Regional Activities Committee

Kieran is a Senior Planner at Kingswood Homes and has previously worked as a planning consultant at Hive Land & Planning and Barton Willmore. In his role at Kingswood Homes he plays a key part in bringing forward high quality residential development across the north west. In 2022, Kieran sits on the RMB and takes the Chair role of the North West RTPI region whilst also volunteering on the Education, Careers and Mentoring Task Group. He is passionate about 1) promoting planning as a career to enhance equality, diversity and inclusion across the industry; and 2) empowering the role of planners to fight the climate crisis.

Emilly is a chartered town planner at Arup with over 5 years’ experience based in Manchester, having worked in both the public and private sectors. Emilly’s background in planning has given her an excellent understanding of planning policy with experience in stakeholder engagement, Local Plan development and technical evidence base work. Emilly is passionate about sharing the value of planning with everyone and supporting her fellow planners. Emilly sits on the Regional Management Board, is the North West representative on the General Assembly as well as being a member of the Regional Activities Committee and part of the Education, Careers and Mentoring Task Group where she works to help promote careers in town planning.

Matt is Associate Director at Nexus Planning with 15 years’ experience.  He has a unique insight into the planning profession, having previously worked for two NW local authorities and a developer, before moving to the consultancy sector.  He graduated with a Distinction in the Master of Civic Design at the University of Liverpool in 2007 and became a Chartered Member of the RTPI in 2011.  Matt joined the NW Regional Activities Committee in 2021.

Joanne is the Local Plans Manager (North) for the Home Builders Federation and represents the members of the HBF in seeking to influence the production of planning policy in the North of England. Joanne is an experienced policy planner with more than 15 years in the profession. After starting her career in the private sector Joanne has mainly working within local government, contributing to planning policy for Stafford, Halton and Cheshire East. Joanne is strong supporter of the planning profession and is currently the Honorary Sectary of the RTPI NW region and a RTPI General Assembly member, and has previously served as RTPI NW Chair and as a Trustee of the RTPI. Joanne is a member of the CPD Task Group and is keen to help to support our local members through professional development and other RTPI services and events.

Ian is a Planning Director at for Barton Willmore with 14 years-experience advising public and private clients across residential, commercial, retail, leisure and conservation based projects advising on development management, plan-making and EIA processes. Ian sits on the RMB for the RTPI NW in the Chair role for 2021. He is passionate about adding social value and ensuring that planning is used as an effective tool to engage across all sectors of the industry and its stakeholders; including the community. Ian is a member of the Education and Careers Regional Activities Committee and has focused on promoting planning as a career in local schools as well as mentoring a number of Licentiates through the APC process.

Rebecca is a chartered planner with over twelve years of experience in consultancy, local authority and client-side roles. She works for has her own planning consultancy business, Oriel Planning, based in the North West. Rebecca has held roles on the North West RMB since 2018, as General Assembly representative, Junior Vice Chair and more recently Ex-officio, whilst supporting the RAC’s Education, CPD and Awards task groups. Prior to this, Rebecca worked in Birmingham, Manchester and London, and volunteered with the London region as Young Planner and later as Honorary Secretary. She has a passion for nurturing the next generation of property professionals, through university liaison and mentoring colleagues. As recognition, she was awarded the 2016 Rising Star in Property Award, which supports the future pipeline of female leaders. Rebecca was elected to the RTPI Board of Trustees for 2020-2022 as Trustee for the Nations and Regions and has been re-elected for 2022-2024.

Louisa is an Associate at Avison Young (formerly HOW Planning) with 6 years experience advising on residential, commercial and mixed-use projects from inception to approval, for a range of clients including landowners, developers and housebuilders. She also has experience of promoting sites through the development plan process. Louisa sits on the RAC for the RTPI NW and has been on the Awards task group for the past three years, and the Promotion of Planning task group for two years prior.

Tillie is a Senior Town Planner at Ruth Jackson Planning in Manchester.  She has six years' experience advising public and private sector clients on a variety of development and planning policy projects including a new Acute Receiving Centre at Salford Royal Hospital and an Infrastructure Delivery Plan for Rossendale Borough Council. She has led the Education, Careers and Mentoring Task Group since 2019, having served on the Committee since 2017. Tillie has been instrumental in broadening the reach of the Task Group to serve both prospective and current planners. Originally from Sydney, Australia, Tillie has previously worked as a planner in the United States after receiving her Masters in Regional Planning from Cornell University in 2014. She became chartered through the Associate route in 2019 and continues to mentor planners from varied backgrounds who are seeking membership of the RTPI.

Ian has taken an unconventional route to planning after running a Greater Manchester magazine whose cultural content increasingly considered planning issues. Now part of the Infrastructure Planning team at WSP, Ian has over 4 years' experience on schemes from active travel and sustainable transport to renewable energy. He formerly worked at Wardell Armstrong preparing Planning, Crime Impact and Health Impact assessments, and was elected as a Chartered Town Planner in December 2019. Ian joined the RTPI NW Regional Activities Committee and the RTPI NW Young Planners Committee in January 2019 and has arranged and chaired various CPD events and webinars, including Participation in Planning, Reallocating Road Space, and Planning for Healthy Communities. In his spare time, Ian engages with sustainable transport and active travel campaigns and is passionate about enabling safer, more liveable streets.

After his bachelor’s degree in urban and regional planning, Uche began his career in planning as a town planner and rose to a consultant in planning and architecture in November 1990. He managed a small firm in Lagos Nigeria for sixteen years until 2006 when he relocated to England working initially as a Development Control Officer for Eden District Council. He later became a planning director for Raymond-Schortz UK Ltd in December 2008, providing planning services to Local Authority including the Royal Borough of Hackney in London. Uche was seconded to the US where he worked in various capacities including as Director of Planning in a number of cities in Texas USA. He has been a member of the Policy Task Group for the RTPI RAC NW. He has also been RTPI Assessor for the APC (Assessment of Professional Competence). Uche is keen on selling planning knowledge globally and can assist with the RTPI IDN.

