The Grande Finale Triple Blog...

Shaping Tomorrow

Chairing the annual National Transport and Development (TRICS) conference is a must for the RTPI President.
TRICS is a traffic impact assessment system that has been in place for 21 years (happy birthday TRICS!), is owned by a number of local authorities and has been reviewed and updated regularly.
The annual 2009 conference is an opportunity to consider updates but, more importantly, receive expert papers on "the state of the Nation".
Perhaps unsurprisingly, much of the discussion concerned the links between transport and spatial planning, with concerns at the perceived lack of progress on LDFs (better news on this, as we are catching up on the backlog) and concerns at the possible removal of regional plans which provide an important means for including transport issues.



I’ve been fortunate to visit No 10 on a couple of occasions - once for planning and once for education - but my visit this time was to “celebrate British Architecture” at the invitation of the RIBA.
Many eminent architects were there, a number known to me, and there were excellent presentations by the Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Culture Ben Bradshaw - one of the South West MPs I have come across in my work on housing, when he wore a different hat.
It was a great event!
I was envious that we have yet to persuade a PM that there should be a No 10 event to "celebrate British planning” - but perhaps that is for a future date?

Amazing developments in East Midlands

My next regional trip was to the East Midlands and it was extremely revealing. RTPI East Midlands has a comparatively small number of members and believes it suffers from “polycentricity” because it stretches from Lincoln and the East Coast to the Peak District and picks up major settlements from Northampton to the Corby-Kettering Growth Area and includes Derby, Leicester and Nottingham!



Stephen Pointer, Treasurer and Head of Policy at Harborough District Council, was my minder and met me at the hotel on Sunday night, in the beautiful town of Market Harborough, for a glass of local ale!



The programme started on Monday with a tour of Leicester City Centre, with Andrew Smith, the Service Director for the Council.
I have done some business in Leicester around 10 years ago and was absolutely staggered at the transformation of the place – iconic retail and theatre buildings, building on areas that were once a road, and fantastic paving and landscaping.
It was clearly an outstanding team effort and congratulations to them all! - especially those who have seen the regeneration through, over many years.
I also visited Prospect Leicestershire, the new economic development company for city and shire, led by an old friend, Dave Hughes.
David, Alan Swales, his ex boss (now working for him!) were responsible for some excellent work in Nottingham Regeneration Company and it is great to see Dave and his team leading economic development so effectively.
Back to Harborough to meet Stephen’s boss Brett Culpin, and John Bloxsom, Head of the city/shire Infrastructure Board, to address good levels of co-operation and also discuss the usual issue of scarce resources.
This was followed by an excellent and invigorating session with the Harborough planners, who were faced with three major wind farm applications, and the need to review their LDF, but were clearly coping with enthusiasm and professionalism.
It was really nice to see such a committed bunch in one of the smaller council planning departments - a credit to the profession.

Dinner with the Regional Management Board (RMB) - with free coffee, because I was wearing my chain!
There was much discussion about the need for more volunteers in the East Midlands area - so any offers are appreciated, please!

Much credit must go to Chair, Chris Perrett, and communications guru, Peter Wilkinson, of Landmark Planning, who is a lively and driven chap in championing planning editing their EM Newsletter.



First thing the following morning, we went by train to Nottingham for the East Midlands Planning Awards, sponsored for many years by Browne Jacobsen lawyers, for which many thanks - especially to MRTPI Steve Coult.
Once again, the “solutions” were excellent, covering urban and rural schemes and a good joint strategy in Northants.
A quick coffee with Sue Slack, our hardworking regional administrator, then off to Planning Aid East Midlands, to meet Peter Orban and two ladies named Emily - volunteers from Rushcliffe Borough Council.
They have done outstanding work with groups of children to explain the principles of planning and are clearly star young planners of the future.

Finally, lunch at Regeneration East Midlands, the employer of the 2010 RTPI EM Branch James Carpenter.
REM has captured a number of important bodies and initiatives under their wing and seems to face similar opportunities to the Branch, to address wider engagement.
Discussions with James, on the way back to Harborough, identified scope for joint activities and pooling of resources this coming year.
James gets married this year - so we will get two for the price of one!

Revisiting schemes set up during the 1980s

My visit to Aylesbury Vale was kindly organised by Jack Peeters, my erstwhile Chief Planning Officer, when I was Director of Technical Services and Planning in the mid to late 80s, and now a good family friend.
He arranged for me to visit schemes that I had been involved in, but more importantly, what had emerged from the foundations that were set back then.
The Council has done a terrific job, restructuring the town centre, and also has an incredible theatre project underway, designed by my longstanding friends, RHWL Architects, who designed the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester.



I met the CEO, Andrew Grant, who I think said he is an ex-planner, and a much remembered Councillor Mike, together with Jim Cannell and Tony Barker, who are still loyally and effectively serving the planning cause.
I also met the Head of Planning, John Byrne, and Richard Harrington, MD of Aylesbury Vale Advantage, the growth area partnership who I knew, when he worked on East Midlands Development Agency (emda) - and I was involved in some interesting schemes in the East Midlands.




The evening reception and my presentation allowed for a healthy and challenging debate on local authority planner skills and capacity, as viewed by sole trader consultants, most of whom had once worked for the public sector.
It seemed to me that Aylesbury Vale District Council continued to provide an excellent service and it was a pleasure to see it thriving, some 20 years on.

