2-hour live session · Delivered by a Chartered Town Planner (MRTPI) · Reflects NPPF December 2024 and LURA 2023
Confidence in the planning system is the difference between a community that gets heard and one that gets steam-rollered. We deliver a sharp, practical, fully tailored 2-hour online training session that gives your councillors, residents’ association or community group everything they need to engage with planning effectively — without the jargon, and grounded in current law and policy.
£450 + VAT · Fixed fee · Tailored to your area · Up to 20 attendees
Whether you’re a new councillor, an experienced parish chair, or a residents’ group fighting your first big application, this session will give you the knowledge, skills and confidence to engage with the planning system effectively.
Gain a comprehensive understanding of how planning works, including its purpose and the national, legislative and regulatory framework that shapes every decision.
Explore key planning documents, the role of the Local Plan and Neighbourhood Plans, and learn how to find and apply the policies that decide your local applications.
Familiarise yourself with each stage of the planning application process, from pre-application discussions through consultation, decision and post-decision actions.
Understand how applications are assessed against policy and material considerations — and what the law and guidance say must be ignored.
Learn the principles of effective objection-writing, how to lobby councillors properly, and how to get your concerns onto the case officer’s report.
Get up to speed on the December 2024 NPPF, the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023, mandatory housing targets and the new “grey belt” policy.
Most people only meet the planning system when something is happening on their doorstep. By then it’s usually too late to learn the rules. This session gives your group the tools to act early, speak the language, and actually be listened to.
Statutory consultees on every application in your area. You’ll learn how to comment in the language case officers and committees actually weigh.
Coordinated, evidence-led group objections beat individual letters every time. Train your committee in one go.
Building or revising a Neighbourhood Plan? Get up to speed on the statutory framework, the basic conditions, and the examination process.
Heritage groups, conservation area associations, CPRE branches, environmental groups — anyone advocating in the planning system.
The session is built around the five topics below, with the depth and worked examples adjusted to your audience. We send a short questionnaire beforehand so the slides reference your council, your live applications and your specific concerns.
The plan-led system and section 38(6) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. The difference between policy and decision-making. Who decides what (officers vs committee). The route from application to determination. The legislative and regulatory framework in plain English.
Why the Local Plan is the most powerful document in your area. The role of Neighbourhood Plans. How to find the policies that bite. What the NPPF (December 2024) says, with the new “grey belt” concept and mandatory Standard Method housing targets explained.
From pre-application advice through validation, consultation, case-officer assessment, the committee report, the decision notice and post-decision actions including the discharge of conditions, section 73 amendments, appeals and enforcement.
How planning committees actually work. The difference between officer recommendation and committee decision. The probity rules. How residents and groups can lobby councillors properly — and the things that get an objection disregarded.
Material vs non-material considerations — the single most important distinction in planning. What the council can and cannot weigh. How to assess applications consistently against policy. The principles of evidence-led, defensible decisions that stand up on appeal.
Live Q&A is woven throughout — half the value of the session is in the questions your group brings. Worried about HMOs in your ward? A live Green Belt application? A controversial design code? Tell us in advance and we’ll build a tailored worked example around it.
We deliver via Zoom or Microsoft Teams — whichever your group prefers. The session is genuinely interactive: cameras on if you’d like, questions encouraged throughout, real worked examples, and slides shared as you go.
You don’t need to gather everyone in a room. Attendees join from wherever they are. We’ll send the meeting link, a one-page pre-session brief, and a downloadable copy of the slides afterwards. The session is recorded so anyone who can’t make it live can catch up.
We’ll work with you on a date and time that suits your group — weekday evenings work well for parish councils and residents’ associations, daytime sessions for town councils and statutory consultees.
Planning Voice training is delivered by Rachel, a Chartered Town Planner (MRTPI) with over 18 years’ experience across local authority planning departments and private practice. She has written hundreds of planning objection letters, advised parish councils, and worked on major Local Plan and Neighbourhood Plan processes. She knows the system from the inside.
You won’t get generic e-learning. You won’t get a sales pitch. You’ll get straight, evidence-based explanations from someone who has actually written the recommendations, sat in committee, and argued cases on appeal.
Tell us about your group, your live planning concerns and what you want the session to achieve. We’ll suggest the agenda and confirm the date — with no obligation to book.
Larger groups, longer sessions or in-person delivery quoted separately.
Parish and town councils, residents’ associations, neighbourhood plan groups, civic and amenity societies, community groups and town councillors. Anyone who needs to engage confidently with the UK planning system. We tailor each session to the audience.
A 2-hour live online session, fully interactive with Q&A throughout. Standard topics include how the planning system works, material vs non-material considerations, how to write an effective objection, the role of councillors, the development plan and NPPF (December 2024), and recent reforms under the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023. We adapt the agenda to your group’s specific concerns.
Live online via Zoom or Microsoft Teams. We send you a meeting link, a tailored briefing pack, and a recording afterwards. Up to around 20 attendees per session is comfortable; larger groups can be accommodated by arrangement.
£450 plus VAT for the full session. That is a fixed fee — it covers the tailored briefing, the live 2-hour session, slides, the recording and a follow-up Q&A window. There are no per-attendee charges.
Rachel, a Chartered Town Planner (MRTPI) with 18+ years of experience across local authority planning departments and private practice. All training is delivered by a qualified planner — never an admin team.
Yes — that’s the point. Before the session we ask about your council, your live planning concerns and any specific applications or policies you want covered. The slides and worked examples are adjusted to your area.
Yes, by arrangement. In-person delivery is quoted separately to cover travel and venue logistics. Get in touch and we’ll scope it.
Yes. Some groups book a series — for example an introductory session for new parish councillors, followed by a deeper session on Local Plan engagement, followed by an enforcement and appeals session. We discount multiple bookings for the same client.
Yes. Every participant receives a certificate of attendance confirming they have completed the Planning Voice training session, with the date, the topics covered and the name of the delivering Chartered Town Planner. Useful evidence of CPD for councillors and committee members as the Government’s mandatory training requirements come into force.
Book a free 20-minute scoping call and we’ll suggest an agenda tailored to your group, your area and your live concerns.
Bespoke MRTPI-drafted objection letters for live planning applications. From £250.
Professionally drafted enforcement complaints, submitted confidentially on your behalf.
Shape the policies that will govern your area for at least 15 years. Regulation 19 reps on soundness.