{"id":80521,"date":"2020-08-06T08:27:13","date_gmt":"2020-08-06T07:27:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/?p=80521"},"modified":"2020-08-06T08:27:13","modified_gmt":"2020-08-06T07:27:13","slug":"planning-system-changes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/planning-system-changes\/80521\/","title":{"rendered":"Planning reforms offer major boost to SME builders"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Landmark changes to the UK\u2019s outdated planning system will protect valued green spaces and offer a major boost to SME builders<\/h2>\n<p>The housing secretary has announced an overhaul of the country\u2019s planning system to provide <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/building-eco-friendly-on-a-budget\/38458\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">sustainable homes<\/a> communities need.<\/p>\n<p>The changes will transform a system that has long been criticised for being too sluggish in providing housing for families, key workers and young people and too ineffectual in obligating developers to properly fund the infrastructure to support them.<\/p>\n<h3>The planning system reforms will mean:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Local communities will be consulted from the very beginning of the planning process. By harnessing the latest technology through online maps and data, the whole system will be made more accessible<\/li>\n<li>Valued green spaces will be protected for future generations by allowing for more building on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/grass-greener-brownfield-site\/61996\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">brownfield land<\/a> and all new streets to be tree-lined<\/li>\n<li>Much-needed homes will be built quicker by ensuring local housing plans are developed and agreed in 30 months \u2013 down from the current 7 years<\/li>\n<li>Every area to have a local plan in place \u2013 currently, only 50% of local areas has a plan to build more homes<\/li>\n<li>The planning process to be overhauled and replaced with a clearer, rules-based system. Currently around a third of planning cases that go to appeal are overturned at appeal<\/li>\n<li>A new simpler national levy to replace the current system of developer contributions which often causes delay<\/li>\n<li>The creation of a fast-track system for beautiful buildings and establishing local design guidance for developers to build and preserve beautiful communities<\/li>\n<li>All new homes to be \u2018zero carbon ready\u2019, with no new homes delivered under the new system needed to be retrofitted as we achieve our commitment to net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>\u2018Once in a generation reforms\u2019<\/h3>\n<p>Housing secretary <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/people\/robert-jenrick\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Robert Jenrick<\/a>, said: \u201cOur complex planning system has been a barrier to building the homes people need; it takes 7 years to agree local housing plans and 5 years just to get a spade in the ground.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese once in a generation reforms will lay the foundations for a brighter future, providing more homes for young people and creating better quality neighbourhoods and homes across the country.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe will <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/planning-system-reforms-2\/78451\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">cut red tape<\/a>, but not standards, placing a higher regard on quality, design and the environment than ever before. Planning decisions will be simple and transparent, with local democracy at the heart of the process.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs we face the economic effects of the pandemic, now is the time for decisive action and a clear plan for jobs and growth.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur reforms will create thousands of jobs, lessen the dominance of big builders in the system, providing a major boost for small building companies across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Industry reaction<\/h3>\n<p>Victoria Hills, chief executive of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rtpi.org.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Royal Town Planning Institute<\/a> (RTPI), said: \u201cThe policy paper published by the government today represents a massive change to the planning system.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There are some major propositions contained within the document that will not only require the government to work hand-in-hand with the planning profession to implement, but will also demand some serious resourcing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe RTPI will judge the success of these reforms on how successfully they tackle inequality, accelerate progress to net-zero carbon emissions, promote sustainable transport and answer the need for strategic planning.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is, however, extremely encouraging to see recognition in the proposals of the importance of a local plan, quality design, community engagement and a plan-led approach.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe will be consulting widely with our members on these proposals and look forward to working constructively with the government to deliver sensible, realistic reforms that will ensure the high quality homes we need, and a sustainable, resilient and inclusive future for the UK.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe must however not lose sight in the immediate term of the need to resource planning now so it can support the green recovery we all want to see.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pete Ladhams, managing director at <a href=\"http:\/\/assael.co.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Assael Architecture<\/a>, commented: &#8220;Local design codes setting a vision for high-quality development have the potential to bridge the chasm between a planning system that is fast and efficient and one that commands local support.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut key to their success will be crucial decisions over who creates the design codes, who judges new development against them, and how the system is policed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMinisters have much to consider during the forthcoming consultation. It\u2019s absolutely critical that there are systems in place to monitor and ensure good design.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Tom Fyans, deputy chief executive of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cpre.org.