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

A busy autumn in the East of England

Back into the swing of things and a very busy autumn schedule!

Environment Agency conference
First up, I presented to the Environment Agency Thames Region Annual Conference on “External Drivers for the Environment Agency and Planning.” The EA reports to DEFRA and rumour has it that they have at least as many if not more chartered planners than DCLG!

There were over 60 attending the conference, including around 20 planners, discussing their strategy and practice. The EA Corporate Strategy focuses on their responsibilities for climate change, air/land/water quality, sustainable use of resources and working with business and the public sector in these areas.
The planning challenges concern the usual suspects of political uncertainty, addressing job and housing needs in the current climate and climate change, but more particularly how to secure public and private resources for infrastructure, especially marine erosion and flood protection. We had a healthy discussion regarding the planners’ role in their work and the need for planners outside the EA to have the necessary environmental assessment skills to work with the EA.
They were engaged in the RTPI’s 7 commitments to climate change, in particular, looking at RTPI accredited training modules on climate change mitigation. We all agreed on the need to promote, more loudly, planners' role in addressing climate change.

Extraordinary eye-opening contemporary art
The CABE 10th Anniversary celebration, at the Saatchi Gallery, just off Kings Road, was a glittering affair, with much credit to them for lifting the case for good design into public awareness. The gallery itself was an eye opener, with some extraordinary examples of contemporary art. Sadly, I had to leave quite early to catch the train to Chelmsford, for the start of my RTPI East of England visit.



Fewer trainees sponsored in university
Firstly I visited the Anglia Ruskin University campus - an excellent collection of well designed modern buildings - to meet staff on the planning course, led by Senior Lecturer Ann Hockey. The staff were very lively, but the numbers on the post-graduate part-time course had suffered, because of local authorities sponsoring fewer trainee places.


Nonetheless the students were engaged and, while concerned about the public sector spending climate, were clearly being very well taught.


Jim Page, a planning stalwart in his 80s, then chaperoned me on the train to Norwich, to address the RTPI East of England Urban Design and Conservation Conference in the beautiful Queen Ann Assembly House. I was in very good company, with presentations from ex-Norwich DoP Michael Loveday and Ben Webster, current master planner at Norwich, making particularly pertinent presentations.


A walking tour, and attached are a number of pictures of schemes, demonstrated the huge success of Norwich planners in making a difference to the economy and environment of this great city. Michael showed how a public investment of some £400 K had generated £16 m investment in the environment.


At the end of the conference I had the great pleasure of presenting Regional Chair Rob Hobbs with the EE Tomorrow’s Leader award.
To complete an excellent day I met representatives of the Greater Norwich Partnership Planning Sub Group who described the extraordinary progress they were making in delivering a 4 authority supported LDF. They were so impressive that I will be using their work as an exemplar for other sub regional planning models as part of the RTPI’s work in addressing the possible demise of regional arrangements.
The next day Rob accompanied me to Ipswich where I met Christopher Stratton and Steven Bainbridge of The Landscape Partnership planning consultants to visit an old airfield site Bentwaters. Bentwaters Park Ltd consists of a group of business farmers who currently manage some 20,000 acres of land in Suffolk and related businesses.
The primary reason for visiting was to look at the scheme for a Bio Mass plant that used agricultural “waste” as the raw material. The process of preparing vegetables to super market standard leaves much surplus material that has to be ploughed back into the land.
The Bentwaters scheme involves the vegetables being transported to the site prepared, stored to season the product, and then distributed. The surplus material that emerges from these processes is now stored and will be used to generate electricity for the process and other uses on the site, a truly sustainable process that should be working next year. There were many others activities going on in the site which are the subject of a master plan being taken forward by the consultants and some of the surplus buildings are illustrated here.
Richard Chillingford the EE Regional Secretary then kindly took me back to the station for my trip home after an eventful visit for which thanks to all involved.



Martin Willey

Associates and award-winners

Sorry this is a bit delayed in starting, after the summer holidays, but I came back to a busy diary and an elderly mum, having become unwell.
Nonetheless, Philly and I benefited from a break, and my first meeting continued my programme of meetings to refresh relationships with major stakeholders.
Mutual agenda of cooperation with English Heritage
I met Steven Bee, Head of Planning at English Heritage. He was once Chief Planning Officer at Winchester, where I lived in the 70s, and we reminisced on what a beautiful place it is.
The recent change in chair of English Heritage to Baroness Andrews, and the new laws and regulations in programme, mean that there is a mutual agenda of co-operation and support required - so the RTPI and EH will meet later in the year for this purpose.

