RTPI Conduct and Discipline Panel

Lauren became a Chartered Town Planner in 2015 and has worked as a planning practitioner since 2003. Lauren has worked in both the public and private sectors as well as undertaking work on a voluntary basis throughout her career. Lauren worked in a Cheshire based Council's Development Management team for almost ten years before specialising in advising private sector clients on retail and housing developments acting on behalf of several large planning consultancies. She led the Planning and Development team for a house builder based in North Wales and now works for one of largest Registered Providers of affordable housing in the country. Lauren has also sat on the RTPI's Membership Assessment Advisory Panel which governs the membership process for the RTPI. Lauren acts as a volunteer for Planning Aid and has sat on the North West Planning Aid Task Force which coordinates volunteer activities across the North West. Lauren became the Chair of the Panel in August 2022.

Francis is a Solicitor with experience of working in both the private and public sectors. He has dealt with all areas of public law and is currently Director of Legal and Democratic Services at a large local authority. He has worked in all public law areas ranging from Planning and Environmental Law to insolvency, Governance and Ethics. As well as being a legal practitioner he has also, as a senior manager and Board member, had responsibility for various departments, including Human Resources, Health and Safety, Communications, Legal Services, Democratic Services, Elections and Democratic Services. He is currently the authority’s statutory Monitoring Officer and the Statutory Returning Officer for elections. He has been a member of the Law Society’s Planning Panel for over 15 years and was an examiner on the Panel. Francis is the Legal Associate member of the Panel.

Tony became a Chartered Town Planner in 1979. He is originally from the East Riding but armed with a geography degree from the LSE, moved west to work in the West Riding County Council's development plans section. After reorganisation in 1974 he took up development control with Kirklees Council and ended 25 years in local government as Area Planning Officer with Malvern Hills District Council. He then joined the Planning Inspectorate, retiring as a senior inspector in 2016 after 20 years. He was involved in a wide range of local plans and appeals, as well as the training of new inspectors, but specialised in enforcement and gipsy/traveller cases. He was appointed as a magistrate in 1979 and is now one of the longest serving in the country

Anne is the Chief Operating Officer for the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.  She is a qualified accountant with over 30 years’ experience in various not-for-profit organisations.  She has led organisations through complex change management and has been responsible for governance, finance and resources in a number of public sector agencies. Prior to joining the IFoA in 2011, Anne was the inaugural Director of Finance & Corporate Services for the Infrastructure Planning Commission, and prior to that the Director of Corporate Services and Communications for the Sustainable Development Commission. She is also an independent Council member of the Association of Accounting Technicians. Anne formerly held the position of Director of Resources for the Royal Parks Agency and various other positions within central government. From 2011 to 2020, Anne was also a lay member of the Surrey and Sussex Magistrates Advisory Committee.

Karen Jones is a partner and head of leading Thames Valley law firm Blandy & Blandy’s nationally-recognised Planning & Environmental Law team. With over 30 years’ experience, Karen’s expertise includes strategic planning advice, planning appeals, public inquiries and environmental law, particularly nature conservation law.  

She has practiced as a parliamentary lawyer and had considerable involvement in The Channel Tunnel Rail Link project. Karen has also worked in local government (in roles including interim head of legal and solicitor to the council), where the majority of her projects involved significant planning, environmental and conservation considerations.

Karen is a legal associate of the Royal Town Planning Institute (LARTPI) and is recommended in both Chambers UK and The Legal 500. She has also been recognised among the top planning lawyers in the UK by Planning magazine on several occasions.

Simon became a Chartered Civil Engineer in 1990 and during his career has primarily provided transport planning and engineering advice to a range of largely private sector clients. Simon has worked for contractors and consultants including spending 17 years with Travers Morgan while it was first acquired by Symonds and then by Capita where, before he left, he was its Director of Development Transport and Infrastructure. More recently Simon has been the Principal of his eponymous private practice. Simon has been active in the Institution of Civil Engineers serving as the National Chairman of its Associate Members Graduates and Students section and more recently as a Supervising Civil Engineer overseeing graduates seeking chartered membership. Simon is a lay member of the Panel.

Since 2019 Graham has been the Director of Operations at the Planning Inspectorate providing strategic operational leadership for its case officers, planning and environmental officers and planning inspectors.  He has 14 years’ experience working at a senior level in local government and the civil service and considerable experience of demonstrating high professional standards in a highly political and sensitive environment. Graham has also previously been Chair of the Board of Trustees of the RTPI during which time he has championed the importance of upholding standards within the Institute and profession.  Graham is the Vice-Chair of the Panel.

Lisa is Head of Planning and Major Infrastructure at the National Trust.  She is the professional lead for Planning and sets the strategic direction for the organisation.   A significant part of her role is external engagement and advocacy working collaboratively with the planning and heritage sector and responding to key consultations around planning policy and reform.  She leads the Trusts engagement with major infrastructure proposals across a range of sectors.  She joined the National Trust in 2016 and has over 20 years' experience working as a planner with experience in both Development Management and Planning Policy gained in Local Government environments.