Remembering Luther Bourne: A Tribute to a Distinguished Barbados Town Planner

The Barbados Town Planning Society regrets to announce the Passing of one of its Professional Members, Luther Bourne, on July 15, 2024 at the age of 88.

Luther joined the Town & Country Development Planning Office (TCPO) in 1964 as a Planning Student with prior University Degrees in Economics and World affairs. He had been employed in the diplomatic section of the West Indies Federation when it became defunct and was keen to obtain another post in the Public Sector. At that time, the Government of Barbados had an opening for a Pupil Assistant to be trained in the UK and he was successful in securing that position, to the great ultimate benefit of the Planning Profession. He spent a year in the TCPO under the guidance Mr. Peter H. M. Stevens, the first Town & Country Planning Officer. During that year, he assisted in the research and documentation for the first Physical Development Plan of Barbados, the draft of which had been completed in 1966 by a professional team under the U.N. Development Programme.

The following year, Luther travelled with his family to the UK for a two-year Postgraduate degree in Town Planning and his local experience would have been important because he could relate his studies to the Barbados context. It was during this time that he and Richard Gill became friends, as the latter was then in the third year of a four-year Honours Degree course.

When Luther and Richard returned to Barbados in 1967, they were both appointed to professional posts under the then head of Department, Mr. Peter Shepherd. Over the next couple of years, the posts were rationalized and the more familiar term “Chief Town Planner” was formalized. Following the departure of Mr. Shepherd, Luther was appointed as the first Barbadian Chief Town Planner in 1970 and held that post for about 14 years, during which he was well positioned to influence public policy and planning practice. He was then promoted to Acting Permanent Secretary and subsequently to Cabinet Secretary.

He supported the entry of Barbadian Planners into the profession and encouraged and monitored several young Planners who worked under him, for which they are most grateful. He was particularly instrumental in effecting a change in the training of young planners, who previously would have gone to the UK for training to the first degree level, by encouraging a grounding in the local and wider Caribbean environment first, before proceeding to the UK for post-graduate studies. It is to be regretted that Luther was never awarded a national honour for his outstanding service.