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NAPE, the National Association for Planning Enforcement, is to be launched at the RTPI’s head offices, 41 Botolph Lane, London at 12.00pm on Tuesday 6 June.
Planning enforcement is a key function within the planning process and often enforcement officers are confronted with difficult situations and people.
Tony Russell, Chair of NAPE and Special Duties Officer, within the enforcement section at Exmoor National Park Authority said: "Planning enforcement teams work at the sharp end of planning, ensuring that the consequences of decisions made as a result of planning applications being refused, or where applications haven’t been made in the first place, are carried through on the ground. Team members often have to deal with difficult situations, hurt feelings and belligerent people. At the same time, they have to be aware of a growing body of precedents, convictions and case work.”
Clive Harridge, President of the RTPI said: "Planning enforcement staff need support. They need a distinct identity and voice within the planning community, and an opportunity to network with other colleagues. They need easy access to guidance and advice in relation to good practice and ethical issues. And they need a pathway to personal and professional development. This is important not just in itself, but because enforcement staff are often the visible face of planning to the public, and are therefore in a prime position to act as advertisements and image-bearers for planning. Supporting planning enforcement staff is therefore central to the Institute’s core purpose.”
NAPE will:
Act as a representative body to provide a national voice for all those working across planning enforcement;
Raise the profile of planning enforcement within and beyond the planning community and to gain recognition for its importance within the planning process;
Extend good practice within planning enforcement;
Raise levels of professionalism in planning enforcement and to gain recognition for that professionalism, encouraging professional development and working closely with the RTPI to encourage members to undertake professional qualifications, particularly Technical membership of the RTPI;
Facilitate networking amongst planning enforcement staff.
Ends
Press release issued: June 1 2006
