Prior + Partners’ Director, Tom Venables, will join a panel of planning experts at the RTPI South East and Oxfordshire County Council conference, The Return of Strategic Planning – Part 2.
The event brings together planning professionals, local authorities, advisors and industry partners to explore how strategic planning is being reinvigorated in England’s evolving planning system.
Building on renewed momentum for cross-boundary, collaborative, and place-based planning approaches, the full-day conference will provide a timely platform for informed debate and shared insights into emerging frameworks and practice tools that will shape strategic planning in 2026 and beyond.
Tom Venables brings extensive experience to the discussion, shaped by over two decades of strategic planning and placemaking work in the UK and internationally. His leadership across major strategic and regeneration projects – from large-scale city visioning to new settlement planning – underpins a deep understanding of how long-term planning frameworks can unlock opportunity and resilience. This includes his recent work as Project Director supporting Enfield Council at Crews Hill in London, one of Labour’s first twelve recommended New Town locations, as well as, leading a multidisciplinary team to deliver the Southampton Renaissance, a cohesive investment and spatial strategy for the local Council. Internationally, Tom has led large scale strategic plans for Dubai, Jeddah and Istanbul.
This conference also forms part of a broader conversation on strategic planning, following the publication of the Prior + Partners-founded Strategic Planning Group report ‘ Planning Positively for the Future’ which sets out 17 practical recommendations for embedding Spatial Development Strategies (SDSs) at the heart of England’s re‑formed, plan‑led system.
The event will be taking place on 4th March 2026 at Said Business School in Oxford.
Find out more information on the event here.