Colin is a chartered Town Planner with over 30 years professional planning experience with a successful track record securing land allocations and planning permissions for large scale residential schemes and mixed-use development projects across the UK.  Colin has worked with and led multi-disciplinary project teams in the public, private and voluntary sectors including government departments, local authorities, multi-national property advisors, commercial landowners and developers, volume housebuilders and national retailers. 

Colin is a previous vice-chair of the RTPI’s Northwest branch and is experienced working with community groups, politicians, government departments and property professionals to identify and address issues, shape policy and deliver development.  He is currently employed as a Community Engagement specialist at Homes England. 

Darren is a Associate Planner at Pegasus Group in Liverpool. He comes from a multidisciplinary background having previously worked client-side in wind energy and residential development before moving into consultancy. He now advises public and private sector clients on a variety of developments across England, Scotland, Wales and the Isle of Man. He holds two master’s degrees – a Master of Town and Country Planning (Hons) degree from the University of Manchester, and a Master of Science in Design and Construction of Zero Carbon and Ultra-low Energy Buildings from the University of Dundee. Darren is Chair of the Planning Aid England North West Task Group and co-founder of the North West Neighbourhood Planning Network.

Paul is a Chartered Town Planner with over 14 years of experience in Environmental research, Environmental Impact Assessments, Resilience Planning and Mapping; practiced within the Oil & Gas sector, Higher Education and the Public Sector, and consulting for the World Bank, UNEP, Shell, US Department of State and other International Organizations. He has also engaged in extensive research in the Circular Economy within waste management systems. Paul is committed to facilitating the development of resilient communities via the integration of Circular Economy Principles in the Built Environment and currently partners with the African Circular Economy Network on works related to the Circular Economy. As a Senior Planning Officer within Development Management with the Isle of Man Government, he currently works to support the Islands drive to deliver sustainable communities.

Tom has worked as a Planner for eight years, initially in a rural practice in North Lincolnshire while studying part-time for a Masters in Town & Country Planning. Tom relocated to Manchester in 2016 to join the JLL Planning & Development team and provides advice to public and private sector clients across a range of sectors.

Georgina is a Planner at Asteer Planning LLP. Having previously worked at Avison Young since September 2018, Georgina has experience of advising clients across a range of sectors, including residential, commercial, student, and mixed-use developments. Georgina was elected as a Chartered Member of the RTPI in December 2020 and currently sits on the Regional Activities Committee for the RTPI North West and is part of the Education, Careers and Mentoring Task Group.

Liz is a Planner at Barton Willmore, and has worked there for over a year since graduating from the University of Manchester, where she received a Masters Degree in Urban Design and International Planning. Having previously worked at Urban Imprint as an Assistant Planner and Urban Designer, she is familiar with both the planning and design sectors and has been involved in a variety of work, including the progress of planning applications for a range of residential, commercial, retail and leisure developments, the assessment of urban design for public bodies and the production of Neighbourhood Plan documents. Liz has a keen interest in strengthening the relationship between planning and design, and believes in the importance of adding social value through engagement across all sectors of the industry, including the community.

Amy is a Senior Adviser for Strategic Planning in Natural England’s Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Lancashire Area Team.  Prior to joining Natural England in January 2020, she worked as a Planning consultant in Deloitte Real Estate’s Manchester Team.  She is a Chartered Town Planner who is passionate about nature and spatial planning, with a focus on climate change mitigation and adaptation.  She believes that the planning system has a fundamental role to play in protecting nature alongside ensuring that environmental net gains are delivered through new development, and that working in partnership with a wide range of stakeholders is key to delivering these benefits.

John is a Senior Development Manager at Rochdale Borough Council, with a background in both the public and private sectors. He graduated from Master of Town and Country Planning programme at the University of Manchester in 2014 and became a Chartered member of the RTPI via the Experienced Practitioner route in 2020. John joined the RTPI NW Regional Activities Committee in 2022.

Tom is a Senior Urban Design consultant at Urban Green, Manchester with over five years-experience in both urban design and planning. He has worked on a wide range of projects across the UK including masterplanning, delivering small-to-large scale residential development, representing clients at planning appeal, and plan making. Tom is a member of the awards task group on the Regional Activities Committee and has assisted the task group with their regional awards programme including judging the Moss Madden award for the best dissertation.

Maria is a final year student studying Integrated Master of Planning and Real estate at the University of Manchester. She has worked on Child friendly urban planning and healthy cities in her dissertation. Maria is passionate about working in the public sector, as a graduate and is particularly interested in Planning law. She is an ambassador for the planning department at the University of Manchester and has actively participated in promoting Planning as a profession across various cities in the UK. She hopes to assist the Education and Careers Regional Activities Committee Northwest for 2022.

Celine is a Planning Policy Officer at Liverpool City Council, having previously worked at Bath & North East Somerset Council where she was responsible for developing policy work in the area sustainable construction and retrofitting. She has a unique multi-disciplinary background, graduating with First in Architecture from the University of Liverpool, Celine has a keen interest in Planning from a design and climate change perspective. Following a graduate placement working as an Urban Designer at Savills in Oxford, she went on to obtain a Distinction in Town & Regional Planning from the University of Sheffield, receiving the Turley Prize for achieving the highest overall performance on the Masters course. She is currently leading on creating a Design Library for Liverpool City Council, which will be comprised of a series of SPDs and Design Codes, throughout which addressing the climate emergency will be a central theme.