Insights & Reports

The government is consulting on revisions to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which was last updated in 2019, to include guidance on the altering or removal of statues, plaques and memorials. We explain what the process could look like if the revisions are accepted following the end of the consultation period on 27 March 2021.

Bidwells' head of planning, Mike Derbyshire, explains how the spatial framework from MHCLG could provide a viable vision for the growth of the knowledge economy across the Arc.

Following government release of the draft National Model Design Code (NMDC), a consultation is currently underway with the deadline for responses to be submitted by 27 March. Our heritage and design team outlines the proposed requirements set out in the design code in our latest blog.

This weekend, when we least expected it, the Government released their latest planning reform. The latest consultation is a real ‘beauty’ and adds some exciting content to the Building Better, Building Beautiful commissions’ ‘Living with Beauty’ report.

One way you can improve your impact upon the environment is through your home.

As the 12-month transition period for Brexit passed on 31 December, and the UK managed to avoid a ‘no deal’ Brexit scenario, what does a new trade agreement look like for the farming business? Ian Ashbridge explains what impact the new deal has on the agriculture industry.

Lockdown has led us to look more closely at our local environment and in April and May, we were all rather more bound to making our way on foot or bicycle. We explain what this rare attention to our surroundings means for the heritage world, particularly relating to two normally exceptional areas of planning: spotlisting and its nemesis, Certificates of Immunity (COI).

The biggest surprises in the Government’s Path to Sustainable Farming were the scale and speed of cuts to the Basic Payment Scheme, or Direct Payments as they are commonly referred to in the Agricultural Transition Plan (ATP). Ian Ashbridge shares his insight on what these cuts mean for farming businesses and sustainability.

Oxford, Cambridge, and Milton Keynes have taken a central role in the fight against Covid-19, with science and tech a key driver of this continued activity. Read our blog discussing business activity across the Arc, the future science and tech hotspots, and the importance of collaboration in our knowledge economies.

Another announcement from the Government on new Class E uses, deals another blow to the hospitality, retail and leisure sector. Jonathan Phillips explains the latest permitted development right and what that means to town centres as we know it.

Despite the challenging and distressing times in which we now live, the housing market appears to be shrugging off the uncertainty and moving ahead at pace. But homebuyers have new aspirations - can the housing market meet them?

The High Court has handed its ruling in the recent legal challenge against the changes to the Use Class Order and General Permitted Development Order. We explain the key reasons for the ruling and what it means for the Government's regulation changes.