Latest updates

Consultations

We responded to the following consultations:

• Welsh Government consultation: Promoting a resilient and high performing planning service
• Welsh Government consultation: White Paper on securing a path towards adequate housing, including fair rents and affordability
• Welsh Government consultation: Preserving trees and woodlands: new regulations
• Welsh Government consultation: Hydrogen policy
• Welsh Government consultation: Updated guidance for managing Gypsy and Traveller sites
• Welsh Government consultation: Updated guidance for managing Gypsy and Traveller sites
• Welsh Government consultation: Updated guidance for undertaking Gypsy and Traveller accommodation assessments
• Welsh Government consultation: Updated guidance for managing unauthorised encampments
• Welsh Government consultation: Changes to permitted development rights
  
   

Senedd written and oral evidence:

• Active Travel in Wales
• Apprenticeships Pathway
• Draft budget 26-27
• Planning (Wales) Bill

RTPI Cymru and RTPI policy team response:

• Compulsory Purchase Process and Compensation Reforms
• Planning & Infrastructure Bill
• NSiP Streamlining Infrastructure Planning

RTPI Cymru Publications

RTPI Cymru has worked with RTPI members to develop manifesto asks - or 'Planifesto' - for the planning system in Wales in preparation of the upcoming Senedd elections in May 2026.
 
RTPI Cymru's Planifesto 2026

RTPI Wide Publications

The RTPI’s State of the Profession 2025 report explores how planners across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are experiencing the challenges, opportunities, and priorities that will shape the future of the profession.
 
State of the Profession 2025

RTPI Cymru research: Scoping the potential for digital planning to ease resource pressures and improve planning outcomes

Public sector planning resources in Wales: Evidence report (RTPI Cymru research paper)

To be published early 2026.

Events

Webinars 

• Planning Law Update delivered by FTB- February 2025
• Planning for Dark Skies in Wales guidance- July 2025
• Tai ar y Cyd and placemaking webinar- July 2025
• Best practice in planning: Her Teifi Challenge- November 2025
• Best practice in planning: Ceredigion County Council- November 2025

Events

RTPI Cymru 25th anniversary dinner

Report from Commission for Welsh Language Conference 

RTPI Cymru Summer Party 

Wales Planning Conference

RTPI President visit

North Wales Conference

Professor Tony Hall lecture

Enforcement Conference

Young Planners Cymru activities

Roll the Dice: Networking Over Board Games

St David's Day coffee catch up

TAN15 CPD Session with JBA Consulting

Politics & Planning CPD Breakfast Event with DevComms

Young Planners Cymru and RTPI Cymru Quiz Night: Planning, pints and points

Young Planners Cymru Christmas Social

RTPI Cymru Award for Planning Excellence

The Awards were launched in January and closed in March 2025.

The Wales Awards winners were announced at the RTPI Cymru Summer Party on 25 June:

• Wales Best Plan – Crickhowell Place Plan, Chris Jones Regeneration and Crickhowell Town Council

• Wales Best Project - Her Teifi Challenge, Ceredigion County Council

• Wales Small Planning Consultancy of the Year - Highlight Planning

• Wales Planning Authority of the year - Ceredigion County Council

• Wales Young Planner of the Year - Owain Evans, Ceredigion County Council

Cynllunio

Three editions of the RTPI Cymru journal Cynllunio have been published in 2025 and distributed online. More regular updates, via our e-bulletin are sent to members on a regular basis.

Communications

Our RTPI LinkedIn page was launched and now has 929 followers.

Media

We have seen continued coverage of Wales’ issues and RTPI Cymru activity in The Planner magazine.

University Engagement

The Policy Officer spoke to current students about career opportunities and professional ethics. The Director spoke about the RTPI and planning careers to undergraduate and postgraduate planning students in September and at an employer event for students in October.

The Director met the Cardiff University Planning course academic team and is including them in periodic updates about events.

