NI Planner Live Chairs and Speakers

Catharine is the Community Planning Manager for Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council and is responsible for managing and facilitating collaboration between a number of statutory partners delivering services to improve the social, economic and environmental wellbeing of local people. She has been a town planner for over 30 years having previously worked in Wyre Borough Council and Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council before returning to Northern Ireland to work in the voluntary sector on planning projects with community groups. A graduate of Birmingham Polytechnic, Catharine strongly believes in the importance of involving communities in making decisions which ultimately impact on their lives.

Catharine was RTPI NI Chair in 2023.

Julie Thompson, Deputy Secretary for Climate, Planning, and Public Transport, joined the Department for Infrastructure in April 2019. Her areas of the department include responsibility for the development of planning, transport and road safety policy, the processing of regionally significant planning applications and the oversight of Local Development Plans and responsibility for driver licensing, vehicle and driver testing and roadside enforcement.

From April 2017 to April 2019, Julie was Budget Director in the Department of Finance with responsibility for the planning, allocation and monitoring of the expenditure of the Northern Ireland Civil Service departments. Her career has previously included senior positions within the Department of Education (Deputy Secretary of Education and Children’s Services) and Department of Health (Deputy Secretary of Resources and Performance Management). Julie has also worked as Finance Director in Belfast City Council. Julie is a qualified chartered accountant.

Chris Bryson is Director of Planning with Gravis Planning, a consultancy with offices in Belfast and Dublin, and leads a team of planners on large-scale development schemes. A graduate of Queens University Belfast, he has over 18 years’ experience working on a wide range of projects throughout Northern Ireland. Prior to joining Gravis Planning, Chris worked for the Planning Service (DoE) in the Belfast office, as part of the Development Control city centre team.

Janet Askew is a chartered town planner and a past President of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI). She is currently the President of the European Council of Spatial Planners; a trustee of the RTPI and chair of the Policy Practice and Research Committee.  She chairs the boards of planning schools in the University of Cape Town, South Africa, and University College, Cork, Ireland. 

Over a long career, Janet has worked in all four nations of the UK, across Europe and in Taiwan in private and public practice and academia. Following a long career heading a large planning school in Bristol, she is currently a visiting Professor of Planning Law at Ulster University in Northern Ireland. Her main area of research is in planning law, specialising in legal and regulatory regimes. She has advised various governments on planning regulations and planning systems.  She is a member of the International Platform of Experts in Planning Law, most recently working with planners and lawyers in Poland and Spain.  She is an advisor to the German ARL (research academy) on planning reform, and a member of the World Economic Forum’s Davos Baukultur Alliance.

Pamela is Planning, Building Standards and Environmental Health Manager for West Dunbartonshire Council. She has worked for the Council for over 17 years and previously worked for East Ayrshire Council. Pamela studied Planning at Queens University Belfast. She has a strong interest and is passionate in creating high quality places and buildings. West Dunbartonshire is one of the smallest Councils in Scotland however it is one of the more ambitious Councils and the planning process is being used to assist in changing the prosperity and future prospects of the area by creating high quality places.  

She is responsible for pioneering the Place and Design Panel, the first time a Design Panel has been set up in a more deprived area. She was also responsible for setting up the award winning  elected member briefing at the pre application stage a process that  together with the Place and Design Panel has become embedded in the planning process.   

She is Senior Vice Convenor of Heads of Planning Scotland (HOPS) Executive Committee. She was  pleased to be recognised as a “Women of Influence  - The Planner” in terms of her role in encouraging teams to work collaboratively across local authority, NHS, private sector and local communities and being not afraid to do things differently.

Denise Dickson is a Chartered Town Planner and was awarded by The Planner Women of Influence award in 2023.  She is the Head of Planning in Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council, a role she has undertaken since April 2015 with the transfer of planning functions to Local Government.  She commenced her career in central government, working in Omagh and Ballymena Offices before transferring to the then DoE Planning Headquarters Policy Division and Business Support Team.  She stayed there for a period of 3 years before returning back to the Ballymena and Coleraine offices.  She has worked most of her carer covering largely rural areas with her current position overseeing an area boosting 4 of Northern Ireland’s 8 Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (2 fully and 2 partially within the Borough), the Giants Causeway World Heritage Site and the inhabited island of Rathlin.

Tom has worked in Swansea Council’s busy planning department for over 10 years, having spent the early part of his career in planning consultancy in Cardiff. He currently manages the department’s Placemaking and Strategic Planning function, which has a key role in delivering a substantial development program transforming the City.  The planning challenges and opportunities for Swansea are considerable, with development projects ranging from major waterfront and city centre regeneration schemes, to whole new residential neighbourhoods emerging on greenfield sites. In his spare time Tom enjoys coaching junior rugby and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu martial arts, although he maintains it can be far more brutal facing aggrieved local residents at public consultation events for new development!    

