View this newsletter online at http://www.bppa.co.uk/newsletter/planning/December2009.html

Welcome to Bell Pottinger's Politics & Planning newsletter.

Autumn has been typically busy, beginning with the political party conference season and a series of Bell Pottinger hosted events. Our most recent events have included dinners hosted by Conservative Party Chair, Eric Pickles, Shadow Minister for Energy, Charles Hendry and Chief Whip, Rt Hon Nicholas Brown MP. We also organised a Conservative Party Conference fringe event with Cllr Stephen Greenhalgh (Leader of Hammersmith and Fulham Council) and Greg Hands MP (Shadow Treasury Minister).

PLANNING SUBMISSIONS

The last few months have also been a busy period for the Bell Pottinger Politics & Planning team with three of our clients submitting planning applications. Treasury Holdings submitted their planning application to Wandsworth Council in October, the largest ever planning application in central London, for the regeneration of Battersea Power Station. Barratt Homes submitted a planning application for a development in Osiers Road, also in Wandsworth and, English Heritage submitted their application for a new visitor centre at Stonehenge to Wiltshire Council.

NEW APPOINTMENTS

We have been appointed to advise a number of new clients including Catesby Regeneration, (a student accomodation scheme in central Vauxhall), Plantation Wharf ( refurbishment of the tower and change of use at ground level), Alexandra Palace (governance and review of branding) and Marcol Group, Ashlar Court in Hammersmith & Fulham.

BELL POTTINGER PUBLIC AFFAIRS APPOINTS TIM COLLINS AS MANAGING DIRECTOR

BPPA has appointed Tim Collins as its new Managing Director. Tim was a member of the Shadow Cabinet under three successive Conservative leaders, was a member of the Downing Street Policy Unit and Special Adviser in multiple Departments, as well as being a former Director of Communications for the Tory Party.

Planning for change

As David Cameron took the conference stage to "All these things that I've done" by the The Killers, and the flashing of strobe lights for his big conference speech, there was something unmistakeably different about the 2009 conference on previous years.

To read this story in full, please click  here

Westminster & Whitehall

Conservative regeneration paper due this week

We understand from our Conservative sources
that the last of the Control Shift policy papers, 
the Planning Green Paper, is  now due for publication tomorrow.

To read further news stories, please click here

Local Government and the regions

Thames Gateway Forum

This year's Thames Gateway Forum, held in the Indigo arena at the O2, has been widely acknowledged  in both the trade press, and at the event itself, as being far smaller in every way compared to last years forum which was held at the Excel Arena, a considerably larger venue.  

Politically, however, it was an interesting event with Labour party representatives Lord Faulkner and John Denham, (Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government) 
contradicting each other over their visions for the Thames Gateway and Boris Johnson labelling the Thames Gateway, "one of the most exciting programmes of urban regeneration anywhere in the world".

To read further news stories, please click here

Client file

Client:


Project:
McGrigors Conservative Party Conference programme.

Brief:
To organise and
manage a Conservative Party
Conference engagement
programme as well as
an ongoing corporate public
affairs programme.

"Bell Pottinger really helped us establish a presence at the Conservative conference. The team did a fantastic job of bringing together our fringe event and engagement programme.”

James Bullock, National Head of Risk Advisory Solutions.


Diary Dates

Forthcoming housing and planning events.

Date: 15 December
Time: 09:30 - 16:30
Venue: Birmingham
Event: Regeneration in Context

Date: 29 January
Venue: The Hatton, Hatton Garden, London
Event: RTPI Key Planning Issues in 2010


To view further diary dates, please click here

Contact us

Bell Pottinger Public Affairs
5th Floor Holborn Gate
26 Southampton Buildings
London WC2A 1QB
Telephone: 020 7861 3824
Email: planning@bell-pottinger.co.uk
Website: www.bppa.co.uk
Unsubscribe