NOVEMBER 2020 PLANNER LIVE ACROSS THE NATIONS // p.4 • YOUNG PLANNERS CHANGING THE WORLD // p.22 • COULD PD RIGHTS MAKE THRIVING COMMUNITIES? // p.30 • CASE STUDY: A HUB FOR ALL SEASONS // p.34 • WHITE PAPER OVERLOOKS ARTS // p.43
T H E B U S I N ES S M O N T H LY FO R P L A N N I N G P R O F ES S IO N A LS
YOUNG PLANNER OF THE YEAR ROBYN SKERRATT ON WHY PLANNING NEEDS TO BE OPEN TO A WIDE SPECTRUM OF IDEAS
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CONTENTS
NO VEMBER
04 NEWS 4 Mallon commits to delivering change and a green recovery
OPINION
8 Embedding place and health in development plan policy
14 Louise BrookeSmith: Supporting at a time of change
10 Covid-19 knocks back Irish social housing schemes
16 Kate Swade: We can create new ways of thinking about land and its uses
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“WE SPEND SO MUCH OF OUR LIVES INSIDE BUILDINGS, BUT WHEN WE’RE DESIGNING THOSE SPACES HOW MUCH DO WE THINK ABOUT THEIR IMPACT ON THE HEALTH AND WELLBEING OF THOSE THAT RESIDE WITHIN?”
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6 Sustainable placemaking and ecosystem restoration the twin foundations to tackling climate change
11 Newsmakers: 10 top stories from The Planner online
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16 Elad Eisenstein: Revisiting the ‘ground rules’ of design can support better social interaction 17 Kate Jardine: What have the Romans ever done for us? The case for the ‘sustainable’ car 17 Silvia Lazzerini: Complete engagement is the key to restoring trust in planning
COV E R I M AG E |
PETER SEARLE
FEATURES 18 Simon Wicks talks to Robyn Skerratt, the RTPI Young Planner of the Year
38 Cases & decisions: Development decisions, round-up and analysis
22 Young planners across the world are being helped to deliver SDGs in their own nations and communities. Simon Wicks and Matt Moody discover their impact
42 Legal Landscape: Opinions from the legal side of planning
30 Jacob George asks if converting offices into housing can create functioning communities 34 Case study: The winner of this year’s RTPI International Award for Planning Excellence
QUOTE UNQUOTE
“IF YOU’VE GOT A ROUNDABOUT IN YOUR DEVELOPMENT, YOU’VE FAILED” STUART HAY, DIRECTOR OF LIVING STREETS SCOTLAND, GIVES THE SCOTTISH PLANNER LIVE AUDIENCE A FRESH METRIC FOR CALCULATING THE SUSTAINABILITY OF A DEVELOPMENT. ALSO: “CAN YOU BUY TOILET ROLL WITHIN A 15 MINUTE WALK? IF NOT, NO PERMISSION”.
INSIGHT
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44 RTPI round-up: News and interviews from the institute 50 What to read, what to watch and how to keep in touch
Make the most of The Planner – mouse over our links for more information
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NEWS
Report { NORTHERN IRELAND PLANNER LIVE
Mallon commits to delivering change and a green recovery By Laura Edgar Launching Northern Ireland Planner Live, Nichola Mallon, infrastructure minister at the Northern Ireland Executive, outlined her commitment to “seizing the opportunities to enable a green cleaner recovery towards a new and better normal for all of us”.
solutions to the challenges we continue to face. More than ever, when faced with the challenge of Covid-19, the turbulence of Brexit, and the climate emergency, I believe we need to radically change the way we do things and plan for the future. It is my firm view that the planning profession and, Mallon, who took up the role in indeed, the planning system are well January this year after three years placed to address these challenges without an executive, innovatively through has not only had to partnership working, “I BELIEVE WE contend with a backlog through both central and NEED TO RADICALLY local government, and of decisions, but also CHANGE THE WAY the Covid-19 pandemic. also across the public and WE DO THINGS She told RTPI CEO private sectors working AND PLAN FOR Victoria Hills that with our communities and THE FUTURE” modern and sustainable with our neighbours – NICHOLA MALLON across these islands.” infrastructure is a “key building block of prosperity”. The basics See the full story on need to be right and the The Planner website: bit. long history of underly/planner1120-recovery yp y investment in infrastructure must be addressed. ed. Investment in infrastructure “cannot annot take place in isolation and without hout the understanding these investments nts can have”, she said. Mallon believes that, as a profession, ofession, planners have “a vital role” to play in developing places in which people ople live, work and enjoy their leisure time. me. “In these uncertain times planners anners are well placed to guide, encourage rage and to promote a more integrated approach to land use and infrastructure development, and to look for innovative and locally agreed
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The key messages n Speaking of the Covid-19 pandemic, Professor John Barry, Queen’s University Belfast, explained that people, on a more sociological level, are understanding the country’s – and people’s – vulnerability. “Whether it’s long supply chains that leave us very vulnerable, issues of food… insecurity – but also the sense that our lives cannot be taken for granted in terms of the interconnected worlds we live in.” Who would have thought, Barry added, that if you had a garden “you are extremely lucky luc during this pandemic”? He H urged planners to ensure that “people are within ens the Parisian mayor’s idea of the 15-minute city”. Perhaps, he added, the pandemic and the planetary crisis provide a chance to “rethink the cha training of planners, in terms trai of iit enhancing their vision, that tha it is not just growth”. nA Addressing the effects of both bot Covid-19 and the climate crisis cris would require a “reimagining of planning” “re going goi “beyond purely
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PLAN UPFRONT
Young planner comment:
As planners, he said, “we statutory and regulatory need to see how we address functions”, said RTPI NI and this new world to find out Cymru director Roisin where the opportunities are Willmott OBE FRTPI. She for reshaping the post-Covid said governance contingency environment”. planning “needs attention in “We need to adapt, Northern Ireland and we need recalibrate and provide much more resilient systems, environments that are going to IT infrastructure and the work for people.” ability for planners to work Creating healthy places from home seamlessly during could be done major incidents through policy such as the “WE NEED TO ADAPT, oversight of the pandemic”. RECALIBRATE planning Planning AND PROVIDE system, of local systems need to ENVIRONMENTS development be digitising and plans and by processes should THAT ARE GOING TO looking at be more efficient WORK FOR PEOPLE” – ALISTAIR BEGGS regionally to enable significant planners to focus planning on placemaking applications, and facilitate he said. wider access and participation in the planning process. n John O'Hara, planning manager at Dublin City Council, stressed that “whilst n Alistair Beggs, director of we are cognisant of Covid-19, strategic planning at the we don’t panic”. The council is Department for now considering whether Infrastructure, said improved public transport, expectations of what people combined with homeworking, want from where they live particularly if it becomes a have changed as a result of the long-term feature, is pandemic. This, and the contributing to the problem of impact to sectors such as retail, urban sprawl and dispersal. tourism, construction, “Is that a good or a bad thing transport and health services, if it saves energy and saves will need to be considered in time travelling?” local development plans.
Ryan Walker, planning consultant at The Paul Hogarth Company in Belfast and chair of RTPI Northern Ireland Young Planners told The Planner it was great to hear the infrastructure minister “speak so passionately about planning and with such commitment to seizing the chance for change”. “For me, the key message of the week was that this is an opportune moment for change, it must be a turning point and a call for action to break the unhealthy and unsustainable cycles we engage with in relation to infrastructure and land use planning. Collectively, as a profession we need to break the status quo and break outside of red-line boundaries to reaffirm the importance of context, connectivity and to re-emphasise the critical nature of placemaking when meeting our infrastructural needs.” n At the conference, Ryan Walker
was awarded the RTPI Northern Ireland Young Planner of the Year (full details on page 47).
“We are heading into a recession, not a depression, we need jobs, not growth. And the reason why I say that is that there’s very good evidence that you can have a phenomenon called jobless growth... I think we do really need to start dethroning that idea that growth at all costs, is the major objective of public policy, planning and certainly the planning system.” - John Barry NO VEMB ER 2 020 / THE PLA NNER
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Report { WELSH PLANNER LIVE
Sustainable placemaking and ecosystem restoration are twin foundations to tackling climate change
Julie James said planners, developers, policymakers and communities must think about places “holistically”
By Simon Wicks Welsh Planner Live: How planning and planners can take climate action 21-25 September 2020 What happened? Eleven online events over five days, more than 25 participants and topics studying planning’s response to climate change from angles including: n ecosystem restoration; n green and zero-carbon
development; n behaviour change; n national planning policy and guidance; n local development planning; n sustainable placemaking; and n renewable energy.
placemaking in Wales would drive the creation of betterdesigned, more “integrated” developments, according to the Welsh Government minister for housing and local government. Launching a new Placemaking Wales Charter at the Welsh Planner Live virtual conference, Julie James MS said its six principles would guide planners, developers, policymakers and communities to think about places “holistically”, rather than “in isolation”. Read the full story on The Planner website: bit.ly/planner1120-wales n Planning policy needs to shift
Among the speakers were planners, politicians, environmentalists, QCs and a psychologist.
The headlines n New principles for
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away from a “linear” approach to measuring net gain and towards a broader concept of “ecosystem restoration” if the profession is to help to arrest biodiversity loss and support its role in adapting to climate
change. Taking a whole system approach to restoring nature would allow nature itself to drive natural recovery while also providing a foundation for slowing and mitigating climate change and its effects. Read the full story on The Planner website: bit.ly/ planner1120-biodiversity
addressing climate change in the built environment. Low-carbon principles need to be at the heart of placemaking and embedded in local development plans, former RTPI president and board of trustees climate action champion Ian Tant told the conference in a session entitled ‘Where is policy now? A practical approach to local development plans’.
n Development that puts
people first and which is shaped by the need to reduce emissions is the key to
“WE CANNOT REVERT TO BUILDING POORQUALITY DEVELOPMENT ON SITES THAT ARE NOT SUSTAINABLE” JULIE JAMES MS, WELSH GOVERNMENT MINISTER FOR HOUSING AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Read the full story on The Planner website: bit.ly/ planner1120-climate n The RTPI is aiming to be the world’s first ‘net-zero’ membership body by 2025. The move, revealed by past president Ian Tant at the Welsh Planner Live, follows the RTPI’s Plan The World We Need report and campaign launched in July.
Read the full story on The Planner website: bit.ly/ planner1120-netzero
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PLAN UPFRONT
“In areas where homes are likely to be affected by flood risk, those with wherewithal will be able to move; those less well-off are facing real risk to property and to life” - Ian Tant, RTPI immediate past president and climate change champion
“We are in the infancy of policy to deal with the loss of ecosystem functions and the recovery of ecosystems” - Dr Paul Jepson, Ecosulis
“We need to start thinking like an ecosystem – thinking about the whole, not just a part” - Caryn LeRoux, senior biodiversity policy adviser to the Welsh Government I M AG E | A L A M Y / G E T T Y
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Young planner comment: Emmeline Reynish, planner at Arup “A central message that stood out to me throughout the week was the potential opportunities presented by the Covid-19 pandemic in terms of adapting our environments to better respond to the climate emergency. In the webinar ‘Built Environment and Influencing Behaviour’, environmental psychologist Lorraine Whitmarsh told us that life changes create opportunities for habits to be broken, and many of us are experiencing significant life changes
as a direct result of the pandemic. “As young planners, we must recognise that the pandemic is likely to result in long-term impacts that will change the way in which we plan for green recovery long into the future. We need to be mindful of the wide-ranging spatial implications of life post-pandemic as well as potential unintended consequences. What was certainly clear during Wales Planner Live is that planners, now perhaps more than ever, must champion the creation of sustainable, smart and resilient places for present and future generations."
The takeaways from RTPI Cymru Roisin Willmott OBE FRTPI, director of RTPI Cymru: n Surface transport is one of the main carbon contributors. Decisions that can reduce the need for carbon-reliant travel should be at the forefront. n Behaviour change needs to be built in at the right point – for example, new housing has to have the public transport/active travel factored in at the start. n Retrofit of housing energy would be a big gain and would also help with fuel poverty and employment in the Covid era. A message for new development is that ‘fabric first’ is the best way to proceed. n We have national policy in Wales
in place through Planning Policy Wales and National Development Framework. It’s the implementation of policy that we need to attend to. n Covid has made us rethink how we operate and our priorities in the built environment. This supports climate action as well. Simon Power, chair of RTPI Cymru n Localism and place matter. 15-minute town centres are more important than ever. n Planning for climate adaptation is as important as planning for mitigation/net-zero emissions. n Covid-19 may actually be far more significant than we realise.
