Issue details

This report seeks approval for the Executive Member for Strategic Planning and Environment to attend the Town & Country Planning Association Annual Conference and Parliamentary Reception, to be held on 20^th November 2013 in London. 

The annual conference is the highlight of the Association's events calendar attracting guests from across central and local government, local authority leaders and senior officers, business and investment organisations, planners, developers, community and voluntary groups and academics.  Planning Minister, Nick Boles MP, will be delivering a keynote speech at the conference.

With high-profile speeches from both the Government and Opposition, the conference will be framed around two thematic debates which will provide the opportunity for direct and powerful discussion.

·         The first debate 'making planning work at the strategic level' will ask whether the latest planning reforms are delivering the infrastructure the nation needs.

·         The second debate, ‘housing the nation’, will consider the increasingly topical issue of whether the current planning system can deliver enough homes in the right places.