Marrons Planning win the double at the RTPI East Midlands Awards for Planning Excellence

As well as being named Planning Consultancy of the Year 2020, the team were also presented the Award for Excellence in Planning Practice alongside Leicester City Council for our involvement in the Great Central Square project in Leicester. 

The RTPI Awards for Planning Excellence are the longest-running and most high-profile awards in the planning industry. For over 40 years they have recognised the achievements and celebrated projects, plans and people who have helped create exceptional and improved places to live and work. 

The coveted ‘Planning Consultancy of the Year’ award recognises the achievements of planning consultancies that have demonstrated high levels of service, commitment to sustainable development and support for the planning profession. 

On awarding Marrons Planning with the prestigious award, the judges acknowledged that the team “demonstrated exemplar commitment to supporting and developing their people.“ 

The ‘Award for Excellence in Planning Practice’ recognises those projects that promote and support a successful prosperous economy.  

Great Central Square is a £60m regeneration scheme connecting the Waterside area of Leicester to the heart of the City Centre. The scheme comprises two hotels, 33,000 sq. ft. of Class A office space and the refurbishment of the locally listed former Great Central Railway Station to 20,000 sq. ft. of leisure space. The scheme includes a pedestrian super-crossing and public open realm and occupies one of the most prominent positions in Leicester City centre, directly opposite John Lewis and Highcross Shopping Centre. The project has been a catalyst for a £200m regeneration renaissance in the city. 

On announcing Marrons Planning and Leicester City Council as the winners of the award, the judges noted the key winning aspects of the project were the huge benefit it will bring to the community and the use of trialling new build techniques such as modular construction. The judges also praised the “approach taken to build for owner-occupiers and multi-decade leases as an excellent example ensuring good place making.”