Kate Isles, President

Kate Isles is currently the Director of Land Use Planning at the Queensland Reconstruction Authority, having been seconded from the Department of Local Government and Planning. Kate’s career started at international multi-disciplinary firm PLACE Design Group where she worked for six years prior to testing her skills as a development manager. In 2009 she joined the State Government. Kate has been off the PIA scene for awhile but was very active from 2000 – 2007. In 2000, she co-founded the Queensland Young Planners Group and from 2002-2005 was the National Young Planner Convenor. Kate is looking forward to bringing back this same passion to the Qld Division.

Rosalyn Acworth - Wide Bay Burnett Branch Convenor

Rosalyn lives on the Fraser Coast and enjoys the lifestyle opportunities and professional challenges associated with planning in Regional Queensland. Rosalyn has previously held the role of Secretary and President for the Wide Bay Burnett Branch of PIA. Rosalyn has nearly fifteen years experience in local government and is currently the Executive Manager Strategic Planning with the Fraser Coast Regional Council. After graduating from the University of Queensland, Rosalyn started work within Development Assessment at Brisbane City Council and has since worked within a number of regional locations experiencing the sea change phenomenon including the Whitsundays, Bargara, and Hervey Bay. Rosalyn is currently studying a Graduate Diploma in Management.

Shannon Batch- Conference Chair

Shannon has worked as a planner for six years and is currently a Senior Planner with the Department of Transport and Main Roads. Since graduating from the University of Queensland with a Bachelor of Regional and Town Planning (Honours) Shannon has worked across a wide range of areas including development assessment, strategic transport planning and policy development. She is passionate about planning and has a particular interest in transport and infrastructure planning and the integration of land use and transport. Shannon has been previously involved with PIA as a former Convenor of the Queensland Young Planners Group and is looking forward to continuing as a member of the Division Committee as Conference Convenor.

Les Chandra - PD under-secretary

Les Chandra is a transport planner with experience in the community, government and private sectors across Victoria, Western Australia and Queensland. His first work in the transport sector was as a student when he helped establish a carpooling service at Monash University and worked for the local council developing cycle strategies. He then spent a few years working as a computer programmer before returning to study transport and sustainability at Murdoch University. For the past 5 years he has worked for the consulting firm Parsons Brinckerhoff in Brisbane.
He is passionate about learning and is always looking to expand and share his knowledge. In his spare time he enjoys travelling, trying and failing to grow vegetables, and researching his family tree.

Sean Cullen - Policy and Advocacy Chair, Griffith University Rep

Sean has wide ranging experience in State government, local government and consultancy, in Queensland and the United Kingdom, working in strategic planning, development assessment and major projects roles. He currently works for Logan City Council as Program Leader for Strategic Planning. Sean has qualifications in arts, planning, and law.

Kerry Doss - Urban & Regional Planning Chapter Chair

Kerry Doss is Manager of Brisbane City Council’s City Planning & Economic Development Branch. He has over 24 years experience in town, environmental and infrastructure planning and urban management in Queensland and New South Wales. He holds qualifications in coastal management, urban and regional planning and business management.

He has worked on regional planning projects for the Queensland State Government, as a local government planner and as a consultant to all levels of government and private industry. Kerry’s experience covers the full range of planning activities — project management, research, policy, strategy, local area planning, statutory planning, master planning, feasibility and development application lodgment and assessment.

Kerry has been technical convenor and convenor of a number of QLD PIA conferences, on PIA awards judging panels and PIA’s representative on the Griffith University School of Environmental Planning Professional Advisory Board. He is also an active contributor and speaker in State and national planning forums.

Kerry is married with four children, actively involved in his community and has a keen interest in cycling.

