The National Planning Forum started life as the National Development Control Forum following the publication in 1975 of George Dobry’s Review of the Development Control system.
As the name implies the focus was purely on development control and the Forum had a relatively small membership. The Forum was re-launched as the National Planning Forum in 1998 and membership expanded.
After a sabbatical of two years it was re-energised in 2003 with a part-time Secretary, jointly funded by ODPM and the Local Government Association.
The Forum ran on an informal basis – un-incorporated, and was funded by voluntary subscriptions, in-kind support and grants from government.
In 2014 the Forum began a process of transforming itself into a legal entity and at the end of 2016 the membership formally agreed the Forum’s incorporation as a Company limited by guarantee with an agreed business plan, budget, membership subscriptions and an elected Board of Directors and Management Committee.
The Forum was formally incorporated on 19 December 2017.
