Tribute to Test Valley planning teams

Sorry this one is out of sequence, but I do want to pay credit to my colleagues in Test Valley Borough Council, who invited me back to see how my team's 1976 Romsey Town Centre Plan had panned out.
The invitation came from Policy Design and Conservation Manager, Steve Lees, one of two heads of service responsible for planning at TVBC - the other, who had just been appointed, being Paul Jackson, Head of Planning and Building, who joined us for the tour.
Steve was a little perplexed at some recent advice on the submitted Core Strategy, but his team was clearly enthusiastic and we briefly discussed the challenges of capturing all stakeholder commitment in a two-tier local authority structure, a common issue for LDF processes.


I met many young planners and those, who weren’t MRTPI, were licentiates or well on the way through their part-time planning courses. I remember well the excitement of securing MRTPI, just before I took up the post of TVBC team leader, Policy and Conservation, in 1973!!
We reviewed the old plan and I was particularly interested in the Bell Street, Romsey, area, where I cut my teeth on understanding the economics of conservation - when faced with a council-owned tranch of land, just behind a line of listed buildings within the conservation area, but in poor condition.


I was advised by a councillor to “go and speak with the enemy”, the local estate agent who gave me advice I have never forgotten.
One scheme would create values where an “accidental fire” might take place to allow comprehensive redevelopment; the next would have no impact at all and buildings would continue to fall into disrepair; the promoted scheme - in what we believed was the first planning “development brief” in the country - was to put parking in and secure ginnals through to the rest of the town centre.
We were also concerned at the general quality of new design, so Colin Stansfield Smith - now Sir Colin, the county architect - was persuaded to provide expert young architects (Huw Thomas, Neil Bradbury, Robert Adam and especially Steve Harte, who designed the car park and landscaping) to illustrate well designed extensions, to again provide the basis for investment in the listed buildings.
Colin also agreed to use Huw to design a housing scheme on the Abbey Garth which the County Council constructed as speculative housing which as you can see is still an outstanding design.
These proposals were put in place and the buildings were refurbished, now 30 years later, as the centre of specialist ladies' shops for Romsey, the ultimate test of “viability”.
We walked round Romsey and, with improvements from Steve over the years, were able to see that all of the Plan proposals had been put in place!
Romsey is a little gem and I must also credit the local conservation society, created to “save” Romsey, when it became part of Test Valley, in 1974 with Andover, whose council had previously demolished about 50 listed buildings in their town centre!
Back for lunch with the Cabinet member, CEO and other staff and old friends.
It was a particular pleasure to meet Bob Gregory, the Development Manager North, who I had appointed in the mid 70s as a trainee and sent off to college to get qualified. He hasn’t aged a bit and still looks youthful - but now has a family!
A real pleasure for me to see what real planning is about.




The following week, with Rynd, Tino and others, I met Phil Kirby, (then) President, David Hackforth, about to be (now) President, and Steven Tapper, Junior now Senior Vice President of the Planning Officers Society.
The RTPI is refreshing a number of relationships and this, with the POS, is an important one. The conversation established potential links between RTPI Networks and POS committees and looked at other issues, where a common agenda might emerge. Those responsible for planning in local authorities are the “face” of planning and the review allowed us to demonstrate how important the RTPI believes they are to the profession as a whole.

Martin Willey
2009 RTPI President

Meeting some unsung heroes in Yorkshire

Off to Yorkshire to stay - first of all - with Honorary Secretary Peter Wilbraham and his lovely wife, Anna, in Menston, a Pennine village north-west of Leeds, as they had kindly agreed to put me up during my Yorks and Humber visit.
Following a hearty breakfast of kedgeree, kidneys, a full English, porridge, wholemeal toast, croissants and healthy live yoghourt, I left by train for Leeds to meet Richard Crabtree, of Arups, the Regional Branch chair, who was to be my guide.

York City planning department was the first stop, where we received an excellent presentation from Mike Slater’s team, on their emerging local development framework and some major projects within the historic city centre.
York was a poor performer until it received the gypsies whisper from GOYH (the Government Office for Yorkshire and the Humber), and the newish council invested substantially in new resources, with immediate effect.
Their core strategy is in an advanced form, with a further stage of community engagement about to commence. We discussed the value of a visionary overview and an infrastructure framework to align other public stakeholder investment, and then took a walk around the walls and past a number of hugely sensitive development sites, where archaeological digs were underway.



York has not had an approved development plan since 1956, and the much treasured Green Belt has never been approved. The city has extended its boundaries into adjoining districts, so now has a rural hinterland. It is one of the most beautiful places anywhere and I came away full of admiration for the excellent work their planners are undertaking.

Next, Mr Wilbraham’s annual Cobbetts supported CPD (continuing professional development) conference on Development Control in a wonderful listed building in the middle of a city centre park. The other presentations were very technical and clearly hugely helpful to the 114 delegates. Mine sought to explain what the RTPI was doing for the sector, but - to my horror! - only three delegates have heard of and are members of our Development Management Network (and one of those is Past President Janet O’Neil). More for us to communicate here!

Then back to Leeds for YORnet, a wonderful multi professional built environment professional forum, led by Young Planner Bhupinder Dev, whose energy is staggering! As a consultant, who has gone back into local authority work, he is a good example of how YPs bridge the gap between public and private sectors, without any prejudice. Charles Veal, from RTPI HQ, had also kindly supported my day and managed to raise the first £50 for my Presidential charity, LINK, at a social session in the evening, kindly sponsored by Peacock and Smith Leeds planning consultants - for which, thank you!

Supper chez Wilbraham, then a breakfast the following morning - of tap water, bread and dripping - and back to Leeds Station, from where Richard drove me to Wakefield.
I have fond English Cities Fund memories of the City, where I selected and promoted what is now Merchant Gate - a major mixed use scheme between the railway station and the city centre, that is now under construction.



Of particular note is that, under Ian Thompson’s leadership, they have an approved core strategy, have DC workers transferred into the LDF team, following the drop in applications, seemed to have mastered the “other public stakeholder alignment” challenge and, most significantly, operating within a multi disciplinary department, were quietly using the LDF process to guide the community, sustainability, economic and investment strategies of the corporate plan.
This approach absolutely mirrors my personal aspirations for the LDF to eventually become the sole LA strategy for engaging the community – a one stop “continuing conversation” rather than consultation fatigue from multiple documents – and for a robust public and private investment framework.
All power to your elbow, Ian and team, and despite the rain, I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the fruits of your endeavour in many regeneration schemes on the ground.

Next, off to meet the unsung heroes of planning, those at the regional level in what has in Y & H been transferred from the Regional Assembly to “Local Government Yorkshire & Humberside.” Their planning team, led by Richard Wood and Chris Martin gave me a hard time on how those at regional level in RA or RDA felt forgotten by the RTPI and how regardless of what a new government might do, the regional strategic approach brought huge benefits to communities. We agreed that there was a need to find a language that demonstrated the rationale and outcomes of planning between local and national levels. I await their case and this issue will feature in one of my planning articles later this year.

Finally, back to Leeds for a round table discussion with over 20 heads of planning, academics and others from throughout the region, again addressed by Steve Q and myself. It was a frank exchange of views and it is clear that there are huge political and other pressures on those planners who operate at the coalface.
The academics also explained how the independence and thus status of some planning schools were being challenged by their being brought into multi functional departments. Steve and I were able to explain both what is on offer from CLG (Communities and Local Government) and the RTPI, and how we intend to continue to promote the essential benefits of planning and the need for strong planning schools.

I was particularly impressed by the commitment and stamina of our local authority colleagues. The RTPI must continue to use whatever influence it has, to sustain a properly resourced planning service in local authorities.

So, the end of my first regional visit... with a pint of Yorkshire bitter, before being dropped off at the station by Richard, who had arranged an excellent visit for me. I have to say that I slept most of the way back!

Martin Willey
2009 RTPI President

Robust discussions and greater understandings

The first of two meetings at Communities and Local Government (CLG) involved our bi-monthly session of co-operative working, where we were shown a map of local authorities’ local development framework (LDF) Core Strategy performance – not a happy picture.
Reasons vary from inadequate reflection of guidance, to political resistance, to problems surrounding the increase in housing, reflected in approved Regional Spatial Strategies (RSS), to lack of professional capacity. The reduction in Housing and Planning Delivery Grant (HPDG) – albeit from a much increased level over the next couple of years – may impact further on performance. However, the Government Office (GO)–Planning inspectorate (PINs)–Planning Advisory Service (PAS) regional task forces had been helpful. The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) and Advisory Team for Large Applications (ATLAS) are also coming in with the expectation that major projects and infrastructure investment will require robust LDFs in place.

