Contents list
The role of the region
About the region
2025 business planning
Highlights of a successful year
Engaging employers and stakeholders - Building connections that matter
Inspiring future planners - connecting with students and schools
Supporting professional development
Celebrating planning excellence
Sharing local insight, shaping national thinking through research
Closing comments
The role of the region
About the region
The South West stretches from Gloucestershire and Dorset to the Scilly Isles and the Channel Islands. It’s England’s most rural region, home to three National Parks, four UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and extensive areas of heritage coast, SSSI, and AONB designations. Alongside vibrant urban centres such as Bristol, Bath, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, Exeter, and Plymouth, the region also boasts a rich mix of county towns, market towns, and traditional coastal resorts.
We’re proud to host two RTPI accredited planning schools - the University of Plymouth and the University of the West of England, both of which also offer planning apprenticeship programmes, helping to nurture the next generation of planners.
As of July 2025, the region had 2,618 RTPI members, a steady figure in recent years. Our focus is twofold: supporting growth in membership and the pipeline of future planners, while ensuring our longstanding members feel valued and supported. Alongside national Institute initiatives, we achieve this by offering a wide range of local opportunities and build these into our business plan.
2025 business planning
Our nations and regions are central to bringing the RTPI’s vision to life. They play a vital part in delivering the refreshed 2025–2030 Strategic Plan, building on the foundations of the original 2020–2030 Corporate Strategy.
By championing the RTPI’s ambitions, each region helps turn our mission into action. In 2025, regions came together around a set of shared objectives, creating a strong framework from which local activities continue to grow and thrive.
The objectives are:
- Engaging with key employers and stakeholders, providing support and networking opportunities to planners in the public and private sector and collaborating with the wider built environment sector to demonstrate the value of RTPI membership.
- Promoting planning as a career of choice to schools and students, targeting hard to reach demographics. Supporting our planning schools and apprenticeship schemes.
- Helping members to maintain their professional competence through the provision of CPD, supporting the specific needs of local members, including the Young Planners network.
- Celebrating the profession and advocate planning through our Awards for Planning Excellence, welcome events and communications.
- Supporting the delivery of RTPI's policy and research objectives, harnessing local knowledge, expertise and insight to inform RTPI work, widen our influence regionally and nationally.
- Supporting our committees and volunteers to flourish through the implementation of the RTPI volunteer Strategy, widening our reach and appeal and becoming representative of our membership.
- Support the delivery of Planning Aid England activity in the region.
- Support the delivery of the RTPI's International Strategy by integrating an international dimension into regional activity.
In the 2025 business plan, the RTPI South West Regional Management Board working closely with the Regional Activities Committee and approved by the RTPI Board of Trustees outlined a range of activities designed to support these shared objectives while celebrating the distinct character of our region.
The committee agreed that in addition to our core activities, we would introduce new areas of focus:
- Expand CPD opportunities to explore challenges such as housing delivery, BNG implementation, planning capacity, and planner wellbeing.
- Promote planning as a career by developing an action plan to engage students and schools.
- Boost CPD and networking in cities, with a particular focus on the private sector.
- Elevate our annual summer reception and awards, growing it into a grander celebration with wider reach.
Highlights of a successful year
This year has proved to be another busy year for the region, with Dawn de Vries, Service Manager at Somerset Council at the helm as RTPI South West Regional Chair. This was, in fact Dawn second round as Chair as the pandemic of 2020 paused most RTPI local activity. That aside, this year Dawn has brought her infectious enthusiasm, positive outlook and championed ‘collaboration’, ‘growth’ and ‘wellbeing’ as her key themes for the year.
Here is Dawn’s review of her year as Chair:
Engaging employers and stakeholders - Building connections that matter
67th RTPI South West Annual Dinner in Bristol
261 guests celebrated planning at We the Curious in Bristol on 2 October (a return to this venue after its unfortunate fire in 2022). It was also one of the last regional appearances for Victoria Hills, RTPI CEO, so it was a chance to say ‘thank you’ for championing planning and wishing her best in her next role. The guest speaker for the evening was the editor of The Planner Magazine, Simon Wicks who spoke about ‘planning stories’ and changing the narrative – that ‘planning has to be hopeful’. Guests were also entertained by Robert Fox, the mind reader. He was brilliant, terrifying, but brilliant and the catering from Kate’s Kitchen focusing on locally sourced and sustainable food.
I co-hosted a table of invited Heads of Planning from the region with Victoria. It was great to share successes and hopes for planning going forward.
