With less than two months to go until Scotland takes to the polls, RTPI Scotland has been focused on our pre-election engagement. As party conference season is almost over, with only the SNP's Campaign Conference left, we thought it time to reflect on our recent work.
Our Planifesto, published in November 2025, calls for:
- A fully resourced planning system
- Infrastructure-led development
- Diverse and inclusive housing
- To ensure the future of rural and island communities, and
- Build thriving and resilient places.
These calls have been our main focus when engaging with politicians, candidates, and stakeholders. We recently attended the Scottish Greens Conference in Glasgow which allowed us to continue our discussion of these five key asks. During this one-day event, we managed to pack in conversations with Scottish Greens politicians like Ariane Burgess MSP, Mark Ruskell MSP, and Lorna Slater MSP, as well as attending fringe events, such as the one held by Revive which took a focus on land reform, and attending the co-leaders' speech. It was a great opportunity to engage directly with the party, to explore our priorities, highlight the role of planning, and get some insight into their upcoming policies through the speeches.
Over on our LinkedIn and Planifesto webpage, we have been publishing some think pieces aimed at encouraging discussion from members and the sector relating to our Planifesto key asks. Some of the topic areas we have written think pieces on so far include digital planning and housing delivery, with more to come!
Our Edinburgh office held the first housebuilders breakfast at the end of February. It was a valuable platform where we were able to listen to members - and non-members - working in the private sector about the challenges facing housebuilding while looking to any practical solutions and linking it back to our Planifesto asks.
Next up for us is the SNP's Campaign Conference in Edinburgh this March. This will be our final conference ahead of the pre-election period, so we will be making the most of it in order to share our perspective, hear how their policies are evolving ahead of the party manifesto coming out, and ensure the Scottish planning system is on their agenda.
To read more about our Planifesto asks, click here and don't hesitate to contact the RTPI Scotland team with any queries or questions at scotland@rtpi.org.uk
