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