Chairs and Speakers

Julie James was born in Swansea but spent significant portions of her youth living around the world with her family. Julie spent her early career in London and then moved back to Swansea with her husband to raise their 3 children and to be closer to her family. Julie is a committed green campaigner, environmentalist and a keen swimmer and skier.

Until she was elected as Member of the Senedd for Swansea West, Julie was a leading environmental and constitutional lawyer. Prior to this, she was assistant chief executive at Swansea Council. She spent most of her legal career in local government, working as a policy lawyer with the London Borough of Camden before returning to Swansea to work for West Glamorgan County Council and then the City and County of Swansea.

Since being elected Julie sat on the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee, Enterprise and Business Committee and Environment and Sustainability Committee. Julie published the ‘Influencing the Modernisation of EU Procurement Policy’ Report as Chair of the Enterprise and Business Committee’s Procurement Task and Finish Group. Julie also sat as Chair of the Environment and Sustainability Committee’s Common Fisheries Policy Task and Finish Group.

Julie James was appointed Deputy Minister for Skills and Technology in September 2014. In May 2016 Julie was appointed as Minister for Skills and Science. Julie was appointed Leader of the House and Chief Whip on 3 November 2017. On 13 December 2018 Julie was appointed Minister for Housing and Local Government. Julie was appointed Minister for Climate Change on 13 May 2021, and Cabinet Secretary for Housing, Local Government and Planning on 21 March 2024.

Allan is a professionally qualified and Chartered Town Planner with over 30 years experience of planning services delivery and management with local planning authorities, mainly in South Wales. He has also held senior corporate management posts in policy, performance, and strategic programme roles.  He now operates an independent planning and management consultancy, providing advice and support services to mainly public sector clients in Wales.  He is an external independent Planning Advisor to the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales and was a Welsh Government appointed Member of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority from 2011 to 2019.

Allan has been an RTPI Cymru Executive member over many years and was the first Chair of RTPI Cymru in 2001.  He has represented RTPI Cymru on the Institute’s General Assembly and is also a member of RTPI Cymru’s Policy and Research Forum.  He is again Chair of RTPI Cymru in 2024.

Nick is a Chartered Planning Consultant with extensive experience in supporting clients in the consenting and implementation of renewable energy projects.

Nic specialises in the energy and infrastructure sector and has delivered projects through the TCPA, DCO and DNS consenting regimes. He has a detailed understanding of the associated planning policy and legislation in England and Wales and co-founded Lighthouse Development Consulting in 2021 as a specialist Planning Consultancy.

Nick Bennett has been a director in Savills Cardiff for over 2 years, prior to this he was Public Services Ombudsman for Wales and Chief Executive of Community Housing Cymru. He grew up on Anglesey, went to University in Aberystwyth and has been married for 30 years this year with 3 grown up children. He loves exercise and grapples with running and golf

Having worked in the Planning Policy field within Local Government for over 15 years, Lindsay made the decision to specialise and made the move into Built Heritage conservation. This began within the heritage team at Monmouthshire County Council and lead to her current role as Senior Planning Conservation Officer at the Vale of Glamorgan Council. Lindsay enjoys working collaboratively which is a key part of her role as the Chair of the South East Wales Conservation Officer Group.

Jonathan has built his career around a passion for utilising low carbon and biogenic materials, efficiently, to produce a portfolio of low impact buildings. Ambitions to achieve low embodied energy through alternative constructions were augmented by certification as a Passivhaus Designer: he now also strives to minimise operational emissions through reducing heating demand to deliver affordable warmth alongside climate resilience.

Jonathan’s specialisms are used to derive low energy new build and optimised retrofit strategies for social and private domestic clients. In addition to architectural services he provide energy modelling, consultancy and low carbon plant integration. He is currently assisting Welsh Government’s Delivering Net Zero project address the performance gap created by SAP/ EPC, exploring the potential of demand-based assessment, and scoping Net Zero policy options with a prominent local authority.

Esther is a busy and sought-after junior practitioner with a broad practice across all of Chambers’ areas of specialism. She is ranked as a Leading Junior for Planning in the Legal 500 and has been recognised as a top-rated junior under 35 in the Planning Law Survey since 2022. She is a Commissioning Editor of FTB’s Environmental Law Blog.

Esther read Jurisprudence at Merton College, Oxford, and has a master’s degree in EU Law from the European University Institute, Florence. Prior to coming to the Bar she spent a year as Judicial Assistant to Lord Justice Lloyd Jones (as he then was) at the Court of Appeal, working on cases involving issues of public and EU law. 

