Shaping the Future of Planning: Meet Ganesh Gnanamoorthy MRTPI
From banking to borough leadership, Ganesh’s journey into town planning is anything but conventional. Now serving as Planning and Place Service Director at Broxbourne Council, he represents a new generation of planning leaders – strategic, community-focused and driven by purpose.
But his route into planning? Unexpected.
“It was kind of by chance,” he says.
“I was working in banking as a bank manager. I didn’t want to work weekends anymore, so I started looking for something Monday to Friday and saw a role at my local council.”
That council was Lambeth Council – and that decision would quietly reshape his career.
Ganesh began in a town planning advice centre, welcoming residents and coordinating planning enquiries. Curious and ambitious, he started shadowing planning officers to better understand the work behind the counter.
“I began watching what they did and thought – this is really interesting.”
Recognising his enthusiasm, the council supported his development. He went on to complete a BA in Urban and Environmental Planning and a PgDip in Town Planning, later becoming a Member of the Royal Town Planning Institute.
Since entering the profession in 2006, Ganesh has built an impressive career across London, Essex, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire, progressing through roles including Planner, Senior Planner, Principal Planner, Development Management Manager and Head of Planning – culminating in his current Director-level position.
“I don’t think when I started, I ever imagined I’d be here at 44,” he reflects.
“If you’d told me five years ago this is what I’d be doing, I probably wouldn’t have believed you.”
After taking voluntary redundancy and spending a year in Australia to focus on his health, Ganesh returned to the UK during a challenging period for local authorities. Permanent roles were limited, so he embraced contracting.
What began out of necessity became a strategic advantage.
From 2012 to 2022, he undertook a series of contract roles across multiple councils. Some projects involved clearing significant backlogs of applications; others were highly specialised assignments. The diversity of work sharpened his expertise and broadened his understanding of how different authorities operate.
“Contracting gave me variety. It allowed me to build experience quickly and see lots of different ways of working.”
That breadth of exposure proved invaluable.
One of the defining chapters of Ganesh’s career was his work in Cambridge, where he served as the dedicated planner on a major council housing programme.
The project secured £70 million in grant funding to deliver 500 new council homes. Its success created momentum for further provision, and by the time he left, planning permission had been granted for over 1,000 social homes – many of which are now built and occupied.
“For me, planning is about making a real difference,” he says.
“You’re shaping environments where people live their lives. That’s not something you take lightly.”
He has also been involved in securing Heritage Lottery Funding to restore a dilapidated listed building and its associated grounds – demonstrating his appreciation for balancing growth with the protection of historic assets.
“Understanding the importance of heritage is just as important as delivering new homes. Good planning respects both.”
Ask Ganesh what he enjoys most about planning, and his answer is immediate: placemaking.
“Negotiating schemes. Sitting around a table and talking about what works, what doesn’t, and how you create somewhere that feels like a place – not just rows of houses.”
For him, placemaking is about experience:
“It’s about creating environments that are good to live in, work in and travel through.”
In an era of ambitious national housing targets, he acknowledges the pressure planners face.
“There’s huge pressure to deliver quickly. But if you remove the conversations that improve design and integration, you risk delivering numbers – not places.”
Since May 2025, Ganesh has served as Planning and Place Service Director at Broxbourne Council, overseeing planning alongside a broader portfolio of services. The role marks a significant step from specialist planning leadership into corporate-level strategic management.
“It’s intense. It’s full on,” he admits. “But I absolutely love it. I’m learning every day.”
The expanded remit allows him to shape not only individual developments but wider service delivery and organisational direction.
“I’ve done nearly two decades of planning work. Now I’m applying that experience in a broader way – and that’s exciting.”
Ganesh is also passionate about improving representation within the profession. As a former steering group member of the BAME Planners Network, he worked to address underrepresentation and broaden pathways into planning.
“When you think about the communities we serve, it’s essential the profession reflects that diversity. We’re designing places for everyone – so the people making those decisions should reflect that too.”
He believes one of the biggest challenges facing the profession is visibility.
“When I started in 2006, I didn’t know what town planning was. Most people don’t.”
Greater outreach to schools, more engagement around human geography and placemaking, and better communication about what planners actually do are, in his view, essential for the future.
“If you ask someone to draw their ideal place to live, everyone draws something different. That’s planning. It’s about understanding what matters to people and shaping spaces around that.”
At just 44, leading Planning and Place at Broxbourne Council, Ganesh stands as part of a new generation reshaping the profession – more diverse, more community-focused and more adaptable to change.
His career demonstrates resilience, strategic growth and a clear social purpose. Whether delivering thousands of social homes, restoring heritage assets or steering council-wide services, his impact is tangible.
“Often we just live in the places that exist,” he says.
“Planning is about challenging that and asking how they could be better.”
Ganesh isn’t just shaping places. He’s helping shape the future of planning itself.