The Three Academics

I begin this new blog with reference to a Presidential initiative – “The 3 Academics” – where following discussions with many regional planners, with the Conservative Opposition and their plans to get rid of regional housing targets, and listening to an excellent presentation by Sheffield University Professor Gordon Dabinett, on cross boundary strategic planning, I felt the need to collect some evidence to “restate the case for strategic planning at the sub national level".

I managed to persuade Gordon, Mike Beazley of Centre for Urban and Regional Studies (CURS), University of Birmingham, and Mark Tewdyr-Jones of University College London (UCL), to assemble a think tank to review international experience.
We met at UCL and, with support from other academics, reached a number of conclusions, including that there had been little research into the subject area although a wide variation in practice.
A first draft paper is now under consideration by the RTPI and makes very interesting reading - and it will, I am sure, influence our emerging RTPI Manifesto.

Greener pastures and green matters

Dr Helen Philips is the Natural England CEO, a very influential and effective lady, who has brought together various bodies to champion the natural environment.
Matt and I met her in her impressive office, overlooking Victoria Street, and agreed to progress common interests in land use planning, health, Green Infrastructure, the Green Belt and Continuing Professional Development. Watch this space!

Grande finale of my presidential presentations

My final presentation of my year to a firm of planning consultants was to NLP Planning, strong supporters of the RTPI Convention, successful award winners and a Leaders winner.
Their office, at the back of King's Cross, now includes a substantial number of MRTPIs - over 50 at the last count - led by Managing Director James Fennell.
They have a wide variety of clients and a very broad knowledge base.
It would seem that they may well become even more involved in RTPI governance and I look forward to such an excellent team, playing a greater part in our affairs.

Living up to our members' expectations

The annual Regions and Nations chairs' get together allows the current and incoming President to reflect on past and future Presidential programmes.
I provide some interesting facts about my experiences, including how difficult, at times, it is to live up to members’ expectations of the President, especially from our younger members.
My last Planning magazine article, as President (RTPI News in Planning, 8 January 2010 - www.rtpi.org.uk/download/8003/RTPI_News_2010january08.pdf), reflects in more detail and I also have some lessons learned that will feature in my final address.

However, I enjoyed the company of all the planners I have met and learnt a great deal from them. Certainly I was able to share with the chairs clear evidence from every visit of Planning – Delivering Solutions and they appear to have enjoyed setting me a few challenges.

The Regions and Nations continue to operate at the frontline of RTPI member relationships, and I commend the chairs for all the hard work they have put in, on behalf of all of us.

PINS Centenary

The Planning Inspectorate (PINS) celebrated its 100th Anniversary this year and I was honoured to be invited by CEO Katrine Sporle, to address about 200 planning inspectors in Bristol Cathedral.


I was in good company, alongside Baroness Andrews and Richard McCarthy, and a wonderful former Chief Inspector, Betty Haran.
Between us, we addressed the PINS - past, present and future - and then enjoyed an amazing exhibition in the old Brunel Railway Shed, at Bristol Temple Meads.
The pleasure was extended for me by meeting a number of planners, including three who have been to the same school, Royal Grammar School, Guildford, allowing for some reminiscing about teachers and our alma mater. A great event!

Breakfast at Botolph Lane with the CLG

The second CLG-RTPI major consultants event - this time, a breakfast at Botolph Lane - attended by many of the largest firms' leaders in London, built on the first. Again, it was addressed by Chief Planner Steve Quartermaine, RTPI Directors and myself.
Clearly, closer links are emerging, especially with government, but perhaps the most important initiative concerned support for Sue Percy’s current CPD review.
I must also pay tribute here to Steve, who has not only lifted the profile and importance of planning across departments, but has also been a great champion for the RTPI.
My grateful thanks, Steve! Long may you continue to flourish.

Past Presidents’ glittering dinner

The annual Past Presidents’ dinner is a glittering affair - paid for by them! - to which the current President is always invited.
I met some wonderful planners, who I remember from my youth, such as John Dean, and was also barracked by more recent ones, such as Messrs Goodstadt and Hayes.
It is a privilege to be part of that particular club and I look forward to ones in the future - if I have earned my stripes!

Hitting the headlines in Daily Telegraph

Some of you may have noticed a front page Sunday Telegraph headline, concerning our issues on the Heritage Planning Policy Statement, arranged by Tino and Jamie of our Marketing and Communications Team.
They also managed to get me on to You and Yours to speak to Paul Finch, the new Chair of CABE.
We were told that planners were to be challenged to deliver better designs in town supermarkets, so I joined the debate, with examples of good planning delivering better designs, community engagement and affordable housing.
Quite a robust discussion, but I think he was persuaded that good planning delivered the results he was looking for.

Happy visit down memory lane in Harrogate

It was a special pleasure to revisit Harrogate Borough Council, a previous employer - a trip organised by Stuart Quinn, who, impressively as a planner, now runs the International Conference Centre. He used to work for me as a team leader in DC Planning, then DP Planners, then subsequently Economic Development.

Photo by SIRA Studio.

At a Mayor’s reception, I met Colin Brown, the CPO who followed me, and also Anne, Helen and Tim (now CPO), who have remained with the department doing great work since I left for pastures new.

Photo by SIRA Studio.

It was also a great pleasure to meet John Lovell, my then CEO, who played an important part in my management development, and is now in his 81st year.



