Regional Management Board

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.