14 October 2015
Over 40 female planning professionals gathered at our first Women in Planning event last night to hear Trudi Elliott CBE, Chief Executive of the Royal Town Planning Institute, and Jacqueline Lean, barrister from the Landmark Chambers, speak about the latest developments in planning and opportunities and challenges faced by women across the planning and development industry.
Held at our Southampton office, the evening attracted guests from across the public and private sectors, including local authorities, developers, housebuilders, and consultancies.
WYG Principal Planners Caroline Gould and Rebecca Humble organised the evening.
Caroline said: “For the first time, all three of the main built environment member organisations – RIBA, RTPI and RICS - have elected female presidents coinciding in the same year and to reflect this, Becs and I have launched this initiative to establish a network of female planning professionals to share our expertise and experiences. As well as planning practice, Trudi spoke about the importance of skills and diversity.”
Rebecca said: “We were absolutely delighted to welcome so many female planning professionals, as well as our prestigious speakers. Having received fantastic feedback, we hope this will be the first of many Women in Planning events organised by Caroline and I in the Southampton Office. We would be happy to support our female colleagues across other WYG disciplines in setting up similar networks’.
Photograph, from left to right: Rebecca Humble, Jacqueline Lean, Trudi Elliott, and Caroline Gould