Michael Forwood - Membership & Social under-secretary

Michael is a Town Planner with over 8 years experience both within the private and public sectors. Michael has been at RPS for the past approximately 5 years and is currently one of three team leaders in the Brisbane office. Prior to working at RPS, Michael worked for 3.5 years with Townsville City Council acting in a senior role, responsible for the coordination of the Major Project Unit.
Michael has extensive experience in the assessment and delivery of large scale master planned developments and has a focus on achieving coordinated and innovative approaches to the delivery of projects and associated infrastructure. Whilst within RPS Michael has focused much of his work around the provision of housing for the ageing, planning and development in coastal areas and infrastructure planning.
Michael is passionate about the proper representation of planners both within and outside the planning profession and has been active member of the Planning Institute for over 8 years. Michael has been a member of the Division Committee for two years and is currently a member of the Professional Development Committee.

David Hansen - Vice President, Education Under - Secretary

David Hansen has over 13 years experience as a planner within Local Government and private practice, and is currently a Director of Gassman Development Perspectives.

David has been involved in numerous major projects, including large scale industrial and extractive industry operations, public utility infrastructure, land subdivision development and mixed use developments.

David is passionate about the contribution consulting planners make to the planning profession, and believes PIA has an important role to play in unifying planners from all backgrounds under one banner, and presenting a united message to the community that we are all working to benefit them.

Medina Hasan - Awards under-secretary

Medina been been planner for nine years. She has wide ranging experience in local government, state government and consultancy, working in strategic planning, development assessment and major projects roles.

Medina has qualifications in planning, environmental management and science.

Medina has previously held the conference convenor role for the 2011 State conference in Toowoomba and was on the Queensland Young Planners Group between 2007-2008.

Nikki Huddy - Tropical North QLD Branch Convenor, JCU Rep

Nikki lives in Cairns and is the only member of the PIA State Committee that lives outside of South East Queensland. Nikki is also the President of the Tropical North Queensland Branch of PIA. Nikki has over 15 years experience in planning for all levels of government and is currently the director of her own private consultancy Planz Town Planning. Nikki's experience includes work in most regional towns on the east coast, as well as the
inland towns including Roma, Mt Isa and Longreach. Nikki has a graduated
from Griffith University with a major in Environmental Planning and Policy and completed the Grad Dip in Urban and Regional Planning from QUT and has since added qualifications in Public Sector Management and International and Community Development.

Bruce James - Vice President, Transport Chapter Chair

Bruce James has over 20 years experience in town planning, community development and transport policy and planning in local and state government in Western Australia, the UK and Queensland. He holds a Master in Public Administration and an undergraduate degree in town planning. He started in transport planning when he joined the Western Australian Department of Transport in 1990. Bruce pioneered the application of Travel Demand Management in Western Australia and is known around Australia and in the UK for his pioneering work on the innovative TravelSmart programme. The latest evidence shows that the TravelSmart communities in Perth last year travelled 99 million fewer kilometres.

Bruce worked for the City of Nottingham as Transport Investment Consultant for 10 months in 2003 and has been the Director Transport Planning with the Queensland Transport since the beginning of 2004. A key strategy Bruce has pursued since being in Queensland is the advancement of land use transport integration through techniques such as enquiry by design. He is the current chair of the Queensland Transport Planning Chapter.

Leo Jensen - Darling Downs/Lockyer Valley Branch Convenor, Sunshine Coast University Rep

Leo is Principal of Leo Jensen Consulting, a small planning consultancy providing independent planning and associated services to both the public and private sectors. Leo has been in the profession for 20+ years, having held senior management positions in Queensland local government for over a decade.

Leo has been a PIA Corporate member since 1993, and has actively contributed to a range of with state based PIA activities during this time. Leo is a past State President (2004-2006), past Board Member and past Chair of the Local Government Planning Network (2006-2008). He has represented the profession on a number of various State based committees, including Sustainable Homes, the Local Government Careers Taskforce (Skills Formation Strategy), the TOD Taskforce, and the National Skills Shortage Steering Committee managed by the LGMA. He is a member of the State appointed Noosa and Blackall Range Iconic Places Queensland Assessment panels. Leo was instrumental in supporting the establishment of the highly acclaimed LGAQ Diploma of Local Government (Planning) course that up skills local government non-planners to assist with a range of statutory planning functions.