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Report { SCOTTISH PLANNER LIVE
Embedding place and health in development plan policy By Laura Edgar and Matt Moody
Connecting planning, health and place Housing and planning minister Kevin Stewart outlined the planning issues the government is currently consulting on, including short-term lets and a new licensing system. “Now, more than ever, people understand that the quality and design of our places can have a major impact on our physical and mental health.” Stewart added that healthy places rely on social as much as physical infrastructure. RTPI president Sue Manns FRTPI discussed the importance of embedding ideas about place and health into development plan policy to guarantee “consistency of Housing minister Kevin Stewart and RTPI president Sue Manns
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approach across the public and private sectors”. She stressed the importance of getting the right people around the table to address health inequalities through planning, noting that health professionals are typically only invited to be involved in discussions around new health facilities, for example. Instead, she maintained, “planning and public health professionals should be joined at the hip”. Read the full story on The Planner website: bit.ly/ planner1120-health 20-minute neighbourhoods Daisy Narayanan, director of sustainability at the walking and cycling charity Sustrans, shared her experience of living in various cities
around the world, some more accessible than others. In Kerala, southwest India, she recalled, music and dance, shopping, places of worship and food n Sue Manns touched on the were all within a 20-minute importance of long-term walk. When she moved to thinking, pointing out that the US she found that when you ask somebody what having to drive everywhere changes they want to see in harmed her physical and the next year, their response is mental wellbeing. likely to be very different to a Narayanan settled in question of what kind of place Edinburgh in 2006, they want their children to deciding to raise her family grow up in. “It’s worth starting in a tenement flat instead with that longer-term of a larger home farther out framework, and then talking because of the city’s about how we get there." amenities, where she says she is “spoilt for choice”. n Glasgow has a high level of She talked of the green space, but it’s not always importance of tempting accessibly located, noted families back to Forbes Barron, cities by head of ‘NOW, MORE THAN making them planning and EVER, PEOPLE safer and building UNDERSTAND THAT control at healthier THE QUALITY AND through Glasgow City DESIGN OF OUR planning. The Council. PLACES CAN HAVE Covid-19 Similarly, its rich A MAJOR IMPACT ON legacy of pandemic, she OUR PHYSICAL AND Victorian said, has MENTAL HEALTH” brought a sense architecture is KEVIN STEWART of urgency that culturally could and positive but should does impose accelerate this financial change. challenges. Sixty Interrogating the per cent of people in Glasgow 20-minute neighbourhood live within 15 minutes of a idea, Stuart Hay, director of vacant or derelict site, posing Living Streets Scotland, challenges and opportunities. shared data showing that when it comes to transport n Bruce Whyte, public health links, people will generally programme manager at tolerate a walk of about 10 Glasgow Centre for minutes before giving up. Population Health, It’s also important for highlighted that Public Health planners to consider those Scotland has set up Covid-19 who aren’t able to walk a recovery groups that are mile in 20 minutes, he prompting planners, public added. health professionals and academics to think about how to deal with the effects. Citing Read the full story on the Climate Change Plan and The Planner website: bit.ly/ the new National Transport planner1120-20minute
The key messages
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n Aude Bicquelet-Lock,
“The conference highlighted the importance many non-planners attached to proactive, frontloaded planning to ensure we designed our places to promote good health and wellbeing. There is a need for more joined-up working with a key role at the national level for the emerging 4th National Planning Framework and the Place Principle to enable the implementation of 20-minute neighbourhoods. Approaches need to work at the human level and to do this there should be better sharing of expertise, early engagement and discussion in strategy development, joint approaches to building, sharing and using the evidence base, and improved communication and understanding of the role different players have.” – Craig McLaren FRTPI, director of RTPI Scotland
Strategy, he noted that there is “a lot of read across” health, environmental and planning policy. “I think the policy is kind of starting to align quite well.” Whyte also pointed out that the cost of building active travel infrastructure is “minuscule” compared with, for example, building a motorway across the city. “So this is very doable." I M AG E S | R IC H A R D L E A H A I R / A L A M Y
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deputy head of policy and research at the RTPI, said that although “we might think that issues around health and equality, or health and diversity, cannot be thought of separately, in practice a lot of thinking around urban environments tends to focus on either health or equality and diversity”. “There is obviously a lot of thinking about increased walkability, increased cycling, but I would also like to ask what are the consequences of this for people who can’t have access to roads, who can’t cycle, for instance, women with children and people who have severe disabilities. In a way it is not because we think about health that the issues around equality or diversity will immediately follow.” n Councillor Anna Richardson,
Glasgow City Council, noted that walking and cycling are still not fully prioritised in new developments, with pavements undulating to allow for “driveway after driveway” and car parking being more prominent that cycle parking. “We all realised during the days of the lockdown that what many of us have always suspected. We actually have huge amounts of public space, even in densely populated cities, but we are squandering it on moving and storing cars. Our pavements are woefully inadequate while we’re still socially distancing. It was OK at the height of lockdown when traffic had evaporated – we could all take to the carriageway on foot and bike. As quickly as the streets were taken over by people, they were given back when we didn’t put in measures to lock in all that we gained.”
Young planner comment: Sean Kelly, planner at Glasgow City Council and vice-chair of the Scottish Young Planners Network “Sessions focused on planning, health and the post-pandemic world. They allowed an opportunity to really explore the key building blocks of the postpandemic recovery and emphasised how planners can exercise real influence. Standout discussions for me included: the 20-minute neighbourhood concept; linking health, travel & climate; and housing as key to creating resilient communities. “The new Planning (Scotland) Act 2019, supporting guidance and the upcoming NPF4 allow us the perfect opportunity to apply this innovation and the required joined-up thinking between planning and health and community bodies. We are on the cusp of change in Scotland and from a young planner’s perspective, we need to put ourselves at the forefront of this change to ensure we are best placed to really plan the world we need.” Rhiannon Moylon, planner at Montagu Evans LLP “As we slowly emerge from lockdown, we have all learned our local communities' importance in supporting our mental and physical health. I believe that more must be done to ensure that planning supports our communities' health and wellbeing. “Actions to support health and wellbeing could involve creating more community spaces to ensure that people can interact with their neighbours or focusing on the importance of local neighbourhood centres over city centres. There will be no one-size-fits-all solution, but we must build on the momentum emerging from this worldwide health pandemic and instil a culture change which will ensure health and wellbeing is at the heart of placemaking.”
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NEWS
News { Mallon proposes PDR changes Nichola Mallon, Northern Ireland’s infrastructure minister, has announced plans to make changes to the permitted development rights (PDR) regime to benefit businesses and give greater protection to the environment. Under these proposals the following would no longer need planning permission (subject to certain limitations): • upgrades on mobile phone masts and antennas; • shopkeepers extending property and loading bays; and • recharging infrastructure for electric vehicles. However, as part of the package, PDR for oil and gas exploration would
be removed. The Northern Ireland Assembly’s Infrastructure Committee will scrutinise the changes before they come into force. Mallon said: “Extending permitted development rights further will promote growth, allowing businesses to meet their aspirations for improvement and expansion.” She said the changes would encourage the growth of the electric vehicle market, guarantee better coverage for mobiles and broadband and make it easier for business owners to make improvements like adding loading bays “with safeguards to protect neighbours and ensure that development is of an appropriate scale and character”.
Districts report sharp fall in planning applications The number of planning applications lodged with district councils in England fell dramatically in the second quarter of this year, according to statistics compiled by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. District planning departments received 88,000 applications between April and June, a fall of 23 per cent on the same quarter in 2019.
JUNE 2020
Covid-19 knocks back Irish social housing schemes Irish minister for housing Darragh O’Brien (below) has said Covid-19 is having a significantly adverse impact on the provision of social housing both in terms of households helped and availability of new units. The latest statistics on social housing showed that far fewer households were helped during the first two quarters of this year. Fewer than 10,000 households were supported under existing build, acquisition and leasing arrangements. That represents 35 per cent of the total expected delivery this year. It includes just 1,467 built, acquired or leased homes – well below the level that would have been expected mid-
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way through the year. O’Brien said: “These figures show that delivery of social housing has been very much impacted by the outbreak of Covid-19. “We have a goal to provide housing support to some 27,500 households this year, and despite a challenging first half, I am committed to delivering on that. “This government has committed to delivering 50,000 social homes under the Programme for Government and I want a very strong focus of that to be on new-build. I want to really see ambition and innovation from local authorities to deliver at scale on their own land.”
In the year ending June 2020, councils received 398,700 planning applications, down 10 per cent on the year ending June 2019. 82,100 decisions were made on applications in April to June 2020, a drop of 21 per cent on the 103,900 decisions in the same quarter of the previous year. In the year ending June 2020, authorities decided 369,600 planning applications, down 8 per cent on the previous year. 71,700 permissions were granted, down 22 per cent on April to June 2019. This is equivalent to 87 per cent of decisions, down 1 per cent on the previous year. 82 per cent of major and minor decisions were granted, down one percentage point from the quarter ending June 2019. 89 per cent of large applications were decided within 13 weeks or an agreed time, a rise of 1 per cent on the same quarter in 2019.
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CATCH UP WITH THE PLANNER
N Newsmakers Infrastructure investment blueprint published Scottish ministers have unveiled a £24 billion draft infrastructure investment plan (IIP) to cover 2021/22 to 2025/26. It includes more than £8 billion for environmental sustainability and the transition to net-zero emissions, £250 million to support forestry, and over £11 billion for cities, towns and villages. bit.ly/planner1120-iip
Nottingham approves first phase of £650m regeneration Planning permission has been granted for the first phase of Nottingham’s £650 million Island Quarter. The city council approved the Conygar Investment Company plans for Canal Turn. It includes a three-storey pavilion on the waterfront, featuring two restaurants plus events space. bit.ly/planner1120-canal
Jenrick: Homes delivered through PDR will have to meet space standard Housing secretary Robert Jenrick has announced that all new homes in England delivered through permitted development rights (PDR) will have to subscribe to a nationally described space standard. A one-bedroom flat with a shower room will have to be at least 37 square metres in size, or 39sq m in size if the flat has a bathroom. This seeks to ensure there is enough living space for a single resident. bit.ly/planner1120-jenrick
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RTPI criticises government’s housing algorithm The RTPI believes the proposed new algorithm for calculating housing need across England “simply does not make sense”. The formula, says the institute, would result in unprecedented high housing targets in the south of England, which would be undeliverable by some local authorities due to lack of available land. It would also do little for the PM’s “levelling up” agenda. bit.ly/planner1120-algorithm
NI Audit Office starts its review of planning
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The NI Audit Office has begun a review of planning in Northern Ireland. This will cover the period since April 2015, when responsibility was split between 11 planning authorities and the Department for Infrastructure. The exercise will examine how effective the planning system has been in delivering key objectives under its current operating arrangements. bit.ly/planner1120-ni
Covid-19 recovery blueprint puts focus on town centres The Welsh Government has published a blueprint setting out priorities for a Covid-19 recovery strategy. It includes a focus on town centre investment and low-carbon housing and will cost £320 million of new funding. bit.ly/planner1120-blueprint
5 6 Plans for brownfield institute submitted
7 Derelict and vacant land proposals published in Scotland RTPI Scotland has welcomed the recommendations set out in a new report by the country’s Vacant and Derelict Land Taskforce to tackle the legacy of derelict land and ensure that land doesn’t fall into long-term disrepair. bit.ly/planner1120-derelict
Council approves Cumbrian underground mine Cumbria County Council has granted planning consent for an underground mine on a brownfield site in Whitehaven. West Cumbria Mining’s £165 million Cumbria Metallurgical Coal Project, known as Woodhouse Colliery, includes coal storage and processing buildings and could create 500 jobs. bit.ly/planner1120-mine
I M A G E S | S H U T T E R S T O C K / I S T O C K / U N I V E R S I T Y O F W O LV E R H A M P T O N
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A planning application for the £17.5 million National Brownfield Institute has been lodged with the City of Wolverhampton Council. The institute would be built on the University of Wolverhampton’s Springfield Campus. The council has supported the university with the plans and final evaluations. bit.ly/planner1120-spring
Irish think tank says Covid-19 response needs planning reset
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Key planning policies encouraging high-density development and urban flats may have to be rethought because of the impact of Covid-19 on the property market, according to a report published by Ireland’s Economic & Social Research Institute. The document argues that the pandemic could mean less investment in new housing by developers and that it could skew demand away from city and town centre flats as remote workers eye houses on bigger plots. bit.ly/planner1120-covid
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LEADER COMMENT
Event Landing the big questions on planning reform Almost exactly two years ago the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee (HCLG) published a report concluding that the government had to prioritise reform of the Land Compensation Act 1961 in order to fund the infrastructure and local services required to meet its housing targets. In its 2018 report, Land Value Capture, the committee spoke of the scope for central and local government “to claim a greater proportion of land value increase through reforms to existing taxes and charges, or through new mechanisms of land value capture”. The explosive increase in agricultural land value following a granting of permission for residential development was cited. Time has moved on, with the government’s Planning
Martin Read for the Future white paper now out for consultation. Stepping back into the fray, the HCLG committee has announced its own inquiry into the proposals, intending to build on its 2018 report. And there, at the end of the list of issues in its call for evidence, we see the kicker: “What progress has been made since the committee’s 2018 report on capturing land value and how might the proposals improve outcomes? What further steps might also be needed?”
It is surely right to look beyond the depth of detail on suggested infrastructure contribution reform found in Planning for the Future, appreciating that any such formula has to achieve a remarkable difficult balance. And it is notable that fundamental discussions about land value remain, being perhaps lower in the mix as a result of higherprofile discussion points such as misfiring housing algorithms and the very concept of zoning in a country of England’s size. In this most surreal year, with Brexit and a global pandemic as the most extraordinary of backdrops, planning is under the microscope. Here’s hoping the discussion claims the public attention it most certainly deserves. Finally, and again, a further reminder for you to make
"FUNDAMENTAL DISCUSSIONS AROUND LAND VALUE REMAIN"
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LO U I S E B R O O K E S M I T H O B E
O Opinion
Supporting at a time of change Many of us are sometimes asked to support or mentor someone. It could be a student deciding on a particular direction or sector to follow, or a graduate hoping to land their first real job. Sometimes the request comes from your peers and the relationship can be slightly different, namely one of support at a time of change. That’s when you need to be a critical friend rather than a teacher. The most surprising requests come from those people who you have secretly admired over the years and have looked up to. The role then is different again and can be one of advocacy or dooropening. To utterly desecrate Shakespeare, “Some are born struggling with change, some learn how to cope with change, and others make the most of change when it hits them”. Whatever the stage of the journey or the personality of the person who values your support or advice, it’s lovely to be asked, and not a little humbling, especially now. Because it is blindingly obvious what a challenging time the tail end of 2020 has become, and also how varied we are in dealing with change and uncertainty. Some embrace it and maximise new opportunities. Not being a Whitehall spin doctor, I’m not sure of the best phrase to epitomise the direct opposite of burying bad news on a day of celebration, but ‘innovating at a time of adversity’ is as good as any. However, many are teetering on the edge of
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depression and to be a steady shoulder for them to lean on is more important than ever. Gone is the much-valued crutch of furlough, and although the chancellor’s job support initiatives have been picked up by some, many planning consultancies and local authority planning departments simply can’t make it work and have reluctantly waved goodbye to long-standing colleagues. All those long hours and sense of loyalty blown to the wind. So what comes next? Early retirement if the savings pot allows it? A change in direction if there is the energy and ‘can-do’ approach to life? Self-employment is always a popular card to play in times of recession and indeed it can be a brilliant direction to follow if you have some skills, motivation and a lucky disposition. And it does come
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“MAKING AND USING CONNECTIONS POSITIVELY IS CRITICAL” down to luck, whether it’s recognising a lucky break when you find it or having the ability to make your own luck and hugging it securely, Covid-19 guidelines aside. The ability to make the most of things reflects, I believe, an inherent sense of not letting an opportunity pass you by. It means being in ‘work mode’ 24/7, spotting the new idea, picking up on headlines and new initiatives as soon as they hit the streets. Making and using connections positively is critical, not in an exploitative way, and primarily believing that you are the right person for the job at hand.
That doesn’t mean you have to bullshit your way through; most people get tired of waffle and tedious sound bites. But it does need an anticipation of what people need and a belief that you, or your cohort, can deliver it. I speak from experience, having established a consultancy nearly 30 years ago at the end of a previous recession. The context has certainly changed and instead of relying on word of mouth, and a little publicity in regional press, today’s digital wizardry is powerful, and the clever use of social media can speed things up considerably. But any new enterprise, or would-be entrepreneur, still needs the same motivation and positive attitude as they always have. And those who succeed in a post-Covid era need will also have some humility, give back when possible and support others who choose a different path. Everyone has something to share, some way of supporting others and some form of encouragement for colleagues who are not coping as well as it might appear.
