The City of London Corporation’s Chief Planning Officer and Development Director, Annie Hampson, will be awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to Planning in London.

Annie’s local government career began as a graduate trainee at Surrey County Council, then taking roles in the London boroughs of Islington and Kensington and Chelsea where she headed up the Development team before joining the City Corporation in 1989.

Annie leads a team of 40 planners, designers, conservationists and archaeologists as well as administrative and information officers. Her department is responsible for managing and promoting development, and safeguarding the historic environment. Its wide breadth of projects include ground breaking wind modelling work, award-winning delivery of green roofs, cycling promotion, protecting London’s viewing corridors and increasing the offer of high level viewing galleries.

During Annie’s tenure as Chief Planning Officer, the City Corporation’s planning department has won a number of esteemed awards including Local Planning Authority of the Year, and the prestigious Mayor’s Prize for Planning Excellence at the 2017 London Planning Awards.

Annie Hampson said:

“It is a great honour to receive this recognition for my contribution to Planning in London. It would not be possible without my excellent colleagues within the City Corporation and those I have worked with across London, as well as my family.

“I am grateful that this job has provided me with the opportunity to work on so many iconic projects and to be able to promote planning as a great career, for women in particular.

“For almost 30 years, I have been involved in some way with virtually every planning project in the City of London, resulting in the redevelopment of over a third of the City.

“I now look forward to the City’s continuing innovative development to ensure its future and to retain its special character.”

Chris Hayward, Planning Committee Chairman at the City of London Corporation said:

“The City Corporation is immensely privileged to benefit from Annie’s invaluable expertise and knowledge.

“It is fantastic to see her commitment to achieving quality in an ever-changing built environment, recognised with an OBE in the New Year’s Honours list.

“On behalf of the entire Planning Committee, I extend our warmest congratulations to her on a richly deserved award from Her Majesty the Queen.”

Annie is a leading voice in London’s Planning industry. In addition to her role at the City Corporation, she has been the planning expert representative for London Councils on the London Diocesan Advisory Committee since the early nineties. She is also involved in the Association of London Borough Planning Officers as well as other pan-London bodies.

Notes to editors

Notable City planning projects Annie Hampson has been especially involved with, include:

• Paternoster Square and improving the setting of St Paul’s
• Bringing Temple Bar back to the City
• Millennium Bridge
• The Gherkin- 30 St Mary Axe
• The redevelopment of St Bartholomew’s Hospital
• The rebuilding of St Ethelburga’s and other buildings following the 1993 bombings
• The Heron Tower
• One New Change
• The eastern cluster of towers, including 122 Leadenhall St, 22 Bishopsgate (the largest office building in Europe), 6-8 Bishopsgate, and 1 Leadenhall St
• 2/3 Finsbury Avenue
• Merrill Lynch’s Headquarters – providing the largest dealing floor in Europe within a historic context
• The refurbishment of many listed buildings including the Royal Exchange, the Bank of England, the Midland Bank, the Guildhall, the PLA building and finding new uses for the banking halls.