Minister O’Dowd hosts British-Irish Council Planning and Places Ministerial meeting

Date published: 8 November 2024

Ministers reviewed recent activity of the work sector over 2021-24. Ministers commended the work done, and agreed that the work demonstrated the value of the British-Irish Council for all Member Administrations. Ministers also agreed that the reports should be published.

Future Work Plan

Ministers agreed that the Forward Work Plan for 2025-27, and should focus on two themes:

• Climate Change and the Biodiversity Emergency
• Skills and Capacity for the Public Sector Planning Profession

Climate Change and the Biodiversity Emergency

Member Administrations face the urgent challenge of reacting to climate change and biodiversity emergency, with limited resources and within a context of continuing planning reforms. The Planning and Places work sector will work to identify key challenges, and share, and learn from, best practice examples in Planning responses. Among the focus will be managing flood risk; the loss, promotion and enhancement of biodiversity; and delivery of greater carbon efficiency in new development.

Skills and Capacity for the Public Sector Planning Profession

Attracting and retaining planning staff in the public sector is a growing challenge, at a time when many public sector planners face ever-increasing workloads and continuously changing policy contexts, especially in relation to complex biodiversity and nature issues. The Council will look at ways to make planning a more attractive profession and explore the ways available to attract people and to build capacity in the Planning Profession, with an emphasis on the sharing of knowledge from Administrations who have developed successful approaches to these issues.

At the meeting, ministers also heard a presentation from Mark Hand of the Royal Town Planning Institute on Tackling the Climate and Nature Emergencies: opportunities and challenges across the administrations.

List of Ministers Attending: