This unique industry event brought together chief executives, heads of property services, heads of planning policy, heads of asset management, chief property managers, estates managers and property lawyers from local authorities across England and Wales.

Left to right: Dr Peter Allinson from Davitt Jones Bould; Paul Tucker and Stephen Sauvain QC from Kings Chambers; Guy Emmerson and Richard Law from Bruton Knowles; Richard Snape from Davitt Jones Bould

Delegates included property professionals and legal experts from local authorities such as South Gloucestershire Council, Bath & North East Somerset Council, Avon & Somerset Constabulary, Devon & Cornwall Police Authority as well as further a field from London Borough of Tower Hamlets, Metropolitan Police, City & Council of Swansea, Wolverhampton City Council and Plymouth City Council, to name but a few.

Ashton Court Mansion

The conference organised in conjunction with commercial property and planning specialist law firm Davitt Jones Bould and Kings Chambers, the leading planning and property barrister chambers and held at Ashton Court Mansion in Bristol, addressed some of the hot property issues of the day including the Government’s proposed changes to the planning system and also provided strategic advice to local authorities on how to get maximum value from the some £130 billion of property assets they control.

Richard Law, senior partner of Bruton Knowles, said: “Local authorities are under increasing pressure to get the most value possible out of their property portfolios and the burning issue of local authority property asset management is firmly in the spotlight and is likely to remain so. This event provided an ideal platform for property professionals and lawyers working in local government to come together under one roof to share information, learning and best practice.”

LG Property Conference

Conference delegates were enthusiastic about the overall focus and content of the event with comments ranging from: “this was probably the best one day course I have attended in the last 10 years”, “at last, a course on Local Government law property matters. Very well done”, “very impressed with the course content” and “I am sure I will find many practical issues raised very helpful when back in the office.”

Dr. Peter Allinson, chief executive of Davitt Jones Bould, said: “The issue of local authority property asset management is not going to go away and building on the success of this year’s Local Government Property Conference, we are already planning additional events for next year to inform, educate and lead the debate for all property professionals working or involved in local government.”