Leo has a B.Urb & Reg Plan (Hons) (UNE), a Master of Science (Environmental Management) (GU), a Cert IV in Workplace Training & Assessment, and is a Certified Practising Planner. He is an Associate Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management (AIM), and member of the Local Government Managers Australia (LGMA) and member of the International Association of Public Participation (IAP2).

Morgan Jones - Policy & Advocacy under-secretary

Morgan is a Senior Planner with RPS, with over eight years’ planning experience in both local government and private practice. Morgan’s experience is predominantly in statutory planning, involving the delivery of significant urban developments and multi-disciplinary major projects. Morgan is passionate about planning and the role it plays in society. His professional interests include advancing the need to accelerate the adoption of sustainable development practices, building links and fostering a collaborate approach to planning where local government, the development industry, and the community all win.

Brittany Lauga - Central Queensland Branch Convenor

Brittany is a Senior Planner at CQG Consulting in Rockhampton and has an honours degree from Queensland University of Technology. Brittany has experience working for the State Government and in the private sector. Her key areas of work include statutory planning, project management, community engagement, social planning, community infrastructure planning and planning law. Brittany’s project experience includes developments across a broad range of land uses, scales and intensities across a variety of local government authorities around Queensland. Brittany also manages the community consultation and strategic planning services at CQG Consulting and has recently worked on the Great Keppel Island Revitalisation Plan EIS and the Fitzroy Terminal Project EIS. Brittany has excellent local knowledge of and contacts within the planning and development industry in Central Queensland. Brittany has also worked as a casual academic and in a research team at the Queensland University of Technology and CQUniversity in Rockhampton.

Mike McKeown, Queensland Planner Chair

Mike McKeown is an urban planner and designer, and has been based in South East Queensland since 2003. He has previously been employed by the Queensland state government, developers and consultants. Mike recently chose to begin work as an independent planner and urban designer, allowing him to work on a mix of projects and places, and with a variety of fine people and organisations.
Mike took up the role of editor for Queensland Planner at the start of 2011. He aims to make the journal highly readable, as well as a great source of news and views on plans, planners and planning in the state.

Rosanne Meurling - Professional Development Chair

Rosanne Meurling is a Special Counsel in the Environment and Planning Group of Allens Arthur Robinson, Brisbane. She is also a co-author of Planning and Development Queensland. Rosanne is the PD Sub-Committee Convenor for PIA (Qld Division).

George Milford - North Queensland Branch Convenor

George escaped private sector of the South East in 2005 for the promised land of Far North Queensland – working as planner for the (then) Cardwell Shire, and enjoying the laid-back lifestyle of Mission Beach – between Cairns and Townsville.
Following the call of Townsville he since moved south to establish Wolter Rowlands Town Planning Group, and has not looked back.
Educated at the University of Queensland, George has studied architecture and planning, and is now completing his MBA at James Cook University.
George has been a member of the PIA since graduating, and has found this to be a fantastic organisation for professional development, and has afforded him invaluable opportunity to meet and engage with other planners within the Region.

Brendan Nelson - Honorary Finance & Audit Risk Management

Brendan Nelson is the General Manager, Land Use Planning in the Queensland Reconstruction Authority. Prior to commencing this role, Brendan was the Executive Director, Planning Services in the Office of Growth Management Queensland where he was responsible for delivering on both regional and statutory planning for Queensland, planning reform implementation and the delivery of Smart eDA, the State Government's commitment to electronic development assessment.

Brendan has been a private consultant, worked internationally and has held various planning positions with Queensland Local governments during his almost 18 years in planning. Brendan holds a Bachelor of Environmental Science (Griffith) and Graduate Diploma of Urban and Regional Planning (with Distinction) from QUT. Brendan is a corporate member and Certified Practicing Planner with the Planning Institute of Australia.

