Our candidates for the Board of Trustees

Please state briefly why you wish to apply for this position.

Planning is a force for good: it is a positive, proactive discipline to deliver quality spaces live, work and play. We cannot say this enough - no matter what the political weather.  The RTPI is a hallmark of quality for planners and an advocate for the positive role planning can play in bringing new communities to life where social, economic and environmental needs are met.

I want to serve as a Trustee to ensure that the institute is in the best possible shape to fulfil its mission across all its areas of activity. The Board of Trustees is the body to ensure that the Institute is strong enough to be enable to achieve its objectives and I believe I can contribute to that.

Please detail the skills and experience you have that would make you a strong candidate for this position.

I have worked across the public, private and voluntary sectors over my career: that gives me a breadth of experience and depth of perspective to bring to bear as a Trustee in an organisation where members are drawn from all sectors. I have also been a ministerial special adviser on planning and housing, and an elected member in local government.

As  chief executive of an approved housing body, which is a regulated entity i have an understanding the management, governance, compliance, audit and the whole panoply of structures to ensure that the Institute is as strong as it can be to fulfil its mission. I am a former special adviser to the Housing an dP

I come from Ireland, a jurisdiction with a planning code that is different, and so can bring an alternative view to the Board. It is important that the Nations Trustee can bring that different perspective.

Qualifications:

Chartered Member, RTPI
Chartered Member, Chartered Institute of Housing (CIHCM)
Corporate Member, Irish Planning Institute (MIPI)

Masters in Regional and Urban Planning (MRUP), University College Dublin
BA (Hons), UCD

Present post or occupation, and date commenced:

Chief Executive, The Iveagh Trust (February 2019)

Past and present service to the Institute:

Member. General Assembly (2021-present)
Member, International Committee (2024- present)
Chair, RTPI Ireland (2019-2021)
Member RTPI Ireland Executive (2016-present)

Please tell us why you are standing for election.

A strong institute to be a strong voice for planning

Please state briefly why you wish to apply for this position.

As a Chartered town planner the standards, ethics and professional behaviour required by the Code of Conduct has been central to how I have conducted myself throughout my 29 year career. The last 15 years I have spent working in central government on securing the transformation of planning and local government in Northern Ireland. Therefore I have a unique perspective on how planning operates as part of the UK and on the island of Ireland. As the Nations Trustee I will use my experience of organisational change, gained within a fast-paced environment and new political structures, for the benefit of the whole of the RTPI and profession to advance the value of planning and its positive societal outcomes. Through our climate change obligations, along with enabling the prosperity and wellbeing of our diverse communities, we can ensure that planning continues to play a vital role in shaping our places.

Please detail the skills and experience you have that would make you a strong candidate for this position.

During the first half of my career I gained experience in development management, enforcement, conservation, area planning, and policy and legislation. During the last 15 years I have worked on the transformation of planning and local government in Northern Ireland. I worked on the making of the Planning Act 2011, led the introduction of community planning including developing cross sector relationships across the region and Ireland and overseeing a significant capacity building programme, developed a ‘critical friend’ role with Welsh Government, led a programme of engagement with the Planning Appeals Commission, and project managed the Planning Engagement Partnership to produce recommendations on improving community engagement in planning. I worked collaboratively with various disciplines, central and local government elected representatives and officers, the private sector and third sector to build understanding of planning and the profession. My longstanding experience provides me with a solid foundation for fulfilling the Nations Trustee role.

Qualifications:

Chartered Member of the RTPI since 1994.
BSc Honours Degree in Environmental Planning – 1993.
Post Graduate Diploma in Town and Country Planning – 1994.
Post Graduate Diploma in Management Practice – 2007.
Post Graduate Certificate in Public Administration – 2023.

I believe in and pursue self-development along with professional development. I have recently provided a leadership workshop as part of a Women’s Mentoring Programme across the Northern Ireland Civil Service. Over the last 15 years I have travelled to London and Atlanta USA with the More To Life Foundation to be coached and become a Licensed Facilitator of a Self Esteem Enhancement course.

Present post or occupation, and date commenced:

Senior Planner, Department for Infrastructure, Northern Ireland Civil Service – June 2020.

• Provide advice to Minister, Permanent Secretaries and colleagues across the Civil Service on various regional planning legislation issues.
• Managed production of a Report on improving community engagement in planning, and leading implementation of recommendations through a Planning Improvement Programme.

Past and present service to the Institute:

Currently on the RTPI Northern Ireland Executive Committee – January 2024.

Previously on the RTPI Northern Ireland Executive Committee – January 2014 to 2016. While working on the transformation of planning and local government which took effect in April 2015, I represented the planning profession through an extensive programme of capacity building.

Please tell us why you are standing for election.

To contribute my experience to promoting the value of planning, and shaping its positive future.