South Downs National Park Planner is Woman of Influence
Every year on International Women’s Day (8 March) the Royal Town Planning Institute’s The Planner magazine publishes a list of 50 women that they believe have been influential in the planning world.
These are nominated by the readers of The Planner and assessed by a panel of judges. This year I was honoured to be on that list. The citation is below:
“Claire is the head of strategic planning at the South Downs National Park Authority and has had an exceptionally busy year in 2025 leading her team in progressing the next iteration of the South Downs Local Plan.
She has worked closely with the local community in relation to the regulation 18 local plan consultation which will help shape the future of South Downs National Park. Claire has led local plan public consultation events across the National Park, the review and summary of all consultation responses, further evidence gathering and key written evidence documents.
Claire leads the future of local planning policy within the South Downs National Park Authority and the conservation of this nationally important landscape.
In addition to her hugely busy day job, Claire is involved in a number of voluntary roles. Claire sat on the RTPI English Policy Committee in 2025 and is the current chair of Women in Planning Sussex.
“Through these roles she advocates the importance of the planning profession, encourages discussion of planning related matters and leads policy change at the national level.”
It feels really awkward to be writing about this as I am not generally comfortable blowing my own trumpet.
I have spent most of my career just keeping my head down and getting on with the job to the best of my ability. I think that is true of most planners and women planners in particular.
Celebrating our achievements is considered bad form, especially for those of us that work in the public sector.
Nowhere is this seen more clearly than on social media platforms like LinkedIn where the majority of the ‘planning presence’ is from private sector planners, lawyers and other built environment professionals, celebrating their latest successful appeal or award.
Public sector planners are in the minority in that space, largely because a high public profile for us is a double-edge sword – the higher your profile, the more you will get challenged by those who disagree with your views and planning decisions.
Yet, over the last four years I have spent an increasing amount of time on LinkedIn talking about planning issues and trying to give a more personal perspective on them.
I have volunteered my time for the RTPI to influence its response to national planning reforms, and helped set up Women in Planning Sussex to support women in our sector.
Recently I have branched out into the podcast world and have been lucky enough to participate in episodes of Fifty Shades of Planning. Why?
If public sector planners don’t put our heads above the parapet and communicate what is great about planning, we will never change the often negative public narrative about our profession.
The sector will continue to struggle to attract people to choose it as a profession, or to retain planners. Yet most people are hugely interested in and affected by the places they live, work and spend their leisure time in.
Who wouldn’t want to spend their careers making those places better?
Planning and planners are amazing!
Claire Tester,
Head of Strategic Planning
