Dorine Chantepie is the RTPI Cymru Member Services Officer
RTPI Cymru recently held its first 25th anniversary celebration event. The dinner included volunteers from our current and past Executive Committee, Young Planners Committee (YPC), and Policy & Research Forum. Also in attendance where past and present RTPI Cymru staff and key stakeholders including the past and current Chief Planner for Wales, Chief Planning Inspectors, colleagues from various building and infrastructure organisations, as well as The Planner magazine, and our generous sponsor for the evening Savills. It was an occasion to meet up, celebrate and reminisce. And there was a lot to reminisce about - the world, Wales and the RTPI have all changed a lot in 25 years!
Dorine (right) with the the RTPI team
Young Planners Cymru celebrating in style
As mentioned by our current Chair Aneurin Môn Parry in his introductory speech, it was devolution and the creation of the Welsh Assembly (now Senedd) which started conversations about having a more local representation of the RTPI. It did take a few years but eventually RTPI Cymru was launched, with at its core the aims of promoting planning as a profession and building links with other built environment organisations accross Wales. Interesting to see that these core aims have not really changed!
RTPI Cymru started very small - I actually did not realise that at the beginning there was only one part-time administrative officer. Roisin Willmott became the National Director in 2006 and stayed there until 2023 and was very much the face of RTPI Cymru for all these years. I was lucky enough to work alongside Roisin when I started as a Member Services Officer in 2022. I have witnessed first hand the wealth of knowledge she has (not just planning!) and the incredible amount of work she put in to make RTPI Cymru what it is today, something brilliantly carried on by our current Director Mark Hand. Completing our team is Rhian Brimble, our extremely knowledgeable Policy Officer who oversees the work of the Policy and Research Forum (amongst other things!) and Georgina Nee, our current Policy Assistant. Georgina is our third Policy Assistant - since 2022 we have offered one Cardiff University planning student the opportunity of a one-year placement with us. Both Ben and Siôn, our previous student placements attended the dinner and it was great to find out what they’ve been up to since their stint with us.
This dinner was a great opportunity to gather volunteers, from past and present who have really made a difference and invested an incredible amount of time into RTPI Cymru. Without a handful of passionate planners back in the mid-90s RTPI Cymru would not be here today. Prior to the event we asked for any anecdotes or pictures from earlier days and we got some lovely stories to share, as well as a slideshow of pictures from past and present shown over dinner. I must give a special mention to Allan Archer, one of the volunteers behind the creation of RTPI Cymru and a name that came back again and again in conversation all for the right reasons! Allan is passionate about all things planning and RTPI Cymru, has been Chair of our Executive Committee a few times, and after all these years still actively supports us.
An occasion to catch up and reminisce
It was also heart-warming to see the next generation of volunteers well represented at the event. RTPI Cymru Young Planner of the Year/ Co-chair of Young Planners Cymru Nia Roberts gave an inspiring speech on the future of planning in the next 25 years and past YPC Chairs and current YPC members were also in attendance - proof that the passion for the core aims which started it all will live on.
As Nia outlined in her speech despite its challenges it is an exciting time for planning in Wales and the next 25 years. I can’t tell you where we will be in 25 years however I can say that our 25th anniversary celebrations have just started. Judging for the RTPI Cymru Planning for Excellence Awards is underway and we will announce the winners at our Summer Party event on 25th June, as well as celebrating recently Chartered members in Wales. We’ll carrying on celebrating what we have achieved over the last 25 years, all thanks to our members and volunteers.
