Planners: Indispensable to successful local government? OR Public enemy number one?

1. Planners: Indispensable to successful local government?ORPublic enemy number one?

2. structure of the presentation • my perspective on what it must be like to be a planner in the present context • What skills do we need planners to have in a corporate context and an external context? • Three characteristics make planners valuable contributors to their own organisations and to the wider world; the “boundary spanner” ( or “reticulism’), the entrepreneur and as an “interpreter” • Look at some case studies relating to these characteristics • Draw some conclusions 2

5. 5

7. National Government Regional Government County Council City Council District Council Town/Parish Council Community action teams

8. Freedom?

10. reticulists... • A reticulist is someone who possesses skills in creating, servicing and manipulating communication networks, and is astute at identifying where in an organisation a decision in which she/he is interested would be made. • The role of the reticulist applies to the development of inter-sectoral collaboration. • They are ‘skilled conveners’ who appreciate the potential for mutual exchange and envision a mission which can be fulfilled through joint participation. • Reticulist skills are associated too with boundary crossing and strategic thinking. Reticulists identify the key resource holders and fellow reticulists in their own and other agencies. Adrian Davis: Independent health and transport consultant

11. § “The competent boundary spanner”: Paul Williams:Public Administration (2002) Vol 80

12. The reticulist at work Adapted from: “Effective Practice in Spatial Planning.” Janice Morphet (2011) Routledge

13. Case study • Nottingham City Council, Broxtowe Borough Council, Gedling District Council, Erewash Borough Council and Rushcliffe Borough Council have worked together in a combined joint advisory committee to deliver over £11m of schemes across the conurbation which promote growth and green infrastructure under the ‘growth point “ programme. We have also worked together to produce an “aligned core strategy” • http://tinyurl.com/dykyrk7

14. § “The competent boundary spanner”: Paul Williams:Public Administration (2002) Vol 80

15. The entrepreneur at work

16. Case Study: Vauban Germany

17. Case Study Chicago Urban Forest

18. § “The competent boundary spanner”: Paul Williams:Public Administration (2002) Vol 80

19. “Planners must accept the value of a mobilisation effort generated within civil society, however uncomfortable this might seem to be. It means appreciating that others in many arenas and networks in an urban area may have a better capacity than technical experts to “summon up” an idea of an ‘urban region” that has widespread resonance and mobilisation force within a particular governance context” The interpreter at work “Urban Complexity and spatial Strategies : (2007) P. Healy P.281

20. Community Perspectives Professional Perspectives Political Perspectives Managerial Perspectives Managerial Perspectives Text Local Perspectives Political Perspectives

21. Case StudyLoughton Neighbourhood development plan • Create allotments OR turn into area for “green burials”, tree planting. • Create parking/drop off area opposite the school • Create a wildflower meadow • Any new development to have adequate parking provision

22. Case Study contd. • “This area is not suitable for residential development” • “No additional dwellings permitted for development within theConservation Area” • “No buildings or structures shall be constructed on the paddocks” • “No buildingstructures will be built on this open land” • “The open space shall remain green open space and not subject tofurther residential development” • “No residential development permitted in the existing area of the parkand no other commercial or other buildings” • “The area will be kept free of any residential development.” • “The area shall remain free from any residential development” • “The two churches and the Memorial Hall shall remain as Community facility and notconverted to residential development.”

23. “Flexibility must be built into the masterplan as unforeseen circumstances are always likely to arise. An essential function of a masterplan is to provide a framework for development that will bedelivered over time, incrementally, while retaining the quality of design principles and without lowering standards” • TCPA (2011)“Benefits and lessons in bringing forward comprehensively planned new communities”

24. Conclusions • Planners must not see themselves as confined to their own departments, involved in the narrow business of approving/refusing planning applications and creating local plans. They bring strategic thinking, knowledge and visionary capacity to the whole organisation from both inside and outside its boundaries • Planners must act as inspirational forces for longer term thinking within their organisations - to help their authorities think of future possibilities . • Planners need increasingly honed communication skills to act as co-creators, challengers, and listeners;to interpret the past , reinvent the present and imagine the future.