Jane Maggs Southgate District Civic Voice named by Planning Magazine as a Woman of Influence
Every year for International Women's Day, The Planner Magazine publishes a list of planning's Women of Influence, as nominated by the readers of The Planner and assessed by a panel of judges that includes distinguished planners from across the UK. Crucially, the list is non-ranked and non-competitive – the aim is not to tell you who we think the 'best' women in planning are; but to celebrate the impact of women on planning and planners.
We are delighted to share the news that Jane Maggs, Vice chair, Southgate District Civic Voice was named as a Woman of Influence and is one of only 8 women in The Third Sector to make the list!
Citation: "Jane gives back and really cares about communities having a voice in the planning system. Over the last 18 months, Jane was instrumental in organising a community planning weekend to encourage the wider community of Southgate to come together to discuss and respond to a particularly controversial large development proposal in Southgate town centre, called Southgate Office Village. Concerned that the planning application for a 17 storey tower was becoming increasingly contentious locally and political, Jane approached Civic Voice to see if we could help her to facilitate a series of workshops to reduce the temperature of the debate locally, explain what’s actually being proposed and encourage the local community to ‘have their say’.
"Civic Voice helped to facilitate the sessions, but Jane led the organisation, publicity and developed excellent working relationships with local councillors, MPs, local authority officers, businesses, and community groups to ensure a good attendance and discussion on the day and at the follow up feedback session. The sessions were held in June 2019 and had over 250 people participating. All organised in less than six weeks for approximately £300, with greater public participation than the developer’s PR consultants had achieved. The weekend gave local residents, politicians and anyone interested time to understand, raise and discuss the implications of the planning application and consider alternative ideas.
"Since this, Jane has presented her work and an overview of the process the society undertook to other civic societies at various Civic Voice events over the last year. Her work on the Southgate Office Village inspired us at Civic Voice to see the potential of ‘community panels’ and a role for civic societies in encouraging the wider community to get involved and shape local development proposals. This has led to us successfully campaigning for community panels and civic societies now being named in National Planning Guidance."
You can see the full list on The Planner Website: https://www.theplanner.co.uk/features/women-of-influence-2021