RTPI North West awards Manchester Airport Masterplan top prize
The Manchester Airport Masterplan and Infrastructure Strategy has won the top award at the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) North West's Awards for Planning Excellence 2016.
The Manchester Airport Masterplan, managed by the Manchester Airports Group, gained planning consent earlier this year. The Masterplan will deliver a £890m international air gateway that is a key element of the Northern Powerhouse economic vision. The plan considers how much land is required, how the project fits in with the overall vision for Manchester, the sustainability of the growth of the airport and a plan to modernise the existing facilities.
John Twigg, MAG Planning Director, said: “The whole airport is absolutely delighted with our success at the RTPI Awards.
“It is testament to the skills and expertise of the team and the continuous engagement with our stakeholders, that we have been able to deliver a long term sustainable plan for the North's international air gateway.
“As we look to the future of Manchester Airport there are a range of key developments in place to ensure the airport continues to grow and provide world class facilities, whilst also acting as job creator and economic provider for the region. Two of these are our £1bn transformation programme and Airport City, which are both hugely significant schemes for the entire region."
Katie Wray, Chair of RTPI North West said: “The Masterplan won because of its commitment to long term proactive planning and community engagement. It is an innovative approach to delivering significant airport infrastructure. It beat off strong competition in a year described by the judging panel as the most competitive since the awards began.”
Paul Shuker, Director at WYG and sponsor of the said: “It was evident that the MAG and their planning team have worked extremely hard to bring together views and ideas from so many different groups in developing their masterplan but also have developed a development model that is changing the way that we should plan our airport infrastructure in the UK.”
The RTPI North West Awards for Planning Excellence have run for over 15 years and seek to recognise projects and plans where planners have significantly contributed to the delivery of high quality places that contribute to the overall attractiveness and success of the north-west region.
The winners were announced at a ceremony during the RTPI North West Annual Dinner held in Manchester on 7 October. Over 400 guests heard Steph McGovern from the BBC Breakfast give the after dinner address.