Young Planner of the Year Winner
Joshua Singh
Joshua is an extremely confident young planner with big ideas. He has a good range of experience and has demonstrated his ability and skills having commenced his career with the reception team of Sandwell Council. He clearly has drive, enthusiasm and passion for planning and has a desire to continue his professional development. He was enthusiastic about his major project and bringing this forward with legacy planning. Joshua brought to the fore many issues that we ourselves hadn’t yet considered such as Artificial Intelligence and automation and the wider impacts this would have on the economy and employment market. His wide ranging ideas around this are exemplary for a young planner who has a rounded background and is keen and willing to continue to grow. He is a clear role model and his passion is outstanding.
Young Planner of the Year Commended
Idris Gulfraz
Idris is clearly a very passionate planner and takes pride in his work within Birmingham. He has a broad range of experience working on strategic projects within the City which have provided various challenges throughout the COVID pandemic, particularly in negotiating the affordable housing offer and viability challenges on Soho Loop to secure a successful recommendation and approval of the scheme which is now being built out. He is keen to continue developing his knowledge and undertakes regular CPD and in house training opportunities. He has a good handle on the challenges facing planners in the current economic climate and has a keen interest in balancing work/life balance to avoid burn out. His passion for developing the places around which he lives and works is clearly apparent and he is an admirable role model to his peers.
