South Coast Young Planners' Network

Zac is a Planner who joined Henry Adams from Arun District Council in early 2021, bringing a range of experience from his time there. Zac is currently completing a Town Planning Apprenticeship at London South Bank University and working towards Chartership with the RTPI. Zac has a wide range in planning experience, scaling from householder development, to residential and agricultural developments

Laura recently joined Jacobs as a Planner. She is also a town planning Masters student at the University of Brighton. She completed her undergraduate degree in geology at the University of Leeds. Currently working for BPP Consulting, a mineral and waste planning consultancy. She is also the Vice Chair of the Young Planner Committee Network. She is keen to have a career as a mineral planner! 

Joe is a Strategic Land Manager working for a luxury home builder in Hampshire, with expertise in planning policy, site appraisals, strategic site promotion and development management gained from extensive experience working for a local authority, planning consultancy, a major housebuilder and latterly a partnerships business.

Outside work Joe is a member of the RTPI England Policy Panel and leads various workstreams for URBOND a charity based in Portsmouth.

Jess is a Planning Policy Officer at Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council and has been working there since 2021, she graduated from the University of Reading in 2021 with a Masters degree in Spatial Planning and Development.

Jess is currently a Licentiate member of the RTPI and is working towards her chartered membership. She has been a member of the South Coast Young Planners group since April 2022.

Ben has worked for Portsmouth City Council as a Planning Policy Officer since August 2021, and is a new member to the South Coast Young Planners Network. During his postgraduate studies at the University of Reading, and after graduating, Ben gained valuable experience in the private sector working for Troy Planning and Design, picking up many transferable skills he has been able to use in Local Authority. Ben is currently a Licentiate member of the RTPI, working towards his chartership

Jayanand is an Associate member of RTPI and an elected General Assembly member. He also represents the International committee of the RTPI. He has a Master’s degree in Built Environment and a Prince 2 qualification. Jayanand volunteered with Planning Aid England dealing with neighbourhood planning. In addition, he worked with a European funded organisation offering voluntary service for the construction sector. He has worked on numerous residential projects, both large and small in commercial and various other sectors. His skills have been considerably enhanced by working on a large number of diverse projects in the U.K.

Lauren is currently studying for a Masters in Town Planning at the University of Brighton, where she also completed an undergraduate degree in Geography. Lauren has 3 years of experience working as a Planning Consultant in Chichester and has recently joined Parker Dann Chartered Town Planning Consultants in Lewes as a Planning Consultant.”

Nick is a Principal Planner in the Planning Strategy team at Fareham Borough Council and has been working at Fareham since October 2014. After completing a Masters in Environmental Assessment and Management at Oxford Brookes in 2017, Nick specialises in ecology and the natural environment covering topic areas such as: nutrient neutrality, recreational disturbance mitigation, green infrastructure and open space improvements for climate change, biodiversity and wider environmental net gain.”

Finlay works at ECE Planning, a planning consultancy based in Sussex. He joined the company having worked in local authority for 2 years following the completion of his degree from the University of Winchester. Finlay is a keen planner who seeks to get stuck into all aspects of the planning process. Whilst working at ECE he has assisted on a wide range of schemes and applications as well as appeals.

Benjamin has been working in planning since 2017 where he started as a Level 3 apprentice at West Sussex County Council dealing with Minerals & Waste and Regulation 3 applications, Following completion of the course he has progressed from a Technical Officer role to Planning Officer in a range of local authorities and currently works at Bracknell Forest Council whilst undertaking his Masters qualification through the Level 7 apprenticeship route. Over his years of experience Benjamin has participated in the RTPI led scheme 'Planning Your World', Co-chaired the South East 'Young Apprentice Ambassador Network' for the Coast-to-Coast region and been nominated as a finalist in the 'Apprentice of the Year' catagory at the Sussex Business Awards 2019.

Will works at Wates Developments Ltd, a company which specialises in land, planning and residential development throughout Southern England. He joined Wates following the completion of his masters degree in Town Planning from the University of Brighton. Will’s role focuses on land and planning management, where he works with landowners, consultants and local authorities to promote sites for large residential schemes.