Natural England has announced changes to the way it provides planning advice have been set out, helping to better focus its expertise to support a more efficient planning system while protecting nature.

Forums hosted by Welsh Water to explore ways to support the economy through new development and growth and to identify opportunities to overcome the current development challenges faced, have been positively received by local planning authorities who attended the events.

Thames Water is providing £3.3 million in funding for 20 nature-based schemes to tackle flooding in London and the Thames Valley.

The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs has published the updated coastal concordat which sets out the separate processes for consenting coastal developments in England.

A new toolkit curated by the National Infrastructure Commission is offering advice to cities on developing local infrastructure strategies to underpin improvements in transport, housing and employment prospects.

A new report by the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) is warning that the majority of new local plans in England are failing to cut carbon emissions and to plan for the scale of severe weather predicted over future years.

Staffordshire County Council has commissioned coastal and rivers expert Royal Haskoning to help it prepare its Preliminary Flood Risk Assessment (PFRA).

Communities in the North East will benefit from a £2.4 million package of schemes to help to protect them against the risk of flooding.

Communities in the Midlands are set to benefit from a £3 million package of schemes in 2011/12 to protect them against the risk of flooding.

Ofwat has responded to Defra’s Improving Surface Water Drainage consultation as part of the Government’s water strategy, Future Water.