Steve Davies BA(Hons) Dip UP MRTPI

Associate Director and Chartered Town Planner

Steve joined Hobbs Parker in January 2016 from Canterbury City Council where he led the Development Management Team for four years. Steve has over 28 years experience of planning in the public sector, working primarily in Development Management, but also in Local Plans and Heritage. This experience has been gained in both Kent and Northamptonshire.

Steve is a Senior Planning Consultant within our Property Development team. His particular area of expertise is with major development projects, where he has significant experience of the handling of strategic residential and commercial schemes. Steve also has experience in a wide variety of other types of development, including retail, residential, commercial, leisure, educational, energy and agricultural related proposals. Steve has extensive knowledge of planning procedures and case law and can draw on his wealth of experience to provide incisive planning advice.

Steve was brought up in Wales but has lived in Kent since 1999. He has a range of interests outside of work, including travel, history and photography. Although no longer playing, he retains a keen interest in rugby and cricket and now spends much of his leisure time cycling and more recently gardening.

Blog articles featuring Steve

Outlook - Summer 2025

Outlook - Spring 2025

Outlook - Winter 2024

We review changes to APR and BPR post-April 2026 and look at headline changes to the farming budget and the future of government schemes. Plus, news of recent planning successes.

Call for sites with development potential in Swale, Gravesham, Folkestone and Hythe

Local councils are asking landowners to identify any land they wish to be considered for development through their ‘Call for Sites’ planning process.

Significant changes to Permitted Development Rights announced

From 21 May 2024 a number of changes will be made to the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order (GDPO). The changes relate to existing permitted development rights which allow for agricultural […]

Ashford Borough Council opens 'Call for Sites' Consultation

Ashford Borough Council is seeking suitable sites for inclusion in their Local Plan Review. Landowners have until the 20th November 2023 to put land forward for potential development.

Steve Davies and Elizabeth Welch promoted to Associate Directors

These promotions reflect our fantastic commitment to providing our clients with the best planning advice.

Canterbury City Council - an unusual call for planning sites

Not your usual Call For Sites! Canterbury City Council have opened a further call for sites as part of their Local Plan review, although rather than looking for housing land, this request is much greener. […]

Biodiversity Net Gain - what we know so far

The Environment Bill of 2018 contained a proposal by the Government to make this a mandate to be demonstrated by all development proposals in order to obtain planning permission. It is now identified as policy […]

The Importance of Place Making – Will A National Design Code Assist?

The main criticism of new development is that it does not create the quality of environment that we like. We all have our favourite places to visit, the place where the mix of buildings and […]

Stour Catchment Planning Update

In July 2020, Natural England issued water quality advice that had an immediate impact on planning applications for new homes located within the Stour Catchment, although it took until late September for Local Authorities to […]

Planning regime changes to allow more flexible use of buildings

The Government initially implemented Permitted Development Rights (PDR) to make it relatively simple to convert office space into residential accommodation, and now it has made further changes which allow premises used as shops, for financial […]

Permitted development in town centres

Potential planning changes could have implications for our town centres, which is timely given the ongoing crop of high profile retail administrations. The Government consultation on Permitted Developments Rights covering the upward extensions of buildings […]

National Planning Policy Framework update

The redesign of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) has given councils greater powers to promote housing. However, the Government can now punish councils if they don’t deliver the presumption in favour of sustainable development. The reality is most authorities, cashstrapped by […]

Green plans could mean red light for development

Ashford-based Hobbs Parker Property Consultants LLP (HPPC) is concerned that if confirmed DEFRA’s consultation about development delivering a bio-diversity net gain will introduce an additional requirement on developers that will need to be addressed from […]

19 New Development Sites for Ashford

The draft local plan was put out to consultation last year. It has been reviewed by the Council and the latest version of the plan is due to be put to the Council’s cabinet with […]

Outlook Summer 2017

In this edition: We look at how owners of brownfield sites looking to bring forward housing-led development could be given permission in principle (PiP) after new planning legislation came into force on 15 April, according […]

Planning to succeed

As a result, development can be difficult, especially for housebuilders, as many local communities fail to recognise the need to increase the demand of the growing population. The Government, which is publicly committed to delivering a […]