President's inaugural speech
Planning with purpose – shaping our future together
First of all – Helen, congratulations. What a tremendous year, raising awareness of planning and the profile of planners and being the difference – capped off with your great campaign “It takes Planners and You” – a campaign that invites the public to see planners not as obstacles but as allies in shaping great places to live, work and connect and showcasing that real change happens when planners, other professions and communities work together, building trust and shaping better places for everyone.
Also thank you for all those who have supported me ahead of this presidential year in particular my sponsors: Sue Manns; Rob Krzyszowski; Nicky Linihan; Olafiyin Taiwo; Dominic Crowley; Hannah Hickman and of course Pinsent Masons.
During my year as Vice President, I have had a wonderful welcome and great collaboration from the Presidential team, Lindsey Richards and of course Helen. This has allowed me to learn and be supported in my preparation for this upcoming year
I hope to provide the same welcome, support and insight for Samer Bagaeen, who is a great addition to the team as incoming Vice President.
This collaboration, support and learning is what I hope will give me the ability to focus and deliver on my Presidential theme throughout 2026.
And what a time to be president. As I am sure you will all agree, one way and another Planning is having a moment!
Therefore, as I start on my Presidential Year, I believe there is an opportunity for this year to be transformative for our profession.
Planning is often described as a process, a set of rules, a system to navigate – and it can be those things, and it is important to understand the framework and context within which we plan, but for me, planning is far more than that.
It is an endeavour to answer one profound question: “How do we want to live and thrive, while taking care of our environment and society in an equitable, accessible and productive way”?
Planning is iterative and deeply connected to our environment. It shapes how we live collectively and thrive.
As journalist, author and activist Jane Jacobs is quoted in “The Death and Life of Great American Cities”[1]:
With Jane Jacobs' main idea being that successful cities thrive on diversity, density, and mixed uses, not on large-scale, sterile urban planning projects; vibrant urban life emerges organically from a complex mix of people, buildings, and activities, fostering safety and economic vitality through "eyes on the street" and human-scale interactions.
For me this exemplifies the interconnectedness, challenge and opportunities of planning.
Although it is equally important to recognise that these considerations apply in our cultural heritage and the rural economy and environment.
It was Sylvia Law the first woman RTPI President who concluded in her inaugural speech:
"We should only be satisfied when the people whom we are planning for understand what we are trying to do and when they enjoy living and working in the environment that has been created or conserved for them, or for which they have helped to create".[2]
Or as I would say, bringing this more up to date: planning with people to achieve these outcomes.
It is that profound question that sits at the heart of my presidential theme: “Planning with Purpose”.
Because planning for me is all about outcomes –
- outcomes that endure;
- outcomes that shape communities, adapt, support and manage our environment; and
- outcomes that enable social and economic improvement, vitality, resilience and mobility.
Planning is the glue that binds these ambitions together, that translates and navigates. It is, quite literally, the DNA of sustainable development.
So how did I come to planning and how did it bring me to this position today?
An inspirational leader and planner Mike Hayes created an opportunity and window to the world of planning and all it could be. He offered work experience for a teenage student at Liverpool City Council.
This formative time in Liverpool lead me to study planning at Newcastle University or as my father was heard to quote – “she has gone to university to design high rise thatched cottages”!
His idea of the New Towns and the urban clearance of his lived experience in Liverpool and my early interest in architectural history and design!
Since graduating I have had the opportunity to learn and develop from some exceptional colleagues, professional teams and leaders, including reconnecting with Mike Hayes years later at the Infrastructure Planning Commission and The Planning Inspectorate.
My career has enabled me to gain a wide professional background in planning from industry to mixed environmental and planning practice in the UK and some project experience internationally, to UK Government and legal practice now as a Strategic Planning Adviser at Pinsent Masons [The first RTPI President I believe to be in legal practice].
I have been involved in planning at all scales from community initiatives and plans to major nationally significant infrastructure, across the existing and the new, urban and rural, public and private sectors and working collaboratively with many actors in planning and delivery:
– not your typical career journey or how people might imagine or describe the career of a Planner!
