In May 2025, the Prior + Partners-founded Strategic Planning Group (SPG) published Planning Positively for the Future, a report that sets out 17 practical recommendations for embedding Spatial Development Strategies (SDSs) at the heart of England’s re‑formed, plan‑led system. Since then, members of the practice, with support from the wider SPG, have been taking the conversation nationally.
At the LGA Annual Conference fringe event in Liverpool on 2nd July, Polly Barker and Shaun Andrews joined the County Councils Network to host a session exploring how upper-tier authorities can begin preparing their first SDSs. The session focused on the practicalities of assembling the evidence, resources and leadership needed to create robust, vision-led investment frameworks.
Polly also joined a panel at this months NIPA Annual Conference in Canary Wharf which reflected on the report’s findings and shared insights on how SDSs can offer a more strategic approach to place-making and delivery.
These events mark just the beginning of what the SPG hopes will be a national conversation on the future of strategic planning in England.
About the Strategic Planning Group
With the ambition of re-establishing strategic planning in England, the Strategic Planning Group was launched in November 2024. Founded by placemaking consultancy Prior + Partners and Chaired by Catriona Riddell, the group is represented by a diverse mix of planning professionals, local authorities, academics and technical experts, and attended by government advisors.
The group’s formation aims to support the Government’s ambition to deliver the next generation of Spatial Development Strategies. These strategies will serve as a foundation for cohesive, cross-boundary planning to deliver homes, drive sustainable economic growth, restore nature and improve health outcomes across England.
As well as helping Government shape this new era of plan making, the move is aimed at supporting Combined Authorities and other relevant local authority groupings as they begin to prepare plans and address the complex and integrated issues around housing, infrastructure, climate, health, and economic growth in a coordinated and sustainable way.
For more information about the SPG or to arrange a meeting, please contact the Strategic Planning Group via strategicplanninggroup@priorpartners.com
You can download the full report here: Planning Positively for the Future.