A chartered town planner, Mark is Head of Placemaking, Regeneration, Highways and Flooding at Monmouthshire County Council, having previously held a number of public sector leadership and planning roles.  Mark is passionate about the role of planners in delivering placemaking and improving wellbeing, alongside planning’s wider regeneration role.  Mark led the team at Newport City Council through the examination and adoption of its ambitious Local Development Plan in 2015, with the 2021 census data showing that Newport is now Wales’ fastest growing city.  He is now overseeing the production of Monmouthshire County Council’s second Local Development Plan, seeking to secure elected member buy-in, delivery of multiple policy ambitions and general conformity with the new national development plan Future Wales 2040.

Richard Honey KC practises as a barrister in planning and environmental law, at the Bars of England and Wales (2003) and Northern Ireland (2013).  He is an experienced appellate advocate, having appeared in the Court of Appeal 20 times, including 15 appearances as lead/sole counsel, and in the Supreme Court four times.  Richard was the environment/planning junior barrister of the year at the Chambers UK Bar Awards in 2018 (nominated in 2016 also).  He has been ranked as a leading planning barrister by both Chambers UK Bar Guide (since 2012) and Legal 500 (since 2008). Richard regularly advises on and appears in public law challenges to planning decisions, for claimants, respondents and interested parties.  Richard is a full member of the Bar Library in Belfast. He has advised a number of local authorities in Northern Ireland, on both development management and development plan matters, and has appeared before the Judicial Review Court and the Planning Appeals Commission.  Richard is a member of the Northern Ireland Public Law Bar Association, the Northern Ireland Planning Bar Association and the Environmental and Planning Law Association of Northern Ireland.

Gregory Jones is a leading planning practitioner who deals with a wide range of issues including major housing, retail schemes, energy and transport infrastructure, housing  and mineral and waste planning as well as proposed tall buildings. He is used by clients in particularly difficult cases. A former Stagiaire at the European Commission and Jean Pierre Warner scholar at the European Court of Justice, his  unrivalled experience in EU environmental law in the UK and the Republic  of Ireland means that he can bring extra perspective to his clients' cases. He has edited the leading texts on the Habitats Directive, the Strategic Environmental Directive and the soon to be published book on the Aarhus Convention. Appearing at both planning appeals and in the higher courts, Gregory acts on behalf of developers, local planning authorities, the government and third parties. Gregory is a Legal Associate of the RTPI and sits on its Appeals Committee. He is a co-editor of a forthcoming NPPF Handbook which seeks to be the definitive guide to the Framework. With a busy practice in the north of England, Gregory has associate membership of KBW chambers in Leeds where consultations etc can be held.

Colette joined the NIAO in 1994. As a member of the Senior Management Team her responsibilities have included audits (both financial and public reporting) of many central government departments and associated bodies including education, agriculture, infrastructure, economy, health and more recently the audits of local government bodies. In March 2021 Colette was designated by the Department for Communities as Local Government Auditor.

After graduating from the University of Ulster with a BA(Hons) in Accounting and completing a postgraduate diploma in Advanced Accounting at Queens University Belfast, Colette trained as an accountant in an accountancy firm and is a fellow member of Chartered Accountants Ireland. Until recently she was a member of the Committee of the Ulster Society of Chartered Accountants Ireland holding the position as convener of the public sector committee. Outside of work Colette is a trustee for a local charity who support people and their carers who have an acquired brain injury.

Andrea Kells is a Chartered Member of the Royal Town Planning Institute.  She is Chief Commissioner of the Planning and Water Appeals Commissions.  As Chief Commissioner she is responsible for overseeing the work of the Commissions.  This work includes addressing access to justice issues arising in planning appeals.  The Commission also conducts a variety of other work including the independent examination of Local Development Plans.

Andrea has extensive experience in planning and management gained in a variety of organisations within the private, community and public sector.  She has carried out work in most of the UK and Irish jurisdictions.  A graduate of Queen’s University with a BA Hons and an MSc, Andrea also has gained a LLB from Ulster University.  Andrea also acts as an External Examiner for both Undergraduate and Postgraduate programmes at Queens University Belfast.

Craig McGuicken has recently been appointed as Northern Ireland Lead in the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP). The OEP is an independent body, established under the UK Environment Act 2021, with the mission to protect and improve the environment by holding government and other public authorities to account. The OEP covers England and Northern Ireland. Craig was previously Chief Executive of Northern Ireland Environment Link - the networking and forum body for organisations interested in the environment and heritage of Northern Ireland .He has also worked extensively within the heritage sector, and has held a number of Board positions including the NI Open Government Network,  Northern Ireland Museums Council and Ulster Wildlife.

Ruth Richards is a chartered town planner and the Institute’s Complaints Investigator, leading on work relating to professional standards and ethics.  She has nearly 40 years experience working within planning, having previously been the Head of the Planning School at London South Bank University, the Director of Planning Aid for London and having worked at the London Docklands Development Corporation

Philip Stinson is a Director in Turley, planning and development consultants in Belfast and has been with the company for over 5 years working on a variety of local and major planning application submissions in Northern Ireland. Prior to joining Turley, Philip spent over 16 years in the public sector, including work on major/regionally significant planning applications.