Ian Kelly, a member of the institute for more than 50 years, first raised concerns after RTPI Scotland named SSEN Transmission as headline sponsor of its 2026 annual conference, as Scottish Government planning reporters who are RTPI members sit in judgment on a series of highly contentious SSEN transmission schemes.

In a letter announcing his resignation “with immediate effect,” Mr Kelly said he had given “further careful thought” to the matter and remained convinced there was “profound conflict of interest” in the arrangement. He said the decision came “with a heavy heart” after more than five decades as a student and then full member of the institute.

Mr Kelly reserved his sharpest criticism for the RTPI’s written response to his concerns, which he said read as though intended for “a school student asking about the planning system” rather than a serious answer to a corporate member with half a century of experience.

He said the reply’s handling of the sponsorship question betrayed a “total lack of awareness of private sector commercial reality,” pointing to his own background in senior management marketing roles, where sponsorship was always tied to “an identifiable return”.

He argued the same logic must apply to SSEN, suggesting the company would not be backing the conference “out of charitable intentions”.

The RTPI’s response, sent to Mr Kelly and referenced in his resignation letter, maintained that the institute is the professional membership body for town planners and does not determine planning applications, represent applicants or promote development proposals.

It said commercial sponsorship helps fund professional events but “does not provide sponsors with any influence over RTPI policy, professional standards or the consideration of individual planning applications,” adding that SSEN’s backing of the conference should not be read as institute support for any of the company’s projects.

The reply noted that sponsorship was accepted under the RTPI’s standard arrangements, with the funding covering delivery of the event only, and stressed that all members across public and private sectors are bound by the institute’s Code of Professional Conduct.

In his letter, Mr Kelly, who acts for objectors in several of the disputed SSEN cases, warned that the arrangement would leave the public watching “the institute of which the reporters are members cosying up to SSEN,” and asked how they could then be expected to “have any faith in the impartiality of the process.” He said he could not reconcile continued membership with his own professional and personal integrity, calling that integrity “absolutely core” to the work he has done throughout his career.

The row comes as the Scottish Government’s Planning and Environmental Appeals Division (DPEA) works through a string of major SSEN transmission cases forming part of the company’s £29 billion Pathway to 2030 programme, which is designed to expand the capacity of the electricity grid across the north of Scotland as renewable generation grows.

The current cases include the proposed Beauly to Peterhead, Kintore to Tealing and Spittal to Beauly 400kV connections, all identified by SSEN as live projects in the planning and inquiry process.

Reporting on the dispute, The Herald previously disclosed that of the 39 reporters on the DPEA’s planning and environmental appeals roster in 2024/25, 33 hold the professional MRTPI designation, including all six reporters assigned to the major SSEN transmission cases.

Responding to the controversy, the RTPI said it was “sorry” Mr Kelly had chosen to end his long membership and said it took concerns about public confidence “seriously”.

The Scottish Government has said it has no role in organising the conference and confirmed that none of the reporters handling the SSEN appeals will be attending.

A government spokesman added that independent reporters decide cases “on the planning merits,” taking account of submissions from all parties, and noted that many objectors’ representatives are themselves RTPI members bound by the same code of conduct, which requires independent professional judgement.

A spokesperson for SSEN Transmission previously said the planning process for transmission infrastructure “is underpinned by robust, legal frameworks,” with decisions made on the merits of applications rather than event sponsorship, and described its backing for the conference as support for a profession it considers vital to the Scottish economy.