Rural Land Use: securing England’s needs?
This year’s Nathaniel Lichfield annual lecture will be given by Baroness Barbara Young of Old Scone on the topic ‘Rural Land Use: securing England’s needs?’
Baroness Young of Old Scone will cover the multiple needs for land and the growing and conflicting pressures, describing the process that has finally led to the government in England committing to a land use framework, and compare what is going on in the four nations and Ireland. Baroness Young will outline the principles of a land use framework and the policies and processes to make it a reality nationally and locally and will map the benefits of a longer term, strategic and integrated approach to the scarce resource of land.
This evening event will take place on 6 December 2023 at The Gem Fitzrovia Hotel, London, W1W 5NB and the lecture will also be available simultaneously online.
It is free for RTPI members to attend in-person and online. In-person attendees are invited to stay for networking drinks after the lecture. Members and non-members are welcome.
Barbara, Baroness Young of Old Scone, has served as a Member of the House of Lords since 1997 with special interests, among others, in the environment, agriculture, land use, planning, natural resources and climate change. She has been Chairman of the Woodland Trust since 2016 and was appointed the Chairman of Council at the Royal Veterinary College in July 2019.
Her other voluntary positions include Honorary President of the South Georgia Heritage Trust; Patron of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Management; and Vice President of RSPB, Bird Life International and Flora and Fauna International. She has formerly held a variety of environmental leadership roles, including Chief Executive of RSPB, Chairman of English Nature, and Chief Executive of the Environment Agency.
Baroness Barbara Young of Old Scone began her career in health service management in teaching districts in Scotland and London. She was also foundering chair of the Care Quality Commission, Chief Executive of Diabetes UK and Deputy Chairman of the BBC.
Baroness Barbara Young of Old Scone is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
Lindsey Richards FRTPI, RTPI Vice President 2023 will chair the lecture.
Timing and ticket prices
Please note the timing varies between in-person and online attendance as below:
In-person
Registration: 5:30pm - 5:50pm
Lecture: 5:50pm - 7:00pm
Networking drinks: 7:00pm - 8:30pm
Online
Lecture 5:50pm 7:00pm
Tickets
In-person*
Member - Free
Non-member - £35.00 + VAT
Online
Member - Free
Non-member - £25.00 + VAT
*Please note there are limited tickets available so book early to avoid disappointment.
This annual lecture is held in memory of Professor Nathaniel Lichfield. A generous endowment for the lecture was received from Nathaniel Lichfield's widow Dalia Lichfield in 2011 ensuring we can continue to deliver this event. Many thanks to the Lichfield family.
Supported by:

Baroness Barbara Young
Member of the House of Lords

Baroness Barbara Young
Member of the House of Lords
Barbara, Baroness Young of Old Scone, has served as a Member of the House of Lords since 1997 with special interests, among others, in the environment, agriculture, land use, planning, natural resources and climate change. She has been Chairman of the Woodland Trust since 2016 and was appointed the Chairman of Council at the Royal Veterinary College in July 2019.
Her other voluntary positions include Honorary President of the South Georgia Heritage Trust; Patron of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Management; and Vice President of RSPB, Bird Life International and Flora and Fauna International. She has formerly held a variety of environmental leadership roles, including Chief Executive of RSPB, Chairman of English Nature, and Chief Executive of the Environment Agency.
Baroness Young began her career in health service management in teaching districts in Scotland and London. She was also foundering chair of the Care Quality Commission, Chief Executive of Diabetes UK and Deputy Chairman of the BBC.
Baroness Young is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Lindsey Richards
Vice President

Lindsey Richards
Vice President
Lindsey Richards BA (Hons) DipTP FRTPI
Lindsey is a chartered town planner with over 30 years’ experience in planning, design and delivery. She has extensive background primarily working in the public sector, experienced in community engagement and bringing together multi-disciplinary teams to deliver key housing projects. Lindsey’s previous roles included leading the planning team at Milton Keynes Partnership, responsible for the expansion of Milton Keynes and introducing the Milton Keynes Tariff. Lindsey moved to English Partnerships (now Homes England) in 2009 to head up the delivery team in the Midlands.
Lindsey’s last role was Head of Planning at Homes England, where she worked in a consultancy role providing specialist advice to Homes England delivery teams. Lindsey was responsible for driving design quality standards and introducing BfL12 ( forerunner to BfHL) as an assessment tool on Homes England sites. She was a member of the Garden Town and Villages Programme Board and worked closely with DLUHC on policy formulation. Lindsey strongly advocates the value that early community engagement contributes to projects and oversaw the introduction of a community engagement strategy and toolkit to support Homes England projects.
Lindsey was Head of Profession within Homes England. She undertook a mentoring role to promote the profession and support licentiate members. Lindsey established the Planners Network within the Agency and oversaw training and Homes England annual planning conference.
Lindsey stepped down from her role at Homes England in April 2023 to concentrate on her Vice-Presidential role with the RTPI.
Lindsey is a member of the General Assembly of the RTPI, vice chair of the Education and Lifelong Learning Committee and became a Fellow in 2018. She will start her presidential year in January 2024.
Lindsey is a Trustee for Design: Midlands