Responding to May’s announcement by Housing Minister Christopher Pincher of the 14 places that have been appointed to test the application of the government’s new design code, Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) Chief Executive Victoria Hills said: “The Government’s announcement on the 21st of May the 14 places which will
The body representing town planners in Scotland has called on Scottish Government to provide more support for communities and planning authorities to allow local people to shape how their places develop. In responding to the consultation on draft proposals for the framework of regulations for Local Place Plans, the Royal
The two professional planning Institutes in Ireland have signed an agreement to enable them to work together more closely in the future. The Memorandum of Understanding has been signed by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and the Irish Planning Institute (IPI) to provide a platform to enable planning and
• Politicians in Planning will enable better sharing of best practice and access to information • Network to be launched at free online event next week • Launch event will feature Jackie Weaver and Housing Minister Christopher Pincher A new network will be launched next week by the Royal Town
A cross-party committee of MPs have strongly backed the Royal Town Planning Institute’s proposed £500 million funding injection over four years for English planning, The Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee report The Future of the Planning System in England, published today, found that planning is currently under-resourced and
The innovative work of planners in response to the Covid-19 pandemic is to be recognised at the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) Awards for Planning Excellence 2021. Finalists in the Planning Heroes in a Pandemic category at this year’s RTPI Awards are: Amos Ellis Consulting The team at planning consultancy
Half a billion pounds must be injected into the England’s planning system over the next four years to ensure the government’s objectives on housing, beauty, climate, the economy and health can be achieved, according to the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI). In its formal response to the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR),
Responding to May’s announcement by Housing Minister Christopher Pincher of the 14 places that have been appointed to test the application of the government’s new design code, Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) Chief Executive Victoria Hills said: “The Government’s announcement on the 21st of May the 14 places which will take part in a six-month testing programme for the National Model Design Code is a pragmatic way of identifying problems that may arise in the application of the code and will also hopefully provide some potential solutions. “The RTPI has no doubt that only a multi-disciplinary approach – involving planners, architects, developers, ecologists, highways authorities and communities – will lead to effective delivery of quality design outcomes. These pilot programmes should help to identify how these relationships will work in practice. We will keep a close eye on the results. “However, what is already clear is that substantial extra investment into the planning system will be needed if planners are to play their part fully – almost 90% of our members have told us that they want to prioritise ‘beauty’ in their work but lack the policy support and resources to do so. “As part of our submission to the 2020 Comprehensive Spending Review, we said that a Design Quality Fund of £81 million was needed to support cash-strapped local authorities through design training, specialist expertise and design-focused policy. “These pilot programmes are an encouraging start but it is only through significantly increased funding for local authority planning teams that the government’s ambitions for Design Codes in every council will be realised.”
The body representing town planners in Scotland has called on Scottish Government to provide more support for communities and planning authorities to allow local people to shape how their places develop. In responding to the consultation on draft proposals for the framework of regulations for Local Place Plans, the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) Scotland says that there is a need for more funding, resources for capacity building and guidance. RTPI Scotland Convenor Barbara Cummins said: “This is an important moment for the planning system and the future of community engagement. Local Place Plans provide a golden opportunity to support communities to be more engaged in discussions about the future of the places where they live. “This means that we need to make sure that they have the resources they need to do this, that they can access expertise and that they are able to engage people across their area in the discussion. These resources need to be targeted to communities that need them the most so we don’t exacerbate existing inequalities in Scotland. “We cautiously welcome the light-touch approach taken by Scottish Government to this legislation, striking the difficult balance between providing a robust framework for development whilst ensuring that the process to produce Local Place Plans is not over-complicated for communities and allows for local flexibility.” In its response, RTPI Scotland has called on Scottish Government to bring greater clarity as to how the new future of community-led plans will be implemented in areas such as resourcing, timing and development planning and management procedures. Read RTPI Scotland’s full response to the Scottish Government consultation here
The two professional planning Institutes in Ireland have signed an agreement to enable them to work together more closely in the future. The Memorandum of Understanding has been signed by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and the Irish Planning Institute (IPI) to provide a platform to enable planning and development professionals to share good practice and to promote the value of the planning profession and its ideals. It will mean that the Institutes will work together to promote the profession as a career, to develop and influence policy, to develop research and to support members to develop their skills. The agreement will lead to a stronger and united voice for the profession at time where planners will play a pivotal role in achieving zero carbon targets and creating sustainable and successful cities, towns, villages and neighbourhoods across the country. RTPI President Dr Wei Yang FRTPI said: “I am delighted to sign the Memorandum of Understanding and look forward to working more closely with the IPI in the future. I have no doubt that our collaboration will help ensure we provide all of our members with the support they need and give us a strong platform to promote the importance of planning.” IPI President Dr Conor Norton MIPI said: “As President of the Irish Planning Institute, I welcome this combined effort to address future challenges for planning and for planners at a critical time for society in the area of sustainable development and sustainable places. This agreement signifies an important opportunity to deepen the links between professional planners in Ireland with their colleagues in the UK and beyond.” Chair of RTPI Ireland Aidan Culhane MRTPI added: “This will make a real difference to planners across Ireland. It will allow us to build upon one another’s strengths such as the RTPI’s strong research programme and links to the UK and the rest of the world, and the IPI’s excellent engagement with national and local government.” The RTPI and IPI will hold a joint celebration of the signing of the MOU later in the year, as soon as practically possible.