We visited schemes that were started some 20 years ago - in particular, the Nidd Gorge Countryside Management Scheme, now run by a Community Trust, which was the first of its kind in the North. It’s always a pleasure to go back to Nidderdale and Betty’s, and I also visited a farmer’s deli on the Yorkshire Showground, giving the supermarkets a run for their money.

Fortunately, Philly and I have stayed in touch many friends from Harrogate, so will continue to return to God’s own country, where also, Alex, our youngest daughter, was born – wonderful place!

Final blog from your 2009 President

This will be my last Blog as your President.
I hope you have enjoyed reading them as much as I have enjoyed writing about the wonderful planners I have met during 2009.

Decimated by severe winter weather

The bad weather has caused a number of important stakeholder engagements to be cancelled from my tenure – Planning Officers Society, Town and Country Planning Association, English Heritage, British Waterways and the Local Government Association... but I am sure my successor will follow up these important links.

My apologies, following family crisis

I am sorry these last few blogs have arrived in a rush.
However, some of you may know that a member of my family was unfortunately injured in a bus, when an accident at Clapham Junction, just before Christmas, caused the London bus to turn over.
Although she is on the mend, I fell behind a little with the blogs.
For this, please forgive me.

Network surveys

Good lessons from Network surveys

I have mentioned John Baker’s LDF Task Force and the DM and DP Network surveys that will inform the RTPI Manifesto.
The Network manager Rhian Brimble - one of a fantastic team, led by Trish Cookson - also arranged seminars on the subjects at PINS, and I attended them both. The first was chaired by Janet Askew, the DM Network chair, the second by John Baker.
I won’t steal their thunder, as a full report will soon follow.
However, needless to say, some very good lessons were offered on how to improve our practice.
My thanks to those who contributed to two very good discussions.

Today's and Tomorrow's Leaders

On Monday 18th January 2010, Charles Veale has organised a special session - sponsored by Drivers Jonas - for all the winners of the Today’s and Tomorrow’s Leaders awards.
We intend to discuss leadership in planning, and sponsor Peter Wilbraham and I will seek to extract characteristics from those who you have recognised.
I am sure Charles will write them up for the Planning magazine's RTPI News pages.

The awards have seemed to find favour with many, and disabused those who suggest that the planning profession does not have confidence in its people and what planning does.

Affordable housing

I am also presenting to a seminar that week on Planning for Housing, organised by one of my favourite Registered Social Landlords, L & Q - London and Quadrant housing association.

Looking ahead to the General Assembly

The General Assembly - the last I shall chair - will include what I am sure will be a healthy discussion on the emerging Manifesto.
Issues include:

• the need for an English Spatial Plan, learning lessons from those in the devolved nations;


• whether we need the many Local Authority strategies, or whether the LDF might demonstrably pull them together;


• the extent to which a focus on pre-application deliberation might improve the speed with which decisions are taken and other important points.

There will be other opportunities for members to contribute to this highly important document, setting a planning agenda for a new government of whatever persuasion.

It will then be my great pleasure to hand over the chain of office to Ann Skippers, the RTPI's new President for 2010.

Ann, it will be an exhausting year but - if it is anything like mine - hugely rewarding, demonstrating the skills and commitments of RTPI officers and members.



For my part - and here I am especially grateful to my lovely, patient and hugely supportive wife, Philippa, and family - it has been a privilege and a pleasure.

Thank you to you all.

Martin Willey

North of the Border to bonnie Scotland

Back to bonnie Scotland and a flight to Aberdeen to be met by my minder, GA and Audit Committee member, Alistair Stark, who kindly chauffeured me to my hotel.
The following morning, we were joined by Richard Bush, a senior member of the local North East Scotland chapter to visit Aberdeenshire Council.
Christine Gore, Director; Robert Gray, Head of Policy; and Bruce Stewart, Planning Manager DM, took me through the counter cyclical conditions, where the continuing supply of North Sea Oil had sustained the sub regional economy in a way not experienced anywhere else in the country.



Nonetheless, some savings have had to be made, but there was clear progress on their Strategic and Local Development Plans, the former of which have just been approved.

Discussions with recently qualified young planners on the team followed, with clear suggestions for the enhancement of the APC process, passed onto the team at Botolph Lane.

Photo by Charles Strang

However, there was “reluctant” agreement that the high standards, expected by the RTPI, reflected the importance of professional qualifications and a very good idea emerged - that of offering advice to employers of licentiates, of the support that was required to complete the APC process.

Aberdeen School of Planning

We moved to the Aberdeen School of Planning, recently RTPI accredited, to meet lecturers and students.
Top of the list was the sad state of the job market and the need to try to retain our future planners through internships and the like.
The RTPI PIWP services provide more help in this respect and see also my article in Planning Magazine on 5th November.



Aberdeen City Council followed with the discussion focusing on progress under the 2006 Scottish Act.
Led by Dr Margaret Bochel, Head of Planning and Infrastructure - with David Jennings, Manager of the City and Shire Strategic Planning Authority also in attendance - it was clear that reductions in resources and in planning applications made the process of increasing efficiency less than easy, although the Strategic Plan for the sub region had recently received Ministerial approval.
We agreed that the RTPI DM and DP Network surveys, if replicated by local evaluation, could provide data against which to press the case to sustain skills and resources to accelerate economic recovery.
Certainly, the quality of planning outcomes was very clear to see in the City, and we secured some good local publicity to this effect.
Also, I was shown some excellent examples of design and historic building refurbishment and was able to issue a press release praising the planners for their success in creating attractive places in the City.

