test their
ideas and reflect on the future direction of emerging plans.
Traditionally Cabe’s focus has been on place-making, quality, and design in planning. The Planning Advisory Service, part of the Local Government Association, provides support to help local authorities implement planning reform measures, with an emphasis on delivering local plans. By teaming up, the two organisations will support local authorities to deliver plans, emphasising good design and place-making.
Nahid Majid, Director of the Cabe team at the Design Council, commented:
“Cabe is really pleased to have joined forces with the Planning Advisory Service so that we can provide more Local Plan Panel Review sessions. Our work supporting local authorities has always been well received, but in partnership we have even greater scope to create successful and engaging places.”
Adam Dodgson, Principal Consultant at the Planning Advisory Service, commented:
“Working in partnership with Cabe means we can help more local authorities to get their plans in place. We’re excited about the potential for our collaboration and know that our representatives will add real value to the work of Cabe’s Built Environment Experts”
Richard Bryant, Principal Planner at Chesterfield Borough Council, commented on participating in a recent Local Plan Panel Review:
“Chesterfield were impressed with how effectively the process managed to engage with the projects and their contexts. Cabe and the Planning Advisory Service were supportive and good-humoured whilst being penetrative and original.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors
1. Cabe is the successor to CABE, the Government’s advisor on Architecture and the Built Environment, which merged with the Design Council in April 2011.
2. The Design Council is a charity which enables people to use design to transform communities, business and the environment for the better. Its work places design at the heart of creating value by stimulating innovation in business and public services, improving the built environment and tackling complex social issues. The Design Council inspires new design thinking, encourages public debate and informs government policy to improve everyday life and help meet tomorrow’s challenges today.
3. The Planning Advisory Service is a funded programme from the Department of Communities and Local Government. It provides consultancy and peer support, learning events and online resources to help local authorities understand and respond to planning reform. Its priority is to help local authorities deliver strong and strategic planning for neighbourhoods and local areas, effective development management and good decision making, and accountable and value for money planning services.
4. The Local Plan Panel Review is delivered by the Cabe team at the Design Council on behalf of the Department for Communities and Local Government.
5. For further information, please contact:
Tim Crowley, Head of Communications, Design Council: 020 7420 5263 / 07748 906897
tim.crowley@designcouncil.org.uk
Dale Atkinson, Planning Advisory Service: 020 7664 3283
dale.atkinson@local.gov.uk