Award for Planning for the Natural Environment

The proposed 8 Hills Regional Park covers an area of over fifty square miles between Bromsgrove and the West Midlands conurbation.

As a landscape not covered by a strategic designation, it lacks a framework to manage land use tensions (e.g. between nature protection/enhancement and public access) or attract funding to maximise the benefits it provides.

The 8 Hills Spatial Framework, commissioned by the National Trust, outlines a comprehensive strategy to protect and enhance the natural landscape.

The framework aims to enhance the benefits this landscape provides to people and nature by boosting the biodiversity and ecological connectivity of the area and increasing responsible access.

Award for Planning to Address Climate Change

The Development Framework for the Hagshaw Energy Cluster represents an innovative approach to renewable energy planning that addresses climate change through coordinated deployment of renewable energy.

This pioneering framework, adopted as non-statutory guidance, creates an ambitious blueprint for managing the energy transition while balancing environmental and social outcomes.

It aims to assist in the delivery of 1GW of renewable energy capacity through repowering, and deployment of other renewables technologies, demonstrating how strategic planning can accelerate decarbonisation while enhancing local communities and environments.

The framework has been recognised as an exemplar for shaping a Just Transition to Net Zero in Scotland.

Planning Permission of the Year

On a one-hectare site currently occupied by disused glasshouses, out buildings and hardstanding the new garden will include promenades, beautiful planting, meadows, woodlands and a large water body. Exciting, accessible and welcoming, it will be a place for quiet reflection and a fitting commemoration of Queen Elizabeth II.

Heritage conservation was integral to the scheme, reflecting the Queen’s long, extraordinary life and John Nash’s historic framework for the area.

An exemplar of sustainability and carbon management, the scheme includes extensive reuse of material, re-purposing a former water tower and it will achieve an incredible 184% net gain in biodiversity.

Award for Plan Making

The Barking and Dagenham 2037 Local Plan seeks to unlock over 40,000 new homes and around 20,000 jobs along with supporting infrastructure such as new schools, health facilities, transport, and more green space. The Plan is transformative, uplifting one of the UK's poorest boroughs.

LUC provided essential environmental planning expertise for the Local Plan, ensuring sustainable development principles were embedded throughout the document. It emphasises placemaking, ensuring new homes are part of healthy, well-designed neighbourhoods with the necessary infrastructure.

It includes ambitious housing site allocations alongside innovative visions for regenerating the Borough's sub-areas, all supported by deliverable, social facilities and new infrastructure projects. Overall, it sets a clear vision for delivering sustainable development and economic growth in the Borough.

For 12 years, The Planning Awards have acknowledged the transformative power of planning and placemaking. The 2025 awards will continue this tradition, showcasing outstanding work in areas like conservation, urban design, infrastructure, partnerships, regeneration, housing, and law.

The awards ceremony will take place on Wednesday 11 June 2025 at IET London: Savoy Place, celebrating excellence across the planning and placemaking sectors.