Blog and Bulletins Archive
Guest posts
Share and share alike
Drawing on their own experiences, Andy and Rebecca from LivShare Housing & Consultancy support organisations to deliver shared housing solutions for people on low incomes - here, they explain the important role that shared housing can play in the housing market, some of the challenges associated with that, and why we should now be looking more positively at purpose-built shared housing….
The value of work experience
Having now been working with us for a few weeks, our intern Martin has been reflecting on the values which are important to the planning profession in practice. This has also been interesting for us as an insight into how our values are perceived by others, and we pride ourselves on the fact that these can clearly be seen to inform the work we do. On which, over to Martin!
Planning for the future
In July, we mentioned that our Director Maggie had been getting some insight into anticipated planning reforms in England through her role as a member of the British Chamber of Commerce’s expert planning panel. Now, we are delighted to be able to share some of that insight with this blog from one of Maggie’s fellow panel members, Amanda Beresford, Partner and Head of Planning at Schofield Sweeney LLP…
Heart versus head: some insights from a planning committee clerk
We often describe planning as being more of an art than a science and so, for an insight into the planning decision making process, including what can sometimes be a tussle for Councillors between the heart and the head, we are delighted this month to have a guest blog from a former committee clerk. Here are his reflections from 3 years in a planning committee clerk’s chair.
There's no place like home
This month, we’re delighted to have a very pertinent guest blog from Richard Slater, the current president of the Aberdeen Society of Architects, taking a look at what we need to work from home effectively, and how such spaces might be designed into new homes in the future. Wherever you’re reading this from, check out what he has to say!
Lessons from the Persian bazaar
This month’s blog has been written by our former intern Negar Maydanchi, who came to work with us for a month earlier this summer and, we’re delighted to say, has since been offered a job as a planner. Before starting her new job though, Negar has been visiting family in Iran, and has shared her reflections on what shopping centres here in the UK might learn from the traditional bazaars there.
The Planning (Scotland) Bill: under scrutiny
Given that the Planning (Scotland) Bill appears to have stalled in its passage through the Scottish Parliament, we thought that it would be interesting to consider how the scrutiny of legislation works in Scotland. So, this month we have a guest blog from Professor Hugh Bochel (yes, he is related!), who has a particular research interest in the workings of Scottish Parliament committees.
Planning for real – Lisa’s lessons from Aurora Planning work experience
Regular readers will know that over the summer we took on an intern, Lisa Cossan, to work with us for a few weeks. Lisa has now moved on to get some experience at the opposite end of the organisational size spectrum at Aberdeen City Council but, whilst between jobs, she prepared the following blog on what she learnt from her time at Aurora Planning. It’s a great summary of some of the transferable skills that we believe every planner needs, as well as demonstrating John Keats’ maxim that, “Nothing ever becomes real until it is experienced”.
Which way ought I to go from here?
This month our guest blogger is our intern Lisa Crossan who, continuing our Alice in Wonderland theme, tells us in her own words why she wanted to become a planner. It’s great that she’s been so inspired by her environment and wanting to make a positive difference to people’s lives within this, which is exactly what we believe planning should be about. We’re just hoping that a rather hectic month in the Aurora Planning office hasn’t put her off…!
We're all mad here: Damian Bates' observations on the planning system
We’re delighted to introduce our first guest blogger – Damian Bates, former Editor-in-Chief at Aberdeen Journals. Following many years of reporting on planning in Aberdeen, Damian offers his observations on the Scottish planning system. When he sent us a draft of this to review, his covering email was entitled “mad and crazy”; we weren’t quite sure if that was a reference to his writing or to the system he is writing about. But he certainly provides food for thought! For which, read on below…