A message from Plan B “It is with a mixture of sadness (ours) and relief (yours, probably) that Plan B is considering a period of semi-retirement. The world is now beyond satire, and that’s obviously bad news for a satirist. “This is a world in which it is perfectly legitimate for a former upholstery workshop, situated between the back of an office and a car park in central Watford, to be converted into 15 flats, seven of which would have no windows. No windows. Satirists have no business in a world where such breathtaking absurdity has become the norm. We can no longer compete with reality. “We’ve enjoyed our 70-odd interventions in the world of planning and we thank our loyal reader for their forbearance. We’re disappointed that we’ve only actually received two complaints in six years (although one of them was a beauty). “There have been highlights. To whit, we’ve composed a planning application for Stonehenge, turned Eric Pickles into a pea, invented planning minister Top Trumps, created the ultimate planning rock supergroup, revived Ye Olde Planner’s Almanac, logically determined that Britain’s new capital should be in the Atlantic Ocean and discovered the secret poetry lurking at the heart of planning appeal reports. “It’s been fun, but we’re beginning to wonder what else there is to say. Besides, this is no time for frivolity; the age calls for high seriousness and a furrowed brow. Hence we’re considering the pursuance of Plan C – retraining as a clown for corporate entertainments and political conferences.” n (What do you think - has Plan B run its course? Contact us or visit our social media feeds to add your voice to the debate.)
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CALL TO ACTION
Nominate your Women of Influence for 2020 Who are the women working in and around planning who you think are having a positive impact – on individual planners, on planning policy and on the broader planning process? As you receive this print edition, there may yet be time for you to nominate individuals for our Women of Influence list 2020. (At the time of gong to press, the closing date for nominations was Friday 31 January.) Now in its fifth year, the list acknowledges the substantial contribution of women to planning across a range of sectors, technical disciplines and regions. This might include, for example, a public sector planner doing a great job of inspiring colleagues, an elected politician who champions planning in their community, a community activist driving change locally through the planning process, a health researcher influencing thinking about place – and so on. Whatever their impact on planning, we want you to nominate the women whom you feel deserve recognition for their influence. Tell us who they are, and what they’ve done in the past two years that merits recognition. Last year our judges selected 50 Women of Influence from your nominations. This year we’ll be asking our judges to come up with a shorter final list – and we’d like to acknowledge a new cohort of women who are having an impact. n Take a look at last year’s list at bit.ly/planner0220-WomenOfInfluence n Make your nominations at bit.ly/Influence2020(note: case sensitive) n We’ll be publishing the 2020 list on Friday 6 March, in time for International Women’s Day on 8 March
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