Being at ‘We the Curious’ it wouldn’t be a planning event without the bizarre and wonderful. The evening’s entertainment continued with edible perfume and curious flavoured candy floss! By the end of the evening there was also a sturdy huddle of silent disco dancers!
Save the date, next years dinner takes place on the 1 October 2026.
Book early—it's set to be another sell-out.
South West Heads of Planning forum
In its second year since it was initiated in 2024, we have been facilitating the only regular meeting where LPA Heads of planning from across the whole region get together to discuss planning at the more strategic level and to share good practice and any shared concerns. This year there has been a particular focus around addressing the challenges of recruitment and retention in the public sector.
The meetings generally take place virtually and we hosted the 1st in person meeting in conjunction with the summer reception and awards event, which was also attended by this year’s president.. A big thank you to Tim Burton, member of the regional management board for leading on this great initiative.
Inspiring future planners - connecting with students and schools
A local action plan
To support the Institute's schools and outreach initiatives, a working group was set up in the region to focus our ideas and efforts in this area. We commissioned research from Birmingham University students to understand how we can better inspire young people about planning careers.
Executive summary:
This research examines the current state of planning education in schools across England, identifying barriers to effective planning education and proposing strategic interventions to strengthen connections between planning professionals and educational institutions. The findings reveal complex challenges, including limited awareness, structural constraints in schools, and disconnected communication channels that have hindered effective planning education. However, they also highlight significant enthusiasm on both sides and practical opportunities for positive change.
Data revealed a strong desire for more meaningful engagement from planning professionals, emphasising the benefits of direct interaction. This was heavily suggested to bring real-world context to learning and inspire interest in planning as a career path. This sentiment summarises the central theme of the research: meaningful connections between planning professionals and students can profoundly impact both parties, but establishing these connections requires strategic intervention and support.
By addressing immediate resource needs and building long-term relationships, the RTPI can strengthen the planning profession's future while supporting educational outcomes that benefit diverse communities. This report presents a comprehensive analysis of findings and proposes practical, evidence-based recommendations to enhance planning education in schools across the South West region.
By Jemima Batty, University of Birmingham
The findings were clear: students and teachers want meaningful connections with planning professionals. Our new action plan focuses on three areas:
1. Education and schools
To complement our schools resources for primary and secondary school pupils, we plan to develop materials for teachers and ambassadors to use in careers talks or workshops. We are delighted to be working with Plymouth University on this.
2. Placements
We will be hosting two webinars in 2026 where you can find out more and feel prepared to welcome placement students. I am part of this group and will be sharing insights of working with placement students here at Somerset Council.
Take a read of our toolkit for employers.
Do you host placements? Could you help us and share your experiences too? Contact us.
3. Ambassadors
Focused on supporting RTPI members to volunteer as, and be active as, an ambassador. First up is a 'find out more' webinar. See details below.
It is really exciting to see all this work developing through to 2026. I am looking forward to being involved and seeing the fruition of our labours.
Student success
Each year we award prizes to students at both Plymouth and UWE university in recognition of their dedication. The following were awarded this year. I look forward to hearing more about the next steps in their careers and undertaking employment hopefully here in the region.
Post graduate prizes
- Isobel Tan for the highest overall mark on Master of Science Urban Planning at UWE
- Sarah Teague Best full-time student on the MSc Planning programmes at University of Plymouth
- Holly Brimson for the best part-time student on the MSc Planning programmes at University of Plymouth
- Daisy Bowmer for the best student overall on the MSc Planning programmes at University of Plymouth
Undergraduate prizes
- Benedict Wilkinson for the highest overall mark on a course at UWE
Ella Dos Santos for the best contribution to the planning profession based on the agency project at UWE
Photo bottom right is the University of Plymouth Graduation Ceremony in October, 2025. The photo features from left to right: Mark Williams (Environment Agency); Daisy Bowmer (Devon County Council – Cornwall Council Award for best part-time dissertation and RTPI Prize for best student overall); Katie Greer (Torbay Council); Holly Brimson (Mid Devon Council – RTPI Prize for best part-time student); Nick Smith (Programme Leader); and Dr Olivia Wilson (Lecturer). Also graduating were: Magdalena Halls (Mid Devon Council). Paul Barnard (Plymouth City Council) was also awarded an Honorary Doctorate.
Supporting professional development
We ran a total 39 events across the region, engaging nearly 4000 delegates (member and non-members) from the planning and wider built and natural environment. The events have been a mix of CPD seminars, breakfast updates, site visits and walks to fun socials, celebratory events and of course the annual dinner.