But it shows it really is a varied profession, and I believe every day is a school day with something new to learn, understand and communicate and outcomes to be achieved – what’s not to like!
Throughout my professional career I have always been a Planning Aid volunteer and engaged in wider volunteering allowing me to use my experience and learnt skills, whilst maintaining my awareness and engagement in planning at the community level. This has and continues to provide insight and understanding, which is invaluable to keep me connected. Sometimes best described as the tour guide and translator for planning and all it can deliver.
Some might ask why planning matters? But you only have to look at some of the outcomes to realise why.
Consider the transformation of King’s Cross, where we are today. Once an area in decline, now a vibrant hub of culture, commerce, and connectivity. That did not happen by accident. It happened because planners, architects, engineers, landscape and environmental professionals, surveyors, legal advisers, construction industry and communities and many others worked collaboratively with vision and purpose.
This is planning at its best—an enabler, not a blocker. A catalyst for regeneration, resilience, and social cohesion and in this case regenerative transformation.
Now it is home to many people, it hosts businesses, markets, students, groups of people enjoying a pop-up film or Wimbledon live screening on the canalside and even children excitedly running through a fountain on a hot summer’s day.
Or there is Bradford City centre regeneration, a model for well-being first placemaking and at the centre of Bradford heart regeneration masterplan. This was showcased during City of Culture through the opening event “RISE” – an open-air spectacular inspired by the people and places of Bradford creating a true festival vibe in the heart of the city.
Planning through community initiatives such as Squash Community Investment Company committed to effecting creative, participatory, positive social change in a Liverpool neighbourhood by embracing arts and design, regenerative urban agriculture and community enterprise.
Or the Ouseburn Community Trust working over the last twenty years in the Ouseburn Valley, delivering a dramatic transformation from post-industrial wasteland to Newcastle’s foremost cultural and creative quarter, helped in large part by a raft of investment and community led regeneration within a planning framework.
This is delivered through the Ouseburn Planning and Development Group making a positive contribution toward regeneration, its mix of business, residential and leisure uses. Characterised by the concept of live, work, play and learn. Now hosting Seven Stories, the National Centre for Children’s Books, the Cluny music venue and Northern Print – the centre for excellence in printmaking in the Northeast of England, to name a few.
And at scale Nationally Significant Infrastructure such as Thames Tideway Tunnel, a project I had the challenge of leading the Examination and reporting on and still one of the largest UK planning infrastructure projects consented and delivered on time and on budget with significant environmental and social benefits. Although challenging in delivery, the outcomes of this infrastructure planning can be seen and measured through the ecosystem of the Thames improving, sewage spills drastically reduced and water quality significantly increased, with a legacy of employment and training, public space, art and community events.
The Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 received Royal Assent at the close of 2025. 2026 will see consultation outcomes and resulting secondary legislation and guidance begin to “switch on” its provisions. These will bring forward Spatial Development Strategies and streamlined nationally significant infrastructure consenting in particular.
These changes, alongside the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (NISTA) infrastructure pipeline, and the critical national infrastructure need identified particularly in water and decarbonised energy generation and connection, mean that infrastructure is going to come to dominate the national conversation in the coming months. But are we confident that people really understand what we mean when we say “infrastructure”?
As the OECD rather drily states “infrastructure plays a critical role in the well-being of people and in the development of countries and communities around the world. It enables the flow of goods, people and information, and provides services such as energy and water that constitute the foundation of our daily lives and economies. As such, infrastructure is essential to addressing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and climate change”,
But it is how we communicate and connect with this that will make planning real. It is that connection and appreciation of the benefits and public value of national infrastructure projects that will help better understanding of its structural role as the skeleton of any economy.
However, Planning is not just about new development, it is about a regenerative approach to our existing built and natural environment and how we adapt, rebuild, sustain, connect and integrate communities, health and wellbeing, natural resources, resilience and economies.
We need to be much better in delivering within our existing environment and helping people to connect and understand the opportunities and outcomes this can deliver for all.
Despite these successes and essential outcomes of positive and informed planning, we face a stark reality: only 7% of the population reportedly actively engage in planning. That is not just a statistic; it is a warning.
