Trudi Elliot has been appointed as chief executive of the Royal Town Planning Institute.
Elliot joins the RTPI from the now-abolished Government Office for the West Midlands, where she has been director since 2006. She will take up the position from 4 January 2011.
Elliot said: “These are challenging times for …

Communities secretary Eric Pickles has offered local authorities £55m over the next five years as part of a bid to encourage more localism in the planning system.
In a letter to councils, sent after yesterday’s Spending Review, Pickles gave details of how various grants would be distributed over the next five …

An alliance of planning bodies has attacked the government over proposals to create local housing trusts, which would vote on house building schemes in rural areas.
The Rural Coalition, which is backed by the Royal Town Planning Institute among others, is urging the government to reconsider allowing 10% of residents to …

What it is: An alliance of 29 property and planning bodies have written to communities secretary Eric Pickles to express concerns over his “localist” approach to reforming the planning system.
When it came out: The letter was sent on 29 July, but was published on 5 August.
Why it is important: Developers …

Nearly 30 organisations including property associations, engineering bodies and green charities have written to communities secretary Eric Pickles criticising the government’s planning policies, as tipped by Property Week four weeks ago.
Bodies including the British Property Federation, the British Urban Regeneration Association, the UK Green Building Council and Shelter have allied …

Decentralisation minister Greg Clark (pictured) told the Royal Town Planning Institute’s (RTPI) Planning Convention on 29 June that councils from Teesside had already approached him about setting up one of the new partnerships.
“We’ve invited people where there is a natural economic geography, and they have jumped the gun,” he said. …

Councils, developers and housebuilders in limbo after government announces scrapping of regional plans
Planning authorities throughout the country have been plunged into chaos after communities secretary Eric Pickles advised them five weeks ago that regional plans would be scrapped.
Several councils have put decisions on key development proposals on …

Former housing minister John Healey has written to the government admitting that the existing planning system, introduced under Labour, is too centralised.
In an open letter to work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith, sent this week, Labour MP Healey said new housing was essential to the jobs market and warned …

There are major inconsistencies in the way planning applications are processed across Wales, according to a report published by the Welsh Assembly Government today.
The report, called Study to Examine
the Planning Application
Process in Wales,  sets out recommendations to improve the planning system and aid sustainable economic recovery.
The report found a lack …

The government’s scrapping of the Housing and Planning Delivery Grant will slow down planning teams and hinder economic recovery, planning bodies have warned.
The £141m grant, which was was given to councils to fund their planning departments, was axed by the Department for Communities and Local Government yesterday.
Matt Thomson, head of …