The Summer Reception is an annual celebratory event which has taken place for 3 years now since its successful pilot event back in 2022.
This years event took place on the 25 June at Somerset Cricket Club in Taunton and was joined by RTPI President Lindsey Richards and RTPI South West Chair Alexis Edwards.
This multiple celebratory occasion....
Celebrated our new members...
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. We recognised the hard work they had all undertaken to gain their Chartered membership. It is a professional qualification to be proud of and the communities in which they serve will benefit from their high standards of practice, wealth of experience and dedication to your profession.
Presented lots of worthy Awards...
We showcased the RTPI Awards for Planning Excellence 2024 finalists in the South West and announced the winners of Best Project, Best Plan, Small Consultancy of the Year, Planning Authority of the Year, Young Planner of the Year and Best in Region.
Council Council's Climate Emergency DPD entry collected the Best Plan and Best in Region Award. Read more about all the results here
The RTPI South West Chairs Award was presented...
This year, our Chair’s theme is 'people and places'. And, with that in mind, Chair Alexis Edwards chose to recognise the 'unsung heroes of planning' - those planners 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 this year from colleagues, Managers, Chief Planners and even clients.
Daniel Tyrell, Enforcement Officer at Wilshire Council won the award with Amelia Elve, Somerset Council and Richard Daone from BaNES collected Highly Commended Awards
Appreciated our RTPI Volunteers...
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.
We have over 70 volunteers just helping us here in the region with our activity programme including the Regional Management Board, Regional Activities Committee, Working Groups, the Judging Panel, Young Planners, careers Ambassadors and Mentors.
And that doesn’t include all the RTPI volunteers that commit their time to National RTPI standing committees and other volunteer opportunities such as the Board of Trustees, General Assembly, APC Assessing, Planning Aid and much more.
Supported by our Regional Coordinator Charlotte, activities include, but not limited to:
- Our local CPD seminar programme which is now delivered hybrid to offer flexibility to members and extend our reach and knowledge sharing.~
- An online webinar programme which recently saw an impressive 470 join our Young planners led webinar on Appeals. I also chaired an equally popular webinar one of my topic favourites, ‘designing for cycle parking’
- We have recently launched of a Heads of Planning forum for the region to allow the sharing of best practice and key discussions on strategic priorities.
- The annual dinner, which is taking place in September this year.
- Showcasing planning success through the RTPI Awards programme
- Connecting with our partnership universities of UWE and Plymouth
- Connecting with other schools and colleagues through the volunteering of Ambassadors
- We have engaged over 3000 delegates and counting in these activities, but actually the output is much much wider in this as we work to champion the importance of planning to the public and the wider built environment.
- The opportunities are endless and we look forward to working with our volunteers to continue to build on this.
Whilst there are many career and networking benefits of volunteering, it’s also a great opportunity to form fantastic professional contacts, mentors and even friendships. We know that for many that have volunteered with us, it has given them the confidence and experience to take the next vital steps in their career.
A special Award went to Mike Oakley
A special award was presented to Mike in celebration of what will be 50 years of volunteering for the RTPI by the end of this year.
Mike has been serving on the South West Branch since 1975 and notes he has been in every role from Chairman to Secretary except for Treasurer so there is still time for that yet!
Mike has also served on what was then called RTPI National Council and has been involved with the regional awards for 19 years. Mike is a great asset with a fountain of knowledge and always keen to support a range of projects and input his thoughts.
The event was kindly sponsored by Carrington West and the RTPI Awards for Planning Excellence was sponsored by Stride Treglown.
Meeting with Planners at 
Keynote speaker at the RTPI & Landscape Institute South West Natural Environment Seminar where Tim talked about the importance of using the natural environment to plan for health and wellbeing. The seminar then followed to discuss BNG and Nutrient Neutrality.
Meetings and visits with 