The second gathering was of 20 major and two sole trader consultant heads meeting Steve Quartermain, the RTPI team and me to consider more effective methods of engagement for what is now more than 50 per cent of the profession.
The meeting started off with some complaints, but ended with both gaining a greater understanding of the RTPI service offer and a framework for future co-operation with both CLG and RTPI. We will meet again in the autumn to monitor progress. I also hope to repeat these sessions, as part of some of my regional and national visits.

Next, a robust and healthy discussion with the Young Planners’ Steering Group – a baptism of fire for both Ann Skippers (next year’s President) and me. They are a lively and challenging bunch and our debate ranged primarily around why perceptions of planners are so negative. They came up with some good ideas, especially through the use of new technology techniques, such as blogs and twittering (lost me at this point, although my children are always accusing me of wittering on – is this the same, I wonder?)
The evening of 12th May was one of the most pleasurable events to date for me, as President, where I was invited to give the presentation at the 40 years celebration of the accreditation of London South Bank University’s planning course.
As a part time alumnus, who studied for the then RTPI external exams at, firstly, Brixton School of Building and then South Bank Poly, it allowed me the luxury of reminiscing about those wonderful teachers who laid the foundation for my planning career – Shean McConnell (theory), Tony Morris (history), George Chartres (design) and “Fitz” (economics) – never did find out his christian name but he had a brilliant teaching technique of bringing in a newspaper, often the FT, getting us to read and understand a story, then providing the economic theory behind it.

George, on the other hand, taught me to think and present in 3D, an early foundation for what became “place making”, once you added the people! It was great fun meeting past and present lecturers and students.

Next week, the first of my “proper” regional visits, Yorkshire and Humber, returning to one of my favourite parts of the country where youngest daughter Alex was born – in North Yorkshire.

Martin Willey
2009 RTPI President

Enormous convention in American city with a 'golden' boulevard

Having just about recovered from travelling back from Down Under, it was off to the final major international destination as 2009 President – the USA and the American Planners Association Convention.

This year, it was in Minneapolis – a north central USA city, where the temperatures varied from 40 to 84 degrees Fahrenheit!

This is a typical American city, with the grid iron layout, but with some interesting features, including one of the ”best streets” in the USA – a dual carriageway landscaped boulevard, with extremely expensive houses on either side! A trip around the city allowed us to enjoy the beauty of acres of parks and green corridors and Hiawatha Falls – pause for country song!

The Convention itself, as I had been alerted by previous Presidents, is enormous – 4,500 delegates, 1,000 workshops, seminars and plenary sessions – and I was able to present to a number of them, including about 1,500 audience, on “sustainable urbanism”.

It was interesting to compare the “performance” of different countries in dealing with the primary issues of today. I felt that the UK was well ahead on sustainable transport and trams, but some way behind other countries on addressing climate change.

However, we should correct this at our own Planning Convention and the launch of the RTPI’s “Planning to Live with Climate Change” strategy.

We clearly have a deep and effective level of regulation and public sector intervention in the UK, but are less successful in engaging our employers in planning-friendly philanthropy and corporate social responsibility.

One of the best sessions we went to was the Regional Studies Association session, chaired by RSA CEO Sally Hardy, where Sheffield University Professor Gordon Dabinett, MRTPI, spoke about “Mega Regional Spatial Planning”. He drew attention to the need to plan for some issues, such as the economy, transport and energy in areas that crossed international boundaries – not just regional ones. I hope we can use his expertise to devise RTPI advice to respond to the Conservative Party’s decision to remove English regional bodies.

Another memorable presentation was from Scott Shuford, of Onslow County, concerning Local Economic Development and Climate Change. Scott drew attention to fiscal, safety and migration consequences of climate change and, interestingly, the local consequences of a “Green Economy”, including effects on agriculture and, surprisingly, insurance! It demonstrated the need for planners to think and act laterally in addressing this issue.

The Global Planners Network featured, and we hope to announce details of future mechanisms for co-operation at the Planning Convention, to which I invite all readers of my blog to attend.

I have to admit to being a little travel weary, but the next few weeks will see me travelling around the UK on my National and Regional visits, so I hope to meet a number of you then.

