The City of London Corporation’s chief planning officer, Annie Hampson OBE, has announced her retirement from the City for the end of March 2020 following long and distinguished service in the industry.
The City Corporation has initiated the recruitment process for a replacement. Annie leads the Development Management team of 40, including planning, design, conservation, archaeology and transport officers.
Her team is responsible for managing and promoting development whilst safeguarding the historic environment.
Its breadth of projects include ground-breaking wind modelling work, award-winning delivery of green roofs, cycling and walking promotion, protecting London’s viewing corridors and increasing the provision of publicly accessible high level viewing galleries.
In 2017 she was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to planning in London. The City Corporation’s planning department has won a number of awards including Local Planning Authority of the Year and the prestigious Mayor’s Prize for Planning Excellence at the 2017 London Planning Awards while Annie has been at the helm.
Annie’s local government career began at Surrey County Council, then in the London boroughs of Islington and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea where she headed the development team before joining the City Corporation in 1989.
In addition to her role at the City Corporation, Annie has been the representative for London Councils on the London Diocesan Advisory Committee since the early nineties and was appointed as its chairman in August.
She is also involved in the Association of London Borough Planning Officers as well as other pan-London bodies. John Barradell, town clerk and chief executive of the City of London Corporation, said: “I want to thank Annie for three decades of commitment to the City Corporation in which she has made an enormous contribution to the Square Mile. Her tireless work has helped to shape the City that we know and love today.
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“The City Corporation is immensely privileged to have benefitted from Annie’s depth of expertise and knowledge, and we wish her a happy and fulfilling retirement.”
Alastair Moss, chair of the planning and transportation committee at the City of London Corporation, said: “Annie leaves the City with a proud and long-standing legacy.
“Her unwavering commitment to delivering quality in an ever-changing built environment continues to inspire us all at the City Corporation.
“It has not just been the City Corporation that has been a benefactor of Annie’s fantastic talent and wisdom, but the whole of London and the broader planning sector itself.
“On behalf of the entire Planning and Transportation Committee, I extend our warmest thanks and congratulations to Annie on an incredibly distinguished career – one which has changed the City for the better.”
Ms Hampson OBE said: “It has been a privilege to work on so many iconic projects over the last three decades, supported by such talented and inspirational people both within my team and across the City Corporation. I am proud to see the realisation of our vision of a City that works for residents, workers and visitors.
“I have an enduring interest in the City’s continued evolution and its role within London and look forward to life’s opportunities.”