After winning the UK 2024 general election, the Labour government's UK economic growth plan has a big emphasis around sustainable planning reform and green security.
Effective planning reform should integrate sustainable practices into the regulatory frameworks that guide growth, to ensure the UK can thrive both now and in the future. Developments in this space will impact projects across a variety of industries and sectors including planning, energy, construction, real estate, corporate, and the public sector.
As we navigate the complexities of economic growth and planning development reform, our experts will keep you up to date with the latest topics as they progress. From insight articles, reports, guides, webinars and more – we’ll highlight the opportunities and challenges that businesses should be aware of and how Ashfords can help your business as developments evolve.
NESO final proposal - Gate 2 methodology
As part of the wider grid reforms the National Energy System Operator (NESO) has announced that it will pause all applications for new grid connections received as of 29th January 2025 whilst the final methodologies on connection reform and proposed code modifications are considered by Ofgem for approval.
In 2023/24 alone, NESO received over 1,700 queue applications, with more projects already in the queue than is required for the energy system in 2030 or even 2050.
To help you navigate the proposed new processes to obtain a confirmed position in the new connections queue and a confirmed connection point and date, we have created an interactive toolkit summarising the key provisions of the various methodologies.
Access the toolkit
Access the Gate 2 timeline
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Rhiannon Morgan-Williams, partner in our real estate team specialising in renewable energy, features on a Solar&StorageXtra podcast episode, sharing her expert knowledge on the ever-changing legal landscape around landowner agreements and option contracts.
The conversation also touches on the consequences of grid connection delays, and why agrivoltaics could offer a viable solution to balancing food and energy production on shared land.
Listen to the podcast
Key policies from the UK Labour Party
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How will the Labour government affect the UK's water industry?
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David Richardson
Partner | Head of Planning & Infrastructure Consenting | Joint Head of Public Sector & Government
+44 (0)1392 333745 d.richardson@ashfords.co.uk View more
Brian Farrell
Partner, Head of Commercial and Head of the Energy & Resource Management Sector
+44 (0)7515 329 623 b.farrell@ashfords.co.uk View more
Carl Thompson
Partner and Head of Construction
+44 (0)117 937 8669 ca.thompson@ashfords.co.uk View more
Susie Murray
Partner and Head of Residential & Rural Property
+44 (0)1392 333723 s.murray@ashfords.co.uk View more
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