Simon Creer is the RTPI's Director of Communications
When the evenings begin to draw in and the leaves begin to brown it’s almost inevitable that certain thoughts turn to the political party conference season. At least that is the case for the RTPI public affairs function.
The summer election, the publication of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) consultation and a ministerial letter expressing confidence in our members would suggest that once again planning will be a key topic for discussion during those conferences.
The Presidential team, our Chief Executive and a cast of RTPI colleagues will be spreading their efforts across the three major parties’ jamborees to ensure that the voice of planners will be heard loud and clear. We have a programme of activity including round tables and panel events which we hope will help to raise the profile of the institute for legislators and decision makers of all stripes.
Top of our agenda will, of course, be discussions around the NPPF, but we will also be highlighting the series of publications we issued through the summer including the Planning Premium, and the Strategic Planning Research.
For those members who may be attending please keep an eye on the programme and join us.
Beyond the conferences there are a number of items lurking in the middle distance, which we know will have a sizable impact on our members. There are two pieces of legislation that we are expecting in the first quarter of next year, which will have to be carefully managed and engaged with; namely the Devolution Bill and the Infrastructure Bill. There is also a question mark over when we will be hearing more in relation to the National Development Management Plans (NDMPs) and how they will interact with the new NPPF.
We also need to be alive to the tricky question of transitional arrangements implicit in all this that could have implications for plan making across the country.
But it is not only the world of planning that is changing at the moment. Here at the RTPI we are sorry to see Richard Blyth, who has been a stalwart guardian of our Policy and Research teams for the past 13 years, leave the Institute. This is no doubt a difficult time to lose such a knowledgeable member of the team, but we wish him luck in his new academic ventures.
As a result of Richard’s decision and the strong message we had from our Member Value Proposition survey, which gave us our marching orders to advocate, lobby and campaign on behalf of our members, we have taken the decision to restructure the functions of the institute so that the policy team will now work more closely alongside the public affairs function becoming the engine for our efforts at influencing government policy.
As such we are currently seeking a Head of Policy and Public Affairs to lead that effort.
As Heraclitus said, ‘the only constant in life is change’ and we hope that by changing our structures to reflect the political situation and the clear asks from the membership we can continue to provide a constant service in raising the profile of planning and influencing the planning systems within which we work.
