Lincoln the destination for the first Royal Town Planning Institute Presidential Visit of 2021

In mid-August, Lincoln hosted the first presidential visit for Royal Town Planning Institute’s (RTPI) President, Wei Yang and Chief Executive, Victoria Hills.

The visit, organised jointly by the Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce and City of Lincoln Council, was curated to showcase key areas to the city’s development and share how the public and private sector have worked collaboratively to deliver this vision.

The visit started at Lincoln Central train station, moving to the £14 million transport hub redevelopment, where guests were given a view of the city from the roof of the 1,000-space multi-storey car park.

Now in its final stages, the attendees were also shown around the Cornhill Quarter development, a regeneration zone which has delivered more than 150,000 sq ft of mixed use commercial floorspace, a £1.5m urban realm enhancement and a £30m investment in the city’s infrastructure.

The tour moved through the city taking in the developments to the University of Lincoln campus and the most recent addition to the estate, the Medical School – a building which has been created to reduce the carbon footprint and home to a living wall holding approximately 5,000 plants of 11 different varieties, which sit around solar panels.

The tour finished at Lincoln Cathedral, where the group had the opportunity to see first-hand the restoration programme, and finally the new £17 million Lottery-funded extension, providing new meeting, exhibition, education rooms and a café.

The group of Lincolnshire representatives and RTPI’s President Wei Yang (middle in blue) and Chief Executive, Victoria Hills (middle in cream).

Simon Beardsley, Chief Executive, Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce, added; “We were delighted to welcome representatives from the Royal Town Planning institute to  Lincoln to not only see the many exciting new developments which have been going on, giving the city a fresh look as well as keeping the wonderful historic aspects we love so much, but also be giving the opportunity to meet Council and local business representatives, who have been working collaboratively to bring the Cornhill Quarter project to life.

“Lincolnshire is the second biggest county in England, and we have so much to offer to visitors and businesses alike, so this opportunity really was invaluable.”