RTPI Scotland Conference

Finally, I addressed the Annual RTPI Scotland Conference, Delivering Development: Planning in Scotland, well organised by Veronica and the Conferences team. Presentations covered the impact of cities, National Schemes, Transport, Water and Waste Infrastructure, Ports, Green Infrastructure, Shared Streets, Health and Place making.
The Minister, Stewart Stevenson, who I had met on a previous visit at the Scottish Awards, had clearly hardened his view regarding the need for planning to deliver results to revitalise the economy.
In brief discussion afterwards, we agreed that there was much evidence to show the beneficial impact of planning and we also discussed the positive impact of planning consultants to economic and sustainable development.

NAPE Conference

My trip had been hugely enjoyable but my train trip to NAPE was delayed by three hours - so I arrived in Newark well after midnight!
The NAPE conference, chaired excellently by Sue Taylor - many thanks to her predecessor Lesley Smith for putting enforcement on the RTPI map! - covered a wide range of practice with some excellent examples of the removal of unauthorised development, some of which are shown here.
Even though the profession as a whole is sometimes measured by Here come the planners, the public face of our work relies on proper enforcement or the planning game will be held in disrepute!
I believe that there are votes in enforcement of planning decisions and we should try to make sure that adequate resources are made available to continue to do it properly.
The conference was held at the beautiful offices of Newark Council and I am particularly grateful to Zoe Fuller for her excellent organisation.
My return by train was uneventful and on time, but quite nice to put my feet up.

Interesting Facts

There are a number of interesting facts regarding my visits...

• over 200 thank you letters;


• 33 visits of which 13 have been urban, seven rural and 13 more specifically to individual Planning Schools and consultants.

However, I reckon I have walked around 200 miles and I do get footsore!

From Ireland at its best to Guildford green belt

Philly and I visited Southern Ireland at the end of a busy week. Dublin is a regular haunt of ours because, every two years, Ireland plays England at rugby!
On this occasion, we were accompanied throughout the visit by the wonderful Billy Hynes, Chair of the RTPI's Irish Branch, Southern Section.


By the end of the day, Billy had suffered a clamp on his car, his son being bitten by a dog and his bike stolen! Billy, you are a star, keeping cheerful throughout, clearly highly respected by all we met and keeping us amused with your wonderful sense of humour throughout all our travels. Thank you.
Southern Ireland is the smallest group of members in the Regions and Nations, and also operates alongside the Irish Planning Association. However, it operates with huge enthusiasm and is recognised as a statutory consultee by the Irish Government. Perhaps the biggest difference is that they have third party rights of appeal of which more anon.



First stop, University College Dublin, to meet students and lecturers at the Planning School, including the new Chair of Spatial Planning, Professor Zorica Nevodic-Budic. There were the usual concerns about work but a high level of enthusiasm and considerable expertise were displayed by the PhD students. It was also a lovely campus.

Lunch with the Chair, John O’Connor, and Board of the Irish Inspectorate called An Bord Pleanala. Because of the Third Party Appeals, they were involved in the majority of major applications and demonstrated the highest levels of integrity. It seemed to work OK - in the way we all hope the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) will work - but with significant delays to decisions that, in the UK, would have remained with local authorities.


The Adamstown Strategic Development Zone was a private housebuilder initiative, displaying high levels of sustainability alongside a new LRT station proposal.
What were particularly innovative were the efforts by the Project Planner Karen Kenny, of South Dublin County Council, to generate a neighbourhood travel plan. Adamstown has already won an RTPI award and this scheme might well win them another!



Dinner in the evening with Billy, his wife, vice-chair Philip Jackson and Honorary Secretary Rosemary Gibbons, of Dublin City Council, was in a French Restaurant, where we had an enjoyable evening, listening to local gossip and political intrigue in Ireland!

Frank Allen, an ex-financier, is the Chief Executive Officer of the Railway Procurement Agency, responsible for the LUAS Dublin Light Rail System, which complements the DART tram system, railways and buses.



He, with RPS consultant Des Cox who cycled to join us, demonstrated the huge economic impact of the LUAS and substantial proposals for its expansion.





We jumped on the LUAS back to the Docklands Area to meet Jerry Barnes, now of consultants MacCabe Durney Barnes, but previously part of the team that masterplanned and delivered Dublin’s city centre waterside expansion early phases. You can see how successful it’s been.


The inevitable contemporarily designed Arts/Theatre building raised a few questions but in general it was rather more user friendly than London Docklands and the spaces were nicely related to the water.



The highlight of the visit for Philly and me, much to the chagrin of our son Tim’s Northern Irish father-in-law Bill McGinnis, was a tour of the new Lansdowne Road Rugby Stadium, now called (but I suspect without much recognition by the Irish rugby supporters) the Aviva Stadium.
The architects, including Philip are Scott Tallon Walker, and although the budget is over £300 million, it is an exceptional building.
The site constrained capacity to around 50,000, but you can see through the building which curves gently to accommodate its surrounding neighbours’ daylight.

The outside has a skin of Perspex panels but still manages to generate a feeling of grace and dignity as these pictures show. A real treat and apparently on time and on budget.

Dinner with a large number of Branch members organised by the long serving Berna Grist who had done a marvellous job. We were addressed by Ciarin Cuffe one of the Green Party TDs (MPs) representing the Minister.
The Green Party through PR are part of the Irish Government. The address seemed to be providing a relatively onerous planning regime but one which had excellent sustainability credentials.



