Steven Butler
Partner, Planning
Planning
A personable and dependable chartered town planner who prides himself on his local knowledge, attention to detail and relationships based on trust.
A personable and dependable chartered town planner who prides himself on his local knowledge, attention to detail and relationships based on trust.
Forged over a decade-long career at Bidwells, and with prior public sector experience, Steven is an all-rounder with a specialism for residential planning. He is actively working on projects ranging from strategic-scale developments in the Green Belt, to enabling development to secure the conservation of heritage assets.
Based in Chelmsford, Steven’s local market knowledge has rendered him an expert in the Essex area, achieving planning consent for multi-award-winning projects like City Park West, several projects for Essex Housing incorporating specialist accommodation and being the retained planning advisor for a portfolio of local and national housebuilder and promoters’ sites across the patch.
He leads the identification of planning strategies that include the promotion of sites through the development plan process and the preparation of major planning applications, recognising the need to ensure viability and deliverability.
A keen cyclist, Steven actively experiences environments at the human scale - he knows what sustainable development should look like and how it should be planned.
Accrediations
Essex Local Plan Watch - Autumn 2023
A Look at Senior Living
Wellbeing is now firmly on the national agenda and as the UK’s elderly population is projected to reach 15.1 million with 22% over 65 by 2030, alongside this edition of Local Plan Watch, Harriet Wooler and Steven Butler look at how senior living is being planned for across our patch.
Essex Local Plan Watch - Spring 2023
Essex Local Plan Watch - Autumn 2022
King Charles’ legacy: We should harness his design philosophy for our wider benefit.
With Charles now King his ability to exert influence on the built environment is now substantially reduced, so what can we learn from his philosophy and who will champion his principles into the future?
Essex Local Plan Watch - Spring 2022
What the launch of Active Travel England means for you
Planning for active travel has come to the fore post-Covid. The launch of Active Travel England as inspectorate and funding body will ensure the enforcement of new guidance by local authorities to help people make more shorter journeys by bicycle or on foot. Developers would be wise to accommodate the expectations of such guidance when designing their schemes to avoid potentially lengthy delays and/or the need for a re-plan.
Triple award nomination for innovative Bidwells planners
Our Planning team was today shortlisted for three prestigious RTPI awards for their work on some of the region’s most innovative projects.
Essex Local Plan Watch - Spring 2021
Four more authorities in Essex have adopted up-to-date strategic Local Plan policies since our Autumn Local Plan Watch, bringing the total with up-to-date plans to five out of 14 authorities in the county. A number of other emerging Plans are at an advanced stage, but Uttlesford, Thurrock, Rochford and Southend are notable exceptions to plan-making progress.
Launch of New Essex Design Guide
The Essex Design Guide has been updated and relaunched for the first time in thirteen years. Bidwells summarises the important updates that could affect you.
A mix of new homes and Independent Living on surplus public land in the Green Belt
Expansion and modernisation of an existing care facility in Earls Colne
