I'm retiring - MTPC is closing.......

After 7 years of the consultancy, tackling a wide variety of planning challenges, I'm now retiring.

Thanks for your support!

Whatever your town planning problem maybe, when it comes to thinking about development, understanding local planning authorities, submitting applications, negotiating with LPA's, drafting supporting documentation or presenting the best case possible, John has a wealth of experience to help you through the complex process.

John qualified as a town planner in 1975 having obtained a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Town and Country Planning at Trent University. Working in local authorities in North Yorkshire and South Wales where he was elected as a Member to the Royal Town Planning Institute in 1980.

Leaving local government in 1982, John then worked for a major PLC company as both a town planner and senior manager both in the UK as well as Scandinavia and North America.

John has sat on many joint working parties, presented papers at events and seminars for the RTPI, PAS and the Planning Portal.

Until recently John was the Development Manager at Bury Council, one of the top performing Local Planning Authorities in England in terms of processing planning applications, planning appeals and planning enforcement.

John led the team that was the first to receive an on-line planning application, drove performance so that over 90% of Major Applications were processed within statutory time limits and developed both the on-line and telephone information systems to make the service accessible by all 24 hours a day.

He chaired the Development Management Group of AGMA authorities for 4 years and has acted as a Peer Reviewer for the PAS.

John retired from local government in March 2015 and he was working on simplifying conditions on planning consents and improving the quality of planning decisions as well as coordinating the way that all the planning departments in the Manchester City Region could work more closely together and harmonise their processes, for the benefit of their residents and businesses.

While doing all of the above he kept an active case work load of planning applications and as such processed a range of complex planning applications as well as presenting reports to the Planning Control Committee.

John has retained a passion for town planning and believes that it helps deliver a better environment for us all.

Latest Planning News

15th November 2022

I'm retiring!!!

The second draft of the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework (GMSF) won’t be developed until the new year and then published in June 2018, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority has announced.

The time frame has been discussed and decided by Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham, Salford City Mayor and Greater Manchester Combined Authority lead member for housing, planning and homelessness Paul Dennett, and leaders of the region’s councils.

The first draft, published in October 2016 for consultation, identified sites for 227,000 homes, including some green belt land locations. It said the release of some green belt land was “essential” to keep up with Greater Manchester’s growth.

Then in May 2017, after he was elected mayor, Burnham appointed Dennett to “radically rewrite” the framework.

According to the combined authority, the second draft will take into account concerns raised by some members of the public during the first consultation as well aim to make the most of the region’s brownfield sites and reduce the impact on the green belt.

Dennett said: “To do justice to the 27,000 responses received as part of the initial consultation, and to demonstrate continued trust and transparency in the process, we agreed a timetable with a series of steps leading up to the publication of the revised plan.

“This process will start in September with the publication of the responses to the initial consultation. This will be followed later in the year by the publication of data and associated sources of information such as population estimates which will help us calculate the requirements for housing and employment. Some of this information isn’t yet available, for example, we are waiting for the government to publish its national methodology for calculating housing need, which we expect will now be released in the autumn.

“The second draft of the plan will be developed in the new year, with a view to publish it in June 2018. Following publication of the draft plan, there will be a 12-week consultation with the public.”

He said the public would be kept up to date with the framework’s progress.

21 August 2017
Laura Edgar, The Planner