At the start of September, we were delighted to welcome nearly 120 delegates, including Elected Members from Fermanagh and Omagh Council’s Planning Committee, to the RTPI Northern Ireland Planning Conference 2024. The theme of the conference was ‘Positivity in Planning’: while acknowledging the many challenges facing planners, Planning Committees and the planning system, taking some time to remember our ‘why’, review progress and share best practice.
Chris Bryson MRTPI, RTPI NI Executive Committee Chair
Minister O’Dowd provided the keynote speech, recognising the vital role that planners play in delivering the government’s priorities. The Minister recalled that when the £350m investment in the new Grand Central Station commenced, the BBC headline was ‘Belfast’s Great Victoria Street station closing after 200 years’. He urged that, while we should reflect on criticism to see if there is any truth in it, we should not let the agenda of a negativity minority set our path. Instead, we should focus on what we can do. Planning is a contested space: we will not please everyone. Billions of pounds are invested in Northern Ireland on the advice of planners. Planners have a responsible and challenging role because they shape the future. The Minister noted that to achieve the change needed, the planning system must be properly funded. No other public service is expected to deliver without investment.
Rosemary Daly MRTPI (DfI) and Kate Bentley MRTPI (on behalf of Heads of Planning NI) provided a progress update on the Planning Improvement Programme and outlined the next steps. The Programme includes 40 actions on a range of issues. Rosemary thanked DfI colleagues for the significant amount of work to date that is not widely known about. Kate emphasised two key workstreams: reviewing the performance framework to seek to measure qualitative measures looking at outcomes, and the financial sustainability of the planning system. This requires all stakeholders, not just Council planning departments, to explore the most efficient systems and processes, cutting out waste and duplication and exploring opportunities for collaboration.
Mark Hand MRTPI (RTPI) provided the headlines from the RTPI NI’s Big Conversation survey from September 2023, which highlighted significant concerns about workloads, capacity and wellbeing, particularly in Council planning teams. Mark outlined the ongoing activities by the RTPI to help address these issues, as well as actions that individuals and employers can take to assist. Planners play a crucial role in delivering a wide range of valuable outcomes: addressing housing need, the climate and biodiversity emergencies, supporting economic development and supporting communities across Northern Ireland. We should be proud of what we’re doing and celebrate our successes.
Craig McLaren MRTPI (Improvement Service) spoke about his unique role as Scotland’s National Planning Improvement Champion. Craig must rely on the power of communication and persuasion to broker action. He argued that planning reform needs to be looked at in the wider context of public services. His role started a year ago with a call for ideas. One key area of work is the new self-assessment framework supported by a peer review process involving stakeholders and customers. This peer review focuses on the improvement actions. The self-assessment seeks to measure what matters, concentrating on outcomes and key outputs.
Alice Charles (Arup) outlined her extensive career and emphasised the value of planners in projects and organisations typically associated with other professions. Alice urged everyone seeking best practice in planning systems to look beyond the UK and Ireland, citing Japan, South Korea, Australia and the Netherlands and systems worth exploring.
John Fullerton (Gravis Planning) spoke about the importance of early, high quality and meaningful community engagement. This can result in better outcomes, fewer objections and a quicker decision on the planning application. Public expectations are higher than ever, and professional communications input is essential. Positive engagement promotes a better image of development and the planning system.
In the spirit of collaboration, we then heard from a panel of built environment professionals to hear their views on how to best enhance planning services. The panel comprised Philip McClay (Board Member, Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors), Jan Sloan (Clanmill Housing Group), Karen McShane (Immediate Past President of the Chartered Institute of Highways and Transportation) and Ciaran Fox (Royal Society of Ulster Architects). The panellists discussed their experience/opinion of planning in Northern Ireland, what best practice they have seen that could be replicated across NI, any easy wins for improvement, how the built environment professions can work more collaboratively, and how we can better promote the positive impact that planning has.
Lianne Weaver (BEAM) led delegates through the science of how our brains work and equipped us with a range of tools to enhance our resilience and support our wellbeing and the wellbeing of those around us.
RTPI President Lindsey Richards FRTPI provided the closing speech, drawing on the refreshed approach to the value of planning and planners from the new Westminster Government, and the support for the vital role of planners given by Minister O’Dowd in his keynote speech. Planners have a huge amount to offer, especially when working collaboratively with other built environment professions. However, to fulfil its potential, the profession must be properly resourced.
We are always delighted to welcome Elected Members to any of our events. Details of our events can be found here, and details of CPD can be found here. If you want any advice on the relevance of an event or course, please ask your officers of contact [email protected]. If you have ideas or requests for future events or CPD training that would be of particular interest, please let us know.
With thanks to the conference sponsors, Gravis Planning; to TSA Planning for sponsoring ten free places for planning students; to all speakers and delegates; and to conference exhibitors MCL Consulting and GIA Surveyors.