These events have all been initiated by volunteer members, working together to select topics to support the profession with knowledge sharing, keeping up to date with the latest changes, but also those more social opportunities to allow members to connect, re-engage and have those all important informal discussions. We are always grateful for the time and energy our volunteers bring.
The first regional hybrid seminar event took place on the 2 April in Southampton and was a joint event with our neighbouring colleagues in RTPI South East. 172 delegates attended the event which was themed around renewables and sustainability. I had the pleasure of recording an informal Q and A session with Hugh Ellis as the opening speaker who also finished his speech with ‘be Brilliant!’- which is always great for wellbeing!
Collaboration ran through the event as a theme, highlighting the interconnection between consent, delivery and the infrastructure providers. It also proved acronyms are not just in the planning world, dictionary definitions of the longest list of acronyms was provided at the end of the event!
On 13 May we travelled down to Plymouth to deliver a hybrid housing delivery themed seminar for over 200 delegates. Speakers from MHCLG, LPA Policy and DM and Developers (large and small) shared their experiences and insights. Through this event I have a newfound respect for all the speakers having a slot on the agenda myself to jointly present on an urban extension allocation alongside the developer.
Before we took a short summer rest, we held a Biodiversity Net Gain hybrid seminar event on 10 July in Exeter for over 150 delegates. Notwithstanding the title, the seminar considered the practical implementation and management of small sites. The speakers covered everything from the latest government consultation on exclusion of smaller sites, case law updates, BNG banks, major infrastructures provision for improvement and adaptation and the challenges with geographically constrained spaces and the drive for delivering efficiently in the sustainable locations. I want to thank the working group (which included members from outside the RMB RAC), but in particular Rachel Tadman for joining me in the briefing sessions for speakers and encouraging them to share their expertise in a ‘back to basics’ way to ensure the complexity of the subject area was understood. The live examples of sites for this was brilliant and the ‘Planners guide’ to BNG translation presented by BCP Council was brilliant! (Thank you Frances and Julie).
In Autumn it was time for the return of our CPD Day on the 15 October in Exeter, a multiple choice event allowing delegates to pick and choose workshops to attend. This event is like a wind up musical box. There is so much pressure that goes into the preparation, the speakers, the rooms, the bookings and suddenly the event is going and everything moves in conjunction with each other in separate motions which all come together. I am always awed at how these events come together and the collaboration between the largest volume of volunteers for the CPD day to keep all the rooms flowing to time and manage the flow of the attendees.
The event was really well attended with over 230 delegates and over 50 speakers and helpers. As part of supporting members wellbeing, we also funded two workshops around ‘Resilience’ and ‘Handling difficult conversations’. These were well received, and we will look to do similar again in 2026.
I am glad we are re-running the event early next year so if you came and missed a session you would have liked to have attended you can come again! Or if you have not yet experienced this event please do so! It is one of the best ways to tailor your CPD to what your want (or you could always join one of the CPD working groups for an event). I found I learnt most on the CPD events I never would have selected for myself.
The final hybrid seminar of the year is our very much longstanding event….the annual Planning Law update which we organise in conjunction with Burges Salmon. Taking place on the 20 November, it was a highlight of the year for many South West planners, and that was clear from the turnout: a record over 400 people booked, with more than 200 attending in person and the rest joining virtually — making it a record event for the region.
It was a fantastic day and a great opportunity to catch up on recent case law, hear valuable insights from the Planning Inspectorate on appeal evidence, professional behaviour and a few grammar tips along the way!
Young planners
Over half of the events this year have thanks to our absolutely fantastic Young Planner groups across the region. As small steering groups of volunteers (students, licentiates, and early career planners), I really do admire the time and creativity they put to their events.
All of their YP events are open to all members, so do pop along to one of their events, you never know, you could be swinging through the trees at Go Ape, to walking along the coast , to participating in a discussion about the integration of AI into planning.
You can find out more about their events with reports on their recent activities here.
Celebrating planning excellence
RTPI President’s visit to Bridgwater, Taunton and Exeter
Each year the nations and regions host a presidential visit, showcasing great examples of planning much also opportunities for members to meet direct with the RTPI President.
In June we took Helen Fadipe for a little tour of Bridgwater, Taunton and Exeter.
