Junior Town Planners Competition
My A-Level Geography class and I were invited to attend the first Schools Town Planning event run by the AVDC. In attendance and competition with us was the Sir Henry Floyd Grammar, Aylesbury High School and The Buckingham School. When we arrived, we were ushered into the Oculus room where all Committee meetings take place. Introductions were made and a brief card-sorting warm up activity was presented. We resigned for a short interval before the main body of the event took place. We were then presented with the task which was as follows; designing, planning and pitching our own configuration of a fictitious development plot somewhere in the UK. We had to take into account team ideas, minimum building restrictions, infrastructure links as well as theoretical costs. This task required strong team bonds and communication as well as forward thinking and combined presenting abilities. The Committee comprised of the Chairman of the AVDC Planning Department, senior planning officers, and post graduates in the planning department. Overall, although we did not see victory, it was a great achievement, gaining us another invitation by the Chairman himself to attend the event next year.
Written by: G W-H 6H