Excellence in Planning for Communities (large schemes of 50 homes or more)
Excellence in Planning for Communities (large schemes of 50 homes or more) category recognises projects which include over 50 homes. Projects can integrate into the surrounding context or be a new development in their own right. The projects must meet local needs and be in locations that have access to infrastructure and facilities for communities. They should also offer a range of tenures and demonstrate the high-quality design of buildings and place.
Eligibility
Projects completed in the two years prior to 1 January 2024 are eligible for entry, even if the planning component was completed years prior. Particular care should be taken to avoid entering schemes prematurely before they can be satisfactorily assessed. We recommend projects are completed or sufficiently completed, in order to be assessed fully against all the judging criteria and other submissions.
You may enter a project into more than one category, but we do ask that you provide an entry form for each category. Projects or work that has previously won an RTPI Award for Planning Excellence may not be re-entered in the same category, but those shortlisted or commended may be re-entered.
Judging criteria
Judges will be asked to assess schemes on the following criteria:
Outcomes for people and communities:
How has your project/scheme:
- made a positive impact on the local economy?
- made improvements for specific groups e.g. people with physical disabilities, families, young people, Black, South and East Asian and ethnic minority communities?
- made a positive impact on health and wellbeing e.g. solved problems/challenges with access to open space?
- addressed issues of gender and inequality e.g. safety in public realm?
Outcomes for climate action:
- Please provide evidence of successful post completion action e.g. how scheme uses energy efficiency
- Please provide evidence of successful action taken in delivering the project to resilience and mitigation against climate change e.g. carbon footprint of delivery, offsetting, waste disposal, material selection.
- What targets did the scheme have for climate change and have those been met or exceeded?
Outcomes for sustainable development:
- How does the project meet UN Sustainable Development Goals?
Planning contribution:
- The centrality of a planning practitioner(s) to the project
- How planning tools have been used to deliver positively
Community engagement:
- How did you engage with local communities?
- How did this engagement affect the plan development?
- How inclusive was the community engagement?
Leading practice:
- Value for money
- Complexity of the brief/degree of difficulty and creative and innovative response to the brief
- Timetable – was scheme delivered on time
- Is an exemplar that is transferable across the UK and Ireland
The criteria and guidance for each category can be found after creating an account and adding categories to your basket via our entry platform.
View the other categories here.
If you have any questions, please view our FAQs.