The visit began with Somerset Council with site visits to Bridgwater to view the docks to ‘celebration mile’, Taunton to see the ‘Firepool’ site and water strategy for inward investment and town centre regeneration. The next day we hopped down to the Stantec offices in Taunton and through roundtable discussions they demonstrating their collaborative and cross working culture in supporting the delivery of high quality and sustainable development projects. The afternoon took us to Exeter City Council where a masterplan and redevelopment approach to redundant river frontage location was demonstrated to increase and enhance diversity and economy in encouraging alternative uses (I particularly liked the climbing centre! Team building session anyone?).
The final leg of the journey was joining our annual Summer members reception and awards ceremony in Exeter. In the morning Helen met with many Heads of Planning from the region for a roundtable discussion whilst we held our summer regional committee meeting. The afternoon, Helen jointly hosted the awards with me and we even got in front of the camera too for a little vlog.
Read the full report on the President’s visit here: Regional news and Branchout | Championing the power of planning
RTPI Summer Members Reception and Awards 2025
Probably one of my favourite RTPI events (and there were many this year) was an opportunity to really celebrate the people behind planning.
The multi-celebratory event took place at Sandy Park in Exeter and together with the RTPI President, a bit of sparkle, ballons and of course bubbly, we…
- Highlighted new Chartered members in the region including new Fellows, Associate and Honorary members and congratulated them on this important and valuable milestone in their career. Karin Taylor was awarded her fellowship award. We also ccelebrated members reaching 50 years of RTPI membership.
- We showcased the RTPI Awards for Planning Excellence 2025 finalists in the South West and announced the winners of Best Project, Best Plan, Mid Size Planning Consultancy of the Year, Small Consultancy of the Year, Young Planner of the Year and Best in Region (photo below left of all the award recipients). North Project Regeneration received the 'Best Project' award and also 'Best in Region'.
- We’re recognised educational excellence through our partnerships with UWE and the University of Plymouth.
- We took the time to recognise our local RTPI volunteers. The activities we deliver here in the South West for our 2600 members are as the result of the ideas, enthusiasm and commitment of a range of volunteers to support the delivery activities for members but also raise the profile of planning. Just to quantify this, we have over 80 volunteers (and growing) just helping us here in the region with our activity programme.
Also at this event, I also get to make some special awards. Each year the RTPI South West Chair presents their own award and this year it was the 'unsung heroes of planning'. These are the planners nominated by their peers that go above and beyond, rarely seeking the limelight and who are the keystone to keeping teams motivated, achieving personal success for themselves, and their organisation. They could have been a role model, a mentor or someone who has delivered a great project.
We were delighted by the range of nominations received from colleagues, Managers, Chief Planners and even clients.
Andrew Marx from Government of Jersey collected the award and shield of honors. Michelle Luscombe of Teighbridge District Council and Tracey Ingle of Government of Jersey also received awards.
Read more about the event here South West Summer Members Reception & Awards 2025 | Championing the power of planning
Watch the Awards video here: South West Awards for Planning Excellence | Championing the power of planning
Sharing local insight, shaping national thinking through research
Early career research grants
This year the region provided some funds to support the RTPI’s National Early Career Research (ECR) Grant fund programme.
ECR grants are given each year to fund new academic planning research led by researchers who are within five years of completing a PhD/doctorate, or who are currently undertaking a PhD.
They enable high quality, innovative research pursuing the goals laid out in the Institute’s research strategy. They also help to support the planning research community, in particular the RTPI-Accredited Planning Schools and academics who are navigating the post PhD stage of their careers.
One of the grant recipients Charlotte Morphet is leading some research on the Digital Literacy of Planning students. As this resonates with Incoming Chair Harry Quartermain’s theme for 2026, I look forward to hearing more about the results of this and its impacts on planning.
More info: RTPI Early Career Research grants | Championing the power of planning
Closing comments
What a year it has been! After my first attempt as Chair was paused by COVID in 2020, 2025 gave us a fresh start and we made it count.
Growth, collaboration and wellbeing ran through everything we did. We showed that sustainable development needs everyone working together: Local Authority planners, developers, infrastructure providers and communities. I even challenged myself to present at an event jointly with a developer on a major planning application.
Wellbeing became real when we included resilience workshops at CPD Day. We learned that it's okay to pause, to breathe, even to cry, what matters is getting back up. We're all in this together.
I'm incredibly proud to be part of RTPI South West Regional Management Board. Thank you to our 80+ volunteers who turned ideas into action, and to every member who joined us at events, shared expertise and championed planning.
Here's to 2026—let's keep building momentum together.
