2025 Results

Winner of RTPI South West Unsung Planning Hero 2025

The judges said:

"The nomination set out you positive and pro active planning reform resulting in wider improvements for the planning service. The introduction of an industry partnership board for collaborative working enabled greater transparency in terms of performance. Leading reform and taking the team with you whilst increasing visibility of planning performance and stakeholder engagement is really challenging and to be nominated in the successful delivery of this speaks so highly of how this has been approached.

Congratulations Andrew."

Nomination details:

Andrew supported by Group Director – Kelly Whitehead (AIP)  has led and managed the reform of the Jersey Land Management Planning Service (Development Control) in response to recent critical reviews by Jim McKinnon CBE and exceptionally strong and vocal community criticism.

In 2023 Mr McKinnon’s reporting of the Planning System in Jersey provided a list of 17 recommendations for making changes. Andrew has managed and introduced many of these recommendations, to the extent that a recent update report by Mr McKinnon (2025) has resulted in positive and encouraging comments.

Mr McKinnon observes: “The need for culture change is easy to say but more difficult to give it practical effect; but it is observable in the Government of Jersey’s Planning Service.”

Andrew is leading:

An ambitious programme for planning reform covering – Rules, People, Process, Technology and Data.

A step change in the amount and frequency of publicly available information made available with, for example, the introduction of the Planning Dashboard series and the quarterly reports on Planning Performance.

The establishment of an Industry Partnership Board – a forum for meaningful collaboration between Government Officers and industry representatives.

I observe that Andrew provides kind, consistent and strong leadership in the face of significant challenges, always adhering to the five core principles of the RTPI Code of Conduct:

• Honesty and integrity
• Professional competence
• Independent professional judgement
• Professional practice and duties
• Professional behaviour and respect

I am delighted to recommend Andrew for the unsung hero of Planning award.

Nominated by Stephanie Steedman MRTPI and PIEMA, Director of Steedman Planning Ltd

Highly Commended Award for RTPI South West Unsung Planning Hero 2025

The judges said:

"The nomination set out how you designed and instigated members working group, embraced digital transformation and public engagement including consultation with hard to reach groups. There was a clear leadership and coaching approach with the team resulting in delivery of a local plan notwithstanding Covid. We wanted to acknowledge your personal drive and commitment to the service and the team.

Congratulations Michelle."

Nomination details:

Michelle Luscombe exemplifies the qualities of a planner and a human being we all wish to see in ourselves.

Collaboration and Leadership:

In driving the Teignbridge Local Plan Review through its successful preparation, the Members’ Working group she designed and instigated ensured limited obstacles to Plan progress at a time of political and planning policy uncertainty despite the tough decisions that needed to be made.

Innovative approaches:

She embraces the use of technology – including pioneering 100% digital consultation and the use of AI to analyse representations – and is at the forefront of adapting to modern ways of working in regeneration project planning through the use of Digital twins, opening engagement and ensuring hard to reach groups – including young people – are able to respond to consultation and outreach events.

Inspiring Mentorship

She is well liked and respected by everyone who works with her.  She is able to coach and lead to get the best out of her team and to work pragmatically with colleagues outside of her organisation to look for solutions and compromises when required.  She is also confident in her skills, knowledge and decision making, holding firm in the face of objection or challenge when right to do so for her community.

Outstanding initiative

Overall, despite challenges along the way – including the impact of Covid on face to face consultations - it is because of Michelle’s personal focus and commitment as well as her unrelenting drive to improve the place she lives and works in that the Teignbridge Local Plan Review has been so successful.

Nominated by Ros Eastman, Eastman Planning

Commended Award for RTPI South West Unsung Planning Hero 2025

The judges said:

"The nomination highlighted your collaborative ways of working and through the 6 month secondment to reform Development Management, processes and procedures were sympathetically managed and changed to support colleagues to work more efficiently and increase quality of decisions. .

Congratulations Tracey."

Nomination details:

Tracey is an experienced planning and historic environment professional who applies a wealth of knowledge, pragmatism and efficiency to everything. Always willing to rise to a challenge, and a great person to work with, she is deserving of nomination.

Tracey heads the Historic environment team in the Government of Jersey where she deals with everything ‘HE-flavoured’ and more. As a self-governing entity, Tracey’s regular role in GoJ embraces the development of new legislation, policy and guidance for the historic environment, along with the provision of HE advice into the planning application process.

As one of only two heritage planning professionals she has also developed collaborative ways of working to advocate for and to champion planning and its role in managing change to Jersey’s heritage. She does this fantastically well and, over 16 years, through her pragmatic approach, whilst optimising heritage outcomes, she has successfully elevated heritage considerations throughout the organisation and beyond with planning service customers and building owners.

