Anyone who has ever been involved in an annual appraisal will appreciate it can be difficult to remember what you have achieved during the last year. Thinking about the last seven years at the TCPA has, therefore, proved tricky. But, as I wrap things up this week and handover to Katy Lock, who takes over as interim chief executive from the start of May, I’ve been trying to reflect on my time at the Association.
A year into my role the country went into lockdown, and I still vividly remember sitting at my desk listening to the Prime Minister telling us we needed to stay at home. Supporting the team remotely during that time, while trying to keep the organisation running, with a bit of home schooling thrown in, was quite something.
Another standout memory is our Osborn Memorial event in 2023, which involved the US Embassy. It focused on the role of public art in creating inclusive places and featured the artist Tschabalala Self. Tschabalala’s public sculpture, Seated, was temporarily installed outside De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill-On-Sea and had been vandalised earlier that year. The sculpture was of a black woman looking out to sea, and vandals had spray painted the woman’s skin white. Among other things the event was an opportunity to discuss with Tschabalala her and the community’s response. This kind of event reflects the TCPA at its best; championing the work of an internationally renowned artist whose passion for public art is underpinned by a drive for equality and making that part of the debate around placemaking and communities.
Over seven years there have of course been loads of fantastic projects, events, meetings, and Parliamentary receptions. In 2025 alone, we estimate that we held over 50 events with more than 5,200 attendees. There has been quite a lot of inward facing stuff as well. But at least part of the legacy I hope I leave is that the Association is better able to articulate what it does, what difference it makes and why, therefore, it continues to be so important.
Both our 2021-2025 strategy and our current one, which runs to 2030, are clear that achieving social justice was, and remains, the driving ambition of the Garden City movement. And so, our mission today is to challenge, inspire and support people to create healthy, sustainable and resilient places that are fair for everyone. The planning system has the potential to support transformation – but our mission cannot be achieved by the statutory planning system alone. Much of what supports people, places and the environment to thrive happens outside of that system and the Association needs to be interested in that too.
The changes we seek to local and national policy, and the guidance we publish and the training we deliver, can take time to make a difference on the ground. It can therefore be difficult to demonstrate our impact and relevance. This feedback, from a senior member of staff at a local planning authority, was therefore wonderful to hear:
‘The work of the TCPA is what inspired colleagues and I to take a much more ambitious approach to creating high quality, thriving new communities. Having been on TCPA study tours and as part of the New Communities Group, I concluded that there has to be a better approach than the planning by appeal we were seeing. I, of course, haven’t done it alone! But this ambition is now reflected in the approach being taken…, where the Council has acquired land, undertaken the masterplan and is now directly delivering infrastructure and new homes.’
Other specific examples we can now point to where we believe our work will make a difference to people’s lives are in South Tees, where we supported the appointment of a planning for health specialist who is directly influencing the emerging Local Plan for Middlesbrough. The Plan will guide development in the town until 2041 and therefore influence the health and wellbeing of the current and future population – currently around 144,000 people.
And through our Healthy Homes campaign we worked to promote and embed the Healthy Homes principles at the local level. The principles are referenced in the Liverpool Housing Strategy 2025-2030 and Lewes District Council’s Housing Delivery Programme 2024 – 2028. As the latter states, the programme will ‘directly contribute to the needs of residents and those on the Housing Waiting List’.
I’ve written many times that we face housing, health, nature and climate crises and the work of the Association seeks to play a part in addressing all of those. As I also noted in a recent Town & Country Planning article, some within the sector argue that too many demands are being placed on the planning system. I and the TCPA continue to believe that planning can be transformational and is key to tackling those challenges holistically. Rather than stripping it back, these responsibilities should remain, and it must be resourced to enable it to deliver.
All there is left to say is good luck to Katy and the team. And thank you to all who have supported me and the Association over the last seven years. It’s been a blast!