Dr Louise Brooke-Smith is a development and strategic planning consultant and a built environment non-executive director I L L U S T R AT I O N | Z A R A P I C K E N
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Quote unquote FROM THE RTPI AND THE WEB
“Younger people are less focused on shopping and have much more interest in visiting for other leisure uses, activities and events”
“The danger of a codified system is that it provides a certain degree of lock-in… how do you allow for innovation or differentiation?”
KATHERINE SIMPSON, PLANNER AND CHAIR OF THE RTPI YOUNG PLANNERS COMMITTEE IN THE NORTH EAST, ON A POLL IN NEWCASTLE FINDING THAT TODAY’S YOUNG PEOPLE AGED 16 TO 25 HAVE DIFFERENT REASONS FOR VISITING TOWN CENTRES THAN RETAIL
“If you’ve got a roundabout in your development, you’ve failed” STUART HAY, DIRECTOR OF LIVING STREETS SCOTLAND, GIVES THE SCOTTISH PLANNER LIVE AUDIENCE A FRESH METRIC FOR CALCULATING THE SUSTAINABILITY OF A DEVELOPMENT. ALSO: “CAN YOU BUY TOILET ROLL WITHIN A 15 MINUTE WALK? IF NOT, NO PERMISSION” .
“Planning for the Future offers the wrong answers to the wrong questions” SHAIN SHAPIRO, FOUNDER AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE AT SOUND DIPLOMACY, WORRIES THAT THE WHITE PAPER WILL MAKE IT MORE DIFFICULT TO SECURE PLANNING PERMISSION FOR ARTS, MUSIC, CULTURAL AND NIGHT TIME VENUES AND EASIER TO ELIMINATE IT.
“The government is looking at our current planning system through the limited lens of purely achieving its gross housing target” RTPI HEAD OF POLICY RICHARD BLYTH FINDS BASIC FAULT WITH THE GOVERNMENT’S PROPOSED NEW HOUSING FORMULA, WHERE LONDON AND THE SOUTH EAST WOULD BE REQUIRED TO BUILD 161 PER CENT MORE HOMES AND THE NORTH REQUIRED TO BUILD 28 PER CENT FEWER HOMES. USING UP LARGE AREAS OF COUNTRYSIDE IN THE SOUTH, WHILE LEAVING URBAN BROWNFIELD SITES IN THE NORTH UNUSED.
I M AG E S | S H U T T E RSTO C K / I STO C K
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RESPONDING TO PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE, READING UNIVERSITY PLANNING PROFESSOR GAVIN PARKER ARGUES AGAINST ZONING AND PREDICTS “A DECADE OF DISRUPTION, A LACK OF CLARITY AND UNCERTAINTY”
“…More the result of post-WWII affluence than poverty” ANGELA SCOTT, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF ABERDEEN CITY COUNCIL,, SPEAKING AT SCOTTISH PLANNER LIVE ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF PLANNING FOR PUBLIC HEALTH AND THE REASONS WHY OBESITY,, ALCOHOLISM AND DRUG ADDICTION ARE THE MAIN ENEMIES TODAY Y
“The government will have to put in some serious spadework to persuade theirr local government colleaguess to embrace these changes” ANDREW HOWARD OF CONSULTANCY BECG WARNS OF THE HUGE OPPOSITION TO GREEN BELT RELEASE AMONG CONSERVATIVE G COUNCILLORS RESPONDING TO THE PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE WHITE PAPER
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B E S T O F T H E B LO G S
O Opinion
1 BLOG
Kate Swade is a director of Shared Assets and a Liverpool City Region Land Commissioner
We can create new ways of thinking about land and its uses
I was ehonoured to be asked to be part of the Liverpool City Region Land Commission. The first of its kind in the country, the commission is going to be focused on pragmatic project ideas for how public land can be used to support community wealth building. Its members come from the worlds of activism, academia, innovation and policy, with lots of practical experience of starting socially beneficial projects. It’s a snappy process, with four meetings and a report before Christmas, coordinated by the Centre for Local Economic Strategies. I have four key ambitions for the commission. First, that it should look at public land as a whole in the region, and think about the kind of overarching infrastructure needed to support communityled and socially focused land and building projects to thrive. Too many of the flagship community-led development projects are the result of years of campaigning, fundraising and lobbying before they even got access to their sites. We have a chance here to help to ensure that good projects get to concentrate on actually delivering their benefits. Second, I’m excited to think about how land uses other than housing can fit in, specifically
Elad Eisenstein is regeneration and cities director at Ramboll
Revisiting the ‘ground rules’ of design can support better social interaction
growing food. Is there a chance in the region to create a ‘market garden city’ framework, supporting urban and periurban food growing at a scale that could feed Liverpool? Maybe the combined authority could take notes from the Argentinian city of Rosario, where agriculture is fully incorporated into local land use strategies, and 10,000 families are employed in peri-urban and urban agriculture, with 40 hectares in food production. Third, there’s an opportunity here to think about land – who has access to it, who benefits from it – as a social justice issue, and as a racial justice issue. Liverpool was at the heart of the slave trade and much of its wealth came from it. As my fellow c o m m i s s i o n e r, Amahra Spence, puts it: “So many of the injustices [that] Black people experience find their roots in historical land and space inequities.” This commission has a chance to offer solutions to historic inequities and make the Liverpool City Region a model for other regions grappling with inequality. My fourth ambition is that this first land commission in England won't be the last– that other authorities take inspiration from this work, and set in motion their own processes.
“THERE’S A REAL OPPORTUNITY HERE TO THINK ABOUT LAND – WHO HAS ACCESS TO IT, WHO BENEFITS FROM IT – AS A SOCIAL JUSTICE ISSUE”
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2 BLOG
From meeting friends during lunch breaks to visiting the theatre, social interaction runs deep through the veins of city life. But the effects of lockdown and slowly returning to the ‘new normal’ of social distancing means that many of these activities are still restricted. As societies and economies recover, finding ways to interact while abiding by health measures is key. Walking and cycling contribute most to social interaction. They are environmentally sound and make economic sense by allowing people to spend time in places rather than just go from A to B. And investment in large-scale cycling and walking infrastructure encourages safe social interaction. Some of the best solutions we have seen adopted across the world are old ideas; things like the drive-in, with underused infrastructure such as parking lots being used as open-air cinemas, and the reinterpretation of the old dining idea of private booths. Paris implemented a network of ‘parklets’ across the city, removing street parking spaces to allow more space for public life, and Amsterdam installed transparent dining pods along canals, enabling restaurants to reopen and people to enjoy outdoor interaction. Undoubtedly, no piece of infrastructure played a stronger
part in connecting people during the pandemic than technology. Although we already use technology widely to shape our urban environments, resolve complex challenges and run urban systems like transport and utilities more efficiently, our reliance on virtual connectivity has never been greater. Now, rebalancing our virtual and physical worlds will shape how we live and interact. As we adapt our homes, offices and public spaces to meet the ‘new normal’, Covid-19 also reminds us of the importance of the basic aspects of design. Natural light and materials, airflow and working with nature are key to designing for a sustainable future. But many parts of the world still use expensive building systems or infrastructure unnecessarily, often also negatively affecting our planet. Although cities around the world continue to invest in much-needed railway systems, utilities or digital infrastructure, perhaps success may come through some of the infrastructure that we don’t build. One might argue that some of the best solutions arise from revisiting the simple ground rules of design – making careful use of natural resources, better integrating across practices and learning from communities and the existing character of places.
“FINDING WAYS TO INTERACT WHILE ABIDING BY HEALTH MEASURES IS KEY”
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Have your say Would you like to see yourself in these pages? Get in touch by email – editorial@theplanner.co.uk Topical, inspirational, angry or amusing – we consider all relevant comment
3 BLOG
Kate Jardine is a senior associate, planning, with Thomson Snell & Passmore LLP
What have the Romans ever done for us? The case for the ‘sustainable’ car
Among the most wide-ranging peoposed changes to permitted development rights are the amendments to the Use Classes Order. Amalgamation of several previously separate permitted changes of use seeks to promote diversification in what is considered to be a stifled high street. In the past decade, town centre businesses have been replaced by more lucrative residential developments (often with no parking). This increases housing supply, but also removes a large portion of consumers from the high street. Town centre dwellers are often commuters who may enjoy being ‘in the midst of it’ but most return home at the end of their day without offering the regular daytime business upon which the high street relies. Night-time commerce may increase but inevitably limited to weekends. The recent proposals are to revitalise town centres by providing more flexibility to premises with a wider spread of services to cater for both day and night-time economies. However, the government is also offering a right for conversion of out-of-town offices to retail without the need to test demand in central business areas. Is the intention to move leisure back into towns and retail out? There is a small fly in this theory. For years, people
4 BLOG
Silvia Lazzerini is project director for strategic land at Grosvenor Britain & Ireland
Complete engagement is the key to restoring trust in planning
have flocked to out-of-town providers, lured by free parking. It may seem a small issue, and technology may make paying for parking more convenient, but is that what the consumer wants? Ask anyone who doesn’t live inside a town centre about their gripes of “going into town”; one of the top moans will be parking: the lack of it, payment (apps aren’t fun for everyone), or the price. What of public transport? Sustainability is a buzzword used to encourage public transport use but the reality is often far from the ideal. I am sympathetic to the desire to reduce the use of private vehicles, but is it really necessary when emissions rates outside of city centres are reducing as a result of vehicle efficiencies? What town centres need is the ability for visitors to travel and park easily, day and night, to partake in the benefits that the “flexible” proposals will offer. Perhaps car park design should be seen as the key to revitalising the high street? Many are unsafe, insecure places, particularly at night. Most are unwanted by town residents. But they are crucial to the decision-making of visitors and tourists. Car ownership is the reality of 21st century living. So, Hail the car park designers! And as for the title of this article – without the Romans, there’d be no roads of course!
“TOP MOANS WILL BE ABOUT PARKING – THE LACK OF IT, HOW IT IS PAID FOR, OR THE PRICE”
Digital innovation is a pillar of the government’s planning white paper, calling for better use of interactive services to modernise the process and encourage public engagement. It’s a laudable goal that could inspire and allow a wider demographic to have their say, particularly younger people and those who might be unable or less likely to attend consultations. As we navigate the social restrictions brought by the pandemic, developers are starting to use a suite of digital tools to consult more broadly and in an interesting way. But we shouldn’t underestimate the value of face-toface engagement and the importance stakeholders attach to it. If the objective is to increase transparency and public trust in the system, then technology should complement, not replace, in-person consultation. It is also a clear indication of developers’ commitment to shape plans with communities. We need to be visible and to give people the right forum to be heard, not hiding behind screens and oneway presentations, if we want to restore the public’s faith in developers and show that we are accountable. Without a blended model of engagement, we risk trading the exclusion of one set of groups for another: according to digital inclusion charity Good Things
Foundation, 1.9 million households have no internet access and millions more have to rely on pay-as-you-go services. We should also maximise the value of each approach. Simply putting consultation boards online won’t cut it – we need to harness the power of technology to allow real-time feedback, whether through online heat maps, interactive masterplans or chat functions. The white paper tackles not just the format of engagement but also when it should happen, proposing a revamped local plan process that shifts the responsibility for consultation on to councils. The problem is this risks divorcing developers from the process and storing up issues down the line when people actively want to engage over individual sites. Engagement needs to be multi-faceted, led by both councils and developers, and ongoing, starting well before the local plan process, during detailed design work through to build-out. This helps map national policy ambitions – including delivering social value and achieving climate change goals – into local contexts, so we understand what they mean to specific communities and how they can be achieved throughout the development phases, as well as long-term site management.
“TECHNOLOGY SHOULD COMPLEMENT, NOT REPLACE, INPERSON CONSULTATION”
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INTERVIEW: ROBYN SKERRATT
THE
BRIDGE BETWEEN ROBYN SKERRATT HAS BECOME RTPI YOUNG PLANNER OF THE YEAR AT AN EXTRAORDINARILY CHALLENGING TIME. BUT COVID19 WON’T STOP HER BUILDING BRIDGES BETWEEN PROFESSIONS, AS SIMON WICKS DISCOVERS
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guiding visitors on Open House weekends and ne of the first things I did was mentoring young professionals through the reach out to previous young foothills of their career. And it’s there in her planners of the year to get their goals as Young Planner of the Year. Despite the perspectives on how they used constraints of Covid, she is positive, outwardtheir year; what had gone well, looking and clear. what they would have done differently – and, “I’ve [settled on] a couple of key priorities,” I guess, thinking about that in a Covid context. she tells me. “Firstly, supporting non-linear career That was really insightful.” paths and taking planning perspectives to a Robyn Skerratt’s response to becoming RTPI range of related disciplines. I’ve Young Planner for the Year is a particular interest in coaching insightful, too. Here, you surmise, is “PLANNING and mentoring [and] I’m keen someone who believes in the power SHOULD to explore that because that was of networks, values the experiences BE ABOUT really supportive for me. of others, wishes to do things well, RESTORING “My second priority is and perhaps possesses that oldA SENSE OF amplifying the role of planning fashioned virtue – a sense of service. EQUALITY” in supporting the Sustainable After our conversation, I Development goals (SDGs) and would add to that mix empathy, the role planners can play postcommitment, curiosity, a sense of Covid in supporting a sustainable, fairness, a willingness to get involved green recovery.” and a desire to make things better Covid sits darkly behind for others. everything we chat about in a 60-minute slot It’s all there in a career traversing the ranks that extends easily to 90. It makes her role more of government from assistant planner at challenging, but is also a spur for ingenuity. ”It’s the Department for Communities and Local about being a bit more creative, perhaps, and Government to team leader in sustainable reaching out to identify people where there may development at the Foreign and Commonwealth be synergies with other work and activity. And Office, via various roles at the Cabinet Office and it’s also about talking to people in the RTPI to the Department for International Development. explore and identify opportunities.” It’s there in her consistent volunteering, from
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I M AG E |
PETER SEARLE
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INTERVIEW: ROBYN SKERRATT
Widening wellbeing Skerratt seems to understand her profession as a place of intersection, where the discipline of planning weaves together strands of other fields into a coherent vision for change. Binding this vision is a notion of planning as a social activity that safeguards wellbeing and extends into issues of fairness and equality, locally, nationally and internationally. Indeed, she sees her current role as a conduit of sorts, a “bridge”. “Planners have that bridging role,” she says. “We bring together different disciplines; we look at issues in the round, and kind of calibrate and balance different interests.” Her own particular interest in the relationship between planning and public health has seen her awarded a research grant by the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust to explore links between building design and health. “We spend so much of our lives inside buildings, but when we’re designing those spaces how much do we think about their impact on the health and wellbeing of those that reside within?” It’s a question that has been asked repeatedly throughout the Covid crisis. The strands are knitting together. In her sustainable development role at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Skerratt is directly involved in supporting the delivery of SDGs, an international framework around which to build
healthy, human-centred settlements. The correspondence between their aspirations and her own is clear: wellbeing focused, collaborative, high level yet adaptable to local contexts, just. “One of the core commitments that came with the SDGs was to leave no one behind and think about the poorest and most vulnerable,” Skerratt stresses. “That is incredibly important. It’s something [that is in] the history of the planning profession; it was a big driver when
The power of volunteering “Volunteering is a great way to meet different people, to get involved in things that aren’t directly part of your day job. “I enjoy having a mix of volunteering opportunities and getting to know more about my local community as well. “I live not too far from the Olympic Park, so I’ve been able to get involved in the activities that happened there. And more recently, as a school governor as well, it’s been really nice. “I want to be able to continue
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to be involved and give back to the RTPI beyond the year I have the title of young planner of the year. I see this as a bit of a lifetime commitment.” Her voluntary positions have included the following: director of a youth project at Durham University (2005-08); Planning Aid (2009-13); Gamesmaker, London 2012 Olympics; Open House London guide (2013-present); mentor with Thresholds Ltd (2017-present); and school governor (2018-present).
planning was first being formalised.” There are “natural synergies” between planning and the SDGs, she says. “Sustainable development is core to what planners do, thinking about environmental, social and economic and the interplay between those. “Planners operate in complex contexts and think about these different issues. The integrated nature of the SDGs for me feels like a testament to how planners think about the world already.” “I’ve been on this incredible journey working on the SDGs within the Agenda to 2030. The UN calls it ‘the decade of action’. SDGs will continue to be an important anchor to the kind of opportunities I’m seeking because the next 10 years is pivotal not just for the profession, but for the world we live in.”
