Labour Leaders Conference by James Bompas

Introduction.

This is an exciting time for Labour in local government.

With a new Labour government in Westminster and Labour controlling councils across the UK, this is a chance for change: to reset the relationship between central and local government and ensure that Keir Starmer’s political priorities can be delivered in town halls across the country.

To achieve ambitions on a local level, the relationship between the public and private sector is becoming increasingly vital in delivering solutions to some of the biggest challenges of this generation. The numbers on housing waiting lists are rising, with local authorities spending thousands on temporary accommodation amidst a growing crisis of unaffordability and a sheer lack of availability.

About Us

Formed in 2005, Iceni is an award-winning consultancy with a collaborative mindset. We deliver for the public and private sector, blending ‘the skills of a planner with the instincts of a developer’ to create maximum value for our clients.

Over time, our technical specialisms have widened, but this fundamental ethos has remained the same.

We have worked with 116 local authorities right across the UK in the last year alone. From our offices in Birmingham, Manchester, London, Edinburgh and Glasgow, we provide specialist advice on archaeology, design, engagement, heritage, impact management, landscape, planning, townscape and transport.

To Iceni, thinking strategically is what we fundamentally believe to be the right way of doing things; to assess needs, evaluate constraints and maximise opportunities. This is Iceni Place, which

Building more homes will be the key to unlocking greater economic growth and rebalancing budgets, and the housing sector itself has an important part to play in realising the 1.5 million new home target. Indeed, that target can only be achieved if the Government, local authorities and developers work together collaboratively to find the best solutions for our communities.

By working in partnership, new developments can be designed and delivered to match local councils’ visions, adding genuine, tangible value to the area and its residents – but they can also, crucially, support those councils to meet their wider strategic objectives.

At Iceni, we bridge the gap between the public and private sector, working with developers to ensure that what they ultimately deliver is what councils want and need for their communities.

involves us taking a place-based approach to developing a strategic vision for a site, working with communities throughout the process and often looking beyond the easiest solutions to instead deliver the best solution to bring maximum value to all.

We are excited about the opportunities for new homes and economic growth under the new Labour Government and look forward to working with you.

Ian Anderson Chief Executive

Planning Under a Labour Government.

Strategic Planning

We believe strategic planning is the key to delivering the homes our residents desperately need. With local authorities developing new Local Plans and a series of New Towns in the pipeline, the new Government is pushing for a greater focus on strategic planning while devolving power. Revisiting Green Belt and considering the new classification of grey belt gives local authorities the opportunity to decide which areas of land add the least value and which could be offered up to provide much-needed new homes. By considering a holistic view and planning for growth strategically, we will ensure that we are building homes in the right places, maximising the potential of existing infrastructure and adding new services or facilities where they are needed, while boosting our local economies.

Strategic planning projects are diverse, yet they have numerous common threads. As you know, i’s not their size, but the scale of ambition that drives them. It’s the importance of a depth of understanding of the planning system, its driving principles and its processes. It’s about meaningful community engagement and understanding commercial viability. It’s about an understanding of technical disciplines and skills. It’s about forging relationships between landowners, developers, delivery agencies, authorities and national and local stakeholders. It’s about harnessing the dynamics of a site and the wider area and region.

Alongside Local Plans for all authorities, the next generation of New Towns will bring huge potential for changing the way homes and infrastructure is delivered at scale. We will need to work together to take our communities on this journey of transformation.

Urban Planning

The Government’s approach to brownfield-first development is the right approach. By exploring all opportunities to repurpose previously developed land, we can ensure that we are protecting open space and Green Belt as much as possible. However, the country’s available brownfield land won’t be enough on its own to ensure Labour meets its targets.

A programme of fiscal reform set alongside the large-scale planning changes will enable developers to secure funding without their current reliance on foreign investors and sell more homes to local communities. Recapitalising housing associations will enable them to deliver more of the affordable homes our residents are waiting for.

Viability and timely delivery are key for any project. Iceni bring together a team of sector specialists to programme and implement a strategy step-by step. Combining our technical expertise with extensive stakeholder engagement, we have built a solid reputation for proficiency across a wide range of urban projects. From estate renewal, to major residential and BtR schemes, commercial/ industrial units, complex urban regeneration and large-scale mixed-use schemes, to fine grain or detailed development control, our approach is the same.

Your Strategic Advisor.

Birmingham

The Colmore Building

20 Colmore Circus

Edinburgh 14-18 Hill Street

Glasgow

Edinburgh, EH2 3JZ

Birmingham

Birmingham, B4 6AT

T: 0121 262 4148

The Colmore Building

20 Colmore Circus

Birmingham, B4 6AT

T: 0121 262 4148

201 West George Street, Glasgow, G2 2LW

Glasgow

T: 0131 370 3486

Edinburgh 14-18 Hill Street

Edinburgh, EH2 3JZ

T: 0131 370 3486

T: 0141 465 4996

201 West George Street, Glasgow, G2 2LW

T: 0141 465 4996

London Da Vinci House 44 Saffron Hill, London, EC1N 8FH T: 020 3640 8508

Street, Manchester, M2 6FW T: 0161 509 2840

29 John Dalton Street, Manchester, M2 6FW T: 0161 509 2840

Team Structure.

