As a region we’ve been busier than ever. Highlights include the President’s Visit to Manchester and Liverpool, the inaugural Members’ Celebration Event, UKREiiF, the charity bike ride, the spa day, the five-a-side tournament and of course the Annual Dinner and the Awards for Planning Excellence. That’s not to mention our bumper programme of CPD, social and Young Planners events; all put on by our fantastic volunteers and sponsors and facilitated by the amazing Bev Watson.
Nationally (just in case you’ve been hiding under a rock), planning is back in the spotlight, with Labour announcing some ambitious reforms. There’s been lots of commentary around the key changes and the likely direction of travel, so I won’t attempt to repeat that here (especially when, like many others, I’m still trying to get to grips with the implications!).
However, I would like to highlight Matthew Pennycook’s open letter to our President, Lindsey Richards. In it he recognised the critical role that planners have and will play in unlocking growth and underlined the importance to bolster capacity and capability in the public sector. Regardless of what you or your organisation think about the changes, I think we can all agree that this sets a refreshing new tone for what we hope will be a much more positive and constructive dialogue with the Government moving forwards. It’s about time planners were given more recognition – and what a time to be a planner!
Looking forwards, there’s still plenty more to happen, including four CPD events, three LPA Engage Events, two Young Planners events and, my personal favourite, the fantastic Pub Quiz on 10 October. And watch this space for more details of the AGM on Tuesday 3 December – we’ll think you’ll like the venue this year!
As ever, if there’s anything you or your colleagues would like more support with, or if you’d like to help others, then please do reach out.
Matt Dugdale
RTPI NW Chair 2024
[email protected]