Goals keeper Skerratt’s journey began in Stoke-onTrent, a city which forged her interest in the character of place and its capacity for change and renewal. ”It has an incredible identity and I’m excited to see now how they are using the history around the ceramics industry to give it a really interesting USP.” At university she studied geography, enjoying its variety, “tangibility” and impact. “Then, when I was thinking about what kind of career would draw on those things, that’s how planning I M AG E |
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CURRICULUM VITAE Born Stoke-on-Trent, 1986 Education BA Geography, Durham University 2008; MPlan Town planning and urban regeneration, University of Manchester 2010 Career highlights
2011 Assistant planner, Deloitte Real Estate
2012 2015 Fast streamer, Civil Service fast stream, incorporating various planning roles within DCLG
2015 Team leader, housing supply directorate
2016 and regeneration came about.” Although there are no planners in her family, Skerratt’s father was an environmental scientist – “So there was lots of synergy, I guess. I’m sure there’s a kind of osmosis effect. “Maybe,” she observes, “that’s how I’ve ended up broadening out to get more involved in sustainability.” Graduating in a recession meant early experience of work was short term, mostly internships and placements that gave her “breadth” and “enabled me to reflect on the things that motivated me and that I enjoyed most”. In 2012 Skerratt entered the government’s fast stream civil service scheme. She’s since shifted through departments and taken on roles that range from planning advisor to assistant director at the Cabinet Office and now a team leader for sustainable development and financing. This seems a natural settling place for her. Indeed, she sees planning as a discipline with a range of transferable skills that can be “applied in different contexts”. Her career and her outlook are quite clearly defined by a capacity to see how things fit together and an openness to the possibilities that such connections may offer. Again, she uses the term “bridge” to describe what she does, adding: “I haven’t got a defined roadmap, but
Deputy bill manager, Neighbourhood Planning Bill
2017 Assistant director, Cabinet Office
20182020 Department for International Development, various roles, culminating in team leader, Covid-19 response, and team leader, sustainable development and financing
Sept 2020 Team leader, sustainable development and financing, Foreign and Commonwealth Office
“WE BRING TOGETHER DIFFERENT DISCIPLINES; WE LOOK AT ISSUES IN THE ROUND, AND KIND OF CALIBRATE AND BALANCE DIFFERENT INTERESTS”
I do want to continue to strengthen further my personal and professional development. That’s been a real anchor for me. I really enjoy learning, studying and seizing new opportunities.”
A volunteering view Equally revealing of her character is Skerratt’s list of voluntary positions, as long and varied as her professional CV (see box, The power of volunteering). Among much else, she’s been involved in major sports events, is currently a school governor and mentors young professionals. Which brings us back to her goals for the year. Young professionals, she says, sorely need the insight and guidance someone in her position and with her experience can offer. “There are a few things I did during that time [immediately after graduating during a recession], and one that really stands out to me is getting out, getting to know people, meeting people and building your network. I guess now that has to be more in a virtual context.” Mentoring is critical, Skerratt argues, to increasing diversity within the profession. This, too, strikes at the heart of what planning is all about for this Young Planner of the Year: “Planning should be about restoring a sense of equality, creating a platform for equality within the built environment.” She seems so busy that I wonder what else she can possibly find the time to do outside of work, volunteering and mentoring. “I have a passion for travelling,” she tells me. “I love to learn from different cultures and see architecture in different places. “I also really enjoy walking; over the last few years I’ve done the Capital Ring and London Loop, two walks around London. It’s really interesting to learn more about this city we live in, because it’s huge. So, lots of weekends walking.” And, she adds: “This weekend I’m starting a knitting course.” Pulling strands together, weaving threads into a whole. How very appropriate. Our time is up. Skerratt warmly wishes me well and returns to the much more important business of making the world a better place. Which is, after all, the whole point, right? n Simon Wicks is deputy editor of The Planner
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YOUN G P L ANNE R S A ND S D G S
S T N E G A OF CHANGE YOUNG PLANNERS AROUND THE WORLD ARE CREATING PROJECTS TO DELIVER SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS WITHIN THEIR OWN COUNTRIES AND COMMUNITIES – AND THEY’RE HAVING AN IMPACT, AS SIMON WICKS AND MATT MOODY DISCOVER
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early 50 per cent of the world population is under the age of 30,” says Ana Ynestrillas emphatically. “So a large minority of the world that doesn’t have the position that you have, the voice. “And there is a lot of talent that shouldn’t be wasted,” the project lead for the UN’s Local Pathways Fellowship programme adds. continuing: “People taking decisions on how cities are designed are almost always over 30 – and they don’t get feedback from the younger people who are going to be the users of these future cities.” It’s a tale of exclusion, but also one of squandered opportunities. Ynestrillas’s point is that there are thousands of young people around the world with the skills and interest to contribute to development that is sustainable – and, more importantly, a vested interest in doing so. After all, they will be living longest with the
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consequences of decisions that are made today. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), agreed by the United Nations in 2015, provide an international framework for addressing social, environmental and economic challenges such as climate change, resource imbalance, and wealth and social inequality. “The goals do a successful job in mapping out where we want to get, because we all know we want the world to be better,” says Ynestrillas “We know we need to change things. But sometimes it can feel overwhelming. How do we get there? “The goals make this process simpler for everyone because they have targets, and then indicators on how to measure progress towards the goal. It makes it easier for organisations to label areas of focus and to form partnerships, and to see how much we’re progressing. We can’t manage what we can’t measure.” Olafiyin Taiwo, coordinator for the I M AG E | A L A M Y
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Sustainable transport systems, such as trams and bus rapid transit, help to drive sustainable development.
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YOUN G P L ANNE R S A ND S D G S
Commonwealth Association of Planners Young Planners’ Network, says planners are integral to their delivery. With their ability to take an overarching view they have the capacity to draw together the different components of a “multisectoral and multidisciplinary approach” within a coherent vision of change that accords with the aims of the SDGs. Where do young people, and specifically young planners, come in? A number of organisations are working with young planners (and other young people with relevant skill sets) to deliver the SDGs within their own countries and communities. We mention a few below – and introduce you to some of the young agents of change promoting sustainable development around the world.
Local Pathways Fellowship Operating under the umbrella of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network, the Local Pathways Fellowship supports architects, engineers, urban planners and social studies practitioners under 30 to develop projects within their home cities that deliver SDG 11: “Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”. “We ask them to choose like what topic they’re going to be focusing on based on their expertise,” explains Ynestrillas. “Throughout the 10 months of the fellowship, they work on research, connecting with stakeholders, developing the idea and prototyping it. Ideally, they implement at least a pilot.” Does the programme make a difference? Ynestrillas cites the example of Letícia Pinheiro Rizério Carmo, whose study of harassment of women in public spaces in Belo Horizonte in Brazil led to a government-funded app through which women can report harassment, providing data that can influence policy and resource allocation.
Commonwealth Association of Planners, Young Planners’ Network SDGs are at the core of the network that connects young planners across the Commonwealth. In particular, says network coordinator Olafiyin Taiwo, the network is supporting SDG 17: “Revitalise the global partnership for
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The ABC of SDGs The 17 Sustainable Development Goals are a “blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all”. Set in 2015 by the United Nations, they are intended to be achieved by the year 2030. Each goal is accompanied by a set of targets and indicators for measuring progress. The SDGs are: 1. No Poverty 2. Zero Hunger 3. Good Health and Wellbeing 4. Quality Education 5. Gender Equality 6. Clean Water and Sanitation 7. Affordable and Clean Energy 8. Decent Work and Economic Growth 9. Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure 10. Reducing Inequality 11. Sustainable Cities and Communities 12. Responsible Consumption and Production 13. Climate Action 14. Life Below Water 15. Life On Land 16. Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions 17. Partnerships for the Goals
sustainable development”. This means creating partnerships that facilitate delivery of all the other goals. So the network’s emphasis is on expanding its range and forging connections with other organisations. For example, CAP members are also involved in ISOCARP (see below) and the Local Pathways programme.
Cities such as Addis Ababa, Ethiopia are developing rapidly – but how sustainably?
“One of our members in Pakistan is working within the SDG Academy to create some courses on SDG awareness,” says Taiwo. “Within the Commonwealth 60 per cent of the population are young people under 30,” she adds. “The bulk of implementation and impact of Sustainable Development Goals will be felt by young people.”
UNLEASH A “global innovation lab for the SDGs”, UNLEASH aims to tap into the skills, disciplines and sectors that can be applied to the challenge of delivering the SDGs, from data analysis to spatial planning. It works in part through two day ‘hacks’ where participants work in a concentrated way on problems. There is a strong focus on technological solutions to sustainability challenges and developing products that can be scaled up through investment. Current RTPI Young Planner of the Year Robyn Skerratt worked with UNLEASH in November 2019, describing it as “an incredible I M AG E | A L A M Y
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Jenna Halal
URBAN PLANNER, UN HABITAT, AND MEMBER OF ISOCARP YOUNG PLANNERS PROFESSIONAL PROGRAMME BEIRUT, LEBANON
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ith cities reconsidering planning mechanisms for urban systems and physical urban space, global development frameworks such as the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Habitat III New Urban Agenda demonstrate an underlying point – that urbanisation can be a powerful tool for sustainable development in developing and developed countries. Through planning mechanisms, city planners and urban practitioners can enrich urban planning processes, while sharing a global vision for a brighter and more sustainable future.
opportunity to collaborate with people from around the world, identifying specific problems and then using the ‘innovation lab’ model to come up with potential solutions”.
ISOCARP Young Planning Professionals programme The International Society of City and Regional Planners’ (ISOCARP) Young Planning Professionals programme has been pulling young planners together to “resolve complex and multi-dimensional planning issues” for close to 30 years. SDGs are exerting a strong influence on this work, says programme director Zeynep Gunay. “SDGs have been the main pillars defining our societal programmes in various ways, starting with our long term collaboration with UN-Habitat to knowledge transfer events, academic trainings, publications and our urban labs.” Read on to meet some of the young planners globally who are changing the world through the work they’re doing to deliver sustainable development goals in their communities
“Urban practitioners can enrich urban planning processes, while sharing a global vision for a brighter and more sustainable future” Project focus I’ve been working in Ethiopia on implementing SDG11: ‘Making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.’ To support local government we have designed a participatory incremental urban planning (PIUP) toolbox, a methodology to assess, design, and implement urban planning processes. Its aim is to guide planners and stakeholders towards a sustainable approach, ensuring a participatory process for the city’s policies, strategies, plans and projects. It works in tandem with Ethiopia’s national urban development spatial plan (NUSP), and GTP2, the growth and transformation plan for the country.
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YOUN G P L ANNE R S A ND S D G S
Karishma Asarpota
Nairobi, Kenya’s capital city, has a rapdidly growing population and an urgent need for sustainable transport systems.
JUNIOR OFFICER, CLIMATE AND ENERGY ACTION AT ICLEI WORLD SECRETARIAT; COFACILITATOR OF THE CITIES WORKING GROUP WITH YOUNGO (THE UNITED NATIONS FRAMEWORK CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE YOUTH CONSTITUENCY BONN, GERMANY
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020 will be remembered as the year of global pandemic, unforgiving forest fires and a widespread anti-racism movement. The need to transition to a society that is inclusive, just and respectful of nature’s boundaries is becoming more urgent. Irrespective of recent events, 2020 was always going to be critical for accelerating progress towards the SDGs. It’s imperative for us as urban planners to reflect on what this means to our profession. Planning can and should address these issues as a powerful lever to help cities align with the SDG agenda. Young people in general are at the heart of social movements. As we start out in our careers as young planners we must push to be a part of the decision making process early on, so we can have a say in how our future is shaped.
Project focus
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My experience as a public sector planner in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and researcher in the Netherlands both fuelled my passion to orient my work around sustainable development. I recently joined the climate and energy action team at ICLEI World Secretariat, an international non-profit working with local governments across the world to help their urban areas become more sustainable. I am also co-founder and co-coordinator of the Cities Working Group under YOUNGO, the official youth constituency of the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change). We are involved in climate change advocacy for cities at the UNFCCC global climate negotiations. We call for integration of national climate plans or nationally determined contributions to local climate action plans and on-ground initiatives.
“The need to transition to a society that is inclusive, just and respectful of nature’s boundaries is becoming more urgent”
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Francisco Achwoka
Cyrielle Noël
GRADUATE PLANNER, MEMBER OF ISOCARP YOUNG PLANNERS PROFESSIONAL PROGRAMME NAIROBI, KENYA
PROGRAM SPECIALIST AT OCEANWISE AND LOCAL PATHWAYS FELLOW TIOHTIÀ:KE (MONTRÉAL), CANADA
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t four per cent, Nairobi has one of the world’s fastest urbanisation rates. The challenge of providing safe public transportation has not been met with informal paratransit systems determining urban mobility. SDG 11, which aims to make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable, is important to the urban poor who make up 56 per cent of Nairobi’s population and bear the disproportionate burden of transport costs, traffic fatalities, environmental pollution and inadequate service provision. Professional planning, through its participatory processes, can tackle the endemic challenges facing planning in developing countries. These include the large and distorting role of external actors in the planning sector, the fragmentation in decision making within regulatory institutions, closed and topdown planning processes, and an absence of social justice in planning and implementation. Professional planning provides a chance to examine the political economy and open up pathways to achieving sustainable development by counteracting the challenges identified.