Throughout the visit, we had enjoyed wonderful weather, Ireland at its best.
The following week, I had been invited to visit Guildford Council by Tracey Haskins the Young Planner of the Year whose company Philly and I had enjoyed on many occasions in particular at the USA APA Convention. RGS Guildford is where I went to school along with Past Presidents Brian Ragget and Nick Davis.
After meeting all the planning team I was taken on a tour that brought back many memories but also showed how the town has changed.
At the top of a multi storey car park, we visited a Thai restaurant, then to see a really exciting modern retail and HQ scheme at the top of the High Street.
We also visited the school that had recently received a new front entrance and clearly planned further extensions sometimes in the vicinity of Grade 1 listed buildings.


Finally we went inside Abbot's Hospital - a long standing charity of almshouse type accommodation. George Abbot was the founder of many public buildings and the building and a modern extension were exceptional.



I returned to the civic offices, having been accompanied by Carol Humphrey, Head of Planning, Tim Dawes DM Manager and of course Tracey, Planning Policy Manager, throughout the day, very impressed by the quality and level of planning service they were able to offer.



Although they are a relatively wealthy council, the planning pressures are substantial, as most of the Borough is Green Belt!
It was very easy to see how Tracey had won her YP Award!


Martin Willey

A glimpse of the London Olympics project

A trip to London, my home town, is a regular occurrence, either for business or RTPI.



As an East End boy, my mother waved me out of the window of Charing Cross Hospital in the Strand, Michael Jackson style, so I could hear the sound of the Bow Bells and retain my Cockney routes.
I always enjoy going back, but for the RTPI London trip, it was a completely new experience.



After visiting AECOM, the home of RTPI London chair Rachael Rooney, for a rewarding briefing on legacy, I joined a large group for a tour round the Olympic site.



It is extraordinary - both the scale and volume of what is going on - and I also met the two planning teams, the applicants for the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) and a team of mainly seconded staff from the constituent local authorities, whose Head of Development Control at the Olympic Delivery Authority, Vivienne Ramsey, also won my London Today’s Leader Award.



The skills displayed by both teams were world class and the quality of the resulting development will make the London Games an exceptional experience as you can already judge from these photos.
I met the London young planners at Botolph Lane in the evening and had a very robust debate regarding expectations of the RTPI. I believe that their energy will bring handsome rewards both in individual career terms but also for the RTPI. Two of the YPs were unemployed planners who I was subsequently able to refer to the RTPI who were looking for interns – I wish them good luck.


The next day, I was taken around the Kings Cross Scheme by Argent and planners RPS, together with representatives of the British Waterways Board, who are partners in the scheme. Again this was an impressive visit with hugely complex planning project management required but with a quality that despite the market conditions was beginning to shine through.


I also renewed acquaintances with Lester Hillman, who always comes to the RTPI AGM, and gave me a wonderful book on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. He also asked me to write a letter to Anthony Rouse, who has completed 65 years as a chartered planner and who was to be recognised on World Town Planning Day, which we celebrated at the Commons on November 10th – a request I was delighted to respond to.
Finally to a DTZ sponsored evening event which was to have addressed a wide range of issues but ended up with Sir Simon Milton launching the new London Plan. It was a memorable event, firstly because the Plan is very good and secondly because a leading Tory was promoting a region – London. We will talk again with Sir Simon!
The General Assembly had a political element too.
We persuaded Tory Shadow Planning Minister Bob Neil and Baroness Hamwy, the Lib Dem planning spokesperson in the Lords, to address us regarding their views on the future of planning.
They were generally very supportive and, under questioning, were clearly strong supporters of Planning Aid and its potential to deliver localism, but also had some concerns about speed of preparation, while very keen on local development frameworks.
The GA had also received a highly entertaining presentation from an Independent councillor on how he applied business processes to a small Dorset Council to create an effective planning system.
The GA has come on in leaps and bounds this year and has become an excellent forum for testing policy.
This debate will inform the next GA on our 2010 RTPI Manifesto.


Martin Willey

Heartening that all parties are pro-planning

This week, domestic issues played a proper part, including moving my daughter Alex into a new flat in London over the weekend, my Mum’s funeral after a good innings of 86 years, and Philly and my 39th wedding anniversary (she deserves a medal!)
Tino and I, as part of our programme of Party briefings, met Bob Neil and Julia Goldsworthy, respective opposition spokespersons for planning.
They were both interesting meetings: the Tories produce their Planning Green Paper before Christmas and the Liberals a Planning Charter.
Although we are not “statutory consultees”, we are doing our best to influence the documents and gain the impression that both parties are pro-planning. We shall see!
At last, the Minister for Planning John Healey has also agreed to see us, so we will press the case for good planning with him, as well as we move towards an election in 2010.
The Board met with a very busy agenda dominated by the process for agreeing the details of Robert’s replacement.
We are all very optimistic that the market is excellent and expect some high calibre candidates.
That evening, on the way home, I popped into the Royal Society of Arts to listen - for the first time in person - to our Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, John Denham MP. He is a confident and relaxed character, and although he spent much of his presentation basing the Opposition, again, the government continues to demonstrate it is pro-planning.
My last commitment was an extraordinary privilege - the Nathaniel Lichfield Commemorative Conference at University College London, chaired by the cerebral Sir Peter Hall.
Nat was one of the great plannersm, prominent particularly in the 60s, 70s and 80s, alongside Desmond Heap, Sir Colin Buchanan, Walter Bor and others.
The debate was lively and demonstrated the need to try to recapture the spirit of times when eminent planners led public policy!


