SP Broadway attends reception with Steve Quartermain, Chief Planner
On Wednesday 9 January SP Broadway were delighted to attend a reception with Steve Quartermain, Chief Planner at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (representing Secretary of State James Brokenshire).
Topics discussed included:
- How technology will transform the planning and housebuilding sector
- Empowering the planning profession
- The need for Head Planners to “sit at the top table” in local authority hierarchies
- Planning fees, which are under “constant review”
- The importance of recruiting and training the next generation of planners
- Putting mechanisms in place to attract young people to a career in planning
- Potentially introducing planning as a subject in the school curriculum
- The value of attracting planners from a more diverse background
- The significance and growing role of neighbourhood planning, with 2,500 groups now involved covering 13 million residents, and 700 Neighbourhood Plans now ‘made’ at referendum
- The importance of improving the design and quality of new homes to create long-lasting and sustainable communities.
Many thanks to Planning Futures for hosting an insightful evening with Steve, and it was good to hear so many positive ideas!