This section is for current Planning Aid England volunteers. It contains volunteering information specific to PAE, sent out to all volunteers when they sign up, as well as other useful PAE resources. We also refer our volunteers to the resources section of the RTPI volunteering pages, which contains documents relevant to your involvement as an RTPI volunteer more broadly.
PAE volunteering documents
Useful resources for PAE volunteers
- PAE’s dedicated planning guidance website
- PAE directory of alternative sources of support and advice
- Community Engagement in Practice (produced by RTPI North West)
- Camping Glamping Caravanning advice note
- Planning rules for Telecoms Masts in England advice note
Regional Representatives
Some RTPI Regions have a volunteer Planning Aid England (PAE) Representative who leads on regional PAE activity and chairs a regional task group. If you are a registered PAE volunteer and would like to find out more about regional PAE opportunities, including joining your regional PAE task group, you can contact them below. If you are a PAE volunteer and interested in becoming a Regional Representative, please get in touch.
Details of current representatives are:
Jo Widdecombe, South West
Freelance Planning Consultant
Jo Widdecombe, South West
Freelance Planning Consultant
Jo Widdecombe is the PAE representative for the South West. Jo has over fifteen years of planning expertise, having previously worked in the public sector, she currently operates as a private consultant. Jo has also worked for Planning Aid England as a Caseworker and latterly as a Planning Advisor where she focused on delivering planning support to community groups engaged in Neighbourhood Planning. She has a keen commitment to Planning Aid England and a real enthusiasm for working with volunteers.
Darren Muir, North West
Associate Planner at Pegasus Group
Darren Muir, North West
Associate Planner at Pegasus Group
Darren is an Associate Planner at Pegasus Group in Liverpool. He comes from a multidisciplinary background having previously worked client-side in wind energy and residential development before moving into consultancy. He now advises public and private sector clients on a variety of developments across England, Scotland, Wales and the Isle of Man. He holds two master’s degrees – a Master of Town and Country Planning (Hons) degree from the University of Manchester, and a Master of Science in Design and Construction of Zero Carbon and Ultra-low Energy Buildings from the University of Dundee. Darren is Chair of the Planning Aid England North West Task Group and co-founder of the North West Neighbourhood Planning Network.
Andrew Dorrian
Senior Transport Planner at Transport NE Strategy Unit and RTPI NE Honorary Secretary & Treasurer
Andrew Dorrian
Senior Transport Planner at Transport NE Strategy Unit and RTPI NE Honorary Secretary & Treasurer
A chartered Town Planner and member of the Transport Planning Society Andrew is a Senior Transport Planner at Transport North East. He works in Transport and Infrastructure planning responsible for the development and delivery of the North East’s transport pipeline and transport plan. Andrew prepares major funding bids develops regional policy and strategy and project manages the delivery of capital and revenue funding in the region. Andrew works closely with local authority, national and subnational partners in linking transport planning wider spatial planning outcomes.
Prior to joining the Transport North East, Andrew spend six years at Transport for London working in development management across South London. He also gained experience in TfL’s Commercial Development team. Whilst in London Andrew was Chair of the RTPI region in 2016 and was Honorary Secretary prior to that. He is now the Honorary Secretary and Treasurer for RTPI North East and is a Planning Aid England volunteer, part of a team providing advice through PAE’s advice line service.