Director's engagements

Private sector:

Meeting the teams at Savills (08 January), DPP (05 February) and KEW (27 February),The Urbanists (25 March), Arup (27 March), RUK Cymru and Bute Energy (30 April), Savills (01 May), Lambert Smith Hampton (20 May), Mott MacDonald (20 May), Arcadis (09 July), Turley (05 November)

RTPI Wales Planning Consultants’ Forum (31 January, 20 March and 05 June)
Meeting Mark Roberts (Trydan Gwyrdd Cymru) (21 February)
Major consultancies meeting (20 March)
Meeting with Arup to discuss the proposed new North Wales National Park (04 April)
Hugh James networking event (10 July)
Attended the HBF Conference (04 September)
Attended The Wales we dare to build: shaping and delivering a shared future organised by Arup (02 October)
Hugh James event (23 October)

Third sector:

Quarterly meeting with Community Housing Cymru (15 January)

Construction Industry Council Wales (27 January, 03 March, 02 June)

CaCHE meeting at Cardiff University (29 January)

NICW meeting to discuss Community Renewables (14 February)

2025 Cymru Master Builder Awards at the invitation of the FMB (04 April) and RSAW awards ceremony (22 May)

TAI Cymru Conference and spoke on a panel (03 April)
Cardiff University Partnership Board (11 June)
Urban Retrofit Advisory Group chaired by Lord Best (08 May)

Town Centre Action Plan oversight board in Pontypridd (12 May, 08 July)
Attended a Building Safety Act (Wales) webinar by CIH (27 August)
Meeting with teaching staff leads at Cardiff University (03 September)
Meeting with Grasshopper (03 September)
Meeting with Centre for Digital Public Services (12 September)
Meeting with DCWW management (16 September)
Senedd Construction CPG (10 November)

Public sector:

Welsh Digital Planning Strategic Advisory Board (21 January)

Meeting with PEDW team (23 January)

Construction Industry Council Wales (27 January & 03 March)
CaCHE meeting at Cardiff University (29 January)

Meeting with Heads of Planning (POSW) (7 February) and with N Wales Heads of Planning (NWPOG) (10 January and 21 February)

RTPI Nations & Regions Panel (11 February)
NICW meeting to discuss Community Renewables (14 February)

Urban Retrofit Advisory Group chaired by Lord Best (24 February)
Quarterly meeting with Neil Hemington, Chief Planner (07 March)

Met with Cynllan Yfory, a graduate training programme run by Cyngor Gwynedd (08 April)
Meeting with Heads of Planning (POSW) (10th/11th April) and with N Wales Heads of Planning (NWPOG) (04 April)
NAPE conference (24 April)
Meeting with the Chief Executive and planning team at Bannau Brycheiniog National Park (13 May)
Meeting with the planning team at Swansea City Council (08 July)
Meeting with Affordable Housing Taskforce Implementation Group (10 July and 16 September)
Meeting with Heads of Planning (POSW) (11 July and 19 September) and with N Wales Heads of Planning (NWPOG) (01 August), WLGA and Heads of Planning regarding digital work (20 August)
Meeting with the SDP lead at Ambition North Wales (19 August) and Cardiff Capital Region (28 August)
Meeting with Neil Hemington, Chief Planning Officer (01 September)

WLGA meeting with a session with Cab Sec (17 November)

Institute

RTPI General Assembly (22 January)
RTPI Nations & Regions Panel (11 February, 30 April, 24 September)
RTPI Board of Trustees (26 February, 02 April, 04 June)
General Assembly (19 March and 18 June) (8 October)

Planning Practice and Research Committee (21 March and 14 May)
Conduct and Discipline Panel (01 May)
Women of Influence reception as an ally to support the Wales, NI and International nominees (13 May)
Young Planners Cymru TAN15 event (29 May)
RTPI Board of Trustees away day (16 and 17 July)

New Chartered Members

We are delighted to welcome new members to RTPI Cymru and now have around 1,300 across Wales working across sectors, organisations and roles.

Newly Chartered Members in Wales were officially welcomed at the RTPI Cymru Summer party on 25 June.

Apprenticeships

We are continuing to explore the option for introducing a Level 4 Town Planning Apprenticeship.

