Longest King’s speech in decades sets ambitious planning reforms for a greener future.

This summer’s King’s speech in the UK ran to 1,223 words: the longest at a parliamentary state opening since 2005. It included a mammoth 40 bills – a lot, but not unexpected for the first Labour-led administration since 2010.

The Planning and Infrastructure Bill – arguably one of the most significant pieces of legislation outlined – aims to streamline the process for approving critical infrastructure and overhaul rules on the compulsory purchase of land.

Ultimately, the need to reform the UK’s planning regime is driven by the government’s climate change goals, with energy infrastructure and housebuilding being the most obvious beneficiaries of the bill.

In its manifesto, Labour set itself a lofty goal of entirely decarbonising the UK’s energy grid by 2030 – bringing forward the already-ambitious 2035 target. But for this to be achieved, green energy infrastructure needs to be installed at pace. Historically...