Fiona Howie Chief Executive Expand Email: [email protected]Tel: 0207 930 8903 Fiona joined the TCPA as chief executive in February 2019 and is responsible for the day-to-day running of the organisation. Prior to joining the TCPA she ran the Campaign for National Parks for almost four years during which time she acted as a spokesperson for the organisation, led their influencing work around making the Parks even more beautiful, put in place a new five-year strategic plan and supported the board of trustees through a governance review. Between 2007 and 2013 she worked at Campaign to Protect Rural England, for the majority of that time as Head of Planning. Key work during that time included leading work to influence the Localism Bill and National Planning Policy Framework and managing a major partnership project with the National Association of Local Councils, which was funded by the government’s Supporting Neighbourhoods and Communities in Planning. Other past roles have included working in the public affairs team of Macmillan Cancer Support. She has a geography degree from University College London and a masters degree in biodiversity, conservation and management from the University of Oxford. While much of her professional career has been focused on rural policy she has lived and worked in London for the majority of the last 20 years so has a keen interest in the quality of urban environments.
Hugh Ellis Policy Director (formerly Interim Chief Executive) Expand Email: [email protected]Tel: 0207 930 8903 Hugh’s responsibilities as TCPA Policy Director include leading on policy development, briefings and engagement with central government and politicians. In 2018 he led the secretariat for the Raynsford Review, setting out a blue print for a new planning system in England. Since 2015 Hugh has co-authored three books, including ‘Rebuilding Britain’ and ‘Town Planning in Crisis’ with Kate Henderson, and ‘The Art of Building a Garden City’ with Katy Lock and Kate Henderson. Hugh was closely involved in the passage of the 2004 and 2008 Planning Acts, including providing evidence to public bill committees and working closely with parliamentarians on both Commons and Lords committee stages of subsequent planning legislation. Hugh has given oral evidence to the House of Commons Select Committees on various planning inquiries. He has led on TCPA campaign work on 'planning out poverty' and planning for people, and he is a strong critic of policies such as Permitted Development. Hugh sits on the UK Government Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) Planning Sounding Board. Hugh regularly delivers workshops to local authorities, including with Oxfordshire County Council on place-shaping, in Warrington as part of the North West Improvement and Efficiency Partnership climate change skills programme, in Wales on climate change adaptation, and with the TCPA New Communities Group on issues such as strategic planning. Hugh has also delivered a number of local training sessions and local conversations on the invitation of Elected Members on planning committees, such as in Derbyshire, Oxfordshire and Sheffield. He is also the MC for the TCPA’s music event ‘Land of Promise’. Prior to joining TCPA in March 2009, Hugh was the National Planning Advisor to Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland, before which he spent a number of years working for the Coalfield Planning Cooperative on community planning projects. He has a Doctorate in Land Use Planning from the University of Sheffield, and he is an Honorary Professor at Queens University, Belfast.
Julia Thrift Projects and Operations Director Expand Email: [email protected]Tel: 020 7930 8903 Twitter: @juliathrift Julia Thrift joined the TCPA in May 2013 and manages projects concerning planning and public health, green infrastructure, and planning and social justice. Throughout her career she has been interested in the links between the design of the built environment and the quality of people’s lives. She worked for CABE, the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, where she was the founding director of CABE Space, the government's adviser on policy and practice regarding England's urban parks and public spaces. She began her career as a journalist, writing about design, architecture and art. She has a degree in philosophy from University College London.
Diane Smith European Consultant Expand Email: [email protected] Tel: 0207 930 8903 Since 2008 Diane has been the TCPA's European and Corporate Affairs Manager, leading the GRaBS project which finished in August 2011 and the TCPA-led project, LEAP, which finished in November 2013. More recently she is running the Intelligent Energy Europe funded project on spatial planning and energy (SPECIAL). In addition to running European projects Diane has focused on Corporate Affairs, conferences, events, sponsorship, European Bid development, and study tour development and delivery. In 2013 she oversaw the delivery of the IFHP Centenary Congress in London. Diane was a consultant to the TCPA for almost 20 years (1990-2008) responsible for conferences, events, setting up and developing Corporate Fellows, European bid development and media work. Diane represents the TCPA on the HCA Skills Directorate; EA Adaptation Futures; DEFRA Built Environment/Adaptation Group; ESPON UK; IFHP and ISOCARP. Diane Smith was appointed Interim Chief Executive from December 2013 - July 2014 during Kate Henderson's maternity leave.
