Rural Planning in the 2020s - A North East perspective

A chartered Town Planner and member of the Transport Planning Society Andrew is a Senior Transport Planner at Transport North East. He works in Transport and Infrastructure planning responsible for the development and delivery of the North East’s transport pipeline and transport plan. Andrew prepares major funding bids develops regional policy and strategy and project manages the delivery of capital and revenue funding in the region. Andrew works closely with local authority, national and subnational partners in linking transport planning wider spatial planning outcomes.

Prior to joining the Transport North East, Andrew spend six years at Transport for London working in development management across South London. He also gained experience in TfL’s Commercial Development team. Whilst in London Andrew was Chair of the RTPI region in 2016 and was Honorary Secretary prior to that. He is now the Honorary Secretary and Treasurer for RTPI North East and is a Planning Aid England volunteer, part of a team providing advice through PAE’s advice line service.

Amy is a Research Fellow for the RTPI-funded Rural Planning in the 2020s project at the University of Hertfordshire’s Ebenezer Howard School of Planning and a Visiting Research Fellow at Middlesex University’s Centre for Enterprise and Economic Development Research (CEEDR) where she is carrying out research on biodiversity reporting and the  financing of natural capital for SMEs and the Agri-food sector. She is also part of the Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity (CUSP) network.

As a researcher, Amy’s work focuses on the role of civil society groups and local government in promoting innovative and sustainable development in the context of planning, placemaking and place-based identities, political systems and broader policy influence, organisational design and incentivising action on climate and biodiversity issues. She also specialises in Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) and Communications, with extensive field-based experience in Southern Africa, Brazil and the UK.  She has worked as a Neighbourhood Planning practitioner, supporting several community groups and local governments in the UK to produce community-led development plans and has established community-led organisations, including community energy and community-led housing groups, and is supporting social enterprises to measure the impact of regenerative procurement. 

As of April 2021 John will be the Ebenezer Howard Professor of Planning at the University of Hertfordshire. John has a background including experience in planning practice and academia, having worked initially in planning policy in the North East of England before studying for a PhD on rural affordable housing. From 2010 he worked at the University of Liverpool, his research and teaching focussing on rural planning & housing and neighbourhood/community planning. John was elected as a Fellow of the RTPI in 2019.

Rob’s role includes Chief Planner at Northumberland County Council, one England’s largest single tier authorities. Previously positions have included Chief Planner at Sheffield City Council and at Derbyshire County Council. Rob is a former director of the Planning Officers Society, sat on the Policy Board of the Town & Country Planning Association and conducts LPA improvement support programmes for the Planning Advisory Service. He has a long history of involvement local, strategic,  economic and environmental planning. He has contributed to the development of planning & environmental policy, legislation and practice in England, Scotland, regional government and in Germany.

With over 20 years’ experience as a Farm Business Consultant, Simon has extensive knowledge and expertise in the delivery of strategic business manage and farm consultancy. Delivering a full spectrum of business management services Simon is also regularly involved in the purchase and sale of farms and estates for investor clients.