Planners being made 'scapegoats': IPI
Planners have been made scapegoats by discontented politicians, idealists and the general public who have little appreciation of the complexity of the planning system, according to Iain Douglas, President of the Irish Planning Institute.
Mr Douglas was speaking on the eve of the National Planning Conference in Cork, which takes place tomorrow and Friday.
He said there continues to be "dissention and often outright rejection of development plans and policies that have been formulated by a more rigorous and extensive consultation process and input from the public, elected members and agencies than ever before and all too often the outcome is to blame the planner".
Mr Douglas added: "Society in general is losing its sense of both collective and personal responsibility as it moves from one based on citizenship and further towards one based on individualism.
"Planning on the other hand is by its nature holistic and it is planners who, by their training can take a long term perspective or take the overview rather than any one particular standpoint.
"The reason that our profession is pilloried is because, in many ways, planning is the voice of reason and a quest for balance in society. More importantly it is a profession that has the strength and integrity to highlight and address issues that others would prefer to avoid."
However Mr Douglas accepted that the planning profession has not responded well to criticism. He said the response had been defensive and professionals had "perhaps has not taken the time to understand the complaints".
According to Mr. Douglas, moving forward, it is becoming more and more the responsibility of the planner to seek to reconcile tensions in the system. Planners must recognise that each of the actors in the planning system has a view point, whether the planner agrees with them or not.
Among the issues which will be addressed at the conference this year are:
- The problem of uneven spatial development and regional economic growth
- Regional planning
- Conservation and urban regeneration
