Membership
About Planning Futures
Planning Futures is a cross-sector corporate membership organisation for planning professionals.
Our members include local authorities, developers, planning consultants, law firms and chambers.
Through our programme, we bring together the most senior and well-respected voices from the planning world to share ideas, initiate new collaborations, and communicate the sector’s priorities to key political and administrative stakeholders.
Our Programme
Throughout the year we host a range of events designed to track the emerging planning policy agenda.
These include CPD events on new and emerging government policy, Q&A sessions with government ministers and officials and dinners featuring guest speakers from local and national government, industry and academia.
We also host two major receptions in parliament each year – our New Year’s Members’ Reception and our Summer Parliamentary Reception.
Membership
On becoming a member of Planning Futures, your organisation will join a network of thought leaders from across the planning world. As a cross-sector and nonpartisan forum, we do not represent the views of any particular section of the planning sector. Instead, we encourage a dialogue between our members based on mutual respect and parity of esteem.
Supper Club
The Planning Futures Supper Club is a regular series of dinners that we host for senior colleagues.
Each event features an after-dinner speech from a leading figure in the planning world and is limited to a single table of sixteen participants.
Since its introduction in 2022, the series has quickly become one of the most popular elements within our membership offer.
Previous speakers include government ministers, local government leaders and political advisors as well as key industry experts and third sector CEOs.
However, the value of these events lies as much with the attendees as it does with the guest speakers. Open only to senior colleagues, the Supper Club provides a space for cross-sector dialogue amongst leaders in planning from both the public and private sectors.
We currently host six Supper Club events per calendar year on a first come, first served basis, with places limited to one representative per membership organisation. As our membership continues to grow, we will continue to add more Supper Club events each year to ensure that each membership organisation receives a place at a minimum of four dinners per membership year.
In Conversation
The Planning Futures: In Conversation series is a regular series of Q&A events featuring some of the most prominent figures in planning.
Previous events in this series have included in depth discussions with the Planning Minister, Chief Planner and Deputy Mayor for London.
Usually held as breakfast events, these sessions offer the opportunity for members to put their questions to key decision makers.
From January 2025 we will host a minimum of 5 In Conversation events each year with two guaranteed places available for each membership organisation.
Receptions
The two biggest events in our calendar are our receptions in parliament.
In January, we hold our New Year’s Members Reception. This exclusive event is for members and supporters only and features a key-note speech from a senior political figure – usually the Planning Minister.
In early summer, we hold our long-standing Summer Parliamentary Reception. This is the only event in our programme that is also open to non-members and is attended by senior planning stakeholders from across local and national government, industry and the third sector.
Members are entitled to a minimum of two places at each event.
Planning in Practice
As the planning policy environment continues to evolve, our Planning in Practice events track the emerging policy agenda and explore how new legislation and government policy inform planning practice on the ground.
These events are designed specifically for a cross-sector audience. They usually take the form of interactive panel discussions – each featuring experts from local and national government as well as non-government experts and private practitioners.
The aim of these sessions is, to go beyond simply supplying information, to create an environment in which public and private sector planning professionals can work together to understand the implications of new and emerging government policy.
These events reflect our commitment to foster a crosssector dialogue and offer an opportunity for both public and private sector practitioners to better understand their respective positions.
All events in the Planning in Practice series are certified by the CPD Certification Service and are open to all colleagues from member organisations. In the event that a session becomes over-subscribed, we reserve the right to limit attendance to two individuals per member organisation.
Planning Futures: On Site
To compliment our Planning in Practice Sessions we occasionally host site visits in order to showcase exemplary planning schemes.
These events typically feature a brief presentation – often including the developer and local authority – followed by a tour of the site.
Policy Round Tables
In order to keep up with a fast paced policy agenda, we regularly organise additional events in response to policy announcements.
Typically, these take the form of round table discussions, chaired by experts and attended by a cross section of our membership – from the public and private sectors and from a range of professional backgrounds.
For the most important government consultations, we may arrange a series of such events to accommodate the full membership over the course of several evenings.
These events typically take place in the late afternoon and are followed by dinner and drinks.