Martin Willey

2009 RTPI President

Busy week has yielded many rewards

What a busy and rewarding week!

Rynd Smith, Tino Hernandez and I held three stakeholder briefing meetings with some really important players - on one day!

First we met David Curtis, Regional Director of the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), who had asked to meet us, as the Director with responsibility for dealing with the RTPI (and other professional bodies).

This meeting followed the earlier meeting with Sir Bob Kerslake, mentioned in a previous blog. The conversation was wide ranging and covered the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) accessing our Networks to deliver advice and for consultation; the HCA and Regions, in particular future links, regarding the delivery of HCA Regional Investment Plans; promoting Design Review Panels, a CABE initiative, funded by the HCA; and HCA engagement in my regional visits.

David has an exceptional record of both delivery of the revitalised town centre in Sheffield and co-ordination of all the public and private stakeholders in that process. It’s nice to have an MRTPI in his position!

We then met Huw Morris, Editor of Planning Magazine, to discuss our RTPI campaigns. We pressed Huw as to whether the RTPI pages might feature earlier in the magazine. He surprised us by saying that we were between the two most read pages of Development Control Casebook and the advertisements.
From a recent survey of their 23,000 readers, the RTPI pages had a reading level of between 55% and 60%!

Next, on to the House of Lords, to meet a long time friend of the RTPI, Lord Richard Best, as President of the Local Government Association, with Martin Wheatley, LGA Policy Director.

I’m sure the surroundings helped because we reached an understanding on a number of areas. This included increased co-operation between the LGA and RTPI, to promote Politicians in Planning Association (PIPA) membership to the LGA councillors and cabinet members; discussions with local authority chief executive officers on planning and co-operation on the promotion of Planning Aid.

The rest of the week included the Executive Board (ExBo), which had a huge agenda, upon which others will report, and one of the liveliest General Assemblies in recent years - discussing policy input to Richard Summer’s, Rynd Smith’s and the Planning Policy and Practice (PPP) Committee’s Planning for Climate Change paper that will be submitted to Margaret Beckett MP, the Planning Minister, at the Planning Convention in June.

Specialist groups of the General Assembly (GA) worked before, during and after the GA, to provide clear direction and best practice examples so that the document will provide a clear and wide ranging professional agenda and toolkit on this essential subject.

I also attended the Planning Convention Steering Group, chaired by Mike Hayes. The numbers are holding up well in the current climate, but more delegates would be welcome at the most important RTPI event of the year!

It will be even better this year, with several important policy and guidance papers being launched by the RTPI and others. Also, special awards are on offer, such as that for the Network securing the highest number of conversions of non-members to members, and the Region/Nation that secures the most Learning Partners.

Most importantly, Sue Percy’s quality check of all sessions will ensure that the highest standard of advice will be on offer.

Finally, both CLG and ExBo will be making themselves available to RTPI members for discussion on any issue that concerns you.

Martin Willey

2009 RTPI President

Adventures in Oz

The Presidential trip to Australia is one of the highlights of the Presidential Year and 2009 was no exception.

The Planning Institute of Australia (PIA) Annual Convention was held in Darwin in the Northern Territories, well within the Tropics, with high temperatures and humidity albeit at the end of the Australian summer.

From our arrival at the airport, and PIA bus to the hotel and conference centre on the edge of the harbour, we found the place beautiful and energetic.





At the convention hotel, we were met by our “buddy” Jane Jose, a senior planner in Sydney, who subsequently received one of the PIA President’s award for a visioning process in Sydney. She and an excellent event organiser, Larissa Hansen, took me through my programme.

This involved my presentation on the Global Planners Network (GPN) international capacity initiative, managed by the RTPI, discussions with colleagues from Australia, New Zealand, the USA and the Pacific Islands on the GPN, and attendance and contributions to events concerning Eco Towns and Affordable Housing.

The President of the PIA is Neil Savery, the state and territory planner for Canberra, whose dry sense of humour was typical of the Aussies. He opened the convention in shorts, open neck shirt and long socks with garters, acquiring the nickname “Akela”.




In his closing speech, he featured an unfortunate incident when my M & S underwear, sent to the laundry at my hotel returned, much to the delight of my wife, as Pierre Cardin for a waist of around 28 inches. Those of you who know me will be aware that my underwear could probably be used as a sail for a 21 foot schooner but sadly I did not recover them! The mind boggles as to the reaction of the unwitting recipient...

