PATH National held its inaugural Graduation Ceremony for the Tomorrow’s Planners programme on 22^nd November 2006, at the new office location in Birmingham. The ceremony was attended by PATH Trainees, new and old, together with their placement supervisors, Planning Managers and PATH representatives involved in the project.

The awards recognize the achievement of Tomorrow’s Planners Trainees in the completion of the programme by securing full time positions in planning. 21 trainees representing different ethnic backgrounds, from 81 trainees recruited over the last 3 years, have now graduated from the programme by accessing employment within the planning sector.  

Some of these trainees spoke of their personal experiences before, during and since completing the traineeship programme. There were numerous successes stories.

Pratima Ahuja was placed with London Borough of Redbridge Council in September 2004. Since February 2006, she has been now working as a Planning Officer at London Borough of Hounslow Council. 

Bhupinder Thandie, who also started his traineeship in September 2004 is now working on a full time contract with Birmingham City Council as Planning Officer having trained within their planning division.

Abel Musabayana was a trainee Planner at Bristol City Council since September 2003. He is now working with Stafford Borough Council as a Planning Officer in their Development Control Unit. He said,”I never felt alone; my supervisor was genuinely interested in my progress almost on a day-to-day basis. I could communicate with PATH any time if I had problems in addition to the regular reviews. The traineeship whilst on placement was hands-on; I was given almost the same status as practicing planners and I had my own caseload to manage, the only difference, understandably, being the amount of mentoring and monitoring. I was allowed to handle a sizeable caseload which included appeal cases. This made me feel confident and needed.”

Other speakers included George Law, Lifelong Learning Manager at RTPI, who gave a key note speech; John Harden,Planning Development Manager at Sandwell Council and Ian Slater, Head of Planning, Environment & Regeneration Luton Borough Council both spoke of their appreciation and need for project since being active providers for current and past trainees.

Paul Butler, Chief Executive, PATH National Ltd said “the award truly acknowledges the achievements of the participants of the programme.  The planning profession provides an exciting opportunity for members of the BME community to be actively involved in the development of their communities and for employers to benefit from having a more diverse workforce. The inaugural awards event provides an important launch pad for the project over the next 7 years.”    

For further information regarding the Tomorrows Planners programme and the services we have to offer, visit our website at www.pathuk.co.uk or contact generalinfo@pathuk.co.uk.

For further information regarding our partners, please visit the following websites:

London Development Agency - www.lda.gov.uk

Learning and Skills Council - www.lsc.gov.uk

Department for Communicates and Local Government -www.communities.gov.uk 

Planning Inspectorate - www.planning-inspectorate.gov.uk

Author:

George Law

Publisher:

The Royal Town Planning Institute

Date:

05-Jan-07

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