Wales Planning Consultants Forum

The Wales Planning Consultants Forum, providing a forum for planning consultants in Wales to come together and share experiences and provide support met 4 times this year and have carried on engaging with key stakeholders.

Promoting Planning as a career

RTPI Cymru attended careers fair and have promoted the newly relaunched BALANCE programme.

Apprenticeships offer a new route to a career in planning and can help diversify the profession. As part of the RTPI's Corporate Strategy we would like to see the Chartered Town Planning Apprenticeship rolled out to the whole of the UK, after its successful launch in England.

Discussions with Welsh Government are currently ongoing with the new RTPI Cymru Director Mark Hand. 

Below is a copy of the latest letter from Mark Hand, RTPI Cymru Director, in regards to Planning Apprenticeships and Bursaries:

Dear Sir/Madam,

RTPI Cymru’s position on apprenticeships and bursaries The Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) is the largest professional body for town planners in the UK and Europe and represents around 27,000 members in over 80 countries worldwide, with approximately 1,300 members in Wales. The Institute has been shaping planning policy and raising professional standards for over 100 years and is the only body in the UK to confer Chartered status to planners, the highest professional qualification. The RTPI champions the power of planning in creating prosperous places and vibrant communities. Our ambition is to promote healthy, socially inclusive, economically and environmentally sustainable places. We note the Senedd’s Economy, Trade and Rural Affairs Committee is undertaking an inquiry into apprenticeship pathways. While we are not providing evidence to this Inquiry, the Committee maybe interested in our current position in relation to apprenticeships and bursaries and our future work in this area, set out below.
RTPI Cymru welcomes discussion on the introduction of apprenticeships, bursaries, and other options to support the future pipeline of planners in Wales.
There are lessons to be learned from other nations where apprenticeships and bursaries have proven popular.

• In England there are approximately 850 apprentices on the Level 7 Chartered Town Planner apprenticeship programme. Up to 70% of apprentices work in local authorities, providing much needed resource within the public sector and an opportunity for local authorities to grow their own talent via this route.
• In Scotland the Future Planners Bursary has been running for a couple of years. This is for students studying a planning degree (usually post-graduate degree). The Scottish Government has recently announced it will be awarding 30 bursaries of £5k to students this coming academic year (25/26).

The RTPI has experience of running bursary programmes and has found that these are important in encouraging those from underrepresented groups into the planning profession and those who cannot afford tuition fees. Bursaries need to be of a significant value to be a genuine enticement and support. They can be aimed at undergraduates or postgraduates on RTPI-accredited programmes, this ensures that graduates have a solid grounding in core spatial planning. All accredited degrees have a route to Chartered status (fully accredited degrees via the Licentiate route; partially accredited by the Associate route). Bursaries for fully accredited postgraduate study are also useful in encouraging those who have completed undergraduate degrees in other subjects to convert to planning at postgraduate level.

Both Welsh Government and Westminster Government have recognised the need to ensure planning services are properly resourced. The RTPI is working with a number of stakeholders including our accredited universities to grow the pipeline of planners. The recent announcement of cuts at Cardiff University, which is home to Wales' only accredited planning school, is particularly concerning and could be detrimental to achieving the shared goal of improving planning service delivery, which is essential to deliver the Welsh Government's ambitions including the delivery of 20,000 social homes for rent.

Over the coming months, RTPI Cymru will be gathering up-to-date evidence and views on early career pathways into planning, as part of a wider exploration of capacity, recruitment, and resources within the planning system in Wales, with the aim of informing a pathway into planning for early career planners that is of a scale and nature to fit the planning system and industry in Wales.
The Welsh Government have recently consulted on Promoting a resilient and high performing planning service, setting out proposals to increase planning application fees in Wales. Moving towards cost recovery provides an opportunity for Local Planning Authorities to reinvest that additional income in additional staffing capacity, providing long term employment for apprentices or students completing bursary funded schemes.

If you require further assistance, please contact RTPI Cymru on 020 7929 8197 or e-mail Mark Hand at walespolicy@rtpi.org.uk

Yours faithfully,

Mark Hand MRTPI
Director