• Politicians in Planning will enable better sharing of best practice and access to information • Network to be launched at free online event next week • Launch event will feature Jackie Weaver and Housing Minister Christopher Pincher A new network will be launched next week by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) to bring together politicians involved in planning and planning decisions. The RTPI’s Politicians in Planning network will enable local authority and parliamentary politicians across all UK and Ireland planning systems to share best practice, access information and receive a regular newsletter on planning matters free of charge. RTPI Chief Executive Victoria Hills said: “Local politicians play a pivotal role in ensuring the communities they represent have the access to the right homes and infrastructure for their needs. “Through this new network, we’ll seek to bridge the gap between planning professionals and politicians to support shared ambitions for vibrant, healthy and sustainable places for communities to live and work in, particularly as we start to recover from the global pandemic.” The network will be officially launched at a special free online event on 14 June, organised in partnership with communications agency Cratus. The keynote speech at the event will be given by viral Zoom star Jackie Weaver from the Cheshire Association of Local Councils, with other speakers including Housing Minister Christopher Pincher and councillors Anna Richardson, Linda Haysey and Angeliki Stogia. Jackie Weaver said: “Planning is and always has been central to the cohesion and development of every community. Planning is much more than plans and building materials. Good planning enhances the quality of life for people living in those communities and bad planning helps create environments and situations that we all then try to dig our way out of. So planning for our communities has to be a partnership between the planners, developers and the elected members of those communities. This conversation is part of that partnership.” Other leading figures from the planning community have also given the launch their support. Former England Chief Planner Steve Quartermain said: “Planning is about people and places but it is also about politics. The best planning authorities strike a balance between all three and work as a team to deliver outcomes that make peoples’ lives better. That’s why the RTPI’s Politicians in Planning network will be so important in providing support and training, tailored to the needs of elected members.” Brendan Walsh, former Executive Director of Regeneration, Economic Development and Environment at London Borough of Hounslow, said: “I’m really excited to hear about this new network. Politicians often face challenging decisions, having to balance the needs and wants of their local community against the merits or otherwise of new development. Having others to talk to will undoubtedly help improve the quality and timeliness of their decisions.” Cratus Chief Executive Nick Kilby said: “Cratus is thrilled to be working in partnership with RTPI to help launch Politicians in Planning. It is an initiative that will deliver real value for local government, both supporting and upskilling politicians. “As a specialist local government communications agency with a national reach, we know first-hand the power that planning has to change the lives of those in the local community. Working directly with developers, residents, and councils, we believe that it is vitally importance for planning committees to have the necessary knowledge and expertise to carry out their role. “Both RTPI and Cratus believe passionately in empowering and supporting local government and I am incredibly proud of our partnership.”