Nick Matthews Editor-in-Chief Expand Email: [email protected] Tel: 0207 930 8903 Nick joined the TCPA as Editor in December 1988, from the Institution of Engineering and Technology, where he was Editor of a number of software and engineering journals. As well as acting as Editor of Town & Country Planning, he has also overseen the production of a wide range of TCPA publications. He has a BSc in Physics.
Katy Lock Project and Policy Manager (Garden Cities & New Towns) Expand Email: [email protected] Tel: 0207 930 8903 Katy works on the TCPA’s campaigns and promotion of garden city principles in policy, education and the arts. She manages the organisation’s policy strand, Creating garden cities and suburbs today, including facilitating and reporting on cross-sector workshops and seminars, project managing and creating guidance and campaign documents, and promoting the garden city model through seminars, events and lectures and in the media. She has worked closely with international organisations concerned with the garden city movement, including the International Federation for Housing and Planning (a 1913 offspring of the TCPA established to promote the garden city model worldwide), co-organising their centenary congress in London 2013. She managed the production of the TCPA’s ‘Creating Garden Cities and Suburbs Today Guide for Councils’, ‘Good practice guide to long-term stewardship models’, a ‘community guide to garden cities’ and a project re-examining the New Towns Act. Katy is currently working on a practical guide to meeting the high standards of garden cities, and a research project looking at transferable lessons from the New Towns. Katy is a Chartered Town Planner (MRTPI) and has a background in planning, urban design and sustainability. Before joining the TCPA in 2011, she worked for several years in the private sector as an environmental planning consultant.
Alex House Projects and Policy Manager Expand Email: [email protected] Tel: 0207 930 8903 Alex House is Projects and Policy Manager at the TCPA and a Chartered Town Planner (MRTPI). She is responsible for managing the TCPA's New Communities Group which consists of local authorities and development corporations bringing forward new large-scale communities. The group collectively helps to develop plans, provide political support and encourage a sharing of knowledge and best practice through seminars, study visits and parliamentary meetings. Alex joined the TCPA in 2006, and has been involved in policy and project work across a diverse range of planning issues, including housing, transport, green infrastructure, energy and climate change. Alex has worked on several European projects; she was Energy Planner for Leadership for Energy Action and Planning (LEAP), and coordinated the Intelligent Energy Europe project Spatial Planning and Energy for Communities In All Landscapes (SPECIAL). Alex managed the Planning and Climate Change Coalition (PCCC), which was led by the TCPA and Friends of the Earth. The PCCC influenced Government to ensure climate change was enshrined in planning policy, whilst maintaining a large cross sector of support. The PCCC was influential in bringing about the draft PPS Planning for a Low Carbon Future in a Changing Climate in March 2010, and published planning guidance and model policies on climate change for local authorities in England. The Coalition won a Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) Award for Contribution to Planning in 2010.
Henry Smith Projects and Policy Manager Expand Email: [email protected] Tel: 0207 930 8903 Henry is a chartered town planner and has worked for over a decade in senior housing and planning roles in local and regional government, and now influencing national policy at the TCPA. Henry is the lead for the TCPA’s work across England on affordable housing, and works closely with central government, local government and industry to improve national policy based on outcomes. He manages the TCPA’s ‘Room to Breathe’ campaign for national housing standards, and their response to changes to permitted development. He also leads on a five-year €2 million international project to create greener environments for new homes which improve people’s health and are resilient to climate change. Henry joined the TCPA in 2015 from the Greater London Authority, where he was an Area Manager with responsibility for a portfolio of housing associations and London boroughs. Prior to that he worked with community groups on neighbourhood plans at the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead and lead on the Local Plan Strategic Environmental Assessment. He started his career working at the City of London Corporation on urban design strategy and implementation.
David White Finance and Membership Officer Expand Email: [email protected] Tel: 0207 930 8903 David joined the TCPA in September 2016 and provides financial and database support and is the first point of contact for queries relating to TCPA membership. Previously he has worked in a range of finance, grants management and membership roles with the Humanitarian Policy Group at the Overseas Development Institute, the Big Lottery Fund and the British Council. David has a degree in Politics with Sociology from the University of Plymouth and Master’s degrees in Database Systems and Social Research Methods from the University of Westminster and Nottingham Trent University respectively.
