RTPI West Midlands Young Planners’ Committee

Mark studied at the University of Birmingham and University College London, graduating with Urban Regeneration MSc in September 2016. Mark has worked for nearly four years as a planning consultant, with three years spent at Arup in their London office, where he worked with local authorities on Local Plan preparation, as well as working on public sector led regeneration projects, including housing and employment led development. Mark also worked with the Greater London Authority on Housing Infrastructure Fund schemes to unlock strategic housing sites. Moving back to Birmingham in July 2019, Mark joined CBRE as a Senior Planner, where he works on a range of city centre residential and mixed use projects, as well as strategic employment developments. Mark is particularly interested in working on town and city centre regeneration projects. Mark qualified as a Member of the Royal Town Planning Institute in January 2019.

Louisa became a chartered member of the RTPI in early 2021. Louisa is currently engaged in projects in the housing, commercial, industrial, education and defence sectors. In March 2020, Louisa had an academic paper published in the Planning Practice and Research journal. The paper, titled ‘Disability, Terror and Safety in the City: Charting Individuals’ Spatio-temporal Encounters with Counter-terrorism Measures in Birmingham, UK’, responds to recent calls for further work on vulnerable people’s experiences of official planned attempts to create safe cities.

Louisa joined the WM Young Planners Committee in March 2020, and has been involved in organising a number of events, and now takes on the role of co-chairing the 2023 Committee. In her free time Louisa enjoys going travelling to see new places, whether that is the UK or overseas.

Polly currently works at St Joseph Homes as a Land and Planning Manager, covering the West Midlands. During her time at St Joseph, Polly manages a number of sites through all planning phases, including pre and post planning, and enjoys working closely with each of the sites to see them progress from typically brownfield sites, to flourishing new communities.

Polly joined the WM Young Planners Committee in February 2019, and has been involved in organising a number of events, and now takes on the role of co-chairing the 2023 Committee.

In her free time Polly attempts to learn Spanish, and enjoys taking time out to go travelling.

Tamsin currently works as a Planning Manager at Hayfield Homes, a 5-Star House Builder based out of Solihull. She started her planning career in Planning Consultancies, working at both RPS and Turley, before moving to Hayfield to focus on residential development.

Tamsin has been on the RTPI West Midlands Young Planners committee since 2020. Tamsin is also a member and supporter of other organisations within the region, such as Women in Property. In her spare time, she enjoys keeping active by running and going to the gym.

Katherine started her planning career in 2019 where she worked full-time for Persimmon Homes Central as a Graduate Planner and delt with residential applications between 50 – 250 dwellings. In October 2021, Katherine joined CBRE as an Assistant Planner and commenced her studies at the University of Birmingham on their MSc Urban and Regional Planning course, where she will graduate in December 2023. Katherine works on a range of projects from student accommodation, to rail infrastructure, to mapping of strategic land. Outside of work, Katherine is a member of her local rowing club and competes locally and nationally.

Imogen is a Senior Planning Officer at Cherwell District Council and has worked within the Development Management side of Local Authorities since July 2018. During her earlier roles, Imogen completed her Master’s degree part-time in Planning Built Environments at Birmingham City University. Imogen deals with a range of planning applications, from householder applications to major developments, and has a keen interest in the minefield that is permitted development. Imogen joined the Young Planners Committee in February 2019 and tweets from the @YPWestMidlands Twitter account to advertise Young Planners CPD events, as well as other events happening through the West Midlands. Imogen enjoys travelling, reading, and trying independent shops, restaurants and bars.

Frances has recently joined Carter Jonas in the Planning & Development Team as a Senior Planner. Previously, Frances spent 4-years at Rugby Borough Council working her way up to be a Senior Planning Officer. During her time at Rugby Borough Council, Frances completed her Master’s degree in Planning and the Built Environment at Birmingham City University part-time. Frances became a chartered member of the Royal Town Planning Institute in June 2022. Frances currently works on a range of projects including city centre mixed use re-developments, student accommodation, education facilities and residential housing sites. Outside of planning she keeps herself busy with a number of sporting activities, competing for Leamington Cycling and Athletics Club.

As Sandwell Council’s Capital Projects Manager, Alex has responsibility for a portfolio of major capital regeneration and construction projects across the borough. Alex is also responsible for Sandwell’s Commonwealth Games Legacy Plan and for the delivery of the West Bromwich Masterplan. Alex has worked in public sector regeneration- with a focus on town centre redevelopment- since 2018, and graduated from the University of Birmingham in 2020 with an MSc in Urban and Regional Planning. He obtained chartered membership of the RTPI in 2022. Alex has been on the WM Young Planners committee for over a year and now serves as the committee Treasurer.

Maria is an Associate at Delta Planning based in Birmingham City Centre. She currently advises a range of private sector clients on residential, commercial and education schemes. Maria has been with Delta Planning since December 2015. Prior to this she worked for Phillips Planning Services in Bedford. She is a graduate of the University of Birmingham.

Maria became a chartered member of the RTPI in 2016 and has been a member of the West Midland Young Planners committee since January 2022.

Molly Stanley is a Senior Planner at CarneySweeney based in Birmingham City Centre. She currently advises a range of private sector clients on residential, commercial and logistics developments ranging from tall buildings to large-scale employment park expansions. Molly has previously worked with Local Authorities on Local Plan preparation, as well as spending six months on a work placement with Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council in 2017.

Molly joined the RTPI West Midlands Young Planners committee in 2019 and became a chartered member of the RTPI in Spring 2022. She also sits on the Women in Planning West Midlands committee.

Holly is a Town Planner in Arup's Cities Planning and Design team in the Midlands. She joined Arup in September 2019 after completing her undergraduate degree at the University of Birmingham and is experienced in leading Development Consent Orders through the Planning Act 2008. Holly has also supported the stakeholder engagement for a variety of projects and recently worked as an Engagement Officer on behalf of Birmingham City Council for the Commonwealth Games.

Holly became an Associate Member of the RTPI in February 2022 and is hoping to progress her application for Chartership over the coming year.

Anne Kenchington is a Planner currently working at Barton Willmore, now Stantec, in Birmingham. Her work is highly varied and includes creating Planning Statements for large residential and mixed use sites along with Site Appraisals and written representations. Prior to this recent move to Barton Willmore (in January 2023) Anne worked for two years at Birmingham City Council within Development Management.

Bart is a Planning Regeneration Officer at Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council where he leads on the preparation of regeneration funding bids and supports the production of new planning policy documents. He graduated with a MSc in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Birmingham in 2018 and was elected as a chartered member of the RTPI in 2020.

Outside of work Bart plays the cello in several orchestras in south Birmingham.

Charles is a Geographer and trained Planner with research and teaching interests in strategic planning/regional governance, community involvement, housing supply/affordability and planning history. His ESRC-funded doctoral research focused on the Green Belt, England's housing crisis and the planning system and is published in a range of practitioner and academic outlets. Charles' research is now moving into post-Covid cities and the greening of urban centres. A particular passion of Charles' is strengthening the links between the academy and planning practice. Outside of work, Charles enjoys visiting the coast, swimming and his Christian faith.