A cross-party committee of MPs have strongly backed the Royal Town Planning Institute’s proposed £500 million funding injection over four years for English planning, The Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee report The Future of the Planning System in England, published today, found that planning is currently under-resourced and that proposed reforms would put further pressure on the system. RTPI Chief Executive Victoria Hills said: “This is a thorough and comprehensive report by the Select Committee. As we have emphasised to Government, resourcing for planning is inadequate and reforms will place further demands on them unless this issue is addressed. The Committee is entirely correct to state that a major programme of reform is now contingent on government first ensuring the resources are in place. I applaud the call for Treasury to commit now to putting this in place. “We agree that a skills and resourcing strategy should precede the bill. As the committee also noted, the RTPI have called for further support for our flagship apprenticeships, as well as for chief placemakers to be Chartered planners. “The committee’s recommendations for further nuance within the areas of the proposed zonal system are common sense. As the report noted, we think Growth Areas have the potential to be excellent enablers of development, but suburbs and industrial areas require very different approaches.”
The innovative work of planners in response to the Covid-19 pandemic is to be recognised at the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) Awards for Planning Excellence 2021. Finalists in the Planning Heroes in a Pandemic category at this year’s RTPI Awards are: Amos Ellis Consulting The team at planning consultancy AEC has been shortlisted in the Planning Heroes in a Pandemic category at the RTPI Awards for Planning Excellence for its work on multiple complex projects over the past 12 months, including Brent Cross West, London’s first new railway station for over a decade. AEC adapted quickly to shift their engagement to a virtual format as soon as lockdown started and has since offered socially-distanced site visits and regular online community engagement sessions. Cheltenham Borough Council The planning team at Cheltenham Borough Council has been named as a finalist in the Planning Heroes in a Pandemic category at the RTPI Awards for Planning Excellence for a range of proactive approaches which have helped the survival of local businesses and organisations. Among the team’s innovative initiatives has been a scheme to allow and fast-track the erection of temporary buildings and structures, creating more space for businesses to accommodate social distancing and safer operations. Land Use Consultants LUC has been shortlisted in the Planning Heroes in a Pandemic category at the RTPI Awards for Planning Excellence for its work to allow projects to progress with meaningful and constructive input from key stakeholders and local communities, despite lockdown. Customisable virtual consultation rooms gave the public vital opportunities to interact with graphics, video content and interactive maps, while online consultation ‘hubs’ housed curated sets of project information that could be easily updated. Planning Inspectorate The team at the Planning Inspectorate has been named as a finalist in the Planning Heroes in a Pandemic category at the RTPI Awards for Planning Excellence for its work to shift all appeal and infrastructure hearings and plan examinations across England to virtual delivery. With input from key stakeholders, the team rapidly developed a viable option for holding public events across all casework areas remotely, using digital platforms with a telephone dial-in option to facilitate universal access. Michelle Simpson-Gallego Michelle Simpson-Gallego, an Associate Planner at consultancy Pegasus Group, has been named as a finalist in the Planning Heroes in a Pandemic category at the RTPI Awards for Planning Excellence for her work to track and report on the response of Local Planning Authorities across England and Wales to the pandemic. The project demonstrated the willingness of a significant proportion of councils to embrace change and new ways of working. Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council The planning team at Barnsley Council have been shortlisted in the Planning Heroes in a Pandemic category at the RTPI Awards for Planning Excellence for their ‘business as usual’ approach to an unprecedented situation. A rapid switch to virtual planning committee meetings was evidence of a real team effort between council officers and elected members and allowed the town to remain open for business throughout lockdown. The RTPI’s annual Awards for Planning Excellence are the longest-running and most respected in the UK planning industry. The awards celebrate exceptional examples of planning and the contribution planners make to society not just throughout the UK but internationally. The climax of the ceremony, which will take place on virtual platform, The Awards Room by Evessio, on 29 April, will be the presentation of the Silver Jubilee Cup, awarded to the project adjudged best overall. In total, 93 projects, teams and individuals across 15 categories have been selected by the independent judges this year. A new category for this year is Planning Heroes in a Pandemic, recognising the innovative work of planners in response to Covid-19. The judging panel in 2021 will be chaired by Dyan Currie HonMRTPI, chief planner at Brisbane City Council, Australia and immediate Past President of the Commonwealth Association of Planners. RTPI President Wei Yang FRTPI said: “For more than 40 years, these prestigious awards have celebrated the exceptional work undertaken by town planners. In the middle of a global pandemic, I believe they are more relevant than ever before as we showcase the very best of our profession from all the RTPI’s regions and nations and from countries around the world. “I am particularly pleased to see this year a new category has been created to recognise the incredible commitment and dedication of planners who have risen to the challenge of responding to the impacts of Covid-19 on the planning system. “I wish all the finalists the very best of luck at the ceremony.” Sarah Elliott MRTPI, UK&I Town Planning Lead for Buildings and Places at headline sponsor AECOM, said: “AECOM is proud to once again be a headline sponsor of this year’s RTPI Awards for Planning Excellence. The finalists are a diverse mixture of outstanding examples of planning, including new responses driven by the pandemic and climate change. Once again this demonstrates the breadth of the impact the profession has on quality place making and delivery in the built environment, alongside our resilience to evolve and adapt.”
