A concordat which commits the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and the Planning Officers Society (POS) to increased collaboration over the next five years has been signed in an online ceremony.
The RTPI and POS say that they have agreed to work together to promote the role of the chief planning officer in local authorities, and to put planning and planners centre stage of the built environment professions.
— RTPIPlanners (@RTPIPlanners) May 28, 2020
NEW: RTPI and @POSisit agree to co-operate over the next 5 years with the purpose of putting planning and planners centre stage of the built environment professions @VictoriaRTPI Read the full concordat at https://t.co/YL2wgEPfnC pic.twitter.com/FewITCVaEt
The concordat was signed by RTPI Chief Executive Victoria Hills and POS President Sarah Platts MRTPI.
Sarah Platts said: “We’ve been very supportive of the work that that RTPI has done on the chief planner initiative over the past couple of years. Chief planners are such an important part of the corporate place shaping and place leadership agenda so POS is really keen to explore how we can work with the RTPI to best support the role.
“This is particularly important as we look at a post Covid-19 recovery scenario, in which spatial planning has to be one of the most important tools to support the economy and help get the construction business back up and running again.”
Victoria Hills said: “Hot on the heels of the Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission’s recommendation to government that every local authority should have a chief place-maker at the top table, I’m thrilled that the two organisations are going to be working together. I’m sure that by doing so, we will achieve great things.”
The agreement also states that the two organisations will co-operate to ensure that planning makes a major contribution to achieving sustainable development in ways that are ‘fair and equitable and achieve the social, economic and environmental aspirations of the community’.
Download the concordat in full at https://www.rtpi.org.uk/media/5414/rtpi-pos-concordat-signed-20200526.pdf
