Eight Scottish finalists in the running for RTPI Planning Excellence awards

Kite power 3 - © Kite Power Systems Ltd 2015
A project to generate electricity through two kites tethered to spool drums is among the shortlisted projects

A first of its kind energy project is among eight projects in Scotland to be competing to win one of the Royal Town Planning Institute’s (RTPI) Awards for Planning Excellence.

Running for 40 years, the Awards celebrate exceptional examples of planning and the contribution planners make to society and are the most established and respected awards in the UK planning industry.

A total of 90 finalists across 14 categories have been named.



The projects in Scotland are:

  • Pilot Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters Marine Spatial Plan (Marine Scotland) - integrated planning policy framework to guide marine development, activities and management decisions, ensuring the marine environment is protected (Excellence in Plan Making Practice)
  • Saltcoats Town Hall (North Ayrshire Council) - £2.9m heritage-led refurbishment of the listed building creating 360m² of office space and opening the hall space to the public (Excellence in Planning for Built Heritage)


  • TAYplan/ University of Dundee Youth Camp 2016- one-day youth camp event to engage young people in their place, providing fantastic results for planning (Excellence in Planning for Well-being)
  • Duncan Smart- Senior Planner at Peter Brett Associates based in Glasgow (Young Planner of the Year)
  • Findrassie Masterplan (Savills) - masterplan created with strong community consultation for 1500 homes, 12 hectares of employment land and community facilities. It establishes a design for the new neighbourhood north of Elgin that emphasises high quality landscape-led design (Excellence in Plan Making Practice)
  • Kite Power Solutions (Natural Power Consultants) - first consent of its kind for permission to generate electricity through two kites tethered to spool drums, as the kites fly the tethers are pulled from the spool drums turning the drums which drive electricity generators on land at West Freugh (Excellence in Planning for the Innovative Delivery of Infrastructure)


  • Place Standard (Scottish Government) - simple method to evaluate the physical and social aspects of places, with a particular focus on promoting positive health outcomes. The tool uses 14 questions and the responses are translated into an easily understandable graphic which helps to plot the assets of a place (Excellence in Planning for Well-being)
  • Dalkeith Town Centre Heritage Regeneration (Midlothian Council) - £4 million project to regenerate and enhance the historic town centre of Dalkeith, including the restoration of Dalkeith Corn Exchange, community heritage projects and the restoration of the 19th century Burns Monument (Excellence in Planning for Built Heritage)
  • Stefano Smith, RTPI Scotland convenor said: “It is an honour for these entries to be listed as finalists given the fierce competition. The shortlist reflects the hard work and dedication put into the projects and recognises the positive impact planning has on the area. As a finalist they are getting the national and international recognition they deserve.”



    Andrew Jones, practice leader design planning + economics at AECOM, said: “AECOM is proud to once again be a headline sponsor of this year’s RTPI Awards for Planning Excellence. The finalists are a diverse mixture of outstanding examples of planning, which demonstrate the impact the profession has on quality and delivery in the built environment.”

    David Jackson, head of planning at Savills, added: “Savills is delighted to be a headline sponsor of the RTPI Awards for Planning Excellence. The finalists reflect the positive impact planning has on our communities across the UK, Ireland and internationally through projects, plans and people.”

    The Awards ceremony will be held at Milton Court at The Barbican, London on June 15.


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