Planning excellence celebrated at RTPI ceremony

Honours were awarded to the council as follows:

• Smethwick to Birmingham Corridor Framework Document & Grove Lane Masterplan (BCC jointly with Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council & Tibbalds Planning and Urban Design) – Excellence in Plan Making Practice category
• Birmingham City Council Planning Team – West Midlands Planning Authority of the Year category
• Alice Jones, Principal Development Planning Officer, Birmingham City Council – West Midlands Young Planner of the Year category
• Alice Jones, Principal Development Planning Officer, Birmingham City Council – RTPI West Midlands’ Overall Winner

There was also a “Highly Commended” for:

• Perry Barr 2040: A Vision for Legacy – West Midlands Excellence in Plan Making Practice category

And also shortlisted was:

• Our Future City Nature Plan – West Midlands Best Project category

Cllr Ian Ward, Leader of Birmingham City Council, said: “I congratulate all of the city council staff for the work they have put in to earn these awards. It demonstrates that Birmingham is at the forefront of efforts to develop and regenerate the region, to make the West Midlands a better place to live in, work in and to visit.

“Thanks must also go to our many project partners, as it is a shared dedication and vision that is enabling us to shape the Birmingham of the future.

“And I am delighted by the recognition received for Alice – as the judges said in their own comments, she is a talented and effective planner, who has achieved a great deal in a remarkable variety of high-profile and complex planning policy and development management roles. This has included work on the city centre Enterprise Zone, neighbourhood planning and the Edgbaston Reservoir. She is a real asset to our team.”

The Birmingham winners will now move forward to the national RTPI awards later this year.