Project focus I worked on an evaluation of a proposed bus rapid transit system in Nairobi. The study analysed factors affecting its implementation as a case study of challenges facing technology transfer in transportation planning within developing countries. The project has found that paratransit workers feel underrepresented, and that the potential of the project later facing opposition is high. Solving these issues early will lead to
“Professional planning, through its participatory processes, can tackle the endemic challenges facing planning in developing countries” better outcomes in the public interest, and achieve sustainable development through improved mobility and public transportation.
Resource poverty and improvised settlemetns remain a fact of life in cities such as Addis Ababa in Ethiopia.
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became a spatial planner to examine wicked problems and prophetic paradoxes in the built environment. One such is that natural boundaries have routinely been ignored in the design of our economies, even though our economic activities are mainly reliant upon natural resources. By applying sustainable development frameworks and approaches to planning exercises, we have an opportunity to improve our global environmental legacy. Montréal is a winter city and one of the most populous river islands in the world. Although Montréal is headed in a green direction, it is imperative that its blue spaces are not neglected. As a planner with a specialisation in marine spatial planning and planning for coastal environments, I feel professionally mandated to support sustainable development, but I have also been active through my personal pursuits as well.
Project focus In 2019, I founded Eau-Dacité, after observing that most Montréalers spend much of their time circulating in the city without interacting with its coastlines. It seeks to engage locals in connecting life below water with life on land, encouraging sustainable cities and communities in line with SDGs 14, 15, & 11. It aims to mobilise civil society to seek greater access to their waterways. Through Eau-Dacité I spearheaded the Waterway Festival, a World Oceans Day celebration. Through a playful and engaging approach to a very Montréal way of gathering – a festival – this project repacked waterway health and ocean literacy in a more appealing and digestible format. I’m working on a project called Tracing the Case for Blue Public Space, identifying a pathway for localizing SDG target 11.7. The project is examining the scope for defining, designing and eventually delivering blue space. Last year, Montréal’s city administration decided to create a 3,000-hectare urban park to protect sensitive natural areas on its river island. There is huge potential for blue public space to be included in the development of the largest urban park in Canada.
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Malith Senevirathne PHD RESEARCHER, GLOBAL DISASTER RESILIENCE CENTRE, UNIVERSITY OF HUDDERSFIELD, AND MEMBER OF COMMONWEALTH ASSOCIATION OF PLANNERS YOUNG PLANNERS’ NETWORK STEERING GROUP COLOMBO, SRI LANKA
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he Sustainable Development Council of Sri Lanka (SDC) is tasked with monitoring and evaluation of government organisations working towards achieving the SDGs. The SDC provides guidelines via the national policy and strategy on sustainable development. Each ministry develops its own vision for achieving SDGs and supports subordinate institutions in preparing the public service delivery strategy, the annual action plan. Young planners are engaged in the process, from preparing the national policy to implementing the annual action plan. The next target of the SDC is to promote the SDGs in research and development, innovation, education, and awareness, with a larger youth engagement. The SDC is also working on developing model sustainable villages in Sri Lanka, which will promote SDGs within local communities, including young people. In this process, the SDC expects young planners to take a leading role.
Project focus I worked on The State of Sri Lankan Cities 2018, a report by UN Habitat that offered the first comprehensive assessment of Sri Lanka’s recent urban development. It outlines a vision of a better urban future for all Sri Lankans, drawing on the UN’s SDGs and New Urban Agenda, as well as key Sri Lankan government strategic documents. The report provides an analysis of the spatial attributes of Sri Lanka’s urbanisation, an overview of its people and functions, and examines its city economies, urban housing and connectivity, municipal services, climate risk and resilience, and governance.
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HY William Chan URBANIST AND FUTURIST, AND LOCAL PATHWAYS FELLOW SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
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he time for ideas, advocacy and thought-leadership has expired. My experiences addressing the UN General Assembly made me realise that sustainable development can only be achieved if we have more doers and less talkers. There is untapped potential for planning professionals to take on a leadership role towards sustainable development based on doing. And we have a head start. Our roles and skill-sets are inherently about physical, tangible and built transformations. Our actions and solutions play out in the physical reality, rather than the abstract. Our reach extends into decision and policy making. Our leadership as a profession influences urban governance. This battle for sustainable development will be fought in our cities. Our role as planners needs to evolve as disruptive entrepreneurs and influencers. My sustainable urban development projects have focused on a ‘new power’ that comes from building social movements and communities.It is driven by peers, participatory practices and is open source. Along the participation scale of growing people’s capacity is the ultimate goal of ownership and flexibility. When applied to city making projects, such community building would help accelerate
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sustainable development, empowering people with agency towards sustainable urban solutions.
Project focus I was expert to the City of Sydney Citizens Jury: 50 citizens were entrusted to craft the City of Sydney’s 2050 strategic vision. The final report included: participatory governance, First peoples of Australia, innovative and future-ready housing, regenerative ecosystem, moving efficiently and sustainably, embed arts in everyday life, and a 24-hour city.
“Sustainable development can only be achieved if we have more doers and less talkers” Rentrepreneurship is a build-torent startup where renters co-develop affordable housing with private developers and investors. It aims to provide long term ROI by prioritising design excellence and sustainability to attract and retain renters. It involves a public, private and people partnership built on co-creation beyond community consultation.
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CAN THE PERMITTED DEVELOPMENT RIGHT TO CONVERT OFFICES INTO HOUSING CREATE FUNCTIONING COMMUNITIES? HERE’S WHAT RTPI STUDENT RESEARCH AWARDWINNER JACOB GEORGE FOUND WHEN HE SURVEYED THE SOCIAL IMPACTS OF PERMITTED DEVELOPMENT IN NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE
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here’s little doubt that vacant office buildings often have potential to be repurposed as housing, a form of regeneration that can reduce visual blight while providing muchneeded new homes. As it happens, theorists and policymakers have been promoting the adaptive reuse of office premises since the 1980s. So when I settled on this as the dissertation theme for my master’s in urban planning at Newcastle University, it was far from original. Yet this polarising subject epitomises ongoing debates over the purpose and efficacy of English urban planning. Permitted development (PD) rights offer an insightful window into the deregulation agenda dogmatically pursued by recent Conservative-led governments. Most research into the impacts of officeto-residential PD has focused on the South East, where housing demand is highest and horror stories of ‘slum housing’ have attracted widespread anger. Is the story the same in the rest of the country? My research focused instead on office conversions in Newcastle upon Tyne, to understand whether PD was causing similar damage in the North East. It’s also fair to say that research into the
sustainability of office-to-residential PD has tended to focus on the environmental and economic pillars of sustainability. The environmental benefit of saving resources through repurposing existing buildings is largely accepted. The economic impacts of office-toresidential PD have been widely debated: the ‘pro’ camp celebrates effective land use and speedy housing delivery; others worry about dwindling commercial floor space and the lost potential for community benefit through section 106 and community infrastructure levy payment. But what of its social effects? Few researchers have investigated the lived experiences of communities created and affected by PD. Although Newcastle has lower levels of office-to-residential conversion than cities farther south, the introduction of office-toresidential PD still sparked a sizeable increase in activity. Interestingly, I found that 87 per cent of apartments delivered through PD in the city were studios or one-bed homes – higher than any other city previously studied. These dwellings disproportionately catered to younger people, with 78 per cent of units designed for student accommodation – perhaps inevitable in a popular university city.
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Permitted development doesn’t deliver the family homes needed in Newcastle, and local planning professionals and councillors have expressed concern that the market for student accommodation is approaching saturation. This demographic scenario means that, small apartments and student flats generally provide only temporary homes. In my study, permitted development was thus seen not to establish strong communities. I studied two such converted blocks in detail and, in questionnaires and interviews with residents, found a lack of social interaction. Most people living in these blocks knew few of their neighbours and did not feel part of a community. More positively, living standards appeared better than those witnessed elsewhere, with residents giving an average ‘agreement score’ of 7.83 out of 10 with the statement “My apartment is comfortable to live in”. Newcastle’s office-to-residential PD trends can therefore be considered less as slum housing than as the proliferation of disparate, transient communities.Following conversations with planners, councillors and residents, I developed two policy recommendations to improve office-toresidential permitted development. First, three more conditions should be added to the prior approval system: n An expectation that dwellings must meet the nationally described space standards (NDSS). n A requirement for external windows in each habitable room. n An obligation for developers to submit a statement of community involvement to the local authority, demonstrating engagement with residents and businesses. Second, I suggested a regional tier of control, with combined authorities or local enterprise partnerships able to restrict PD to only those premises listed on a regional vacant buildings register. This would provide a level of strategic oversight, prevent disproportionate loss of commercial facilities, and maintain a sense of place and vitality where neighbourhoods are at risk of becoming saturated with short-term rental accommodation.
Later reflections This research was completed just 15 months ago, but August 2019 now seems like another world altogether. A summer of bombshell announcements on planning reform has brought enormous change to
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A summer of bombshell announcements on planning reform has wrought enormous change
Jacob won the Student Award at the 2020 RTPI Awards for Research Excellence for his urban planning master’s degree thesis Accommodation through Deregulation: Understanding the Social Impacts of Office-toResidential Permitted Development in Newcastle upon Tyne The dissertation can be downloaded as a pdf from academia.edu: bit.ly/ planner1120-newcastle
our profession, such that aspects of my work are already outdated. More widely, Covid-19 has utterly transformed society: additional time at home reinforces the importance of high-quality housing, placemaking and a sense of community. Among this year’s changes to the General Permitted Development Order (GPDO) is the right for local authorities to consider the provision of natural light under office-to-residential prior approval. Then, on 30 September it was announced that the NDSS would be applied to new dwellings created through changes of use. These were two of my own original policy recommendations, and many
critics of permitted development will be relieved to see greater control over living standards. Additionally, the Planning for the Future white paper proposes that the infrastructure levy could be applied to PD changes of use. These advancements could certainly improve the quality and community benefits of office-to-residential conversions, perhaps demonstrating a level of receptiveness to condemnation of PD as a developer handout. More radical and – from my perspective – concerning is the proposed introduction of a permitted development right to demolish an office building and erect new residential accommodation in its place (Part 20, Class ZA). At the time of my research, this proposal had been mooted by the government, and its eventual adoption indicates the relentlessness of intentions to relax regulations. The ability to build an entirely new apartment block without full permission would be a major step beyond PD changes of use, but without the environmental benefits of recycling existing building structures. Then there are the Use Classes Order amendments. While change-of-use PD rights will be applied according to the previous use classes until August 2021, beyond that date it may be possible without permission to convert all manner of other commercial and service uses, now falling under class E, into dwellings. Placemaking for vibrant communities is dependent on availability of local facilities. How can balance be maintained if planning departments are denied a say over use? I L L U S T R AT I O N S | J A C O B G E O R G E
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87%
Number of officeto-residential prior notifications received by Newcastle City Council 2013-2019
Studios and one-bed apartments as a proportion of dwellings delivered through officeresidential PD in Newcastle
OFFICE-TO-RESIDENTIAL PERMITTED DEVELOPMENT IN NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE (2013-2019)
78%
3.29 OUT OF 10
Proportion of dwellings marketed primarily to students
7.83
OUT OF 10
Average ‘agreement score’ of residents with the statement “The people in my building feel like a community”
Average ‘agreement score’ of residents with the statement “My apartment is comfortable to live in”
‘Agreement scores’ based on responses from 41 residents in three apartment blocks
My perspective has also been changed by my professional experience since university. Having spent time in local authority development management, I recognise the frustrations of navigating the GPDO. Hours can be spent poring over convoluted legislation and seeking second opinions on the parameters of various permitted development rights. This is time most of us would rather spend actually considering the merits of a development. Would I make the same policy recommendations again? Possibly not, because adding further intricacy to the prior approval process could cause more confusion for both officers and developers to the extent that it becomes more complicated than a planning application. Most ‘simplifications’ of the planning system over the past 10 years have served to overcomplicate it. The 2020 white paper proposals are a case in point – with different ‘zones’ of our boroughs operating under different rules there’s additional confusion to be found in clearly establishing the level of control over various types of development. Zones, design codes, PD rights, use classes... Will planning in England really be improved by inserting ever-more spatial and legislative layers into the decisionmaking process? The eternal struggle of planning policymakers is to strike an appropriate balance between discretion and clarity. This is almost impossible to achieve, as evidenced by various governments’ tinkering with planning legislation. Although I acknowledge the limits and inconsistencies of a fully discretionary system, we mustn’t underestimate the role of nuance in assessing the merits of development proposals. Planning is about creating healthy places in which society can thrive. The current rule-based direction of travel perhaps fails to recognise that humanity is complex and dynamic, and that well-functioning communities emerge best through careful cultivation and engagement – not through deregulation and boxticking. n Jacob George is a senior planning officer at Doncaster Council. His views are expressed in a personal capacity.
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The Hills at Charlesworth in Edmonton was developed on a former golf course
A HUB FOR ALL SEASONS THE HILLS AT CHARLESWORTH SUSTAINABILITY PLAZA IN EDMONTON, CANADA, IS THIS YEAR’S WINNER OF THE RTPI’S INTERNATIONAL AWARD FOR PLANNING EXCELLENCE. HUW MORRIS LOOKS AT THE SCHEME
Award: International Award for Planning Excellence 2020 Project: The Hills at Charlesworth Sustainability Plaza, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Winner: Stantec Consulting Key players: Client: Beaverbrook Developments; Contractors: Wilco Contractors Northwest Inc, Allstar Construction, and Classic Landscapes; Sub-consultants: DES Engineering and JR Paine & Associates.
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How do you develop a public space ing’s team of planners, designers, engithat enhances the environment, offers neers, scientists and project managers a blueprint for sustainability and peoembracing the idea that a neighbourple can use around the year even when hood is more than the sum of its parts. temperatures drop low enough to Moreover, Stantec Consulting says, induce frostbite? communities provide a foundation, a The Hills at Charlesworth in southsense of place and belonging, whether east Edmonton, one of Canada’s around the corner or across the globe. winter cities where average daily temThe scheme, developed on a former peratures in January can plummet golf course, saw Beaverbrook and the below -20 °C or -4 °F, is a community project team use a series of low-impact with the answers. About strategies to achieve a vari1,200 families will evenety of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals for tually call this low-impact “SUSTAINABLE human settlements, conscheme by Beaverbrook DESIGN AND sumption and production Developments home, and RESILIENCY ARE patterns as well as access around half of the project AT THE CORE to energy. has been completed. OF OUR Ultimately, the 13th goal The development is the PLANNING – take urgent action to result of Stantec Consult- PRACTICES”
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combat climate change and its impacts – encapsulates the primary driver for the scheme’s sustainable design.
