Regional Activities Committee

Jessica is an Associate Director at Turley based in their Midlands office and is Co-Chair of the East Midlands Women in Planning Committee. In her role at Turley, Jessica manages a diverse range of projects, with a particular focus on strategic residential planning. Outside of work, Jessica is a keen baker and enjoys travelling to interesting new places.

Chrissy has been a chartered town planner for more than 15 years. She joined Heatons Planning in Derby as an Associate Director in November 2022 and sits within the residential and commercial team. Chrissy is currently working on a SUE scheme alongside other residential and employment projects of various scales. 

Chrissy lives in Derby. Prior to joining Heatons she worked from home for a planning consultancy based in the North East, which she joined after a successful career as a town planner in the public sector. She worked for a number of East and West Midlands authorities, being the lead case officer for a wide range of applications. This included many major residential, leisure and commercial developments with the most well known being St George's Park in Burton upon Trent ... the 'home of the English football'.

Chrissy has attended many RTPI CPD events over the years and joined the RTPI East Midlands Activities Committee is her first role with the RTPI. In 2024 she takes up the role of RTPI East Midlands RMB RAC Vice Chair. She is particularly interested in planning law and balancing the many issues that the planning system seeks to consider and resolve. She enjoys how every day is a 'learning day' as a town planner.

Megan is 2024 Chair of the RTPI East Midlands Young Planners Committee, and Junior Vice Chair of the RTPI East Midlands RMB/RAC Committee. Megan is a Chartered member of the RTPI and CIH and currently works for Marrons as a Planning Director. She specialises in residential and economic development, including the preparation of Local Plan evidence, 5-Year Housing Land Supply Assessments and Economic Benefits Assessments. Alongside her strategic planning work, Megan prepares and manages a range of residential planning applications for local and national developers and housebuilders. Prior to joining DLP, she worked in housebuilding and strategic land promotion. Megan joined the East Midlands Young Planners Committee in 2021 and has assisted in organising both in-person and webinar-based events for RTPI members. Outside of planning, she enjoys travelling, reading and spoiling her nephew.

Scott is a Chartered Member of the RTPI working as an Associate Planner within the General Practice Planning Team for Fisher German. He has experience assisting and leading on a wide range of major and minor projects, predominantly within the rural, residential and commercial sectors. In January 2017, Scott joined the RTPI East Midlands Young Planners Committee providing support in organising a range of CPD and social events across the region. In 2018 the committee delivered the national RTPI Young Planners’ Conference in Nottingham where he was involved in budgeting and sponsorship. Following this great success in January 2019 Scott decided to volunteer on the RTPI East Midlands Regional Activities Committee to then be elected to the position of Vice Chair on the Regional Management Board in November. Scott then went on to Chair the RMB/RAC Committees for several years, handing over to Jessica in January 2024. 

Chris is a Legal Associate of the RTPI with over 15 years’ experience advising on all aspects of town planning and development law at law firms within the East Midlands. Currently Partner specialising in Planning Law at Freeths and previously a Partner in the Planning Law Team at Howes Percival LLP, having joined 5 years ago to create an East Midlands Planning Law team for the firm. He has extensive experience in advising and coordinating complex development proposals, including student accommodation, employment and residential development at regeneration sites and greenfield sites, and in the preparation and negotiation of infrastructure agreements. Chris is particular keen to promote general understanding of the fundamental importance of the planning system to enable the delivery of the sustainable development that the region needs. Outside of work, Chris enjoys spending time with his family with any time left (not much, given he has three children including a two-year old) spent reading or watching football.

Andrew Grayson (MRTPI FHEA) is a Planning Adviser for the National Trust (Midlands and East of England) and Chartered Member of the RTPI. Previously a Lecturer at Nottingham Trent University where he led on town planning education at postgraduate level. Working with a wide range of professionals he taught planning practice and theory, helping to positively shape the careers of future built environment practitioners in the East Midlands. He actively pursues a research interest in rural planning. This includes rural policy and community issues.

Before teaching in higher education Andrew worked for twelve years as a town planner in the East Midlands. This includes roles at Chesterfield Borough Council, Bassetlaw District Council, the Peak District National Park Authority and as a consultant with Planning & Design Group.

Outside of work Andrew enjoys exploring the Peak District with his family, including with his little boy Felix.

David has held various professional planning positions in a local government career lasting more then 30 years. He has been Director for Planning and Regeneration at Harborough District Council since 2015 and in this role, among other achievements, he has overseen the adoption of the district-wide local plan, and he is now busy preparing another plan to ensure the district's plan-led strategy remains up to date. He is also an experienced lead of the Council's Development Management Service which also covers Heritage and Conservation and Planning Enforcement. He enjoys leading the busy Planning Department with its variety of work to get involved in. 

Prior to becoming Director of Planning, David was Head of the West Northamptonshire Joint Planning Unit. This had the status of a strategic planning policy making planning authority providing strategic plan making services to the partner Councils of Northamptonshire County Council, Daventry District, Northampton Borough and South Northamptonshire Councils.

He has had a varied and full planning careers to date and is also experienced in leading Economic Development, Waste and Recycling and Public Open Space management services

National Section 106 Lead

NHS England

Simon was elected a Chartered Member of the RTPI in 2022.  He moved into planning in 2013, starting life as an enforcement officer for a County Council focussing on monitoring and enforcement of waste and minerals activities.  He subsequently moved to lead on developer contributions towards education, bringing about agreements for millions of pounds of contributions and ensured the delivery of a new primary school while in post with multiple more schools agreed as part of planning permissions.  Since early 2022, he has been the lead for developer contributions at NHS England, working with NHS systems and the Department of Health on matters relating to developer contributions and town planning more generally.  This is his first role in the RTPI’s regional bodies and he looks forward to promoting the profession.

Dharmista manages Design:Midlands' Design Review Panel specialising in the promotion and recognition of design quality, providing timely design and engagement interventions across a range of projects. Dharmista is a Chartered Town Planner (MRTPI) with experience in development management, conservation, regeneration and urban design.

Michael joined the Department of Urban Studies and Planning, University of Sheffield as a Lecturer in Urban Design and Planning in September 2021. He previously worked in Denmark as a Lecturer in Urban Design at Aalborg University and prior to that in the Department of Planning and Environmental Management at the University of Manchester, as well as in urban design/planning consultancy firm Urban Imprint.

Michael is the Director of the MA Urban Design and Planning (fully RTPI accredited) and the Deputy Director of Doctoral Research in the Faculty of Social Sciences. Michael’s research focuses on child-friendly cities, cities for play, temporary urban development and urban regeneration, as well as placemaking. He has undertaken research funded by charities, public bodies and local government in the UK and Denmark including the Economic and Social Research Council and LEGO Foundation/Capital of Children and published his results in leading international journals, including Children’s Geographies, Urban Studies, Planning Practice & Research and Town Planning Review.