POS - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Development Manager
- Chairman Young POS Network
- Development Manager at Suffolk County Council
Andy Rutter is the Development Manager at Suffolk County Council and the chair of the Young POS network.
Andy started in local government planning in 2016, being part of the first cohort to undertake the RTPI Planning Technician Apprenticeship. Andy then gained a degree in Urban and Environmental Planning from London Southbank University. He has experience in developing Suffolk's first joint Minerals & Waste Local Plan, determining major and EIA planning applications and leading on several Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects.
Job Titles:
- General Manager POS Enterprises Ltd
Andrew's role as General Manager combines the functions of business manager, head of consulting and administrator for POS Enterprises, and is the usual contact for enquiries about services. He set up POS Enterprises for the Society in 2004, as a practice which would specialise in advisory support and training services. A local planning specialist, he led the production of the soundness self-assessment checklist for the PAS, and the SHLAA preparation methodology for CLG. He has a particular specialism in advising on the approach to Green Belt assessments. Andrew is a chartered town planner and was a local authority Chief Officer and Director for 30 years, managing a wide range of environmental and community services.
Anna was Service Director for Planning and Transport at Milton Keynes Council when President.Anna holds a first degree and masters in Town and Country Planning and has been an RTPI member since 2003. She started her planning career advising NFU members on planning law before moving to Rugby Borough Council to bring forward the local development framework. Anna became Head of Planning and Culture at Rugby in 2007 taking on responsibility for economic development, sports and arts as well as planning. Anna lead the planning team through the first successful systems thinking review of a planning service and became well known for driving economic growth through planning. In November 2014 Anna moved to Milton Keynes Council and is currently the Director of Growth, Economy and Culture. Alongside an ambitious programme of service improvement, Anna is currently leading the authority in producing the next 50-year spatial vision for the area. Anna was previously the Chair of the Planning Business Group for CWLEP. She has a focus on working collaboratively and creating the environment for making things happen. Anna is an active peer reviewer for PAS and a regular speaker on strategic planning issues, growth focussed planning and improving performance. In 2017 she became the Head of the LGA's Planning Advisory Service.
Job Titles:
- Immediate past President
- Planner
Anneliese is a chartered town planner with nearly 30 years experience in local government
David was Director of Environment for West Dorset and Weymouth and Portland District Councils and now works as a consultant.
David was Director of Environment for West Dorset and Weymouth and Portland District Councils when he was President. David represented the Society on the CLG's starter homes technical advisory group. He was responsible for West Dorset being awarded Beacon Council for the Quality of the Built Environment. He worked for 15 years on the Poundbury Urban Extension at Dorchester and retired from local government in 2015. He now advises local authorities on achieving design quality in major developments.
David was Secretary and Treasurer of POS prior to becoming President when the Milton Keynes Head of Planning.He left in 2010 and set up David Hackforth Planning Associates Ltd, a consultancy providing professional town planning services, particularly to local government and the wider public sector. He has carried out interim management assignments for a number of authorities as well as undertaking plan reviews for several planning authorities.
Gill was Director of Planning & the Environment at Chiltern DC when President. She left in 2011 and is now retired. For over ten years she has been a member of the Chilterns AONB Planning Committee, appointed by Secretary of State for DEFRA. She is also a member of the Chiltern Society, providing advice on strategic planning matters.
Graeme was County Planning Officer for Lancashire when he was elected first president of POS and is now retired. He is a Vice President of the TCPA, a Board member of Planning for Real and a Board member of the Welwyn Garden City Centenary Foundation. He was appointed OBE in the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Honours List for services to the TCPA.
Graham is a Chartered Town Planner and former President of the Society and now acts as a planning consultant with Jones & Jones Ltd together with his wife. He specialises in the areas of CIL and infrastructure planning, acting as the Society's subject specialist on these matters. He is also the Society's Treasurer, and performs the client services role.
Hilary was the Head of Planning at Surrey County Council when President. Sadly, she died in 2009
James was Director of Planning, South Shropshire District Council when President. He is a retired chartered architect and town planner. He is Chair of the Institutute of Historic Building Conservation and is a Board Member of Herefordshire, Ludlow and North Shropshire College.