Martin Willey

Award-winning places and people up north

I have visited the West Midlands three times and found it very rewarding. The Branch is very active and relationships between public, public and private are sound if occasionally lively so I was sorry to complete my tour.

Young Planners Conference in Newcastle

Next it was the Young Planners Annual Conference at Newcastle.
I arrived to join them at a bar on Newcastle Quayside – needless to say all the food had gone and there was a queue of impoverished YPs imagining that the RTPI expense budget would address their thirst. Sadly not, but youthful powers of persuasion allowed the Presidential wallet to remove the moths and recall when elder statesmen had bought me drinks in my youth. A good cause!

I managed to escape to my hotel and grab a sandwich, and the following day - alongside a wonderful group of RTPI experts, including Kevin Murray, Kelvin MacDonald and Prof Patsy Healey - make my presentation to a lively group with challenging questions.
The event was extremely well organised and pleasingly well supported, despite the economic downturn. The standard of debate was high and continues to give me comfort that the future of the profession is in good hands.

RTPI North West dinner

The North West RTPI dinner, on the same day, was a fantastic affair.
I stayed in the new Manchester Hilton, consisting of 23 storeys of hotel accommodation and 23 storeys of penthouse above it.
With RTPI NW Beverley’s magic, I was upgraded free to an upper floor of the hotel, with wonderful roof-top views over the city, including – sorry to bore you – the Bridgewater Concert Hall, in which I played a modest part, alongside some wonderful consultants, such as architects RHWL and engineers Ove Arups.
There are so many interesting things regarding this scheme.

• We re-introduced a basin off the Bridgewater Canal;


• the Hall is balanced on 80 enormous springs to mitigate the effect of the tram line alongside;


• the air-conditioning unit was originally on the roof, but the vibration and noise, both in the Hall and to the housing alongside in Chepstow House, resulted in the engineers coming up with a novel solution. We put it in an internally lit tower, hiding the rear entrance of the Hall and taking air from the top of the auditorium, and then feeding it below the hall to individual outlets under each seat, with no noise nuisance at all.

A privilege to be involved with such experts.

At the dinner, I sat alongside the guest speaker Garry Richardson, the BBC sports broadcaster. We clearly got on!
He spent much of the evening unmercifully making me the brunt of his jokes...

The evening was well organised by Beverley, the NW RTPI administrator of many years service, for which the RTPI’s grateful thanks is offered.

The following week was the Tory Conference, also in Manchester.
This was the second year we attended all the party conferences, but this year, we decided to run a fringe event at the Tory one.
If you haven’t visited the RTPI website, seen the photos or heard the podcast, it was an exceptional event, attended by over 170 - half were NW planners.
We work closely with Tinos’s team, with all main parties, but this event was a real example of your RTPI getting its voice heard.
Whoever wins the election, there has been a significant change in the level of influence by the RTPI.

RTPI North East

The RTPI NE visit was organised by many but, in particular, Chris Clarke, who with wife Fiona (whose mum was once Lord Mayor of Newcastle) kindly looked after me for two nights in their delightful Arts and Crafts house in Newcastle.
I was picked up from the station and treated to a glass of malt whisky before slumber. Then up early next morning to join RTPI NE Chair Mike Mealing for a trip to the northern tip of England.
Our tour was to include the two RTPI 2009 Award winners - the first in Alnwick, the home of Lord Percy and his lady, the Duchess of Northumberland, who agreed to move to Alnwick Castle, if she was allowed a “project” - in her case, an extraordinary garden project, now a major tourist attraction.
The good Lord apparently owns huge chunks of Northumberland and you will see, from these pictures, he owns a huge but beautiful pile!

The winning scheme was more modest but involved a conversion of a church into a church and community centre, funded by the sale of a modest building, adjoining which was converted extremely skilfully into Housing Association flats by ISOS.
The whole scheme was also imaginatively supported by a separate private housing scheme which transferred its social, affordable housing obligation contribution into the social housing conversion. This was all negotiated by DM Manager Peter Biggers and the end result as you can see is the imaginative conversion of a listed church and the provision of much needed affordable housing.

Berwick winners

The next scheme winner in Berwick upon Tweed in the far North was a conversion and extension of an old factory into a starter firm business run by a body funded by County and Local Councils and other public investors.
Again, it was an imaginative solution, this time for the local employment needs of a market town, which even in the downturn had secured 50 per cent occupancy in the first few months. My visit was blessed with unexpected clear autumn sunshine and the drive back to Newcastle also allowed me to enjoy the wonderful Northumberland countryside.

I then visited planners at the new Northumberland (Unitary) Council, who were suffering the impact of cuts as a result of a number of factors, including Icelandic banks, but offered a cheerful disposition and wonderful commitment especially on sustainability. They are clearly a talented group, well led by Paul Gee, and I am sure they will deliver excellent planning results for the new council.
Off to Newcastle and the talented Kevin Lillie, who runs Planning Aid North, who took us to meet the Mayor, who both gave and received awards.
We were then taken around the Eldon Square Centre by Anthony Greally of NLP.
I recall visiting this when it was first developed in the 70s, and it had subsequently declined.
The new scheme adds a wonderful treatment to the Square and new access to an upper floor which with extensions has reintroduced a logical grain and permeability back into the city centre.
Before we walked round the centre, we had also visited planners in the beautiful 60s City Hall and saw a model of how they were bringing back structure to the City Centre, which made commercial and access sense.

