I first found out last December that I was going to be putting together a website for people working in public sector property. There’s been a lot of work done in the two months since – not all by me, by the way – and it’s great that you’re finally reading this.

Why are we doing this?

Well, there are a lot of good reasons. Property is going to come under pressure because the government needs to use it more efficiently to repair the £178bn budget deficit. And central government is looking at how it can work better with developers and investors in the new property unit of the Shareholder Executive, headed by John McCready.

We want to bring you the latest news, advice, videos, blogs, people moves and more. You can have a look around yourself, but here are a few things we’ve got:

Vice Admiral Tim Laurence: You can read an interview where Laurence talks about the future for Defence Estates, which he is leaving in May, and his other role at the Office of Government Commerce trying to improve public sector project management skills.

Sir Michael Pitt: You can watch a video of Infrastructure Planning Commission chairman Pitt talking about the IPC, which starts taking planning applications on 1 March. Will the Tories axe it? Will it be representative enough? Find out his views.

Hampshire County Council: You can find out how it transformed a tatty old building in Winchester into a sustainable office, and saved money.

There’s plenty more too. Also, if you’ve got any thoughts on the site – what we’ve done well, what we could do better, what you’d like to see – then you can leave a comment or email me at:

We’ve also launched our Public Property Summit, a new conference that we’re holding in London on 1-2 November. You can find out more at: www.publicpropertysummit.com

Thanks, Rich

• Laurence: OGC will report on skills gaps this spring
• Election day: public property at the polls
• 2010: Public people under pressure
• Property “tsar” cool on public property REITs
• Public Property Summit: McCready sets out property plan