Half a billion pounds must be injected into the England’s planning system over the next four years to ensure the government’s objectives on housing, beauty, climate, the economy and health can be achieved, according to the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI). In its formal response to the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR), the Institute sets out the vital role planning plays in facilitating economic growth, providing affordable housing, tackling climate change, ensuring access to green space and improving wellbeing. It says without significant investment, the government’s ambitions for the planning system, set out in a white paper published earlier this month, cannot be realised. Victoria Hills, chief executive of the RTPI, said: “The drive for new infrastructure, housing and progress towards net zero will create major additional need for planning services in the coming years. The planning system has been severely under-resourced for decades which has had implications not just for efficiency of process, but for the capacity of professional planners to apply their knowledge and lead on strategic place-making. “The government has set out its ambitions to ‘radically overhaul’ the planning system, but to deliver on these ambitions they will need professional planners. The development sector is crying out for support. Without adequate investment, this simply will not be possible.” The response, which comes ahead of the RTPI’s Invest and Prosper report, due to be published in October, says a new Planning Delivery Fund of £500m is required to enable the planning system to deliver outcomes efficiently, effectively and equitably. It would replace the existing fund, which was announced by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) in February 2017 in a white paper, Fixing our Broken Housing Market. It allocated £25m between 2017-18 and 2019-20 to ‘support ambitious authorities in areas of high housing need to plan for new homes and infrastructure’. But only £15.8m was awarded to successful bidder in the first wave of funding, with the remaining £10m not being spent. This compares to a £150m a year (figure adjusted for inflation) Planning Delivery Grant to support local planning authorities between 2004 and 2008. The RTPI’s proposals comprise of nine sub-funds to enable investment into specific government priorities. It also calls for the funding to be ring-fenced and to be distributed fairly across all local authorities according to the number of people who live there, the scale of the development pressure and current levels of resourcing: Plan Making fund – £170 million The government has has said all local authorities must have an up to date local plan by 2023 but has not made any additional funding available. The Planning Delivery Fund would fund 50% of the costs of doing this. Design quality fund – £81 million The RTPI has welcomed the Government’s renewed commitment to high quality design, exemplified in its support for the Building Better Building Beautiful Commission. This funding would enable the delivery of the government’s ambitions for Design Codes in every local authority. Monitoring and enforcement fund – £67 million To allow local authorities to do proper assessment of what is actually being delivered through the planning system and how well the local plan is being delivered and issue enforcement proceedings. Digital transformation fund – £46 million To help support the digital transformation of planning – saving money in the medium and long term and freeing up planners’ time to plan. The existing Innovation Fnd has provided limited support (£1m between 6 LAs and one charity) Wider placemaking fund – £100 million To bring a range of place-focused professionals to local authorities, such as architects, urban designers and ecologists, and to incentivise those outside of local planning authorities, such as public health colleagues, to engage with the planning process to enable the delivery of healthy communities. Joint working fund – £15 million To enable strategic reviews of green belt, waste management and housing targets. Community engagement fund – £50 million The government has repeatedly suggested it would like participation to happen upstream – with earlier engagement for communities at plan making stage. The Planning Delivery fund should provide grant for authorities to engage in rich community participation at the earliest possible stage, for example through deliberative panels. Climate Action – £67 million To deliver the equivalent of one FTE planner to work exclusively on climate proofing policy and development management in each local authority. The Committee on Climate Change’s Net Zero UK report demonstrated there had been little or no progress in reducing carbon emissions of buildings or surface transport. Planning is part of the solution. Capacity building fund – £17m District Councils report that planning roles are the most difficult to fill out of all roles. This fund would comprise of £4m to support talent development from diverse socio-economic backgrounds and 13m to enable the country’s 11,000 public sector planners to attend five one-day courses a year over a period of four years.
