Planning together

Planning Together is your concise guide to the evolving world of local government. It is aimed at the senior management team, councillors, local strategic partnership members and planners.

Planning Together focuses on the strategic leadership role of local authorities working through the local strategic partnership (LSP) and how the planning system can shape good places and help deliver quality services. The aim of the guide is to promote wider understanding of the benefits of establishing a robust corporate approach to both planning and the role of the local strategic partnership.

Download Planning Together (PDF, 40 pages, 618KB).

• Contents of the guide
• Further reading
• LG Improvement and Development case studies

Contents of the guide

This version updates the original Planning Together guide published by Communities and Local Government and the RTPI in 2007. It covers:

• recent policy changes 
• role of planning and the local strategic partnership in place shaping
• joining up the sustainable community strategy (SCS), local development framework (LDF) and local area agreement (LAA) 
• planning's contribution to local area agreement delivery
• steps to improve practice  
• quick wins for improving collaboration.

Further reading

Effective practice in spatial planning: RTPI research project
This project's report identifies 22 case studiesthat provide good examples of spatial practice thanks to  well-developed joint working between public, private and voluntary sector partners.

LG Improvement and Development case studies

You will find hundreds of examples of corporate and local strategic partnership working on a wide range of topics in the LG Improvement and Development Partnerships and Places Library and LG Improvement and Development website. There are a wide range of free case studies, including:

A credit crunch commission: Teignbridge Strategic Partnership
Teignbridge Strategic Partnership has set up a Credit Crunch Commission. The Commission proposes to review all corporate policies and proposals and evaluate captial programmes to help develop a plan of action through the economic downturn.

Assessing impacts of the economic downturn: Tamworth Borough Council
Tamworth Borough Council and LSP partners have undertaken an impact assessment of the economic downturn on their respective service areas. This shared information has enabled the partners to develop a targeted package of support  drawing on the resources of all partners.