DESIGN CHALLENGES The project presented several opportunities and challenges. Beaverbrook wanted a park site to celebrate the enduring value of sustainable development. Furthermore, the company’s vision for the plaza was beyond anything previously built in Edmonton. That vision was in line with the City of Edmonton’s winter planning and design strategy. This encourages developers to view the season as an asset and create public spaces that illuminate night-time, strategically block wind and capture sunlight to make outdoor environments more comfortable.
Stantec’s planners weaved such winter planning and design principles throughout the project. As a result, the plaza celebrates Edmonton’s climate and incorporates many of the strategy’s principles to make the neighbourhood a lively hub throughout the year. The focus on sustainability runs through the scheme. Its protected natural areas, bioswales – channels designed to concentrate and convey stormwater run-off while removing debris and pollution – and rain gardens culminate in the Sustainability Plaza. This is the primary gathering place in the development and a social hub for people of all ages and walks of life. At the heart of the plaza lies the ice ribbon. This 200-metre path serves as an ice rink in the winter and a walk-
ing trail in the spring, summer and autumn. Everyone can enjoy the space – from skating on the ice ribbon, relaxing in the shelters or planting vegetables in the spring. The surrounding park site around the plaza is designed to accommodate a nine-hole disc golf course in the summer and cross-country ski trails in the winter. Once completed, the design of the park will support recreation throughout the year unlike sports fields which are not used as heavily in Edmonton’s brutal winters. Two repurposed shipping containers next to the ice ribbon offer shelter and seating for visitors. A toddlers’ playground featuring sustainably sourced wood and a solar-powered light canopy provides natural colour and warmth
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Solar-powered Wi-Fi provides a vital link to the plaza without relying on fossil fuels
throughout the year while creating a safe and well-lit play environment. Ambient lighting also allows children to play outside when days get shorter in autumn and winter, with the plaza remaining a neighbourhood hub in all seasons. Community gardens create a highly productive and interactive landscape where residents can grow fruit, vegetables, and ornamental plants. Besides local food production, the gardens also offer more opportunities for people to meet. The scheme involves a variety of best practices for low-impact development and green building. The inner ring of the ice ribbon includes soft landscaping that serves as a rain garden to store snow and water run-off, thereby helping to prevent flooding of the surrounding open space. Most of the plaza’s lighting relies on solar and wind power generation. The neighbourhood’s street lighting uses LED lights, minimising light pollution, maintenance and replacements costs as well as significantly lowering energy consumption by up to 60 per cent. Solar-powered Wi-Fi also provides a vital link to the plaza without relying on fossil fuels.
ECOLOGICAL NETWORK Several of the scheme’s low-impact development strategies look to improve the amount and quality of groundwater. A constructed wetland takes on stormwater run-off and improves groundwater quality while providing an enhanced habitat for waterfowl, small mammals, amphibians and insects to strengthen the ecological network. This is located at a natural low point in the area, using the topography to enhance an existing modified wetland in the same place. The entrance to the plaza also features an expansive rain garden where permeable surfaces allow runoff from a roadway to be collected, naturally filtered and then absorbed back into the groundwater system. To the north of the plaza, a bioswale directs stormwater run-off from
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most of the site to a mature tree stand and wetland developed under the scheme. This also serves as a key pedestrian corridor and ecological link across the neighbourhood. Wood-chip mulch surrounding a community garden provides a walking surface, while also allowing water to absorb naturally. Other low-impact strategies include looking after the long-term health of tree stands, transplanting trees and maintaining the site’s natural hydrology. The scheme employs extensive reuse strategies. The neighbourhood’s com-
munity gardens rely on rainwater for irrigation. Portions of the repurposed shipping containers that had been cut out for windows in the shelters were then used to build the roof of a rain harvesting shelter. This collects water and directs it into a symbolic giant watering can cistern next to the community gardens. The rainwater cistern was made out of a surplus culvert created during earlier stages of the project. This was delivered as part of Beaverbrook’s construction waste management programme for the Hills at Charlesworth,
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ity, cost, and maintenance. Keeping the budget in mind, the team worked towards a design that considered the concerns of all stakeholders as well as the developer’s ambition “to push the boundaries of what a park or plaza could be”, according to Beaverbrook Communities president Jodie Wacko.
SUSTAINABILITY SHOWCASE Many of the project features in the draft proposal – and ultimately included in the final design – challenged the City of Edmonton’s standards and required variances from its parks department’s guidelines. This meant the project team had to work closely with city administrators to ensure the scheme could be built on time and successfully. “Sustainable design and resiliency are at the core of our planning practices and something we aim for on every project,” says Stantec principal Scott Cole. “The Hills at Charlesworth takes a creative and practical approach to building a vibrant, year-round space that’s also the pride of the community.” Overall, the scheme establishes a strong placemaking identity for the plaza. Its sustainable development principles and low-impact strategies are transferable to other projects around the world, adds Stantec Consulting. Northern cities in particular can adopt such winter planning and design which diverts materials from landfill as concepts to encourage public spaces much as possible. are used all year round. Stantec Consulting says such reuse In their comments on the Hills at strategies challenge the industry’s Charlesworth, the RTPI Awards interstandard practice of buying new national category judges praised the materials. They also challenge develproject as an “ingenious opers to incorporate scheme” for creating a adaptive reuse and sustainability throughout “REUSE STRATEGIES strong community hub that can be used yearthe life cycle of a project CHALLENGE THE round, using aspects of to help maintain design INDUSTRY’S the natural winter locaexcellence. STANDARD tion as a vision for design. A critical aspect of the PRACTICE OF “The project not only process involved convinc- BUYING NEW showcases sustainabiling the City of Edmonton MATERIALS” ity in planning, but has about the scheme. Stanbeen able to demonstrate tec’s recommendations strong community outto the authority included comes too.” information on viabil-
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A N A LY S E D B Y M A T T M O O D Y / A P P E A L S @ T H E P L A N N E R . C O . U K
Inspector criticises ‘painfully out of date’ local plan EXPERT COMMENT
In approving plans for 40 homes on countryside land near Stansted Airport, an inspector has criticised Uttlesford District Council’s local plan, remarking that it ‘had been out of date longer than it was in date’. The 2.25 hectares of pastureland lie on the edge of Elsenham, Essex. The land’s owners, along with developer Rosconn Strategic Land, sought permission to build 44 homes on the site, later revised to 40. The site is outside the village’s settlement boundary and within the countryside protection zone (CPZ) around the airport. Under local policy, development is only allowed in the countryside if it “needs to be there” or is “appropriate to a rural area”. Inspector Dominic Young noted the Uttlesford Local Plan (2005) had been adopted seven years before the original NPPF, at a time when there was no requirement to boost the supply of housing or identify an objectively assessed need, and no presumption in favour of sustainable development. The plan only covered the period up to 2011, and having expired nearly 10 years ago, had been out of date for longer than it was in date. Its housing requirements were derived from projections that were “three decades out of date”, and “most, if not all” of its allocations had “long since been built out”. On this basis, Young said, “there can be
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Councillor John Evans of Uttlesford District Council said:
( “We have noted inspector Young's decision and would observe that while the local plan is ‘out of date’, the decision reflects the particular facts and considerations as described by the inspector regarding the specific site and its setting. The council has confidence that the policy regarding development in rural areas contained in the local plan is compatible with the NPPF particularly in regard to heritage and landscape considerations. ( “Work has commenced on the preparation of a new local plan and thematic early engagement with the community and other interested parties is about to be undertaken" LOCATION: Elsenham AUTHORITY: Uttlesford District Council
INSPECTOR: DM Young PROCEDURE: Hearing DECISION: Allowed REFERENCE: APP/ C1570/W/19/3242550
little doubt that the local plan is now painfully out of date”, and “clearly not a strong foundation upon which to refuse planning permission”. There had been an emerging local plan that had identified the appeal site for housing, however, that was
withdrawn in January 2020 in response to its examining inspector’s concerns that its proposed “garden communities” would worsen affordability problems in the area. The inspector advised the council to allocate more small and medium-sized sites such as the appeal site. The council acknowledged it had not always strictly applied the restrictive policies in its out-of-date plan, and that its housing land supply situation would be “significantly worse” if it had. Continuing to apply these policies would “continue to compromise” the council’s ability to meet its housing need, and its settlement boundaries were therefore not to be considered “inviolable”. Although the council had met its housing targets
in each of the past three years, the inspector added, there was little to show whether this was the result of a “fundamental shift”, or simply “an ephemeral eddy of appeal-based delivery”. Considering impact on the area’s character, Young noted it was subject to a number of “urbanising influences” nearby. The planned housing would have a “localised visual effect” arising from the site’s loss of open and undeveloped character, he found, but overall harm would be “limited”. “Based on the foregoing”, the inspector concluded, “it is clear the adverse impacts of the proposal would not significantly and demonstrably outweigh [its] substantial benefits.” He allowed the appeal.
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These are just a few of the 40 or so appeal reports that we post each month on our website: www.theplanner.co.uk/decisions
Budweiser logos would be ‘alien’ to Welsh wind turbine A plan to display three Budweiser logos on an 82-metre wind turbine supplying clean electricity to a brewery in South Wales has been scuppered because they would introduce an ‘alien element’ into a rural landscape.
Pandemic effect on housing supply would be ‘temporary’
I M AG E S | A L A M Y / S H U T T E RSTO C K
Refusing plans for 81 homes in Bedfordshire, an inspector ruled that although Covid-19 disruption had brought the council’s marginal housing land supply below five years, this would be temporary. The appellant, Hollins Strategic Land, sought permission to build 81 homes on the site, near Wootton, Bedfordshire. Inspector Rebecca Norman sided with the appellant on two of the council’s reasons for refusal, ruling that subject to appropriate mitigation measures, the scheme would not harm the designated county wildlife site nearby or cause highway safety problems. But on two other two issues she sided with the council. The scheme would “fundamentally alter the rural character and appearance of the appeal site”, she said, while the appellant had failed to demonstrate that the proposal could not have been located on lower-quality agricultural land. Norman found that the council’s housing land supply had been exactly five years, but that Covid-19’s impact had caused it to fall marginally below that figure. A full five-year supply would not engage the tilted balance, she pointed out, but “anything below this, however slight”, would. But the appellant had submitted data from developer Barratt Homes suggesting that the pandemic’s impact on housebuilding was likely to have a short-term effect of between three and six months. Although there LOCATION: Wootton was technically a shortfall in the five-year supply AUTHORITY: Bedford Borough Council that meant the tilted balance had to be applied, INSPECTOR: R Norman she indicated, this was “a marginal shortfall... for PROCEDURE: Written submissions a short period of time, which is through no fault DECISION: Dismissed of the council”. But in the full planning REFERENCE: APP/ balance, the inspector K0235/W/19/3243154 gave more weight to the scheme’s development plan conflict, concluding that it did not accord with the development plan.
The appeal concerned an area of open countryside in a low-lying agricultural landscape to the east side of the A4810 Eastern Distributor Road, which links Newport to the M4 at Magor. An 82-metre tall turbine had already been consented for the site, which would supply clean electricity to the Magor Brewery, around 1.4 kilometres away. Clean Earth Energy, the supplier of the turbine, proposed to mount three logos on the turbine’s nacelle (the unit at the top of the pole to which the blades are attached) advertising Budweiser, which owns the Magor Brewery. The logos would consist of the Budweiser brand name in white lettering on a red background, on the two flanks and the back of the nacelle. The logos – two of which would be 4.5 metres high – would be visible from the nearest road some 375 metres away. Inspector Alwyn B Nixon observed that, despite the presence of large power lines and other wind turbines in the locality, the appeal
LOCATION: Caldicot AUTHORITY: Newport City Council INSPECTOR: Alwyn B Nixon PROCEDURE: Written submissions DECISION: Dismissed REFERENCE: APP/ G6935/H/20/3257406
site’s character was “largely rural and free from built development”. The proposed advertisement display would, he said, “introduce a prominent and eye-catching alien element into the landscape”. The appellant contended that the Budweiser logo would advertise the Magor Brewery’s commitment to combating climate change. However, the inspector ruled: “I do not find these arguments sufficiently persuasive to outweigh the harm to local amenity I have identified.”
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LANDSCAPE
C&D { C Restaurant allowed after use class order amendment
LOCATION: Stroud Green AUTHORITY: Islington Borough Council INSPECTOR: D Szymanski PROCEDURE: Written submissions DECISION: Allowed REFERENCE: APP/ V5570/W/19/3243073
The appeal concerned a vacant retail unit on Stroud Green Road, a secondary frontage of Finsbury Park town centre. In August 2019, the appellant sought consent for a change of use of the unit from use class A1 to a restaurant under class A3, as well as a rear extension. According to the local development plan, adopted June 2013, proposals to change the use of retail premises will not be permitted unless five policy criteria are satisfied. Inspector D Szymanski found
15-home scheme would jeopardise urban extension’s sustainability Plans for 15 homes on land set aside to build a link road between two parts of a planned 820-home urban extension in Dorset would ‘undermine the environmental sustainability’ of the wider development, an inspector has ruled. The appeal site, on the edge of Chickerell, Dorset, sat between the two parts of an allocation of land for an urban extension to the town, which is set to deliver 820 homes. Plans for the extension state that the appeal site must be used to build a link road connecting both parts of the allocation with the town. The appellants made no provision for a link road in their plans. They argued that
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the road could be provided elsewhere on land not contained within the allocation, and that the delivery of the road was in any case uncertain because the two parts of the allocation were under different ownership. Inspector Benjamin Webb
conflict with three of these, noting that the frontage was composed of less than 50 per cent retail use, that the unit had not been vacant for two years, and that the plan would result in a chain of more than two non-retail units. But, the inspector noted, changes to the use classes that came into force this September created a new commercial, business and service use class (class E), which incorporates old use classes A1, A2, A3, B1, and some of D1 and D2.
Therefore, he found, the plan no longer constituted a change of use, and the retail use could be lost without planning permission. Given that the unit was of an adequate size to accommodate a restaurant without the proposed extension, Szymanski was satisfied that there was a “greater than theoretical” possibility of the retail use being lost even if the appeal failed. This constituted a realistic fallback option for the appellant.