James was Head of Planning and Transportation at Coventry City Council when elected President of POS.Following his retirement in 2007 he became a sole practitioner providing consultancy support to various regional, governmental and transport bodies, Local Authorities and the private sector. James is now fully retired.
John was County Planning Officer/Director for West Sussex County Council when President and retired in 2007.Subsequently, he undertook a short period of part time consultancy, and chaired a central government committee, but is now simply catching up with life.
John was Director of Planning & Community Services at Surrey Heath Borough Council when Presidentand acted as a planning adviser to the LGA and to DCLG; he also sat on several DEFRA and Committee for Climate Change project boards. He took early retirement in 2004 and established John Silvester Associates to provide a range of services to local government. He is semi-retired but specialises in reviews of planning enforcement practice and procedures.
Job Titles:
- Junior Vice President
- Local Plans Manager
Karen Shaw is Local Plans Manager at Nottingham City Council, Secretary for the Planning Officers' Society Spatial Planning Network and is also a Director for POS Enterprises.
Karen is a Chartered Town Planner and has over 20 years' experience working in the public and private sectors in planning. In her current role she is responsible for preparing the Local Plan for Nottingham City and working with the partner authorities in the Greater Nottingham to develop a Spatial Plan covering the whole conurbation. Her experience has seen her involved in a broad range of complex and challenging planning issues covering plan preparation, housing, retail, heritage and site allocation matters.
At the time he was President, Keith was Borough Planning Officer at Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council. After retiring in 2001, Keith worked as a consultant for seven years to An Bord Pleanala - the Irish Planning Appeals Board. He has now fully retired as a planner.
Malcolm was Managing Director at Huntingdonshire DC when President, having formerly been Director of Environmental and Community Services and previously Head of Planning Services at the authority. Malcolm is especially proud of leading teams that won the RTPI Planning Award for Community Planning in 2006 and the RTPI Silver Jubilee Cup in 2010 for the Great Fen Masterplan. He retired in 2013 to set up Sharp Planning Plus; he was awarded the MBE in the 2016 for services to town planning.
Mike was Director of Planning Transport and Regulation at Bournemouth Borough Council when President.He was formerly President of Planning Summer School and has acted as a trainer for Officers and Members through various bodies. In 2016 he left Bournemouth and created Holmesplanning Services Ltd to provide advice and training for Members and through POSe help Councils review their planning services. He is currently working on the Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Services Project.
Mike is a chartered town planner and MBA qualified manager with over 40 years' experience in local government, most of that in London with 14 years at service head level and above. He is a member of the Royal Town Planning Institute and formerly president of POS (2013-14). He works closely with government and across the sector to shape planning in England. In 2015 Mike left local government and set up his consultancy, Mike Kiely planning + regeneration, to specialise in assisting local authorities to perform better and be more effective.
Paul was Chief Planner at Nottingham City Council when President.Paul is a chartered town planner with 25 years' experience in local government, across a number of Councils in the North West and East Midlands, with over half of this at senior officer level. He is a member of the RTPI, a Director of POS enterprises and POS Subject Specialist on Place Making and Heritage. Currently Chief Planner at Nottingham City Council, Paul has led the delivery of a successful, well regarded and award-winning Planning Directorate in the face of increasing financial challenges. The City Council is driving a ‘once in a generation' development and regeneration programme to transform the city and deliver jobs and homes and the role of Planning in providing Place Leadership is central to this success.
Paul was Head of Planning Services with Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council when he served as President. He later became a Strategic Director of the Council but stepped aside from local government in 2013 and is now an independent planning & urban design consultant.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director at Hertsmere Borough Council
- Senior Vice President & Chair Development Management Network
Currently Executive Director at Hertsmere Borough Council, Peter is an experienced practitioner having worked across all sectors - private, public and voluntary. He is a Fellow of the RTPI with over thirty years' experience working in the fields of planning and development. Peter has held senior leadership roles in several local authorities, including at Southend on Sea Borough Council, where he was Director of Planning and Transport. Peter was also Chief Planning Officer for Brentwood Borough Council in Essex and Head of Planning and Conservation at Broadland District Council in Norfolk where he had responsibility for managing the authority's planning and conservation service and advising on major development proposals. He is a former vice chair of the POS Development Management Network and a Board member of POS Enterprises.