Ian Anderson Chief Executive

Andrew Gale Chief Operating Ofﬁcer

James Bompas Director | Business Devt. & Strategic Planning

ARCHAEOLOGY

Claire Cogar Director

BUILT HERITAGE & TOWNSCAPE

Laurie Handcock Director

Nick Walker Director

DESIGN

Jonathan Stewart Director

Paul Drew Director

ECONOMICS

Nick Ireland Director

Matt Kinghan Director

Paul McColgan Director

ENGAGEMENT & PLACE

Gemma Gallant Director

Philippa Curran Director

IMPACT MANAGEMENT

James Jaulim Director

LANDSCAPE

Silke Gruner Director

PLANNING

Callum Fraser Director

Chris Jones Director

Gary Mappin Director

Ian Gallacher Director

Ian Mayhead Director

James Waterhouse Director

Jamie Sullivan Director

John Mumby Director

Kieron Hodgson Director

Leona Hannify Director

Lewis Westhoff Director

Lorna O’Carroll Director

Nick Grant Director

Simon Fowler Director

TRANSPORT

Clive Burbridge Director

Fred Peters Director

Mike England Director

Rob Amey Director

Our Services.

Archaeology

Development has the potential to affect buried heritage assets, whether these are previously known or yet to be discovered. Identifying their significance and the extent to which the project might affect them is crucial in the development process. Iceni’s Archaeology team undertook an Archaeological Site Appraisal to inform a feasibility study for the potential development of a site for Berkhamsted Leisure Centre, Dacorum Borough Council. The site was deemed to have low to moderate potential for Roman, medieval and post medieval archaeological remains in the area. The team carried out an archaeological study to support the planning application.

Built Heritage and Townscape

We provide advice on the historic and built environment at all stages of a project, from inception to completion to get the best possible results for our clients and stakeholders. On behalf of Northampton Borough Council, our Heritage & Townscape team undertook the Heritage Impact Assessments for four of their crucial Site Allocations. This included Northampton Railway Station, surrounded by sensitive heritage assets such as the Registered Battlefield of Northampton 1460, Scheduled Ancient Monuments of Northampton Castle and Saxon Palace Complex. The team balanced the Council’s aspirations of growth on the allocated sites while ensuring that the heritage assets were conserved as per their duty to discharge statutory requirements.

Design

Our creative team brings together expertise in spatial planning and design to deliver projects on an extensive range of scales, from the sensitive extension of existing neighbourhoods, through to the masterplanning of new towns and urban extensions. Our approach ensures that design strategies create the legacy of socially, economically and environmentally sustainable places to live, work, study and visit. In Southend, the team are working on proposals for an exciting new strategic development of up to 10,000 homes and up to 50% affordable housing. The designs set new homes and infrastructure across a sequence of new sustainable villages that respond to and nurture the landscape setting.

Economics

The interface between our daily lives, the economy, and the residential and commercial property markets has never been more important. We need to rejuvenate our high streets, support sustainable economic growth and infrastructure delivery, and deliver more homes. Data and intelligence is the cornerstone to making the case for development and infrastructure. Our work ranges from supporting Liverpool City Council and the Combined Authority to understand future housing and employment needs, to advising on the growth of the life sciences sector across the Oxford-Cambridge Arc and advising West Midlands Councils on the growth of advanced manufacturing, logistics and the West Midlands Gigafactory plans.

Engagement

Residents are at the heart of what we do to create great places. Team Engagement engage with residents, businesses and wider key stakeholders at every stage in the development process, promoting greater community ownership while ensuring the social value derived genuinely meets the needs of local communities.

We supported South West Hertfordshire to maximise community involvement in their Joint Strategic Plan, particularly amongst young people. Through our work, the website achieved over 10,000 visits with 3,270 residents completing the poll over a four week period, giving a clear consensus on community priorities for the future.

Futures

We embed Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) in new developments and provide services relating to climate change through the planning process, including energy and whole life carbon assessments, and circular economy appraisals. Futures provide strategic advice focusing on climate change, new ways of living and building, evolving legislation, health and wellbeing and technological advancements. In West Berkshire, the team supported the Council’s Local Plan review by running a visioning exercise on strategic growth in Newbury and Thatcham. The new vision responded positively to the climate emergency, leveraging opportunities through the transition to net zero while delivering sustainable growth.

Transport

Buses and bikes, roads and roundabouts, cars and car parks, junctions and jargon. Controversies over traffic and parking are part of community life and transport planning is an integral part of development. We recently supported the regeneration of the Friary Quarter in Guildford town centre, engaging with Guildford Borough Council, Surrey County Council and local bus operators over a period of nearly five years. We collaborated with architects to develop a pedestrianised scheme along North Street, with enhanced cycle facilities and a new bus interchange to significantly improve active and sustainable travel in the town centre and beyond.

Landscape

Our landscape architects are brought into the conversation at the outset of projects to deliver schemes driven by their character, with wide ranging benefits for people, wildlife and the environment. This allows for an iterative design process and appropriate mitigation across a variety of projects, from small-scale residential development to strategic new settlements, and nationally significant infrastructure. The Landscape team have recently played an instrumental role in the development of a landscape-led vision for a 2,100 home scheme in Thurrock. The team saw the complex and constrained nature of the site as a unique opportunity to drive character and provide an ecologically-rich landscape strategy which celebrates living resiliently with water.