After nine years on the judging panel for the RTPI South West Awards for Planning Excellence, this year will be my last. Stepping aside feels like the right moment to make space for new voices, but it has also prompted me to reflect on what these awards consistently reveal about great planning. 

Each annual judging cycle has been a reminder of why planning matters. Year after year, submissions have revealed not only exceptional work, but the recurring hallmarks of what makes this profession so rewarding. Looking back across nearly a decade of winners and highly commended entries, four clear themes have emerged that I believe define excellence in practice today. 

From consultation to co-creation: the community partnership revolution

One of the clearest and most consistent themes has been the shift from consultation to genuine co creation. The strongest entries show that meaningful engagement is not an add on; it is the engine of successful place making and design quality.

Feria Urbanism, the 2021 Planning Team Award win remains a standout example. Their commitment to building relationships across all ages and backgrounds demonstrated how trust and dialogue shape better outcomes. Similarly, Plymouth Community Homes’ North Prospect Regeneration project, a 12 year, £130m transformation which won both its category and Best in Region in 2025 showed what long term partnership can achieve. The fact that so many residents chose to return speaks volumes about the quality of the design and the authenticity of the process.

This focus on design excellence and user experience extends beyond housing. The refurbishment of the Grade II* Listed Hall for Cornwall entered by Burrell Foley Fischer and Cornwall Council (Best project and the Chair’s Award, 2023) beautifully illustrated how heritage, culture and accessibility can work together. The project increased audience capacity, restored key historic features and created a space that feels both contemporary and deeply rooted in Cornish identity. Judges praised its outstanding focus on user experience and for improving access to arts and culture for the whole of Cornwall, underpinned by a sustainable business model.

By 2025, this collaborative ethos had become embedded in consultancy practice. Place Studio’s win in the Small Planning Consultancy category reflected their thoughtful financial modelling, creative use of grant funding and commitment to empowering “citizen planners.” Their work, and that of others across the region, highlights a core skill of Chartered Planners: the ability to translate complexity into shared understanding and to bring people together around a common vision.

Across the South West's diverse geography from rural Cornish projects through waterfront regeneration in city conurbations to growth strategies in Gloucestershire the ability to communicate complex processes in ways that deliver positive economic, social and environmental outcomes has been paramount.

Sustainability, viability, and partnership working: delivering resilient outcomes

For too long, sustainability and financial viability have been treated as competing concerns. The best South West submissions have proved, compellingly, that they don't have to be.

Cornwall Council’s Climate Emergency DPD (2024 Best Plan and Best in Region) set a new benchmark by combining exemplary environmental standards with a clear-eyed focus on affordability and deliverability specific to Cornwall's unique character and needs. Judges praised "its effective, combined focus on environmental and climate objectives and both affordability and deliverability, a model for how ambitious policy can be practically implemented".

The 2025 Jersey Marine Spatial Plan submitted by Fiona Fyfe Associates and the Government of Jersey pushed this thinking to an extraordinary scale. Covering 95% of Jersey's territory including open sea and offshore reefs it was described by judges as having "an excellent balance of aspiration, practical application and evidence of cross-transferability and innovation". It uniquely presented a wide-ranging scope and inter-relationship with international objectives. To me, this resonates with our professional values and approach to both viability and delivery: the capacity to align policy ambition with on-the-ground implementation which positively impacts local communities and is heralded as best practice in an international context.

Equally important is the lesson that viability isn't just financial, it's political, procedural, and relational. The 2024 Melville Phase 1 project in Plymouth, delivered through a remarkable partnership between Plymouth City Council, Urban Splash and Gillespie Yunnie Architects, secured the long-term future of a Grade I listed building. Judges highlighted "an outstanding planning contribution founded upon a clear vision of establishing a vibrant waterfront destination". No single discipline could have achieved that alone.

Innovation, digitalisation, and creative policy solutions 

A third trend is process innovation, particularly digitalisation and novel policy approaches. Building upon collaboration as a theme, the importance of adaptability and proactivity has clearly come through in recent years. 

Back in 2021, Young Planner commended entrant Christopher Lee impressed judges by streamlining processes through digitisation, especially in the local plan consultation process.

By 2024, the Liveable Water Lane SPD by Exeter City Council and LDA Design showed how technical rigour and extensive community and stakeholder engagement could tackle complex brownfield constraints. Judges were clear: "the role of planners was fundamental to the overall success".  That same year, the Bath and North East Somerset Local Plan Partial Update demonstrated how ground-breaking climate change policies could be introduced at speed, in response to urgent delivery pressures during the pandemic.

In 2025, Lighthouse Development Consulting (commended Mid-Size Planning Consultancy Award) took this further still, using cutting-edge GIS technology for intelligent site selection in renewable energy projects, while actively engaging communities throughout. Technical competence and inclusive engagement, working hand in hand.

For Planning practitioners, these examples underscore that technical competence now includes digital literacy and embracing inclusive engagement at the local level. The South West's rural and coastal context also demands creative policy solutions, balancing heritage-sensitive design, landscape character, and economic need.

The power of ambassadorial leadership: Inspiring the next generation

Of all the reflections I carry from nine years of judging, perhaps the most heartening involve people, particularly the Young Planner category, and the remarkable individuals who have stood out not just for their technical ability, but for the way they've inspired others.

Our 2024 Young Planner winner, Jozie Bannister of Devonshire Homes, was praised as both "a formal and informal mentor and role model to others" someone whose influence stretched well beyond her own projects. 

In 2025 Rachel Blanchard from BCP Council was recognised for her "outstanding dedication and infectious enthusiasm" and her focus on inclusivity, mentoring, and building supportive networks for underrepresented groups.

Highly commended entries reinforced this pattern. In 2024 Lucy Paffett from South Gloucestershire Council brought "infectious enthusiasm and originality." In 2025, Elliot Dommet of Stantec was recognised for extensive voluntary work, including RTPI roles and school outreach. 

These individuals show how planners can influence not only the built environment but the culture of the profession itself

At an institutional level, the 2024 Local Planning Authority of the Year, South Gloucestershire Council, demonstrated this same ethos by identifying performance issues, investing in staff development, and investing in a Town Planning degree-level apprenticeship scheme. Growing your own matters.

Overall, the importance of the planner, and the planning process have shone through in submissions year after year, strengthening the pride we can take from how our actions and attitudes make meaningful change in an ever-changing world

Looking ahead: reflections for practice and future judges

Excellence in planning is increasingly holistic. The South West's winners across diverse geographies, tackling varied and complex challenges have shown that great planning is both an art and a science: collaborative, creative, and unwaveringly focused on lasting public value.

To future judges, I'd offer this encouragement: look beyond outputs and ask deeper questions:

• How it was achieved?
• Who was brought along?
• What capacity was built that will outlast the project itself?

To practitioners, the message is just as clear: technical rigour must walk hand-in-hand with nurturing relationships, innovation with inclusion and delivery with inspiration.

It has been a privilege to witness so much of this at close quarters. The passion, creativity, and commitment on display year after year has strengthened my belief that planning done well genuinely changes lives.

Graham Stephens, Director of Stride Treglown Ltd has served as a judge for the RTPI Awards for Planning Excellence (South West Region) for nine years. This article reflects his personal views based on that experience.