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!

 

Previous Articles