I am delighted to take over the chairmanship of the Planning and Development Divisional Council from Mr Francis Lam due to his recent relocation to Beijing. The PDD Council held a meeting on 2 November and, pursuant to Regulation 1.5 of the PDD Council Regulations, I was elected as the Chairman for the unexpired term of office left by Francis. I must thank Francis for leading the Council in the past year and I wish him every success in his endeavour. Looking ahead, I will work closely with all the PDD Council members to further develop the division and to enhance our professional standing, both within and outside the institute. We will also plan for organizing some CPD events, talks or technical visit relevant to the planning and development surveyors. On 26 October, we conducted a very successful CPD event in which our Vice Chairman, Mr Albert SO, delivered a talk on "Columbarium - V Land Use and Planning" to some 160 participants. I think you will agree that columbarium is a very hot topic nowadays due to the high cremation rate and, more importantly, the short supply of both private and public niches in the HKSAR. Since Albert is also a co-opted member of the Development Committee of the Chinese Permanent Cemeteries Board of Management, he has no hesitation to share his extensive experience on the issue and took us through the problem. He talked about the cause for the shortfall of niches and discussed the land and planning procedures that public and private columbarium. The CPD event was well received by the participants. Well done Albert.