Phil was Strategic Director and Chief Planner at Broadland District Council at the time of being President. He oversaw the production of the Broadland, Norwich and South Norfolk Joint Core Strategy and the introduction of a shared CIL arrangement across the three councils. He went on to become Broadland's Chief Executive and continues to be the longest serving Director of POS Enterprises.
Richard is a Chartered Town Planner with over 16 years' experience in Local Government. He started his planning career in Cardiff, working first in Policy before moving across to Development Management. After a brief stint in the Private Sector working for a property consultancy in Bristol he moved to Kent. He is currently the Chief Planning Officer at Sevenoaks District Council, having previously been Head of Planning at Elmbridge Borough Council in Surrey. Outside of work he is a runner, swimmer and junior rugby coach.
Robert is Director of Planning, Transport and Sustainability at London Borough of Lambeth.
Sara started in Local Government in 2003 and is currently Head of Development Management at Dacorum Borough Council. Since September 2014 she has also taken on the Policy Manager role at the Planning Officers Society. She leads on responding to Government consultations and liaises closely with Government to shape planning policies on behalf of public sector planners. Sara seeks to find common ground with other disciplines, organisations and the media to improve the planning process, policy and implementation.
Sarah is a chartered town planner with over twelve years' experience in local government and has worked in district, unitary and county councils across Kent. With a background covering development management and policy, Sarah currently leads a strategic planning and infrastructure team and works on the development of a strategic document that identifies the challenges and opportunities in delivering the infrastructure required to enable sustainable growth in Kent and Medway.
Stephen was the London Borough of Enfield Assistant Director in the Place Shaping & Enterprise Department when President. He left in 2012 to set up Stephen Tapper (Planning) Ltd and is the Society's subject specialist on neighbourhood planning.
Job Titles:
- Chairman Spatial Planning Network
Steve Barton has over 35 years' experience in local government and was born, raised and lived in West London all his life. He started his career at the now defunct Greater London Council followed by brief stints at as policy officer for various local government associations before eventually settling in Ealing. He is currently Strategic Planning Manager for Ealing Council responsible for the local development plan, major projects in the borough and planning obligations. He chairs the West London Planners Network and helped coordinate the boroughs' response on the emerging new London Plan and coordinate the production of a joint evidence base to inform local plan making. He is also actively involved in the Heathrow Strategic Planning Group and is currently helping to prepare a pioneering Joint Strategic Planning Framework for the sub-region. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. Outside of work he is a keen traveller and has so far explored just over eighty countries.
Steve was Strategic Director Development and Growth for South Kesteven District Council when President.He is a chartered Town Planner with over 25 years' experience of working within local government. Having worked for authorities in the North-west and East of England Steve before joining South Kesteven District Council in July 2014. He had specific responsibility for leading on the Council's ambitious spatial and economic growth agendas. Steve is also a Member of the Royal Town Planning Institute, a Director of POS Enterprises and Gravitas Housing Ltd and was latterly an expert advisor to Lord Taylor's review of national planning practice guidance.
At the time of being President Steve was Director of Planning & Environmental Services at Hambleton DC, steering the Council to achieving an ‘excellent' performance rating and becoming a Beacon Council in 2007 for using the planning system to create sustainable communities. Steve left in 2008 to become the Chief Planner for MHCLG and acts as Head of Profession within the Civil Service. He was awarded the CBE in 2014 in recognition of his work.
Stewart was Assistant Director of Planning with the Greater London Authority when President. He left the GLA in 2016 to become Head of Development Group and London Strategy for GL Hearn.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Assistant Director Planning & Building Control at the Royal Borough of Greenwich
Victoria is Assistant Director Planning & Building Control at the Royal Borough of Greenwich. A member of the RTPI with 25 years' experience in local government, she has worked for a number of London based local authorities and in excess of 10 years at senior officer level. With a background covering development management and policy, Victoria currently leads a planning and building control team in a busy London authority with a significant regeneration and growth agenda. Victoria leads a successful planning team in the wake of increasing financial challenges ensuring the delivering of quality growth in the borough that benefits existing and new residents by meeting infrastructure needs and delivering on homes and jobs for the Borough. Victoria works in a collaborative way with all service users.