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">CPRE<\/a>, the countryside charity, added:\u00a0\u201cThe key acid test for the planning reforms is community involvement and on first reading, it\u2019s still not clear how this will work under a zoning system.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAlthough we welcome the government\u2019s commitment to all areas having a local plan in place, we also need robust legal guarantees that the public are consulted regarding new development. Red lines on a map are not going to build trust in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/planning-system-landscape\/70795\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">planning system<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs things stand, the government seems to have conflated digitalising planning with democratic planning \u2013 they\u2019re not the same thing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe government\u2019s aim to deliver carbon neutral new homes by 2050 is pitiful and represents 34 lost years given that the Code for Sustainable Homes aimed to achieve the same thing by 2016 and was dropped by government.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf this government is serious about tackling the climate emergency, it needs to be much, much more ambitious on new build.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"mk-custom-module-container\">\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Landmark changes to the UK\u2019s outdated planning system will protect valued green spaces and offer a major boost to SME builders.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[304],"tags":[734,277,693,676,279,276,672,572,579,567,621,465],"stakeholder_rel_tag":[],"contributor_rel_tag":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-80521","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","7":"tag-brownfield","8":"tag-built-environment","9":"tag-climate-change","10":"tag-construction","11":"tag-environment","12":"tag-government","13":"tag-green-belt","14":"tag-housebuilding","15":"tag-infrastructure","16":"tag-planning-system","17":"tag-sme","18":"tag-sustainable-construction"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.9 (Yoast SEO v26.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Planning reforms offer major boost to SME builders<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Landmark changes to the UK\u2019s outdated planning system will protect valued green spaces and offer a major boost to SME builders\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/planning-system-changes\/80521\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Planning reforms offer major boost to SME builders\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Landmark changes to the UK\u2019s outdated planning system will protect valued green spaces and offer a major boost to SME builders\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/planning-system-changes\/80521\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Planning, Building &amp; Construction Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PBCToday\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-08-06T07:27:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/dreamstime_xxl_103154818.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1333\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Steph Blundell\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Planning reforms offer major boost to SME builders\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Landmark changes to the UK\u2019s outdated planning system will protect valued green spaces and offer a major boost to SME builders\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/Steph_PBCToday\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@PBC_Today\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/planning-system-changes\/80521\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/planning-system-changes\/80521\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Steph Blundell\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/baf6766a43e70a35cada0c600519a2fb\"},\"headline\":\"Planning reforms offer major boost to SME builders\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-08-06T07:27:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/planning-system-changes\/80521\/\"},\"wordCount\":894,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Brownfield\",\"Built Environment\",\"Climate Change\",\"Construction Processes\",\"Environment\",\"Government Policy\",\"Green Belt\",\"Housebuilding\",\"Infrastructure\",\"Planning System\",\"SME\",\"Sustainable Construction\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Planning &amp; Construction News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/planning-system-changes\/80521\/#respond\"]}],\"copyrightYear\":\"2020\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/planning-system-changes\/80521\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/planning-system-changes\/80521\/\",\"name\":\"Planning reforms offer major boost to SME builders\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-08-06T07:27:13+00:00\",\"description\":\"Landmark changes to the UK\u2019s outdated planning system will protect valued green spaces and offer a major boost to SME builders\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/planning-system-changes\/80521\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/planning-system-changes\/80521\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/planning-system-changes\/80521\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Planning reforms offer major boost to SME builders\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Planning, Building &amp; Construction Today\",\"description\":\"The Latest Planning, Building &amp; Construction News\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Planning, Building & Construction Today\",\"alternateName\":\"PBC Today\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pbctoday-logo-yoast-seo-organisation-1920-1080-001.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pbctoday-logo-yoast-seo-organisation-1920-1080-001.