Genny Middlemast is a Land Planner at Persimmon Homes and Bethany Jones is Principal Planning Policy Officer at Colchester Borough Council and RTPI East of England Young Planner of the Year 2021. In this blog they share their experience of this year's Young Planners Conference focusing on the theme of 'Connecting Town and Country'.
On Friday 11 and Saturday 12 October over 200 young planners descended on Cambridge for the RTPI’s Young Planners Conference. A two-day event jam-packed with talks, panel discussions, study tours, breakout sessions and plenty of networking opportunities.
This provided a unique opportunity for delegates to meet peers in the profession, hear from key leaders in the industry and learn about the opportunities and constraints planners in the region face in planning for urban and rural areas. Cambridge was the perfect location for the conference as its juxtaposition of iconic historic landmarks, such as the university colleges, with the dense urban built environment and the abundance of green space and rural villages found on the outskirts of the city, neatly demonstrate the challenges of connecting town and country.
Friday
The President of the RTPI Lindsey Richards opened the conference by speaking about her mission to encourage more people to join the profession and to inspire the next generation of young planners. I particularly enjoyed the panel session discussing growth and the historic environment, where the four speakers gave their insight into the best way to encourage growth while also mitigating the harm to historic buildings, highlighting some of the challenges of repurposing empty buildings and discussing the importance of ensuring that the buildings that we build now are the listed buildings of the future.
After a break the next panel session topic was growth and the natural environment. This involved the four speakers' views on how we can better connect our rural and urban communities and provide the infrastructure that is desperately needed, while protecting the environment.
After lunch delegates had the choice of five different breakout sessions to attend before setting off on the study tours which consisted of two coach, two walking and one cycle tour of different areas of Cambridge. Jade Barrett and I chaired a coach tour to Eddington, where Jonathan Brookes (Greater Cambridge Shared Planning service) shared his invaluable knowledge of the sustainable, mixed-use neighbourhood and why certain decisions were made, reflecting on what has worked well and what we can learn from the development.
The design includes a ridgeway (cycle path only) that connects Eddington with the centre of Cambridge separate from vehicles and is forward-thinking in its approach to energy generation and rubbish disposal including an underground bin system that is installed throughout the site!
Young Planner Committee members welcomed delegates to the conference
Jade Barrett and Genny chaired a coach tour to Eddington
Gala dinner
The gala dinner in the evening was a welcome chance to dress up, enjoy good food and wine, celebrate the success of the first day and network further with other planning peers. The photo booth was a hit and allowed us to take home a souvenir of the night – although some pictures were definitely better than others! A special evening filled with joy, laughter and of course some planning!
Young Planner Committee members at the Gala dinner
Saturday
An insightful Planning Law update was provided by Stephanie David (39 Essex Chambers), which covered several high court appeal decisions and how these impact decision-making going forward. After the break delegates looked at the steps the new Labour Government has made to reform the planning system so far and what changes we can expect in the near future.
Breakout sessions were next where I facilitated a session on collaborative planning: Revolutionising the planning service. This gave delegates the opportunity to discuss radical ways that we can improve working partnerships between public and private sectors, as well as identify barriers to delivery and how these can be overcome.
This session was a real success and a pleasure to have delivered alongside Nicky Parsons (Executive Director, Pegasus), Daniel Fryd (Director, Luminate) and Jim Newton (Service Director, Local Government). Finally, delegates reconvened for the final session of the conference discussing how we can achieve the right development in the right place. Closing remarks were given from the East of England Young Planners chair, Errin Marshall and the announcement of next year’s conference location – London!
Reflecting on the two days, it was an absolute pleasure to have been involved in the organisation of this conference alongside my peers on the East of England Young Planners committee. It was an event packed full of speakers with a plethora of knowledge and experience imparting their knowledge and facilitating open discussions about a range of topical planning matters that affect us all. If you didn’t make it to this conference, I really recommend you keep an eye out for next year's being held in London! I for one cannot wait!
The breakout session was a real success and was delivered alongside Nicky Parsons (Executive Director, Pegasus)
From right to left, Genny Middlemast, Jade Barrett, Bethany Jones, and Errin Marshall (second from left)