Esther regularly advises and represents local planning authorities, residents, developers and planning authorities on all aspects of planning law and in all forums. She has considerable experience as an inquiry advocate, both in her own right and as a junior, including lengthy, high-profile, called-in and recovered appeals. Recent experience includes representing Dacorum Borough Council in a five-week inquiry into an appeal recovered by the Secretary of State relating to a refusal of planning permission for an urban extension on a Green Belt site (led by Simon Bird KC), representing the Ministry of Defence (led by Mark Westmoreland Smith) in an inquiry into a proposed Gypsy and Traveller site in Lincolnshire and acting for a rule 6 party in an inquiry considering a refusal of planning permission for warehouses on grounds of landscape impact. Esther has a particularly strong track record of acting unled for rule 6 parties in planning inquiries, including local residents, organisations and Parish Councils, and has successfully defended the refusal of planning permission in all cases where she has been instructed, including on additional grounds beyond the reasons for refusal.

Esther also regularly acts for local planning authorities, objectors and applicants in legal proceedings involving planning matters. Recent and current work includes successfully defending a judicial review challenge to a decision of the London Borough of Camden not to take enforcement action and a claim seeking an injunction to enforce obligations in a s.106 agreement (led by Meyric Lewis KC).

Esther is a contributor to Butterworths’ Planning Service, responsible for Division C “Obtaining planning permission”. Esther was previously seconded to the Legal Department at the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, where she advised on a broad range of legal issues involving planning, regeneration and local government law, as well as gaining a close insight into the workings of a local planning authority.

Morag Ellis KC is widely recognised as a leading expert in planning and local government law in England and Wales. Areas of practice include: Planning - Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects; urban regeneration schemes; residential, retail and employment development; waste, minerals, wind farms / renewable energy; Development Plans; Conservation Areas / Listed Buildings; Enforcement Town / Village Greens Public Rights of Way / Footpaths Compulsory Purchase / Compensation; Ecclesiastical Law.

Morag is a member of the Silks’ Panel to the Welsh Government and immediate past Chair of the Planning and Environment Bar Association. She gave evidence to the Parliamentary Select Committee on the National Policy Statement on Ports and the Welsh Government Senedd on the review of TAN 8 (Renewable Energy), as well as being invited to give evidence to the Independent Advisory Group advising the Welsh Government on the reform of planning law, subsequently sitting as a member of the Interim Planning Advisory Group advising the Welsh Minister on changing culture in Welsh Planning.

Morag is Dean of the Arches and Auditor and Master of Faculties. She was Commissary General of the Diocese of Canterbury and Deputy Chancellor of the Diocese of Southwark. She is a member of the Archbishops' Panel of Clergy Discipline Chairs, a member of the Legal Advisory Commission to General Synod, a member of the Rules Committee of General Synod and has recently been appointed as a Church Commissioner.

Jen Heal an experienced urban designer and Deputy Chief Executive of the Design Commission for Wales.
Jen’s background is in urban design and planning and she worked in practice in Wales before joining DCFW as Design Advisor. With a particular interest in placemaking Jen has led on DCFW’s placemaking agenda advising on policy and writing guidance as well as being co-chair of DCFW’s design review service. As Deputy Chief Executive Jen is involved in all areas of DCFW’s work and governance including delivering training to the public and private sector, coordinating events, overseeing client support and the work of the Placemaking Wales Partnership.

Development Area and Heritage Manager at Monmouthshire County Council, I have worked in local government for the majority of my 18 year career specialising in the Historic Environment, starting my career in Heritage Enforcement and then applications, progressing to Heritage manager in 2014. I am RTPI and IHBC accredited.

Allan is a leader of Arup’s town planning and transport planning teams in Wales and the West. He provides development management, policy and strategy, business case, and consultation support. He has acted as an expert witness in support of Development Consent Orders, Highways Act and Compulsory Purchase Order Examinations and Public Inquiries. Allan is currently helping the North Wales CJC progress its Regional Transport Plan and ensure strong synergies with its emerging Strategic Development Plan.

Vicky Robinson is the Chief Planning Inspector for Planning and Environment Decisions Wales - Wales’ dedicated service for scrutinising draft Development Plans, and determining applications for Developments of National Significance, planning appeals and specialist environmental casework. In this role, Vicky leads a team of Planning Inspectors and operational staff who process a variety of planning and environmental cases across Wales on behalf of the Welsh Ministers.

Vicky studied BSc (HONS) in City and Regional Planning followed by a Diploma in Town Planning at Cardiff University in 2004. Vicky was formerly Operational Manager for Planning and Building Control at the Vale of Glamorgan Council where she led the Planning Policy Team through the Local Development Plan Examination and managed the Development Management and Building Control regulatory functions.

Vicky is a practitioner representative on the Cardiff University and RTPI Partnership Board and was recognised in The Planner’s Women of Influence list 2024 for her work championing the planning profession.

Laura leads the Savills Cardiff Planning team. She is a chartered town planner and EIA co-ordinator with over 17 years of experience working in both Welsh and English planning systems. Laura has considerable experience in leading and co-ordinating multi-disciplinary teams and project managing the preparation, submission and negotiation of large and small scale developments to determination (including the submission of EIA applications). Laura has experience in a number of sectors, including the promotion of strategic housing land,  significant mixed-use regeneration proposals, energy and infrastructure developments data centre development, education and retail/leisure schemes.