That evening, we visited a Planning Aid event at a Primary School and Community Centre, where I completed my Leader Awards.

Many congratulations to Today’s Leader Graham Sword of North Tyneside Council, and Tomorrow’s Leader Emma Walker of NLP.

Kevin runs an enthusiastic group, who have achieved marvellous results, especially in schools. His approach is not always traditional but a mixture of drive and commitment has secured an outstanding reputation for Planning Aid in the Region. Well done, Kevin and team!
I was then taken to a wonderful pub, up on the top of a cliff above the Tyne, looking back down towards the Quayside and Wilkinson Eyelash Bridge and SAGE.
A great end to the evening with a glass of NE bitter.


Martin Willey

Hopes and fears for West Midlands planning

Bath versus Leicester on Saturday afternoon, when we managed to contrive a draw out of a win, and this weekend lost in the last moment of injury time to Harlequins - just about sums up my rugby feelings. However, with the autumn internationals, who knows? Perhaps we might move forward from a couple of months, in particular, involving the last two protagonists where my comparison of rugby being a team game - like planning - might resonate a bit more comfortably!

Back to the West Midlands for a really interesting trip, with some surprising conclusions!

Firstly to Ted Manders, Director of Planning and Regeneration at Stafford Borough Council, to whom I had given his first job, when I was Chief Planning Officer in Harrogate, in the early 80s.

I was chaperoned by Young Planner Julie Morgan, of Place Elements - a real live wire, who brought much humour to the proceedings!
Ted introduced me to senior planners, from all of the North Staffordshire local authorities, and we had a lively discussion about the future of planning in this area, which has so many problems and opportunities.
I was able to extract offers of support for a number of RTPI initiatives, including for community infrastructure levy. We also benefitted from the arrival of planner Ian Thompson, now Chief Executive Officer of Stafford Borough Council, and felt that the commitment to good planning featured strongly on his agenda.

Back to Brum, where I met Steve Hill, Chair of RTPI West Midlands and Atlas, to have dinner with Paul Spooner, Homes and Communities Agency's Regional Director. Steve has stepped in, following Sue Manns’s promotion to become Chief Planner at Planning Aid - thanks from all of us, Sue, for all your excellent work! - and accompanied me for the first couple of days. Paul, a planner, is a regional champion for our profession, and one of many things we agreed was the possibility of a Regional Planning Summit in the New Year, perhaps chaired by Ian Austin West Midlands Regional Minister and Minister for Planning in Communities and Local Government.

The following morning, we started at the West Midlands Regional Assembly, discussing “Hopes and Fears for Regional Planning” with Mark Middleton, Director of Policy and reps from Government Office West Midlands, the Regional Development Agency and Regional Assembly. We agreed that the West Midlands, despite differences of opinion between RA and RDA, had demonstrated sound regional credentials.
We rehearsed the case for regional planning and prepared the ground for my discussion with councillors on the Wednesday. There are tensions between public and private sector, but I believe we reached an accord on the opportunities to sustain a sound regional planning case, despite the differences.

Lunch with Planning Aid HQ.
What a fantastic success story Planning Aid is! - special thanks to Robert Upton, Sue Percy and CLG - and the evidence for sustaining their work features strongly in all of our discussions at the Party Conferences. Their offer now also features in the Infrastructure Planning Commission roadshow and will also feature, I hope, in the HCA “single conversation” with LAs. We have a good team in place, and may I also thank all of the wonderful RTPI volunteers that make the service so exceptional!

George Goodall, another long-standing servant of planning and the RTPI, accompanied me to Shrewsbury, to meet the new Shropshire Unitary Authority.
The new Leader, Keith Barrow, chaired a meeting with the planning team corporate director Tom McCabe and Nick Taylor Strategy and Development (Planning!) together with service heads. The benefits of bringing skills under one authority were very evident and I am confident that planning performance will improve dramatically under the new regime balancing larger scale housing needs with rural requirements in a cohesive manner.

The Council had also provide facilities for the evening meeting (for which thank you) of the WM RB and RAC preceded with a “meet the president” session but first my pleasure again in presenting Today’s Leader Annette Roberts from Dudley MBC and Tomorrow’s Leaders Joanne Hooper from Drivers Jonas (also WM YP chair.) 2 ladies, both under 40 and both exceptional – no wonder I am confident about the future of the profession!

Next morning, chaperoned by Dr Mike Beazley of CURS Uni of Birmingham, breakfast at Advantage WM the RDA, where the potential for planners at the RDA and RA to come together in the interests of good regional planning dominated the agenda. Mark Williets the Head of Planning and Mark Middleton at the RA need to combine resources to restate the case for regional planning whoever gets in at the election!

Finally and most importantly, I was given the opportunity to address senior councillors of the RA chaired by Cllr David Smith. With characters like Alfred Bore and other important WM personalities, the discussion centred on the fact that of all the Regions, the West Midlands clearly demonstrated that planning at this level could work effectively whatever the political complexion. Political point scoring to one side, it was clear that local MP and opposition CLG spokesperson Caroline Spelman would be pressed to allow the WM LAs to continue to work together in the event of a change in government!