Glamour and humour
I was delighted to go to the RIBA Presidential changeover, from Sunand Prasaad to Ruth Baker, at Portland Place. It was a glamorous affair, including Julia Somerville, wife of an eminent architect, Jeremy, who is also a colleague patron of the Children of Chernobyl Fund Wells, that brings children across for recuperative holidays from Belarus.
It was made a little humorous for me, as during Sunand’s speech, favouring good relationships with the RTPI, there were loud stage whispers behind me from another eminent architect - who shall be nameless, but he wears a florid bow tie - not entirely agreeing with Sunand!
I turned to introduce myself as RTPI President, in a "loud stage whisper", much to the amusement of others within hearing.
Fortunately most architects hold a high opinion of the planning profession and we will continue to work with the RIBA to mutual benefit.
Back to school...
The Planning Summer School is an institution and I have attended, either as a delegate or speaker, four times.
This one was an excellent event, with 160-plus delegates, mainly from local authorities, chaired by Alistair Hackston, the whisky expert(!) from Scotland.
It differs from other events because, to quote next year's PSS President, Leonora, the School is about “Sharing Learning and advancing Education”, aimed specifically at detailed consideration by practitioners of planning matters, over a number of days.


Discussions with delegates, both in response to my address and at other times, concerned the need to lift the profile of planners and planning, especially in local authorities, to demonstrate their leadership in bringing about economic recovery.
We reviewed the importance of the RTPI 7 Commitments to Climate Change, as a good example of the RTPI taking a lead. The presentations and workshops, especially on Sec 106 agreements by John Bosworth of Ashfords, were excellent and again, filled my reservoir of “Planning Delivering Solutions”.
Drivers of economic recovery
I speak regularly to the two branches of ROOM, in London and the SW, and addressed the latter at Taunton, on a busy Friday morning, on the subject of South West local development frameworks as drivers of economic recovery.
As the members are predominantly councillors, the discussion centred on the importance of the planning process, whatever the political complexion, in particular the need to reinforce resources, for LDFs to provide a basis for priorities in public and private investment.

Finally, I had great fun in presenting the SW Region Today’s and Tomorrow’s Leaders Awards to Kath Haddrell and Mike Harris, respectively, both from the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) in Bristol.
We were also addressed by Katrine Sporle, the PINS CEO, and both of us reflected on the exceptional contributions of these “young” planners to planning and to the RTPI. I still have a number of awards to give, but these two, local to me, gave me particular pleasure.

Martin Willey

Wherever planners work, they will sustain high professional standards

I am looking forward to a brief holiday with Philippa in the sun...

But firstly, two meetings with top consultants and one with the chair of the IPC.
Terence O’Rourke Ltd has their HQ in Bournemouth.



Terry, recently retired, was a Hants County Council Planning Department Team Leader when I was a PPO in Test Valley and subsequently set up what is now a substantial consultancy of nearly 100 people, specialising in difficult but high quality consents mainly for the private sector. Whenever I meet separate groups of either local authority or consultant planners, they both perceive that the other group has more influence in the RTPI. Both are mistaken because all planners have equal influence!

Our discussions, led by MD Tim Hancock and Director Ann Bartaby, ranged from the energy required to complete the APC process to the scope to persuade clients to require high design standards as a route to successful and speedy application consideration. TOR has a good mix of young and experienced and like the RTPI as a whole, an increasing proportion of ladies. They have a good track record of supporting RTPI governance having supported a President, SW Regional Chair and leading YP. All in all a thoroughly professional outfit.

With Robert’s elevation to Deputy Chair, meeting the IPC chair Sir Michael (Mike) Pitt was always going to be interesting. I was joined by Sue and Jim Claydon the interim Policy Officer for Planning Aid and as with other important stakeholders we started off by describing the RTPI and what we would like to offer the IPC. The IPC starts on October 1st and will receive applications from 1st March and have already received indications that at least 55 are in the pipeline. Clearly the RTPI has the scope to inform and upskill members through Networks and we may offer some customised training through Planning Matters. However Planning Aid can offer quite specific support to the IPC in engaging hard to reach communities in the various Commission processes and we agreed to meet later in the year to agree a specific programme of action.

Finally to the London offices of Jones Lang LaSalle, at the top of a Canary Wharf office block, with amazing views up and down the Thames. Guy Bransby, Planning Director, and Jeff Field, Director of Planning, introduced me to a team, mainly from the London offices, but one from Manchester, and I did my presentation on what the RTPI stands for and what services it offers.



Unlike many of the meetings I attend, over half of those present were aware of and members of RTPI Networks, mainly YPs, but they were not aware of the website and Learning Partners, the RTPI kite marked training recognition.
Again the discussions covered the APC process and I understand that some modest changes are under consideration that are likely to address some reservations but generally we were favourably compared with other schemes such as from the RICS, which was perceived to be much easier.
JLL London deal mainly with major city commercial schemes but are moving into mixed use projects. I gained the firm impression that they work hard and competently but also enjoy themselves. Jeff also indicated that he would look at the possibility of collecting evidence of the beneficial economic impact of planning from within the firm and provide this to the RTPI, for which I am very grateful.
As I mention in my latest Planning article, any change in government may result in more outsourcing of public services so the balance of public/private members in the RTPI may change. From all of my visits I remain confident that wherever professional planners work, they will sustain high professional standards.

Have a good summer!

Martin