If planning is to deliver for everyone, then everyone must have an informed proactive voice and part to play.
We need to ignite interest, build understanding, and create pathways for informed and collaborative participation – across generations, across communities, across sectors.
It is planners and collaborators that need to find ways to communicate and reach that 93% of the population who have not yet engaged with planning.
So how do we achieve that communication?
First, by communicating the story of planning – not as a remote, bureaucratic exercise, but as a creative, collaborative and cohesive force for good in the public interest.
We celebrate architecture through the Stirling Prize; why not elevate planning in the same way? Through leadership, awards, through media, education, and through the realisation of the importance and difference planning can and does make from international engagement, learning and practice to the local every day.
We need to use clear stories of the benefits planning has brought to people’s lives and the environment and bring understanding that all can be active participants in the process and delivery.
The RTPI has made great strides in this through campaigns and developing its education and inspiration programme. But the 27,000+ members of the Institute and those working in planning and the built and natural environment are the best ambassadors for the profession.
We can showcase the extraordinary outcomes that planning delivers and be the difference.
Imagine schoolchildren learning that planning is about the environment and future, shaping the places they call home and working collaboratively across the built and environmental professions.
Imagine young people seeing planning as a career of value, purpose and positive impact as RTPI has sought to do through the BBC Bitesize Careers Tour experience.
Throughout my year I will also be working with “Content with Purpose” to produce a series of inspirational films that will launch on World Town Planning Day 2026.
This digital series will showcase how positive planning outcomes have shaped and continue to shape the UK. They will focus on the realisation of the ambition of planning and show our profession at its best.
This will be delivered in active planning partnership through a mix of short films, expert interviews and case studies creating powerful evidence of how everyone involved in all forms and scales of planning deliver plans and projects that make a lasting positive difference.
But communication and engagement alone are not enough. We need inspirational leaders and positive voices in Planning, and we must also address the resource pipeline.
Today, there are hundreds of vacancies across local authorities and other practice areas, and 20% of experienced planners are expected to leave the profession within three years. That is an existential challenge.
Pathways to planning, and investment in education are not optional – they are essential. We cannot afford a cliff edge in skills and capacity. Because without skilled and committed planners, there is no planning, and without planning, there is no sustainable or equitable future.
The last Budget recognised this with a very welcome commitment by government to invest in the pipeline of planning, and 1,400 new planners by the end of the parliament. But we must ensure this is delivered and supports efforts to develop skills and people in the profession and bring more people into this extraordinary profession.
Just as I was inspired at the start of my planning journey, there are inspirational leaders and voices in planning today and I name just a few as an example – from:
- Rob Krzyszowski and his extraordinary leadership and work at Haringey Council; to
- Pooja Agrawal building the public sector’s capability to improve the quality, equality and sustainability of places through Public Practice; to
- James Scott, Group Director of Strategy and Planning at Urban&Civic, delivering for new and regenerated communities;
- Bridget Rosewell a leader in infrastructure;
- Professor Simin Davoudi a leader in environmental and planning research; and
- The regional Mayors providing political leadership.
But we can all strive to provide inspirational planning leadership and be ambassadors and leaders in Planning.
Finally, we must also restore respect – respect for the profession, respect for the people who dedicate their lives to shaping better places and outcomes. In an age of online soundbites, AI and misinformation, hostility and polarised debate, planners often find themselves on the front line of social tension.
We need a popular movement that values expertise, fosters dialogue, and champions collaboration. Free speech matters, yes – but so does listening and fact checking, as well as real understanding.
Working together across the professions, diversity of interests and democratic representation is essential and one of my ambitions during my year is to put a spotlight on Planning across the divide, and if each one of you here today just takes a moment to consider this message and be the difference - we can start that change.
In closing
As I begin this Presidential year, my message is simple: Planning with Purpose is not just a theme; it is a call to action.
Let us engage, let us innovate, let us lead. Let us show the world that planning is not a barrier, but a collaborative bridge – a bridge to thriving communities, resilient environments, sustainable infrastructure, positive economic outcomes and a future we can all be proud of.