Chief Planner’s planning update newsletter for October 2025 published
The Chief Planner, Joanna Averley, has published the a planning update newsletter for October 2025, written for the chief planning officers at local planning authorities (LPAs). The newsletter contains details of preparations for the New Towns Unit to advance the next generation of new towns, following the government’s commitment to begin construction on at least three sites within this Parliament. It also highlights strong engagement with MHCLG’s consultation on infrastructure planning reforms, which will run until 27 October 2025, and reminds LPAs to submit their 2024–25 neighbourhood planning claims by 31 October 2025. The Planning Inspectorate reports early positive feedback on its new pre-examination checklist for local plans, introduced to streamline the submission process, while the Environment Agency continues to promote its new flood risk assessment template to support higher-quality planning applications. Additionally, the newsletter covers the launch of applications for the Digital Planning Improvement Fund, offering grants of up to £50,000 to support digital transformation in planning services, and previews the forthcoming Digital Planning Training Directory—a free resource to help planning professionals access education and training opportunities.