President’s Welcome
Welcome to the Irish Planning Institute web site
President's Update January 2012
I would like to wish you all a Happy New Year, to update you on the past few months and give an idea of what you can expect from the IPI over the next few months. Some of you may have noticed that the IPI now has a Twitter feed which was launched recently. Feedback has been positive about this and I hope you will take advantage of this as we will of course be using it as a means of communication.
Key Events in My First Six Months as President
I am now six months into the position of IPI President and it has been a very busy first 6 months in terms of activities. In the autumn edition of the planning issues magazine I outlined many of the IPI activities and initiatives that have occurred under my presidency to date. One area which remains very important to me, and to the IPI Council, is our focus on young planners. The launch of the YPN, and the signing of a bi-lateral agreement with the New Zealand Planning Institute are key achievements in this area and we hope to development this further. Before Christmas we circulated a draft agreement to the Planning Institute of Australia for them to consider and hopefully an agreement can be concluded.
Idea of a Strategic Plan
I have had time to reflect on the Institute and what direction it might take in the future. Having met many people both in the IPI and in other professional institutes I feel that the IPI needs to consider the future and what direction we would like the Institute to take. It may be the case of no change or it may be something more radical. I believe that the Institute needs to consider all aspects, both the business and professional, with a view to preparing a Strategic Plan so that we can face what may be a difficult few years safe in the knowledge that we have planned for various possible outcomes. Many of our members will of course be well used to preparing such plans, that is after all what the profession is about. Whilst financial matters are a significant motivating factor for any plan, I would hope that members will see a Strategic Plan in a positive light as it is about the future of your Institute.
The IPI like many other organisations in Ireland is not immune from the financial difficulties facing the country. Whilst we have experienced a decline in income from the Celtic Tiger era, I am happy to be able to report that the number of IPI members has remained relatively stable at approximately 700 across all categories, and each month we do have new members joining the Institute. This is very positive and shows that the importance of the Institute has not declined. It is essential that the Institute remains a very strong voice for planning and this will be the core element of any Strategic Plan.
Turning to financial aspects (being a former Treasurer I cant help myself), the Institute has experienced a significant decline in income over the past 3 years from a peak in 2007. At the peak in 2007, a very significant portion of our income (up 70%) arose from surpluses generated as a result of annual conferences, with the remainder generated from subscription income. In 2010 the split in income was close to equal. This shows the importance of membership income, as it represents our core income from which we fund our core activities. It is therefore essential that the Institute continues to generate subscription income.
In recent years the IPI has been able to fund our own offices as a core aspect of our business model. We have managed our expenditure very carefully and we have achieved savings across a range of areas. However, it is likely that for the first time in many years the IPI will incur a modest deficit at year end. This is not unexpected and had been planned for at the start of the financial year. The deficit is likely to be lower than originally anticipated because of successful annual and autumn conferences. The autumn conference in particular generated more income than anticipated due to the large attendance. Obviously we cannot budget for deficits on an ongoing basis otherwise the Institute will, like any other business, eventually become insolvent.
I have not yet considered the specific details of how a Strategic Plan will be prepared but I would hope to launch this as an initiative early in 2012, which would form a significant part of my workload for the remainder of my term. I would very much welcome assistance and ideas from members, particularly from our private sector members, many of whom have extensive experience in running businesses.
Diary of Events for 2011
Many of you will not be aware of what the IPI President does on a day to day basis for the Institute, so being halfway through my term I would like to take the opportunity to list all the events I have attended for the past few months.
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Date |
Event |
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September |
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1st |
IPI September Council Meeting |
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6th |
Attendance at Urban Forum Meeting |
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7th |
Meeting with IPI Treasurer |
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20th |
Attendance at Finance Committee Meeting |
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28th |
Attendance at GDA Branch CPD event to Dublin Port |
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30th |
Meeting with Autumn Conference Spakers |
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October |
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3rd |
Visit to Planning School UCD |
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5th |
Interview with UTV News |
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6th |
IPI October Council Meeting |
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6th |
Launch of the YPN in the Conference Centre Dublin |
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11th |
Attendance at Urban Forum Colloquium |
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12th |
Interview with Sunshine Radio |
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13th |
Launch of North East Branch |
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14th |
Attendance at Irish Branch Southern Section RTPI Dinner |
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15th |
Meeting with the RTPI President, Richard Summers |
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21st |
Opening Address at IPI Autumn Conference |
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24th |
Meeting with Irish Branch Southern Section RTPI |
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27th |
Meeting with Society Chartered Surveyors Ireland |
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28th |
Visit to Planning School DIT |
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November |
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2nd |
Meeting with Northern Branch Committee in Belfast |
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2nd |
Meeting with Planning School, Queens University Belfast |
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3rd – 5th |
Attendance at European Council of Spatial Planners General Assembly, Paris |
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11th |
IPI November Council Meeting |
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11th |
Attendance at annual dinner and presentation of Honoury Membership to John Martin |
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23rd |
Attendance at GDA Branch CPD event in EirGrid |
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December |
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9th |
Meeting with An Bord Pleánala |
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9th |
IPI December Council Meeting |
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16th |
Meeting with NAMA |
Upcoming Events in 2012
The new year got off to an early start for me with two radio interviews on New Year's Day with Today FM and UTV Live news services. Sound bites from the interviews were carried by local news stations and some publicity in the Irish Examiner newspaper.
The IPI have lined up a good selection of events for 2012 which we hope many of you will attend. Key events include the following:
Planning Achievement Awards
The Planning Achievement Awards have now been confirmed for 16th February 2012. These will take place in the Custom House and will be presented by the recently appointed Minister for Planning and Housing, Jan O’Sullivan. The awards take place every 2 years and showcase positive achievements in planning at various levels. The Department have given invaluable assistance in relation to the awards and I would like to thank them for that assistance and I look forward to meeting the new Minister at the awards.
2012 London Field Trip
The 2012 Field Trip to London will take place in February (date to be cconfirmed). Whilst we went to many exotic destinations in previous years, we wont be travelling far this year, however given the theme of the visit is to view Olympic 2012 venues and infrastructure, it promises to be interesting and informative, particularly if Dublin reconsiders its previous idea of bidding for the Olympics!
National Planning Conference
The 2012 National Planning Conference will take place in Kilkenny on 27th and 28th April. We are currently lining up speakers and topics and hope to offer a varied and interesting programme. The Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government – Phil Hogan has agreed to close the conference which is being held in his home town. We intend to package the event so that it is as affordable as possible. Marketing of the event is likely to be a little different to previous years with greater emphasis on new media such as Twitter and Facebook rather than our traditional paper based approach. You can expect to see updates on the website shortly.
Other Events
In addition to the key events the IPI Council will be working with local branches to encourage them to offer a programme of CPD events. Local delivery of CPD has become a very important aspect of the IPI CPD policy. Events can range from site visits to lectures which would be of interest and relevance to members. Branches do not have to offer events on their own and I would encourage them to collaborate with other branches and other organisations to organise events locally. Organisations regularly contact us about joint events and indeed some joint events have been very successful. We have a Branches Co-ordinator who will provide assistance to branches in organising a CPD programme.
And Finally
I do have a day job and I am extremely grateful for my employer ESB International for giving me the time to carry out my IPI role. I am also grateful for the ongoing support and assistance of fellow Council members, particularly when I need to delegate. I look forward to the next 6 months of my role.
Brendan Allen
IPI President
10th January 2012