A significant milestone towards re-establishing strategic planning in England took place last week with the launch of the Strategic Planning Group at London’s Royal Society of Arts. Chaired by independent consultant Catriona Riddell and founded by Prior + Partners, the group is represented by a diverse mix of planning professionals, local authorities, academics and technical experts.
The group’s formation aims to support the Government’s ambition to deliver the next generation of Spatial Development Strategies. These strategies will serve as a foundation for cohesive, cross-boundary planning which is critical to delivering homes, boosting economic growth and responding to the climate emergency across England.
As well as helping Government shape this new era of plan making, the move is aimed at supporting Combined Authorities and other relevant local authority groupings as they begin to prepare plans and address the complex and integrated issues around housing, infrastructure, climate, health, and economic growth in a coordinated and sustainable way.
Purpose and Vision
At its core, the group’s purpose is to reinvigorate and help shape England’s approach to strategic planning, developing frameworks that enable sub-regions to work together on growth priorities that are beyond the reach of localised plans. The initiative addresses a crucial need: without a strategic, sub-regional approach, England’s communities’ risk fragmented development and inefficiencies that impact housing, transport, and access to resources, and ultimately the health of both people and planet. Spatial Development Strategies will serve as guiding frameworks that facilitate coordinated, evidence-driven decision-making and secure the long-term economic, social and environmental resilience of the country’s urban and rural areas.
Catriona Riddell, the Group chair, noted the importance of aligning regional ambitions with national priorities, stating:
“We need to foster collaboration across different parts of the country to address common goals that benefit all communities. This initiative represents an essential step in making sure that growth is sustainable, inclusive, and informed by evidence.”
Shaun Andrews, Director of UK Planning Strategy at Prior + Partners, highlighted the group’s potential impact:
“As strategic planning practitioners, we are heartened to see Government reinstating strategic planning, knowing the contribution that it can make to delivering economic growth and jobs and addressing health equity. We are proud to have been able to bring together this talented group of experts.”
Ambition and Joint Working
The work of the group is intended to inform the next era of strategic planning in England. Initially, the group’s ambitions are being explored through a series of five in-depth sessions designed to lay the groundwork for future strategic plans. These sessions aim to define the purpose, scope, overarching themes, and practical tools needed to reintegrate, and maximise the opportunities arising from strategic planning, and each session will bring together leading voices and stakeholders to tackle critical aspects.
While not formally part of the group, officials from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) will attend key sessions to share progress, hear from the group and engage in the discussions. These five sessions are:
> Session 1: Purpose, Objectives, and Scope of a New Generation of Strategic Plans – This session will establish key SDS objectives, focusing on how these strategies can support sustainable growth, meet housing demands, drive economic development, and enhance climate resilience;
> Session 2: Setting Vision and Ambition at a Sub-Regional Scale – Aiming to empower regions to develop place-specific visions, this session will focus on creating consensus-based goals that reflect local identities and priorities within a national context;
> Session 3: Exploring the Evidence Base – This session will delve into data analysis, exploring how to build an agile evidence base to inform SDSs and support data-driven decision-making across Local Plans and cross-regional growth options;
> Session 4: Testing and Examining Spatial Development Strategies – In this session, participants will discuss effective governance and evaluation techniques to ensure SDSs are sound, democratic, and adaptable to changing needs;
> Session 5: Teams, Skills, and Capacity Building – Recognising the sector’s skills gap, this session will explore how to build the capacity and technical expertise necessary to deliver on complex spatial planning requirements.
Importantly, this initial period of work by the Strategic Planning Group will culminate in a publication that summarises the key points of discussion and provides focused recommendations for a new era of Spatial Development Strategies.
Membership
As founders of the Strategic Planning Group, members of Prior + Partners will provide expert input and support the group, bringing our extensive experience of working alongside senior leaders and government bodies to lead large scale strategic planning projects that deliver ambitious spatial planning, growth, investment and new settlements. In the UK, this includes the recently launched Shared Ambition for the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, a document which sets out a clear, unifying vision guiding the region’s growth to 2050.
Our team have also developed the SW Herts Digital Place Portrait, an interactive map and dashboard that is designed to foster a deeper understanding of South West Hertfordshire’s social, economic, and environmental characteristics and provide a critical backdrop to discussions to advance a Joint Strategic Plan for the area.
Prior + Partners has also been involved in shaping a number of the Country’s largest new communities including Tendring Colchester Garden Community (7,500 homes in North Essex); Salt Cross (3,000 homes for in West Oxfordshire); West of Ifield (3,000 Homes – for Homes England in Horsham); as well as at Hemel Hempstead Garden Community on behalf of The Crown Estate.
Internationally, our work includes leadership of the newly adopted Thimphu Structure Plan in Bhutan, a key tool to catalyse a more regenerative and distributive approach to socio-economic development over the next 20+ years. Meanwhile, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabi, we’ve supported The Royal Commission for AlUla in the production of a Framework Plan and associated planning guidelines that provide the blueprint for the future and aid resolution of complex issues around heritage and ecological protection alongside planning for growth and infrastructure.
The experience Prior + Partners bring to the Strategic Planning Group is enriched through that of the Group Chair, Catriona Riddell. An independent consultant providing support on a wide range of spatial planning issues but who specialises in strategic planning, Catriona has worked with a large number of local authorities across England, helping them develop their approaches to strategic planning and establishing new governance arrangements. She has authored a number of major publications on the subject of strategic planning and has contributed to several other national studies.
The wider Strategic Planning Group comprises the following esteemed and experienced individuals:
> Andrew Carter Centre for Cities, Chief Executive Officer;
> Mark Dickens Manchester City Council, Assistant Director Planning & Building Control;
> Paul Frainer TPX Impact, Senior Partner Place and Impact;
> James Harris National Infrastructure Commission, Senior Policy Advisor;
> Hannah Hickman UWE Faculty of Environment and Technology, Associate Professor of Planning Practice;
> Bev Hindle Former Oxford-Cambridge Arc Partnership Director;
> Alexandra Notay Radix Big Tent Housing Commission, Chair and Commissioner;
> Vicky Payne Jas Bhalla Works, Associate;
> Zack Simons Landmark Chambers, Planning Barrister;
> Peter Studdert Peter Studdert Consulting, Founder;
> Judith Sykes Expedition Engineering / Useful Simple Projects, Senior Director / CEO;
> Graham Thomas Essex County Council;
> Anna Rose Local Government Association, Head of Planning Advisory Service;
> Simon Ricketts Town Legal LLP, Partner;
> Pooja Agrawal Public Practice, CEO;
> Andrew Wood Yorkshire & Humber Climate Commission, Senior Engagement & Impact Officer;
> Laura Wood South West Herts Joint Strategic Plan Lead;
> Richard Wood Richard Wood Associates, Founder;
> Alex Yendole District Councils’ Network / Stafford Borough Council Planning Policy Manager.
The following Prior + Partners members will provide expert input and support the group:
> Jason Prior, Masterplanning Director;
> Tom Venables, Planning Director;
> Shaun Andrews, Planning Director;
> Simon Mattinson, Planning Director;
> Polly Barker, Economics Director;
> Naomi Lam, Associate Urban Planner;
> Chloe Rutland, Senior Urban Planner;
> Dan Allen, Senior Urban Planner.
Find out more
Over the next few months, we’ll be sharing the key findings of our workshops with the Strategic Planning Group via our website and Linkedin, with our final publication due in Spring 2025