I finished the day in centre for urban and regional studies (CURS) seminar room W a bar off New Street and found myself enjoying 2 pints of WM bitter with Mike who is clearly used to drinking beer at 11 am in the morning! Mike will join Gordon Dabinett (Sheffield), Mark Tewdr-Jones (UCL) in doing some work for the RTPI on administrative structures between local and national to inform our RTPI Planning Manifesto.

Martin Willey

Outstanding teams led Plymouth regeneration and eco towns in old china clay sites

From previous President’s recommendations...



...the Oxford Planning Law Conference is a highlight and this year was no exception.
The RTPI, Law Society, the General Council of the Bar and the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors come together to receive expert presentations and papers on contemporary issues - this year “Planning in 2009 – the show must go on”!
The focus was a mixture of energy and the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) - the top team for which were in attendance - and updating on RSSs, LPAs and mediation.
Being a gathering dominated by lawyers, an underlying interest was the impact on the legal profession and process, one view being that the reduction in work for barristers, from the removal of cross examination, from IPC infrastructure scheme consideration being replaced by business from judicial review, because of the changes in impact assessment and community involvement in such decisions!
We shall see... but I had conversations with representatives of the Law Society and GCB, which indicated that they might be prepared to talk to the RTPI regarding “better planning law” because however much legal work emerged from the complexities of the planning process there was a professional desire to see the law work better. An informal discussion will follow so let’s see if the legal profession might help the planning profession in a simplification of their process but one which led to the more effective delivery of planning objectives?
One surprise was to hear Ken Livingstone’s after dinner speech support Gordon Brown for having “saved the world!”

Following my presentation to the Environment Agency Thames Region Conference, I had arranged to meet Simon Birch, the Environment Agency's Head of Planning, at their offices in Bristol. The offices had just been award the top Eco building award. Simon has wide ranging experience, including Chief Planning Officer at Winchester and Chief Executive Officer at Swindon, and as a committed planner, his job in the EA is to lead on planning issues, varying from flood prevention to water supply and quality. Simon, like Steven Bee at English Heritage, is keen to renew and refresh the relationship with the RTPI - and we will be holding a major stakeholders' session later in the year, to address how we can work more closely together.



Remaining in the South West region, I started my Regional visit with Dr Stephen Essex, at Plymouth University School of Geography (which is seeking accreditation of a planning course), joined by Andy England, the outstanding South West Region Chair.


The university was heaving with freshers and, as the campus is right on the northern edge of the city centre, it integrates fully in the life of the city. We discussed the benefits to be gained from accessing their departments of Psychology (Community Behaviour and Engagement), Business (Economy and Viability) and Architecture (Urban Design) to strengthen their case - and I came away confident that they will shortly be successful.



Down to the highly regarded Planning Division of Plymouth City Council, who were awarded the RTPI Silver Jubilee Cup in 2007 for their LDF Core Strategy.
Led by Paul Barnard and Mike Palmer, with an outstanding team, it was clear that they had led the revival and regeneration of Plymouth and were hugely respected by the local community and councillors. They seemed to have a grip of the most difficult issue facing LDF planners, how to review and update LDFs in the light of changing economic circumstances, and have managed to provide a clear planning framework for public and private investment.
One of their consultants had come up with an ingenious solution to move people from a redeveloped railway station, down the valley to the city centre, then up to the Hoe – on an overhead cable car.
I hope this outstanding idea is introduced, as it will help the Hoe, which is a steep walk up from most other city centre venues.
I was also taken round the centre by an expert team including one of the most enthusiastic young lady planners I have met, Hannah Sloggett, who has worked her way up from admin clerk to planning trainee and, as a local, will clearly be an exceptional ambassador for the city in the future.

Pleasant dinner with RAC and Plymouth worthies, including the long serving David Lobban, where Plymouth Gin is produced - then off the next day to Truro.



First stop a small planning consultancy, Laurence Associates, led by Laurence Osborne. They were an impressive team, a mixture of MRTPI and Technical members together with an urban designer and what, for me a distinguished team, was that they offered eco design and eco building expertise to all their clients to complement planning advice.



This is exactly what I am looking for from private planning consultants - the professional commitment to try to deliver planning objectives before an application is made. Well done to you all!




I then visited the new Planning Department at Cornwall County Council, met their Corporate Director Tom Flanagan, Head of Planning and Regeneration Phil Mason and their newish Chief Executive Officer, an ex-planner Kevin Lavery. I had a discussion with many senior and junior members of Phil’s team. They seemed attracted by some of the services on offer from the RTPI and, with Andy England as in-house chairman, were clearly committed to the Regional approach. Phil also drew attention to the benefits of bringing together specialists from the previous authorities, once unitary status was delivered.
He made an excellent suggestion about how specialists within local authorities might form an “internal consultancy” for adjoining LAs to provide expertise, such as bio-diversity, urban design, landscape architecture, archaeology, etc. I commend this to others and I'm sure that arrangements emerging, where LAs combine resources, may offer particular opportunities in these difficult economic times.



Finally with officer support, a Land Rover trip with John Hodkin, Project Director of IMERYS Minerals, around the multi-settlement Eco Town, IMERYS’s China Clay Community.



The photos shown here demonstrate both the potential and the beauty of these old china clay sites for sustainable development.



IMERYS have just attracted a Swiss investor, so it looks as if reservations regarding the need for unavailable up-front public investment may be reduced, and both public and private partners are approaching the master plan and community engagement process with great skill.



A pleasant drive, through the countryside of the South West region, back home in Somerset, after a quick glass of Cornwall Ale with Andy in Truro.


Martin Willey