Join the fun and relish the timeless excitement of the Snakes and Ladder Planning Game. Let the fun begin!

How proposals for the conversion of an old post office into much needed housing met strong resistance from an unusual planning committee

Mary Berry, The Queen of Baking, sets out the most important rule to Successful Masterplanning - it is all about measuring the ingredients!

Following the production of the masterplan and framework plans for this site we are now delighted to be preparing the Outline Planning application for this important site in east Suffolk.

The Big Issue with Site Allocations - and what happens when they go wrong

A true tale of horror and a warning against slipping into the murky underworld of ‘The Local Plan Process’ …… Read it if you dare!

Beware of the proposed changes to the NPPF concerning density.

The ministers all gathered, quite pleased with their plot,
"More houses, more people—just stack them a lot!"
Like books on a shelf, we'll squash them in tight,
"That’s how we'll solve our great housing plight!"

Folks, let me tell you something. This Manual of Housing Density—it’s incredible, truly incredible. No one has ever seen a manual like this before. Believe me, it’s big, it’s bold, and it's beautiful. The people who wrote this, they’re the best. Smart people. The best minds, okay? They know housing like nobody else.

The Bluepencil Manual of Housing Density (third edition) is now available to download from our website! Designed to be both informative and user-friendly, this updated edition of the manual provides invaluable insights into the intricacies of residential density and masterplanning.

Angela Rayner's letter setting out reforms to the planning system

A simple guide to help deliver an effective presentation is available on the Bluepencil website as a free download

Following the production of the strategic, mixed-use masterplan and outline planning application for West Mildenhall, Bluepencil have now been engaged to prepare a Design Code document for the site.

A simple guide for planning committees when determining whether a housing layout is a ‘good design’ or a ‘poor design’.

The only way to ensure the parameter plans protect the design intent is to make them tighter and this requires a deeper understanding.

Michael Gove’s visit to the development has been featured in posts on social media by the architects and designers of the housing - and rightly so. However, I have read posts implying that the Design Code was just an unnecessary planning requirement that no one took any notice of and that it is the design of the housing itself that makes Great Kneighton a success. What an absurd view!

Hark! To gain permission for twenty homes in fair England,

one must embark upon a quest fraught with bureaucratic peril yet ripe with opportunity.

The particular alignment and combined canopy of these trees formed a beautiful double arch which we all recognised as a significant and potentially valuable feature that should be woven into the masterplan.

Let us hope that AI will give us more time to think and be creative. It could, of course, make us think less…….

We are very excited about this way of working, so far it seems to offer everything that our client wants: great design, precision build and certainty of cost.