2012 Regional Award

The winners of the 2012 RTPI East of England Regional Planning Achievement Award are:

"Wallasea Island Wild Coast Project" entered by Essex County Council and the RSPB.

This innovative project will create new intertidal habitats to contribute to UK Biodiversity and help mitigate for losses due to climate change induced sea level rise. It will allow managed realignment of sea defences without resulting in adverse impacts in the wider Crouch and Roach Estuaries, and will reduce the potential for flooding through an unmanaged breach of Wallasea Island's sea defences, and will also increase public access to the coast. At the same time the project will provide an alternative to landfill, moving waste up the waste hierarchy. The project will use 7.5 million m3 of recovered inert fill material 4.5 million tonnes of which come from Crossrail's excavated material. This will be recovered and beneficially used at Wallasea Island.

The Regional Judging Panel felt the winning entry was a very worthy recipient of the Award for what is a truly unique scheme that will transform the landscape and contribute to providing sustainable habitats for vulnerable species. The judges commented: "although it is still theoretical and will take many years to see the predicted outcomes, it is an excellent project that should be supported and encouraged" and "it is an excellent example of planning being used to facilitate a solution from a problem".

The project rightly is described as a national 'flagship' coastal habitat creation project on a scale unique in the UK. The development demonstrates positive and innovative planning and the judges were unanimous in voting this a worthy winner.

Other Entries

The RTPI East of England Award Panel received four entries for the 2012 Regional Planning Achievement Award, spanning the world of planning.

Each of the entries is worthy of a mention, as they were interesting, inspiring and challenging schemes:

"Botanic Place, Cambridge", entered by Metropolis and Formation Architects. Botanic Place at Hills Road in Cambridge deals with the need to enhance the public realm and incorporate a much-loved local feature in a modern commercial development.

"Orchard Park, Cambridge", entered by South Cambridgeshire District Council. On the northern edge of Cambridge, Orchard Park is planned to deliver a new mixed-use development alongside the A14 and next to the guided busway. The development had stalled and the submitted project details work undertaken to ensure delivery of key parts of the development, including the community centre, and illustrates some of the challenges facing planning at the best of times, let alone in a recession.

"South Norfolk Place Making Guide", entered by South Norfolk District Council. South Norfolk's splendid interactive Place-Making Guide is beautifully presented and can be downloaded as a pdf chapter by chapter. It is easy to navigate and provides a detailed context and character portrait of each area of the district.

We hope that all four projects will receive recognition for the achievements and particularly for the contribution of planning and planners.

The judges were very impressed with all the entries and would like to thank everyone involved. The scores were very close.