Chartered Town Planners

Membership of the RTPI as a Chartered Town Planner, or as a legal member of the RTPI, is an internationally recognised mark of professional expertise and competence. The Institute has over 2,500 consultant members and more than 1,000 firms are registered with the RTPI as offering the services of consultant Chartered Town Planners or legal members of the RTPI. They range in size from sole practitioners or small partnerships, through to large, international, multi-professional practices including architects, economists, engineers, surveyors and other specialists. Some smaller practices may also have access to similar professional skills.

The client base

Consultant Chartered Town Planners provide services to both the public and private sectors. Typically their clients include:

  • Local Authorities;
  • health authorities and other public agencies such as development corporations
  • UK and overseas government offices
  • private businesses, small or large
  • housebuilders and development companies (in the retail, office and leisure industries for instance)
  • private individuals and community groups
  • other professionals seeking specialist planning advice

Range of services

Consultant Chartered Town Planners can offer services on a wide range of planning, development and environmental matters. Some of the more common include:

  • submission of planning applications
  • appeals against refusal of planning permission
  • development plan representations at Local Plan Inquiries or
  • Examinations in Public
  • site appraisals and development feasibility studies
  • development and design briefs
  • environmental impact assessments
  • master plans and urban design studies
  • policy research
  • government development and urban regeneration strategies
  • public consultation and involvement

Some Consultant Chartered Town Planners also offer advice on more specialised matters such as:

  • enforcement notices
  • compulsory purchase orders
  • blight notices
  • certificates of lawfulness

Typical projects

Consultant Chartered Town Planners are engaged in a diverse range of projects, including:

  • town centre improvements and urban regeneration
  • business and science parks
  • airports and other major transport termini
  • urban waterfronts
  • urban villages and new settlements
  • urban and rural residential development
  • listed buildings and conservation areas
  • commercial office and retail projects
  • golf course and leisure projects
  • highway and rail corridor planning
  • operational and redundant hospital sites
  • land reclamation and decontamination
  • former defence sites
  • nursing homes
  • petrol filling stations and motorway service areas
  • football and athletic stadia
  • university campuses
  • ports, marinas and boat yards
  • telecommunications
  • gravel extraction and minerals

The benefits of engaging a consultant Chartered Town Planner

Consultant Planners are able to offer their clients:

  • impartial professional advice
  • a fresh, independent approach to controversial issues
  • simple, effective explanations to planning situations
  • a bridge between interested parties, helping to clarify underlying issues, establish the facts and interpret each party's concerns and viewpoint
  • an awareness of the constraints and opportunities of the development sector
  • Direct Professional Access to the Bar, without having to use a solicitor as an intermediary;
  • additional specialist skills for local authority departments, acting to supplement existing staff establishment
  • a wide range of specialist skills and experience

Selecting a consultant

Factors to take into account when selecting planning consultants include:

  • the professional skills and experience available to the firm or individual
  • the consultants knowledge of particular localities
  • the consultants ability to provide the necessary staff at the appropriate time
  • how much the consultant will charge for the service

A client's first step should be to identify whether a planning consultant is needed and what particular range of skills is necessary. A client may rather wish to discuss with one or more consultants whether they are able and willing to provide the necessary service.

It may be helpful in the first instance for a consultant to be invited to diagnose the situation, to assess the nature and scale of issues that may have to be tackled, and to suggest ways in which the work should proceed. Getting an accurate picture of the job at the outset is essential to its success and to establishing a mutual understanding.