Aside from doing her ‘day job’ with considerable aplomb, Tracey has recently risen to a further challenge, taking up a six-month secondment, to help development management colleagues deliver reform of the island’s development management service.

This was an unenviable task involving a need to work sensitively alongside colleagues whose service suffered high profile and public criticism against a backdrop of recruitment challenges; failing IT systems; and a very demanding role.

As ever, Tracey has approached this difficult task in a respectful and professional manner, to work constructively with colleagues to deliver improvements.

This has been both personally and professionally demanding, however, Tracey has applied her knowledge, skill and experience, and it has delivered clear results. Processes and procedures have changed, and colleagues are managing their caseloads with greater efficiency and confidence, now manifest in more robust and efficient planning decisions!

Nominated by: Kevin Pilley, Head of Place and spatial planning, Government of Jersey

I had not come across Amelia until December 2024, when I submitted a request for the PPA route for a project in Frome. From the word go, Amelia came back with her availability for the kick off meeting and that level of responsiveness, willingness and positivity has continued throughout the course of the PPA process.

The importance of communication from officers is often underestimated but it really is truly important to give clarity to the overall prospects of success at the outset. The receipt of clear, prompt advice has given my client the confidence to push forward with what will be incredibly beneficial proposals for Frome.

Again, this level of customer service is genuinely pivotal to the make or break of a project and has been a breath of fresh air from the (sadly increasingly true) stereotype of slow or non-existent communication from officers.

Amelia’s professionalism and quality advice helped me to do my own job better and with confidence, and gave me the assurance to advise another client to pursue the PPA route from the outset. My advice would often be to avoid any form of pre-application negotiations due to programme delays and incurred costs. However, knowing that Amelia would be at the helm, I had full confidence that the process would be worth every penny and would be a well-oiled machine, which it was!

I could continue to heap praise on Amelia but I am conscious of word count so I will summarise as saying that she is exactly what you hope every officer would be; helpful, communicative, clear, and friendly. She is very much a do-er and clearly has a passion for what she does which has shine through every time I have spoken to her.

I feel she thoroughly deserves to win this award as is the epitome of an unsung hero – she has also set the benchmark for other planning officers!

Anonymous Nomination

On July 14^th this year Cliff will have been in the planning profession for 50 years - a significant achievement. Cliff has been dedicated to the cause; promoting not only excellent placemaking but has always upheld the values of the RTPI. Importantly, Cliff has played a significant role in teaching and developing the careers and planning knowledge of those he has mentored and trained over the course of his career.

A bit of history about Cliff's career to date:

He started his planning career on 14 July 1975, as a Planning Assistant at Liverpool City Council.

He moved to other local government planning offices, taking in Wigan MBC, Sefton MBC, Cambridge CC and latterly Salisbury DC.

Generally, each move involved a promotion, with increasing management responsibilities and staff. When he left Salisbury DC,  he had been Head of Development Services for over 5 years.

Leaving local government in 2003, he became a Planning Inspector for 19 months, dealing with Written Reps appeals and Hearings in a triangle from the tip of Cornwall to East Sussex in the south and up to Oxfordshire.

He then turned from gamekeeper to poacher and went into the private sector with Savills, based in Wimborne, Dorset, albeit he did jobs from there all over England & Wales. For the majority of his nigh 19 years, he was a Director.

From Savills he moved to his current job as Head of Planning at property consultants Woolley & Wallis in Salisbury in September 2023. They have offices all over Wessex.

Part of his role in local government and in the private sector has been managing and mentoring staff, so they have the abilities to progress in their planning careers. He was heavily involved in recruiting and mentoring planning graduates whilst at Savills. He also dealt with some major projects like a 760 dwelling housing scheme with employment and neighbourhood centre adjacent to a Dorset market town. At one point Cliff was selected as Barratt Homes Planning Consultant of the year.

I am one of those graduates Cliff helped recruit to Savills in 2016. For a lot of my time at Savills, I very much benefitted from Cliff passing on his wisdom and experience. I worked alongside him on many projects, particularly housing schemes. This led me to gain promotions at Savills and subsequently to get responsible roles with a respected housing developer based in Dorset, then recently with a Renewable Energy company also based in Hampshire, but with projects all over the UK.

I believe Cliff would make a very worthy candidate for an Unsung Hero award for his significant, modest and long contribution to three sectors of planning (Public, Planning Inspectorate and the Private Sector).