Returning to more serious matters, the Australian Institute has around 7,000 members, but there are separate Territorial bodies with their own resources and this structure is also paralleled in Canada.

The country has recently suffered floods and terrible fires but two issues particularly resonated with the UK planning environment.

Firstly, the limits imposed on new development by shortage of infrastructure, especially water supply. I was amazed at how many rural properties rely solely on rainwater, collected during the rainy season, for all their annual water needs – perhaps we should be more ambitious in requiring surface water storage to be a feature in all new development.

Secondly, there are issues surrounding the integration of the indigenous population, the aborigines. The parallels here concerned our UK investment in our own disadvantaged communities, although the aborigine claims for land occupied by them for hundreds of years does not compare. I will write a fuller report on lessons in communication and engagement, but the need for a common language and respect for history drew direct parallels.





Finally, we spent a great deal of time with the Lord Mayor of Darwin, Graeme Sawyer. He wished to learn from the UK experience in a number of areas – affordable housing, tall buildings, the impact of new arts and cultural buildings on the city economy and, most significantly, how to secure optimum benefits from the recent discovery of oil and gas, just offshore from the city.
He may visit the UK and, if so, we will direct him to Aberdeen regarding oil, show him alternative technologies, such as wind farms, that might be funded by oil, but will remain after oil runs out. We will also show him the impact of arts facilities on the local economy.

We left Australia impressed by the number of dual qualified [planners MRTPI and PIA, and by the warmth (and healthy competition) between the two nations.

Martin Willey

International duties in Australia

On your behalf, I am taking on some international duties in Australia and the USA.

The rationale for international work, by the “premier” professional planning institute in the world, is firstly self interest – we benefit hugely from sharing knowledge with our international colleagues. Getting on for five per cent of our members' work internationally and come together under the International Committee and Network, chaired by Vincent Goodstadt, and managed so well for many years by Judith Eversley. There are also particular initiatives that have a global reach and for which an international effort is essential, through governments and the UN.

Secondly, we have a professional obligation to offer our skills to areas elsewhere, in greater need, and sometimes a joint international approach is a good way of doing this. You will recall that this is one of the reasons I chose LINK Community Development in Africa as my Presidential Charity.

The reason for this long introduction is that my first commitment was to meet Marni Cappe, the President elect of the Canadian Institute of Planners. Marni is a long-standing friend of the RTPI and, when her husband was Head of the Canadian Consulate in London, invited the Board to meet there to demonstrate her support for UK/Canadian co-operation.

At the meeting this week, we discussed the Global Planners Network and, interestingly, one of the global issues where the UK can offer real experience to other countries, which is in “public intervention.”

In many other countries, the private sector rules on development, often operating in partnership at the local level but not necessarily with a national government policy lead. Marni has and continues to work with the Canadian Government and, together, we might offer the Americans and others, an interesting perspective on National Government intervention, not least in the light of the stated aims of President Obama?

My final meeting was with Rynd Smith and Tino Hernandez, when we met Bob Neil, the Conservative Shadow Planning Minister and John Howell, the Conservative Shadow Communities and Local Government Minister. This was one of a series of meetings we are holding with all the political parties. The meeting, inevitably, was confidential, but you will recall that one of my presidential objectives was to increase the profile of planners and planning, and improve our influence. This type of meeting is important and others in a similar vein will follow.

The arrangements for my “Leaders of Today” and “Leaders of Tomorrow” Awards are now in place, thanks in particular to Charles Veal, our energetic Members Services Manager. The details can be found on the RTPI website at www.rtpi.org.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=2463 – and I look forward to recognising individuals, as well as projects, who have demonstrated “Planning – delivering solutions” - my 2009 theme, during my visits.


Philippa and I left for Darwin on Thursday, April 2nd, 2009, for the Australian Institute of Planners Annual Convention. I will be presenting some of the results of the Global Planners Network international planning capacity exercise, the “Self Diagnostic Tool”, so ably completed by Will French and Lucy Natarajan, and talking about international co-operation.




Above, Darwin city skyline - photo by courtesy of Tourism Australia.


I will report back and I’m sure that, like my regional and national visits, there will be plenty of scope to capture “Planning Solutions” as per my Presidential theme.

Martin