Consultation Response to Planning White Paper

The Planning for the Future White Paper, published in August 2020, has several proposals for changes that will affect the planning profession and how we plan for sustainable communities. A number of proposals in the white paper will impact BAME communities and could also affect already marginalised communities, hindering their ability or opportunity to engage in the planning process.

The statement sets out the BAME Planners Network’s response to these proposals in light of our objectives.

We are concerned about:

(1) The lack of consideration/exposition of diversity and equality matters – and the need for a robust assessment of impacts and strategy

(2) The failure to recognise the need for a diverse planning profession and to allocate resources to support this

(3) The absence of any meaningful proposals to enhance – and ensure – engagement with diverse communities.

We strongly urge the Government to respond to and rectify these concerns, set out in detail in the remainder of this statement and would welcome further dialogue on the matters we have raised in the remainder of this response.

Read the full response from here.