Nominated by Philip Saunders, Infinergy Lts

Frances Gully, BSc MSc MRTPI, demonstrates a deep understanding of planning policy and the planning system. As Principal Assets Planning Advisor at Somerset Council, Frances excels in managing complex planning casework, negotiating developer contributions, and providing strategic planning advice.

Acting as an expert witness for the education authority in responding to delegated housing proposals, committee hearings and public inquiries, ensuring education interests are represented, her ability to deliver high-quality planning outcomes is evident in securing obligations, ensuring accurate monitoring, timely collection and reporting of agreements and continuously improving the database of education obligations to support all teams.

Originality in approach is showcased where she analyses complex pupil data and negotiates terms to secure value for the council, including future land .  Frances oversees a broad caseload of internal planning consultancy services for the estates and property team to support Children's services or other teams, providing advice or securing permissions for children’s homes or other planning needs for estates and property such as pre-planning advice, demolition or improvements and extensions to property.

Frances's enthusiasm for the planning profession is reflected in her leadership style, which promotes flexible and responsive working with high employee engagement. She advocates the council’s vision and values both internally and externally, including the climate strategy and ‘local schools for local children’. Frances has a particular strength in supporting planning officers to understand the complex needs of the education authority within challenging financial and resource situations.

Frances is a mentor for RTPI APC candidates while also has team working skills highlighted by her ability to support colleagues with planning training and advise to ensure relevant understanding for each project. Working closely with internal clients to understand their needs and objectives, providing professional planning advice for asset strategies, future education needs, development management and local plan making including input into the call for sites.

Nominated by Simon Lewis, Interim Head of Property, Somerset Council

Initially Louise worked on major infrastructure projects including the £250m Bridgwater Tidal Barrier, granted permission via a Transport Works Order Act. She then started working on the Gravity EZ, a huge brownfield site north of Bridgwater benefiting from a 2022 Local Development Order.

Agratas, a subsidiary to the Indian conglomerate Tata, purchased part of this site with plans to build the UK’s largest battery cell manufacturing facility. This project is of national significance and from a planning perspective was to involve various Government Departments, key agents such as National Highways and Environment Agency, statutory consultees and various departments within Somerset Council.

Louse set up a small planning team progressing compliance applications for the battery facility as well as associated consents and permits including a hazardous waste application. This project was extremely complex and high profile, not just locally but nationally given the importance of inward investment of this scale for the UK.

There are incredibly demanding timescales for the project and Louise has grasped this opportunity, getting fully up to speed with complex planning matters and different consenting regimes. New processes have been put in place and Louise has also led on briefings to Senior Managers, consultees and elected Members. She has developed further negotiating skills to broker compromises from both the applicant and external stakeholders. 

The first compliance application was issued at 21.30 on 11^th December 2024, proof that public sector planners are more than prepared to go the extra mile to get the job done. At 2.6m sq.ft, it is difficult to fully comprehend the scale of development facilitated. And it does not stop here, Louise is already engaged in the next tranche of compliance applications that will come forward on the remaining part of the Gravity site.

Louise truly is an unsung hero who has gone above and beyond to support this nationally significant project.

Nominated by Nick Tail, Service Manager at Somerset Council

Working with Chapman Lily Planning [CLP] since 2020, Philippa immediately threw herself into every planning scenario available with gusto. She is a dedicated member of the CLP team and has enthusiastically grasped opportunities to grow her professional knowledge. She brings her calm and professional listening skills and proudly promotes the positive role town planning plays in our society at public events.

• Phillippa is acutely aware of the investment and passion of our clients – she feeds on this and never fails to put forward the positive aspects of a scheme.

• For World Town Planning Day, she organised an online seminar ‘Delivering Housing Differently’ reaching out to overseas planners (Australia) a developer, and a co-housing project. Over 200 attended.

• Working alongside a Director on the Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole Local Plan, Phillippa helped prepare Examination Statements on behalf of a consortium of

promoters and developers. She harnessed evidence on the economic and social impacts of the under-delivery of homes. She helped to co-ordinate the consortium and briefed Chris Young KC.

• She is a proactive co-chair of Dorset Young Planners (since 2023), organising CPD and social events. At CLP, when the Directors are not available, she helps junior members of the team overcome hurdles. She is constantly upbeat which boosts team morale and takes every opportunity to promote the positive impacts of the planning system and its profession.

Director Brett Spiller commented ‘I am incredibly proud of Phillippa and commend her wholeheartedly to the Committee for this award. All those who know and work

with her will agree that she is a great ambassador and passionate advocate for the profession.’

Nominated by colleagues at Chapman Lily Planning