John Armstrong
Round table discussion: Exploring the key issues for planning reform

John Armstrong is Managing Director of the Construction Employers Federation. Since taking up the
post 18 months ago, John has led a call for a fundamental review of the planning system including the publication of the CEF report ‘A Review of Planning Processes in Northern Ireland’. John has also been at the forefront in raising standards in the areas of health and safety, procurement, employment and sustainability.

Professor Sue Christie
Round table discussion: Exploring the key issues for planning reform

Professor Sue Christie has been the Director of Northern Ireland Environment Link, the networking and forum body for voluntary environmental organizations in Northern Ireland, since 1991. She was involved in the development of the first Waste Management Strategy for Northern Ireland, was on the Waste Management Advisory Group and is currently an independent member of the Strategic Waste Board. She is Visiting Professor at the Department of Environmental Sciences at the University of Ulster, Coleraine.

Richard Flack
Key issues for major planning applications

Richard Flack is a Senior Partner with DPP and advises many of the country’s leading developers and is principally involved in promoting larger, complex schemes in key development sectors including mixed use developments, urban regeneration and major infrastructure projects. Notable current commissions include advising DP World on a new international container port and business park in the Thames estuary. Richard has over 30 years experience of professional planning and development consultancy in the UK and has worked extensively in Northern Ireland for many years.

Cllr Tom Kivlehan
The role of the councillor in making planning decisions: Experience from RoI

Councillor Tom Kivlehan is a Green Party representative on Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council, representing the Ballybrack Ward. He is a member of the Council’s Economic Development and Planning Strategic Policy Committee. Tom’s priorities are good planning for new communities, supporting small businesses, improving sports amenities, and protecting the local environment. He has a business and tourism background.

Kelvin MacDonald
The growth agenda and its implications for planning

Kelvin MacDonald is a strategic policy consultant working with, amongst others, the Department for
Communities and Local Government, the Local Government Association, Manchester City Council and the South East of England Development Agency. He is an Affiliated Lecturer at the Department of Land Economy, Cambridge and a specialist adviser to the House of Commons' CLG Select Committee. He is an adviser to Shelter and on the Editorial Board of Town Planning Review.

Jim Mackinnon
Lessons from the planning reform process in Scotland

Jim Mackinnon is Chief Planner and Head of the Planning and Building Standards Group in the Scottish Executive, a role he took up in November 2000 having formerly been Head of Planning Division. He joined the former Scottish Office in 1979 and held a wide variety of posts and responsibilities. These include preparation of a wide range of policy and advice, casework, research
management and the establishment of the Planning Audit Unit. He was a member of the UK delegation to the Committee on Spatial Development and was appointed as an expert advisor on the National Spatial Strategy.

Patsy McGlone, MLA
The role of the DoE committee in planning

Patsy McGlone, MLA, is the Chair of the Environment Committee in the Northern Ireland Assembly. He was elected as an MLA in 2003 and represents the constituency of Mid Ulster in the Assembly. Patsy was formerly the SDLP General Secretary from 1986-1991 and also Press officer to John Hume MP. He is currently the SDLP spokesperson for both Irish language and community affairs and has served as a member of Cookstown District Council since 1993.

Trevor Polley
Round table discussion: Exploring the key issues for planning reform

Trevor Polley is Chief Executive and Town Clerk of North Down Borough Council and is the current Northern Ireland Chairman of SoLACE (Society of Local Authority Chief Executives). He took up his role as Chief Executive of North Down in 1999 having previously been Director of Corporate Services with the Council since 1993. He has worked in local government for 27 years and was previously Chief Finance Officer in Castlereagh Borough Council.

Gavan Rafferty
Key issues for a modern & efficient planning system for Northern Ireland

Gavan Rafferty is Chairperson of the Royal Town Planning Institute, Irish Branch - Northern Section, having been actively involved in the local Branch since 2003. He is a Lecturer in the School of Planning, Architecture and Civil Engineering (SPACE) and Institute of Environmental and Spatial Planning (ISEP) at Queen’s University, Belfast. He is currently undertaking PhD research into the role of planning and governance in contested spaces, and was a researcher on the Contested Cities – Urban Universities (CU2) project, a major research programme at Queen’s University. Before joining Queen’s, he previously worked in the DOE [NI] Planning Service.

Cynthia Smith
Reforming the Northern Ireland planning system

Cynthia Smith is Chief Executive of the Planning Service, having moved from OFMdFM to take up the position in February 2008. She is responsible for all aspects of Planning Service’s performance and operations, including achievement of the Agency’s key performance targets, corporate, business and efficiency plans, annual reports and accounts.

Brian Sore
Round table discussion: Exploring the key issues for planning reform

Brian Sore is the Royal Town Planning Institute’s representative in Northern Ireland overseeing the region’s planning policy. He is a Chartered Town Planner and has a spatial planning background in a number of organisations. He has worked in development control and planning in the London Boroughs. He was a senior regional planner in the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, held senior planning positions in the NHS and lately was asked to act as Chief Executive of a Belfast Hospital Trust.

Valerie Watts
Streamlining the local planning process: Derry City Council case study

Valerie Watts is Town Clerk and Chief Executive of Derry City Council, having taken up her role in 2008. She returns to Northern Ireland from Scotland, where she had worked in East Dunbartonshire Council since the mid-1990s, in a number of roles including Assistant Chief Executive and Director of Corporate Services. As Director, she was one of three Strategic Directors, who had responsibility for five heads of service and worked within an overall budget of £240 million. She has over 25 years public sector experience having begun her career at the Royal Victoria Hospital, where she oversaw competitive tendering and ancillary support services.

Sammy Wilson
Interview with the Minister

Sammy Wilson, MP, MLA, took up the role of Minister for the Environment in 2008. He is MP and MLA for East Antrim and has been a Councillor on Belfast City Council since 1991, becoming Belfast’s first DUP Lord Mayor in 1986-87. He is a former member of the Northern Ireland Policing Board and Northern Ireland Housing Council. At Westminster he is the party spokesperson on education and skills, as well as housing. Before moving into full-time politics he had a career in teaching.