Recently in National Planning Forum Category

Whew, that's a relief then! According to Mike Hayes we're all on the same page in urging stability: "Change the policies; but not the process and let the IPC, HCA and LDF's find their feet."

I genuinely did sleep a bit better last night as a result of his response (when one gets through life relying so much on instinct and emotional intelligence, it is indeed a huge validation to be told that the boffins are in agreement with your analysis) and my New Best Friend, Leonora Rozee (another Big Banana at RTPI and - until recently - senior gal at the Planning Inspectorate) can write any time.

I've already nicked her "It has never been more important to have a robust, effective and confident planning system than now when we face national and global economic, social and environmental challenges on an epic scale. Planners need to step up to the plate and demonstrate their willingness to make the systems we have been given work" for a speech I'm giving in the new year.

Wonderful stuff from a genuine leader in her field (and sorry, Leonora, no royalties will be forthcoming; this is the blogosphere after all).

A cri de coeur for stability is definitely in vogue in our industry. And another cri de coeur must be to, please, get real.

Recognising the much smaller public purse for regeneration going forward, we will certainly need to forego our preoccupation with scale: much of the Grand Projets type of regeneration seen over the last decade or more is detached from community delivery and benefits.

Shortest day huh! Not for me!

At my desk early and spend a good ten minutes deleting all the e-cards (why do folk bother? I've so seldom heard of the people sending them to me that I now delete them all summarily; I can't be alone here) and trying to get my head around the things I absolutely MUST knock off before Christmas. It's a daunting task.

Alongside the pesky day job, I'm getting ready for a Brave New Year at BURA and I've had a bit of correspondence on the blog recently which I must deal with (and rather more that I won't be dealing with, I am seriously alarmed by the amount of spam an innocent blog generates - despite careful counselling by the EG team).

Always a joy and an honour to hear from Mike Hayes, past President of the RTPI and now to be Secretary of the National Planning Forum (and therefore clearly the furthest thing from spam that you can imagine).

It is a genuine first for anyone to describe me as "nostalgic" but Mike is right to point out that my remarks about planning reform are defeatist. I will certainly be downloading the Fit for Purpose spatial planning document from the National Planning Forum website as you suggest, Mike, for a bit of Christmas reading and I will emerge from the break very much better informed, I promise!

However, it remains the case that we have a mountain to climb with planning reform, primarily with the rest of the property sector. The very best Christmas lunch I attended this year was courtesy of the lovely Tom Curtin of Curtin and Co at Browns Hotel (she sighs, a dirty job, but somebody had to!). It was a great lunch and I was privileged to be included.