Michael McLean Projects and Promotions Officer Expand Email: [email protected] Tel: 0207 930 8903Michael joined the TCPA in February 2004 on a part-time basis, overseeing membership recruitment, particularly local authorities. He set up new databases and worked on promotions, conferences and seminars. Michael also sought out potential advertisers for the Journal. Since March 2010 Michael has been responsible for conference and seminar organisation and delivery – including supporting the TCPA fringe events at the party conferences, the FJO lecture and the Annual Reception. Previously, Michael worked for Planning Aid for London, as volunteer officer, recruiting and retaining volunteer planning professionals. Michael has extensive experience as a LA housing manager in the LB Brent, Hammersmith and Fulham. Michael helped set up the Black Planners Network, a group concerned with the scarcity of black planners, and their lack of advancement. He has also worked for the Commission for Racial Equality as an Investigation Officer looking at local authority practices, particularly education and recruitment services. At the TCPA Michael has project managed the Rayne Foundation ‘Planning Community Needs’ project, the logistics, funding, delivery and attendance of the Planning for Inclusion and CSPT regional seminar series and statistical analysis for the Stakeholder Involvement in Regional Planning.
Jack Mulligan Communications Officer Expand Email: [email protected] Tel: 0207 930 8903 Jack is responsible for managing the TCPA’s day-to-day communications activity, including all press, social media and marketing. His previous experience is an interesting mix of housing, planning and communications. He originally trained for a career in property but soon moved on to work as a writer and strategist for some of the country’s leading house builders.
Jessica Fieth Interim Projects and Policy Manager Expand Email: [email protected] Tel: 0207 930 8903 Jessie joined the TCPA in February 2017 as a Projects Assistant, and is currently focusing on supporting the PERFECT project. She has a degree in Geography from Durham University and was previously a Research Assistant at Sayers and Partners LLP, a small consultancy that works on flooding-related projects.
Catriona MacRae Projects Assistant Expand Email: [email protected] Tel: 0207 930 8903 Catriona joined the TCPA in September 2017 as a Projects Assistant. She works on and supports our health, Garden Cities and New Towns projects as well as the Raynsford Review of Planning. Catriona has a degree in Geography from Dundee University and studied Urban Planning at the University of the West of England. Her key interests are health, active lifestyles and evening economy.
Sneha Pednekar Personal Assistant (PA) to Chief Executive Expand Email: [email protected] Tel: 0207 930 8903 Sneha joined the TCPA in April 2018 as the Personal Assistant to the Chief Executive. She is the first point of contact for all queries for the Chief Executive. Sneha has a degree in Politics and Global Studies from the University of Winchester, and has extensive experience working in administration, social media, project management and event management. She has worked for governmental and commercial organisations in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand. Sneha has also solo backpacked through Southeast Asia, Japan, India, South America, and Europe.
Laura Heykoop Projects and Policy Manager Expand Email: [email protected] Tel: 0207 930 8903 Laura joined the TCPA in May 2018. Prior to joining the organisation, Laura worked in the London Borough of Hackney’s Housing Strategy and Policy team. Before this, she worked for a number of years in the humanitarian and international development sectors, focusing mainly on housing, infrastructure and community development programming. Laura has varied geographical experience, having worked in the UK, Haiti, Bangladesh, South Sudan, DRC, Lebanon, Iraq and Nepal. Laura has an MSc in Urban Development Planning from UCL and a BA in Architecture from Newcastle University.
Lizzie Simpson Projects Assistant Expand Email: [email protected]Tel: 0207 930 8903 Lizzie joined the TCPA in January 2019 as a Projects Assistant and is currently supporting our Garden Cities and New Towns projects. She has a degree in Geography and Planning from the University of Sheffield and wrote her undergraduate dissertation on the potential impacts of new garden cities on the UK. She has also previously worked as an Assistant Planner for the public and private sector.’
Koen Rutten Projects Assistant Expand Email: [email protected]Tel: 0207 930 8903 Koen joined the TCPA in October 2018 as a Projects Assistant. He focuses on supporting the Planning for inclusive communities in London and Planning for affordable housing projects, and assists with the Room to Breathe campaign. Koen has a MSc in Regional and Urban Planning Studies from London School of Economics (LSE) and a BSc in Policy Science from Leiden University College. He previously worked as a Research Assistant at LSE and Researcher to Erasmus Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies.