Kirstie Hopcroft named Young Planner of the Year by RTPI North West

Lichfields is delighted that Kirstie Hopcroft has been awarded Young Planner of the Year by the Royal Town Planning Institute (North West).

Kirstie, who joined the Manchester office in 2014, will be presented with the award at the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) North West’s annual award ceremony in Manchester next month.

Over the last four years Kirstie, has built up a strong portfolio which covers large-scale residential, commercial and logistics schemes. These have included helping to deliver 800 homes for Bellway, 2,500 homes on behalf of Countryside Properties - including the recent approval of 330 homes in the Lower Broughton area of Salford; and 720,000 sq ft of logistics space on behalf of db symmetry in Yorkshire.

As an RTPI ‘Future Ambassador Kirstie regularly speaks at school events to raise awareness of planning as a career, explaining how planners help shape the North West. She also launched a series of seminars dubbed “Planning, Politics & Prosecco” for young property professionals in the North West, during which she regularly conducts a Q&A sessions with her peers.

The RTPI award aims to recognise qualified planners with less than 10 years experience. A spokesperson for the RTPI North West Region, said:

“The judging panel was impressed with Kirstie’s contribution to planning in the North West. Her involvement and responsibility in some of the region’s largest planning schemes should be applauded for someone early in their planning career. Kirstie has shown a commitment to planning in her own time through the RTPI ‘Future Ambassador’ programme. She is clearly a role model for other young planning professionals.”