One of our ambitions is to produce more summaries of national legislation, regulations, guidance, PPGs, etc., in a way which will give Civic Societies, in concise form, the information you need to engage as effectively as possible with the planning system. The proliferation and complexity of planning law and guidance, and the rapid rate of change being pushed forward by Government, means that new and updated information of importance to their ability to engage effectively is needed, and it is difficult for us to provide this service at present. The Civic Trust want to establish a virtual team of Civic Societies who are keen to offer advice and share expertise, and in doing so help The Civic Trust develop a series of fact sheets that will help you engage as effectively as possible with the planning system.

If you would be interested in supporting us in this initiative, please click here.

Vice Chairman of the Civic Trust Awards National Panel, Angela Brady, will be appearing regularly on Channel 4's "The Home Show." Angela will be visiting Copenhagen, Venice, Paris, Marrakech, Bavaria and Palma to unlock the secrets of beautiful homes which epitomise each national style, and will show viewers how they can create a similar look.

Planning Bill Update - still no concessions from the Government: Despite herculean efforts, the current position is that the Government's Planning Bill, which is being debated by the House of Lords now and will face its final vote in the House of Commons during November, remains essentially unchanged, reducing your ability to have input into the Independent Planning Commission's decisions about major projects near you.

English Heritage has released their updated guidance on Enabling Development - that is, development within the curtilage of a Listed or Scheduled site which is permissible if it would demonstrably be the only way of saving the heritage asset itself.

The 90-page document can be seen on http://www.helm.org.uk/enablingdevelopment"

The Green Pennant Award is part of the Green Flag Award scheme, which is the national benchmark for parks and green spaces in England and Wales. The Green Pennant Award is given to green spaces which are managed by community or voluntary groups, and it recognises the importance of these groups in providing valuable green spaces in their neighbourhoods. If you would like to register your interest in entering your green space for a Green Pennant Award, please click here . To find out more about the Award, click here

Please click here