“attached very little weight” to the appellants’ argument, noting that the development of the road would be phased according to the progress of the extension as a whole. Therefore, “whilst the split control of land might delay delivery of the link road”, he ruled, “it should not prevent it from being delivered in the long term”. Although the appeal scheme’s failure to provide any scope for a road link would not stop the extension from being built and delivering homes, Webb noted, the lack of direct connectivity
LOCATION: Chickerell
I M AG E S | G E T T Y / A L A M Y / S H U T T E RSTO C K
Plans to convert a shop in Islington into a restaurant that conflicted with local policy have been allowed, because recent changes to the use classes order meant the scheme no longer needed planning permission.
AUTHORITY: Dorset Council INSPECTOR: Benjamin Webb PROCEDURE: Written submissions DECISION: Dismissed REFERENCE: APP/ D1265/W/20/3254642
between its two parts would “jeopardise the provision of a bus route”, impede pedestrians and cyclists, and deflect traffic onto smaller nearby roads, all of which would “undermine the environmental sustainability of the development”.
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DECISIONS DIGEST{
SUBSCRIBE to our appeals digest:
https://subs.theplanner. co.uk/register
Country housestyle flats can replace tennis centre re in green belt elt A block of 23 flats with the appearance of a “traditional country house” can be built in the Surrey green belt because it would occupy less space than the “moribund” tennis centre currently on the site. bit.ly/planner1120-tennis
Bus horn tests would disrupt residents of affordable scheme
Uneven topography justifies sixstorey blocks
Plans for a 100 per cent affordable brownfield housing scheme in Wakefield have been rejected after an inspector decided that noise from a neighbouring bus depot would harm the living conditions of future residents. bit.ly/planner1120-bus
Plans for 48 new flats west of Glasgow can go ahead, after a reporter deemed the two planned six-storey blocks acceptable because of the topography and “visual context” of the appeal site, which is cut into a hillside. bit.ly/planner1120-glasgow
Approved housing will support marginally viable pub
‘Inco ‘Incongruous’ fake hedgerow must be removed hedge from suburban house
Plans to convert a marginally viable pub in Norfolk that closed in 2018 into a house were rejected by an inspector, who ruled that the 100 new homes approved for the village would “increase the need for the facility and support its viability”. bit.ly/planner1120-pub
An ar artificial hedgerow attached to a fence and garage attach must be removed for privacy pr because it significantly harms becau character of a suburban the ch street, an inspector has ruled. street bit.ly/planner1120-hedge bit.ly/ y
Doubledecker café deemed harmful to AONB
‘Oppressive’ student accommodation rejected
An inspector has refused retrospective permission for a small business in Cornwall running a café from a converted double-decker bus, citing unacceptable harm to the surrounding area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB). bit.ly/planner1120-cafe
Plans for 22 serviced apartments in Bournemouth that would feature an “impractically small'’ communal space and windows looking directly towards a blank wall would create an “oppressive” effect, an inspectorr has ruled. bit.ly/planner1120-wall
‘Monolithic’ blank façade criticised at virtual hearing
Newly designated conservationn area e removes demolition rights
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An inspector has rejected plans to demolish a Victorian house in n Northamptonshire, ruling that the he council’s designation of a conservation rvation area after the application had been een submitted meant the proposal was not permitted development. bit.ly/planner1120-conservation n
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Following a virtual hearing, an inspector rejected plans for a four-storey block of flats in Hillingdon that featured a “monolithic” blank façade, noting that a “preferable” alternative scheme had since been approved by the council. bit.ly/planner1120-monolith
NOVEMBER 2020 / THE PLANNER
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LANDSCAPE
LLegal landscape OPINION
White paper sacrifices arts and culture The government’s proposed planning reforms in Planning for the Future have a huge blind spot when it comes to cultural activities and the nighttime economy, argue Shain Shapiro and Tara Tank
In July, Robert Jenrick announced new use class order regulations to protect England’s theatres, concert halls and live music venues from redevelopment or demolition until 2022, given the impact of Covid-19. Jenrick said it is “vital” these cultural institutions are “properly protected by the planning system”. Yet Planning for the Future, announced a month later, does not align with the secretary of state’s comments. Its objective is to deliver more homes, faster. But housing does not work in isolation. Arts, culture, music and night-time economy spaces create vibrant places to live and support economic growth, tourism, employment, education and more. Yet the white paper offers little reference to cultural spaces or guidance on how plan-making can best inform their retention and development. Long term, these reforms could create an ecosystem where it will be harder to secure planning permission for cultural use and easier to eliminate it. There are several reasons to be concerned. First, preservation of cultural heritage at the local level is limited to conservation areas and listed building consent. Planning for the Future fails
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including light industrial or to recognise or protect other high street shops, will reduce cultural facilities like artist creative workspace supply, workspace, unless it is classed and create further burdens for as sui generis. noise-producing uses nearby. Second, if section 106 is to Finally, Planning for the be abolished and replaced by Future’s commitment to a consolidated infrastructure beauty and good design does levy, further guidance is not include needed to outline soundscaping, how cultural provision – “THESE REFORMS only landscaping. The reforms spaces, places and COULD CREATE are a unique venues – could AN ECOSYSTEM chance to expand be supported WHERE IT our cultural through developer WILL BE MORE and creative contributions. DIFFICULT industries with Third, there TO SECURE the right policies. is no reference PLANNING to the dual, yet PERMISSION FOR The introduction of a national interlinked, roles CULTURAL USE infrastructure of planning and AND EASIER TO levy offers an licensing and how ELIMINATE IT” opportunity they impact the to introduce evening and nighta cultural time economy. infrastructure Fourth, many levy, which cultural venues could include are set to be in sport, playgrounds, creative ‘renewal’ zones. How the industries and night-time zoning reform impacts economy uses. cultural venues and permitted Planning for the Future is development around these light on detail and it remains venues is yet to be defined. It unclear how the reformed is imperative that ‘agent-ofplanning system will foster change’ requirements remain, culture across the built but this has not been included. environment. Revisions Fifth, use class and to the NPPF will no doubt permitted development provide clarification, but this right reforms, introduced is on condition that ‘cultural separately from the white wellbeing’ does not get paper, fail to assuage these written out or devalued. These concerns. The ability to proposed changes pose a convert most uses to housing,
significant question: what will be the driving force in shaping our future towns and cities? The music, cultural and night-time industries, together with planners, must actively engage in the consultation process. We are not only designing and planning places to live; we are designing and planning places to live for. Sound Diplomacy, along with the Music Venue Trust, Creative Land Trust, Studiomakers, Outset Contemporary Arts Fund, Space Studios and Night Time Industries Association, has prepared the following response to Planning for the Future (below). To read, visit bit.ly/ planner1120-sound Shain Shapiro is founder and chief executive at Sound Diplomacy. Tara Tank is the organisation’s lead researcher.
In brief The government vows to protect cultural institutions, but its white paper offers little Proposed zoning rules, use class regs and loss of s106 payments are key threats to cultural spaces Planners and others must work together to ensure reforms protect and expand the sector
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OPINION
Planning for the Future is no stellar act The planning white paper is laudable in its ambition to fix planning, says Ben Arrowsmith, but may need a little refinement in parts
“We sit in the mud, my friend, and reach for the stars.” I am sure it was not the English planning system that Turgenev had in mind when he penned this in Fathers and Sons but it resonates with our planning system’s current predicament: paucity of affordable homes; inconsistencies; lack of and delayed infrastructure; not enough homes for local people. The system is, arguably, in the mud and the planning white paper, Planning for the Future, laudably reaches for the stars.
effectively respond to any local plan consultation: the paper states that, currently, consultation is dominated by “the few willing and able to navigate the process – the voice of those who stand to gain from development is not heard loudly enough, such as young people”. Given the crucial role the local plan will take regarding development, people must engage with the process. This crucial task is being looked at by the Local Government Association (LGA).
Inconsistency/consistency Local plans No one will argue that The white paper looks to frontplanning decisions are load the system, putting “new inconsistent across the emphasis on engagement at country (despite the the plan-making stage”. This aims of the NPPF). It is will, in turn, “streamline the understandable that what is opportunity for consultation acceptable in one place is not at the planning application in another. stage” – governmentBut the idea that all speak which translates applications that accord with as “applications made in the local plan should receive accordance permission will, with the local in theory at least, “AS THOUSANDS plan will be give consistency OF UNFORTUNATE to developments automatically STUDENTS granted”. within any given FOUND OUT OVER This is not a administrative THE SUMMER, bad thing but, area. I believe ALGORITHMS in practice, that, given the ARE NOT ALWAYS clear guidance local variations HELPFUL” must be issued for housing for people to requirements and understand SME developers, how to the touted
infrastructure levy (as proposed in Planning for the Future) should not be one set figure but should allow for regional variation. Paradoxically, such a variation should reduce inconsistency in planning decisions, given that the infrastructure levy will be based on what can reasonably be sought in any given administrative area, thereby obviating drastic inconsistencies from policy in respect of, for example, affordable housing. Affordable housing This country has suffered from a woeful underprovision of affordable homes under all hues of government. The white paper sets out initiatives to improve this. But there are contradictions in its proposals. The white paper states that the new infrastructure levy will allow local planning authorities “to secure more on-site [affordable] housing provision” and yet also states that it will ensure that ”affordable housing provision supported through developer contributions is kept at least at current levels”. There is also the proposed temporary lifting of the small sites’ threshold to “up to 40 or 50 units” before any affordable housing can be sought.
Housing numbers There is disquiet about the government’s algorithm dealing with where houses should be built which, say reports, has a percentage increase of 161 per cent (as against current delivery) for London and 57 per cent for the South East, compared with -28 per cent for the North East. This cannot be right if we are trying to invigorate the North’s economy. As students found out over the summer, algorithms are not always helpful. The LGA’s housing spokesman said it best: “Algorithms and formulas can never be a substitute for local knowledge and decisionmaking by councils and communities who know their areas best.” In these days of short, succinct messages, I suggest a Blairite “Engage. Engage. Engage” (to run alongside “Hands. Face. Space”). Ben Arrowsmith is an associate in the planning team with BDB Pitmans
In brief There is no doubt the planning system is in need of reform Planning for the Future’s suggestions for improving the system are laudable but contain flaws in key areas – not least a reliance of standardised approaches Local knowledge and local engagement are the keys to good local planning
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NEWS RTPI news pages are edited by Will Finch at the RTPI, 41 Botolph Lane, London EC3R 8DL
‘Tackling the challenges, embracing the changes’: looking back at an unusual year a local level, will also be announced on YouTube – look out for ceremonies taking place from 16-19 November. Looking ahead to next year, our 2021 Awards for Planning Excellence are now open for entries. All categories, including ‘Planning Heroes in a Pandemic’, are free to enter. Entries close on 14 December: bit.ly/planner1120-excellence
Online training and events
This has been a year of extraordinary change and as we continue to navigate our way through the current climate, I wanted to take the opportunity to thank you for your continued support, writes Chief Executive Victoria Hills. Although it has been a time of uncertainty, we have also had the chance to do things differently. We have tackled the challenges and embraced the changes, and they have enabled us to work smarter by transforming our operations digitally to ensure we can continue to support you. Here are some of my highlights:
Communicating with members In early March, we introduced a weekly Covid-19 bulletin to update you with our response to the outcomes of limiting the effects of the coronavirus and to inform you how we were continuing to offer our member services, as well as providing updates on all the UK government’s changes that affect planning systems. We were also excited to launch our new website in March and I’ve received some fantastic feedback. The new site has enabled us to create ‘hubs’ for important information, including a
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Coronavirus Hub, a one-stop shop for all Covid-19 news including updates from government and other agencies relating to planners and the planning system, shared experiences from other planners and Covid-19 modules from RTPI Learn. In the Hub, we are also offering support for members and their families in hardship through the RTPI Trust.
Awards With the cancelling of all face-to-face events and travel due to the pandemic, we quickly responded by moving many of our events online. We kicked off our online events with our annual RTPI Awards for Planning Excellence, which took place on 30 April. The atmosphere was fantastic, with Marmalade Lane – submitted by TOWN & Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Service – winning not only two project categories, but also the much-coveted Silver Jubilee Cup. At the time of writing, the ceremony has been viewed more than 3,000 times on our YouTube channel. The winners of this year’s Regional Awards for Planning Excellence, celebrating the very best of planning at
Our staff and volunteers have been working collaboratively staging a series of free online CPD webinars. A broad range of planning topics have been covered including climate change, digital technologies, health and inclusive planning and planning’s response to the pandemic. Our training masterclasses also went online this year offering cost-effective CPD wherever you are based. In June, we held a week-long programme of sessions for ‘The Planner Live Online’. You can catch up with it on our YouTube channel. As I write, The Planner Live is also taking place in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Our Young Planners come together on 11 November at their virtual conference with the theme ‘New Decade, New Leaders’. We will run online webinars in 2021 and we hope that they continue to engage and deliver value. The number of bookings and attendance for our online events have exceeded our expectations, and the feedback from attendees has been excellent.
Plan the World We Need Through our policy and public affairs work, we have looked to engage with governments across the UK and Ireland on planning’s response to Covid-19. In June, during The Planner Live Online, President Sue Manns FRTPI launched our Plan The World We Need campaign, based on our excellent report of the same name. Its main objective is to raise I M AG E S | RT P I
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awareness of the essential role planners play in creating a resilient, sustainable and inclusive world that delivers on netzero targets. The campaign has been well received and highlights to date include a mention in the England Planning for the Future white paper, 27 pieces of media coverage and a film with 8,100 views on YouTube. For campaign updates, visit rtpi. org.uk/plantheworldweneed
RTPI in the news Articles featuring comment and research by the RTPI appeared across the national media, including the BBC website and The Telegraph, as well as local press. In June, I was delighted my letter to The Times was published in which I took issue with the notion that the planning regime is a “socialist relic” of post-war Britain. Following the announcement of the
Across the organisation All of our teams are working remotely but this has not slowed our delivery. Membership has reported a highest-ever pass rate for APC, while Education and Careers continue to promote planning as a career to young people. Across our Regions and Nations, our work and that of our volunteers has maintained its momentum, providing opportunities for members to access high-quality CPD webinars and to represent the profession to all governments in the UK, influencing policies and promoting the opportunities and capabilities of planning to solve so many of the issues we are facing now.
“THE RTPI BOARD OF TRUSTEES RECOGNISES THE IMPORTANCE OF SUPPORTING MEMBERS THROUGH THESE CHALLENGING TIMES BY KEEPING SUBSCRIPTION FEES AS LOW AS POSSIBLE WHILST STILL PROVIDING A HIGHQUALITY SERVICE. WE ARE DELIGHTED TO ANNOUNCE THAT THERE WILL BE NO INCREASE IN SUBSCRIPTION RATES FOR 2021.” SUE BRIDGE FRTPI, CHAIR OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
government’s plans for planning reform in early August, I embarked on a session of media appearances to put forward the case for planning – including interviews with BBC Radio 4’s You and Yours, Times Radio and Talk Radio. I also did the media rounds pre-lockdown, responding to a National Audit Office report on HS2.