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1080,\"caption\":\"Planning, Building & Construction Today\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PBCToday\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/PBC_Today\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/baf6766a43e70a35cada0c600519a2fb\",\"name\":\"Steph Blundell\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/62283f53e7b9ae55cd3516832342b97ce87c86f2c2130dfce68124d194b36df8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/62283f53e7b9ae55cd3516832342b97ce87c86f2c2130dfce68124d194b36df8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Steph Blundell\"},\"description\":\"Steph is the Senior Digital Editor here at PBC. When she\u2019s not working hard on cranking out first-class content for our online viewers to enjoy, she\u2019s keeping our social media lively and up to date\u2026 you could call her a social media guru? We\u2019re sure she\u2019d like that. With a BA in English and Journalism, Steph isn\u2019t fazed by attention to detail; on the contrary, she enjoys getting her teeth into a good article. In her downtime Steph loves nothing more than getting together with friends to enjoy a few (several) gin and tonics. Think you\u2019ve got some content Steph would be interested in? You can contact her either by phone on (01270) 502876 or by email at sblundell@pbctoday.co.uk\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/steph-blundell\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/Steph_PBCToday\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/author\/stephblundell\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Planning reforms offer major boost to SME builders","description":"Landmark changes to the UK\u2019s outdated planning system will protect valued green spaces and offer a major boost to SME builders","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/planning-system-changes\/80521\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Planning reforms offer major boost to SME builders","og_description":"Landmark changes to the UK\u2019s outdated planning system will protect valued green spaces and offer a major boost to SME builders","og_url":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/planning-system-changes\/80521\/","og_site_name":"Planning, Building &amp; Construction Today","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PBCToday\/","article_published_time":"2020-08-06T07:27:13+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2000,"height":1333,"url":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/dreamstime_xxl_103154818.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Steph Blundell","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Planning reforms offer major boost to SME builders","twitter_description":"Landmark changes to the UK\u2019s outdated planning system will protect valued green spaces and offer a major boost to SME builders","twitter_creator":"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/Steph_PBCToday","twitter_site":"@PBC_Today","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/planning-system-changes\/80521\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/planning-system-changes\/80521\/"},"author":{"name":"Steph Blundell","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/baf6766a43e70a35cada0c600519a2fb"},"headline":"Planning reforms offer major boost to SME builders","datePublished":"2020-08-06T07:27:13+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/planning-system-changes\/80521\/"},"wordCount":894,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#organization"},"keywords":["Brownfield","Built Environment","Climate Change","Construction Processes","Environment","Government Policy","Green Belt","Housebuilding","Infrastructure","Planning System","SME","Sustainable Construction"],"articleSection":["Planning &amp; Construction News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/planning-system-changes\/80521\/#respond"]}],"copyrightYear":"2020","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/planning-system-changes\/80521\/","url":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/planning-system-changes\/80521\/","name":"Planning reforms offer major boost to SME builders","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-08-06T07:27:13+00:00","description":"Landmark changes to the UK\u2019s outdated planning system will protect valued green spaces and offer a major boost to SME builders","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/planning-system-changes\/80521\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/planning-system-changes\/80521\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/planning-system-changes\/80521\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Planning reforms offer major boost to SME builders"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/","name":"Planning, Building &amp; Construction Today","description":"The Latest Planning, Building &amp; Construction News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#organization","name":"Planning, Building & Construction Today","alternateName":"PBC Today","url":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pbctoday-logo-yoast-seo-organisation-1920-1080-001.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/pbctoday-logo-yoast-seo-organisation-1920-1080-001.jpg","width":1920,"height":1080,"caption":"Planning, Building & Construction Today"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PBCToday\/","https:\/\/x.com\/PBC_Today"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/baf6766a43e70a35cada0c600519a2fb","name":"Steph Blundell","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/62283f53e7b9ae55cd3516832342b97ce87c86f2c2130dfce68124d194b36df8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/62283f53e7b9ae55cd3516832342b97ce87c86f2c2130dfce68124d194b36df8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Steph Blundell"},"description":"Steph is the Senior Digital Editor here at PBC. When she\u2019s not working hard on cranking out first-class content for our online viewers to enjoy, she\u2019s keeping our social media lively and up to date\u2026 you could call her a social media guru? We\u2019re sure she\u2019d like that. With a BA in English and Journalism, Steph isn\u2019t fazed by attention to detail; on the contrary, she enjoys getting her teeth into a good article. In her downtime Steph loves nothing more than getting together with friends to enjoy a few (several) gin and tonics. Think you\u2019ve got some content Steph would be interested in? You can contact her either by phone on (01270) 502876 or by email at sblundell@pbctoday.co.uk","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/steph-blundell\/","https:\/\/x.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/Steph_PBCToday"],"url":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/author\/stephblundell\/"}]}},"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-10-08 21:52:17","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80521"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80521\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80521"},{"taxonomy":"stakeholder_rel_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/stakeholder_rel_tag?post=80521"},{"taxonomy":"contributor_rel_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor_rel_tag?post=80521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}