Date published: 2023-07-05 | Category: Planning
Bath & North East Somerset Council Planning Service picked up two prestigious awards at the RTPI South West Awards for Planning Excellence ceremony in Taunton recently.
The planning team won both the ‘Planning Authority Team of the Year’ and the overall ‘Planning Excellence Award’ at the RTPI (Royal Town Planning Institute) awards, which are designed to showcase and reward outstanding achievements in planning.
Councillor Matthew McCabe, cabinet member for Built Environment and Sustainable Development said: “The awards recognise the hard work and commitment of our Planning Services and the important role that planning plays in addressing the issues of climate change, reversing biodiversity loss and the housing/affordability crisis across Bath and North East Somerset. Our Local Plan Partial Update policies on net zero carbon construction, which are at the forefront of national best practice were singled out for praise, and the judges were also impressed by how the team demonstrated the external customer focus of the council. Winning these awards acknowledges the work our planning team are doing to support our key priority of improving people’s lives.”
Key elements of the planning service were recognised, such as the Development Management team’s focus on providing excellent customer service, including a regular planning agents forum, the consistently high levels of performance in determining planning applications, and the excellent pre-application advice they provided. The positive role planning plays in helping to achieve and facilitate high quality development and regeneration was also recognised.
The team’s strong emphasis on working with and engaging communities and stakeholders and addressing equalities, diversity and inclusion, for example through engaging with seldom heard groups, was noted as a particular strength, as was the delivery of a proactive enforcement service with a clear enforcement plan.
The judging panel also praised the strong commitment to staff development and improvement, citing the use of apprentice rotation through the department as a ‘very good’ example of embedding best practice.
Bath and North East Somerset Planning Service will go forward to the national RTPI Planning Excellence awards. The shortlist will be announced on 9 October.
ENDS
Photo: Bath & North East Somerset Planning Service at the RTPI South West Awards for Planning Excellence