Looking to the future In September I joined a new expert advisory group for the Covid Recovery Commission. In my role, I will support the work of the group to produce bold and practical ideas to ensure that the UK economy emerges stronger, fairer and more resilient post-Covid. We’re also working on launching more projects from our new 10-year corporate strategy. We’ve already launched a volunteering strategy, climate action plan, Invest and Prosper Business Case for planning, and CHANGE – our 10-year plan to make the planning profession more diverse and inclusive. For details, visit bit.ly/planner1120-strategy I look forward to driving these forward and working with many of you in 2021.
Some of the highlights from a busy year for the RTPI
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NEWS
Fast-track your professional development by volunteering for the RTPI
ELECTION RESULTS 2020
Applications are now open for membership of some of the key committees of the Royal Town Planning Institute. Committees play a vital role in leading various pillars of our work to help deliver the vision and mission set out in the 2020-2030 Corporate Strategy. These pillars include:
Congratulations to all members who have been elected to positions on the RTPI’s Board of Trustees and General Assembly, and in the Nations and Regions.
to the following committees: n Audit n Membership and Ethics n Education and Lifelong Learning n Policy, Practice and Research n England Policy Panel n International n Appointment and Remuneration
n influencing governments on planning’s
response to Covid-19, housing and infrastructure needs and climate change through our policy and research work. n Raising awareness of the essential role planners play in creating a resilient, sustainable and inclusive world that delivers on net-zero targets through our campaigns such as Plan The World We Need. n Guiding members and employers to achieve a more diverse and inclusive profession through our 10-year action plan – CHANGE. n Encouraging all in the planning profession to aspire to be Chartered Members of the RTPI as well as encouraging others to join us. n Encouraging the best talent from a more diverse pool of young people to enter the planning profession. n Supporting our members in their professional development through first-class training and networking opportunities. n Developing and strengthening the RTPI’s international links and reputation, positioning us as global thought leaders. We are seeking applications for membership
n Chair of RTPI Board of
“All our committees are powered by the extraordinary work of RTPI members who volunteer their time, expertise and professional insight,” says RTPI Chief Executive Victoria Hills. “Being a committee member is a rewarding experience, and can contribute to your personal and professional development – so don’t miss this fabulous opportunity to volunteer and accelerate your career development.” Those who are already members of a committee must reapply for 2021. The RTPI is keen to encourage as wide and diverse a committee membership as possible so that the views, experience and knowledge of all our members will continue to enrich our work. Applications must be made before 5pm on 30 November 2020. For further information, email governance@rtpi.org.uk or visit bit.ly/planner1120-governance n The RTPI is also seeking local representatives for its committees in the Nations and Regions – for further details, email sarah.woodford@rtpi.org.uk
RTPI TO ACHIEVE NETZERO EMISSIONS BY 2025 The RTPI has announced that it aims to be the world’s first ‘net-zero’ membership body by reducing its net carbon emissions to zero by 2025. The announcement was made by immediate past president and Board of Trustees climate action champion Ian Tant MRTPI at the recent online Welsh Planner Live. Ian was speaking at the launch of the RTPI’s Climate Action Plan, produced by environmental and engineering consultancy RSK. He said: “For many years, planners around the world have been leading the way in providing solutions to tackle climate change. “As the largest Institute for professional planners, the RTPI is now ‘walking the walk’, we believe we will be the first membership organisation to become fully carbon net zero. “The actions included in the plan include switching to green energy providers and requiring that our suppliers join with us in reducing carbon emissions. We will also be looking to adapt our offices and working practices to reduce the need for staff, members and visitors to travel in order to attend meetings and events.”
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RTPI Board of Trustees Trustees: Susan Bridge FRTPI n Vice-President: Timothy
David Crawshaw MRTPI n Honorary Treasurer:
Andrew Taylor FRTPI n Trustee for Scotland:
Stefano Smith FRTPI n Chartered Trustees: Meeta
Kaur MRTPI, Layla VidalMartin MRTPI
RTPI General Assembly Chartered Members n Samer Bagaeen MRTPI n John Collins MRTPI n Maria Dunn MRTPI n Helen Fadipe MRTPI n Alice Lester MBE MRTPI n Nicky Linihan MRTPI n Guiseppe MA Zanre MRTPI n Judith Onuh MRTPI n Sarah Platts MRTPI n Robyn Prince MRTPI n Lindsey Richards FRTPI n Mark Southgate MRTPI n Laura Webster MRTPI n Jennifer Winyard MRTPI
Legal Member/Associate n Martin Edwards LARTPI
Student/Licentiate n Gabrielle Appiah n Andrew Martin n Olafiyinfoluwa Taiwo
RTPI Nations and Regions South West Regional Management Board n David Lowin MRTPI (Regional GA Representative) n Ian Perry MRTPI (Vice Chair)
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G PLANNIN AHEAD MEMBER NEWS
NEW FELLOWS
New topics in RTPI’s 2021 national training programme The RTPI has announced its programme of more than 40 online CPD masterclasses for 2021, featuring a range of new topics and a ‘How to Succeed in Your New Job’ series for newly qualified planners. Diversity, inclusivity and climate action are themes running through all 2021 courses and there’ll be a return of the most popular courses from 2020, including Environmental Impact Assessments, Viability and Development Finance and interactive skills courses on writing, negotiation and communication skills for planning professionals. RTPI Head of Education Andrew Close (pictured) said: “Designed and delivered by industry subject experts, RTPI CPD Masterclasses reflect the training needs of planners. Transformed into online delivery for 2021, the course topics are looked at through the lens of pandemic recovery and are designed to help planners do their job more effectively in these difficult times, with practical case studies, frameworks and checklists. Each course consists of a three-hour class with pre- and post-session activities that complement the live training. “As an attendee, you will gain inspiration from the trainer and your peers, learn about key developments and reflect on the impact you can make in your practice. All masterclasses are aligned to the RTPI’s Core CPD Framework so come submission time, members have guaranteed quality training to report to the Institute.” The national training programme, organised by RTPI Training, is part of a wider CPD programme and complements the RTPI Online Events programme. New RTPI Training topics for 2021 n An introduction to plan making n An introduction to development management n An introduction to planning enforcement n Implementing the new Northern Ireland planning framework n Implementing the new Wales planning framework n Implementing the new English planning framework n Enforcement n Climate change and how to implement carbon net zero locally n Booking for 2021 courses opens on 2 November – visit bit.ly/planner1120-training
The RTPI is delighted to announce that Gareth Giles (top) and John McNairney have been elected to Fellowship of the Institute – under the provisions of the Royal Charter, they are now entitled to use the designatory letters FRTPI and to describe themselves as a Chartered Fellow. Gareth is a partner at planning consultancy Whaleback based in Sussex, while John is the Chief Planner for the Scottish Government.
RYAN WINS NORTHERN IRELAND AWARD Well done to Ryan Walker MRTPI, who has been named as the inaugural winner of the RTPI Northern Ireland Young Planner of the Year. Ryan is a Chartered Planning Consultant at The Paul Hogarth Company in Belfast and is chair of RTPI Northern Ireland Young Planners and Vice-Chair of the RTPI’s national Young Planners network. Also commended was Erin Donaldson MRTPI, a planner at Turley in Belfast and a founding member of Women in Planning in Northern Ireland.
IN MEMORIAM It is with sadness that we announce the deaths of the following members. We offer our sincere condolences to their families and colleagues. London n Abdul Kassim n Iain Rhind n John Welbank n Peter Woodhead
South East n Colin Wilkinson n George Roffey n Michael O’Sullivan n Terence Elson
North West n Ian Fray n John Procter Scotland n Peter Selman
South West n Andrew Mann n Ian McDonald n Richard Harman
East Midlands n Andrew Watson n Peter Dalton n Robert Marshall
North East
West Midlands
n David Lovie
n Peter Storrie
East of England
International
n John Young n David Rusling n Peter Powell
n Michael Stephan
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Throughout the pandemic, organisations are still actively and successfully recruiting for planning professionals. Here is a selection of the most recent opportunities from a few of those organisations working with The Planner to recruit the best quality candidates in the marketplace.
Town Planner/ Planning Manager Salary: Circa £50,000 based on experience plus bonus and benefits Location: Central and Greater London
Planning Team Leader Infrastructure Responsibilities
Senior Planning Officer (Maternity Cover)
Salary: £27,741 £33,782 pa Full time, temporary contract for up to 12 months Location: Devon
Salary: £46,294 £50,877 pa Location: Milton Park, Oxfordshire
Principal Planning Officer Salary: £42,041 £46,244 pa Location: Lewes
Senior Planner Salary: From £34,200 pa Location:Cirencester, Gloucestershire
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Planning Officer Development Management and Planning Strategy Salary: £20,687 £28,606 + £2,907 car allowance pa Location: East Sussex
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Planners, Senior Planners, Principal Planners and Associate Planners Salary: Competitive Location: Midlands
To a d v ertis e please email: th ep l a n n er job s @ r e da c ti ve.c o.uk o r c a ll 02 0 78 8 0 6 2 32
Principal Planning Officer
Salary: Grade 8 £34,728 to £38,890 pa Location: Ripley, Derbyshire
Planning Team Leader/ Principal Planner (Senior Specialist Coordinator)
Salary: £40,523 £45,589 pa Location: Essex
Senior Planner Major Projects Head of Planning
Salary: Starting at £41,600 pa Location: Dartford, Kent
Salary: £48,337 to £62,550 pa Location: Swindon, Wiltshire
Career Grade Planner x2 Salary: £29,517 £43,860 Location: Hounslow, Greater London
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Activities
THE MONTH IN PLANNING
Mouse around for more details As with the rest of this November 2020 edition of The Planner, mousing over the links in these pages allows you to directly connect to the books and events discussed. While we continue to operate in an entirely digital fashion, we’re keen to offer you as many ways of interacting with the title and its contents as possible. Happy exploring!
What we’re watching
Working together to get things done – a view from different disciplines: RTPI South East webinar
Plan the World We Need: Young Planner of the Year in n discussion with RTPI President and others (27 min)
Forming part of RTPI Online Events 2020, this one – brought to you by RTPI South East – looks at how the different professions work together, overcoming challenges and coordinating efforts to deliver solutions.
RTPI Young Planner of the Year Robyn Skerratt (see page 18) chats here with RTPI president Sue Manns FRTPI, vicepresident Wei Yang and Ryan Walker (vice-chair, RTPI Young Planners Committee) about different aspects of the institute’s #PlanTheWorldWeNeed initiative and the planning profession.
Welsh Planner Live: What did we think of that? Reflections on the week from young planners A panel of young planners reflect on the various online events that comprised the recent Planner Live Wales conference.
Scottish Planner Live: What do planners need to make the step change? In this final session of #ScottishPlannerLive, planners from a range of backgrounds and perspectives talk about what they need to ensure they can work towards creating healthier places. What actions would they like to see introduced? What do they want and expect of others? Do we have the right policy framework or do we need to get better at joined-up working? What will they do to make this happen?
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History of town planning in India (17 mins) From the unitary Commission in 1864 to an examination of town planning systems pre and postindependence, this is a useful 17-minute primer covering all the major acts and reforms that have led to India’s planning system today.
Scottish Planner Live: What can planners learn from one another across the UK? (1 hour) Public health professionals and planners in England, Wales and Scotland talk about how they are working to create healthy places in their country. It compares and contrasts each of the policy frameworks and asks what successes they have had that could be used elsewhere.
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LANDSCAPE
What we’re reading RTPI Scotland: The National Planning Framework included in Project 2040 Ireland RTPI Scotland and the Scottish Government are working together to gather input from planning professionals about what they think the fourth National Planning Framework (NPF) should include. In this event, Conor Norton (head of the School of Transport Engineering, Environment and Planning at Technological University Dublin) gives an overview of the NPF included in Project 2040 Ireland, discussing its role as a corporate document in government and the resourcing and delivery of the framework.
Healthy Cities?: Design for Well-being – Concise Guides to Planning (Hardback) by Tim Townshend ISBN: 9781848223301
This book considers the impact of ‘lifestyle diseases’, exploring how the built environment has contributed to health and wellbeing problems and how the design of places may support, or constrain, healthy lifestyle choices. It sets out how understanding these relationships may lead to policy and practice that reduces health inequalities and allows people to live more fulfilling lives. It Published next April.
A Guide To Planning Ecological Townships: Sustainability Performance Indicators And Planning Strategies by Lai-Choo Malone -Lee, Chye Kiang Heng, Ivan Nasution, Manju Baisoya Pundir ISBN: 9789814733533
The authors present a compilation of sustainability indicators adopted in ‘eco city’ developments with a focus on highdensity projects in Asia. The book’s editors boast that the methodological structuring of planning parameters “lays the foundation for an evolved paradigm in ecological township planning.
Studies on China’s High-Speed Rail New Town Planning and Development by Lan Wang and Hao Gu ISBN: 9789811369186
This book focuses on new town planning development related to high speed rail (HSR), approaching the issue from three different perspectives: regional economic cooperation; HSR-based economic growth at a city level; and mixed land use and building environment in the periphery of HSR stations. It provides a framework to incorporate HSR into new town planning.
Planning within Complex Urban Systems by Shih-Kung Lai
An introduction to the axiomatic/ experimental approach to urban planning that addresses criticism of the lack of a theoretical foundation in urban planning. It depicts cities as complex systems and explains why planning from within is useful in the face of urban complexity. It also includes policy implications for Chinese cities. (This is £34 on Kindle or £114 in hardback. So you could buy yourself a Kindle to read the Kindle version and save yourself around £20...)
What we’re planning Our December and January issues consider both past and future. In December, historian Dr Chris Miele talks about heritage post-Covid and postplanning reforms. In January we speak to outgoing and incoming RTPI presidents Sue Manns and Wei Yang about the impact 2020 has had on the profession, and we consider Planning for the Future’s likely impact on planning authorities. Send your suggestions as to the stories you think deserve our attention – email editorial@theplanner.co.uk
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Book today rtpi.org.uk/training training@rtpi.org.uk + 44 (0)20 7929 8400 @RTPIPlanners #RTPICPD
View our brand new 2021 list of online masterclasses: rtpi.org.uk/training
Boost your CPD with interactive online masterclasses High-quality expert training for planning professionals p52_PLN.NOV20.indd 2
40+ courses: • 8 new courses • Brand new How to succeed in your new job series for recently qualified planners
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