In September 2016, I set up a business. I called it Mondrem after the forest that once covered the part of Cheshire where I grew up.
My inspiration? My late sister Katy's experience of health and social care services. Sometimes brilliant and sometimes not. And her uncomplaining resilience.
In 2020, we became a community interest company – a CIC. A not-for-profit. A much better fit for what we do. I wish I'd known about CICs sooner.
Our focus now? Not health and social care. I volunteer in that space instead. It's planning. The application process you go through to make sure what you build works and fits in. And the big plans that shape the future of places. And a few other important things.
That's it. Planning. Making it work better.
· Better for the people who work and lead in the system.
· Better for the people who use the system.
· And better for the people who need it to protect and nurture places.
We're not planners. So, we're not about making the big decisions or making the big plans and policies. Or about being expert in planning law and policy. There are others who are brilliant at that.
Because we focus on planning and we're not planners, I'm often asked " So, what do Mondrem do then?"
This article shares some of what we do to help make the planning system work better.
Many of the big challenges in planning aren’t about planning. They are challenges where planning is the context, not the issue.
They're about hearing the voices, the lived experience, the frustrations and the ambitions of the people in the system and about doing something about all of it.
They're about balancing needs and the money to meet them in a system where budgets are getting smaller.
They're about living the leadership and change leadership behaviours that deliver bravely in an environment that's often hostile and challenging.
They're about the disciplined and organised operational management and project management processes and behaviours that understand how things are and get things done.
Nothing original. Nothing clever. But things that are too often missing in places where they are sorely needed.
We bring these things.
We listen deeply, patiently, without judgement and for understanding.
We hear people who feel unheard.
We validate the authentic lived experience of people who feel their experience is overlooked or dismissed.
We reignite the spark of hope in people who have lost hope.
We help imaginative innovative people bring their ideas to life.
We help people shift from believing things should be better to believing things can be better.
We help people to want and own the improvement that's needed.
We help people to build the capacity to deliver that improvement.
We help them lead, manage and sustain improvement successfully.
We make planning more fun and more professionally rewarding for the people who work and lead in the system.
That helps recruitment and retention in a sector where there are not enough skilled and qualified people.
We help reduce costs.
We help increase income.
We increase productivity delivering extra capacity at no extra cost in a sector that's short of both capacity and money.
We make processes simpler and easier to use.
We help develop and implement tech that makes the planning system work better.
We help councils deliver a faster better service experience.
We help build trust between local politicians and professional planners.
We help build trust between developers, councils and communities.
We work with universities to help develop the planners of the future.
We encourage people to choose planning as a career.
And we have fun doing it.
Other than that, nothing.
If you're working in the planning system and want it to be better, less stressful, more fun or more professionally rewarding, we can help.
If you're a political leader or professional leader in the planning system and you want it to work better, we can help.
If you're a developer... A planning agent... A professional body in planning or the built environment... Anyone who has an interest in the planning system working better for everyone...
I want to hear from you.
I'll be pleased to share freely anything that's useful to you. And I'll be pleased to show you how Mondrem can help you make the planning system work better for you. If you ask me.
Thanks.
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