Brendan was very honoured to recently be named as the inaugural 2011 “Planner of the Year” in the Planning Institute of Australia (Queensland Division) Awards for Excellence.

John O'Dwyer - Environmental Planning Chapter Chair

John studied planning at Melbourne University under Prof Fred Ledgar at the same time as Lewis Keeble was lecturing in planning in Queensland.

John has worked for over 30 years at all levels of government, for Ergon Energy and for three major planning consultancies (GHD, McIntyre & Associates - now AECOM, and now with KBR). He prepared the original zoning plans for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and the nomination of the Great Barrier Reef for inclusion on the World Heritage List. He was part of the Main Roads negotiating team for the Transport Agreement for the Kawana development on the Sunshine Coast. The agreement preserved the corridors for the Sunshine Coast Rail and a regional and sub-arterial road network much of which has now been built. For many years John was also an Operations Officer in the RAAF Active Reserve.

John enjoys his family, drinking tea and red wine, good living, boules, croquet, golf and watching any sport. He has played a number of sports competitively including hockey (a goalkeeper - showing a streak of insanity here?) but his main sport was fencing in which he represented both Queensland and Victoria and reached the finals of a number of National Tournaments in epee. He also represented Melbourne University at Intervarsity Fencing in all 3 weapons. Through fencing, John became involved in choreographing and teaching stage fighting and actually taught past president Dy when she was at secondary school in Townsville.

Michael Papageorgiou - Education Chair

Michael’s current position is Executive Director, Planning Policy with Growth Management Queensland. His key responsibilities relate to the development and implementation of urban and regional planning policy for Queensland, including green space and outdoor recreation strategies and the state planning instruments review program. Michael was previously employed as Divisional Manager, City Planning and Sustainability, with Brisbane City Council from 2008 until early 2010, and before that was Manager City Planning at the same Council since 2004. At Brisbane, he was responsible for city planning, development assessment, economic development, and natural resources policy. Prior to this, Michael was with Gold Coast City Council for 8 years, as Manager Strategic and Environmental Planning.

He is currently a member of the Queensland State Government’s Art + Place Public Art Advisory Board (since February 2008}, and was formerly a member (2004-2010) of the South Bank Corporation Board.

Matt Phillips - QLD Young Planner Group Chair

Matt Phillips is a social planner with the Social Impact Assessment Unit, Office of the Coordinator-General, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation. A recent covert to the planning profession, Matt graduated from Curtin University of Technology in 2011, completing a Master of Urban and Regional Planning degree. His thesis explored the topic of secondary dwellings, examining whether policy and public perspectives were preventing a more sustainable Brisbane. Matt also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Humanities from Griffith University. His planning career was preceded by a 12 year career at Media Monitors where he monitored press coverage for a large and varied client base.

Matt is a keen distance runner and can often be spotted pounding the pavement alongside the Brisbane River while in training for his next race. When not planning or running Matt enjoys spending quality time with his young family, undertaking property renovations and cheering on his beloved Broncos at Suncorp Stadium.

Alison Stevens - Membership and Social Chair

Alison has been a planner for nine years, working for state and local government in Queensland in development assessment, statutory planning and master planning. She is currently working for the Department of Local Government and Planning within Growth Management Queensland. Alison has a B.EnvPlan (Griffith University) and is a Certified Practicing Planner. Alison is an active committee member and former secretary of the Tropical North Queensland Branch of PIA since 2006. She is the current convenor for the state conference to be held in Cairns on 3 to 5 of October 2012. Alison is passionate about being part of the planning community and outside of work, all things netball.

James Stott - QLD Young Planner group under-secretary

James graduated from the University of Queensland in 2010 with a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning. James is currently a planner with RPS. James also has experience in local government having at Brisbane City Council worked in development assessment both during his university studies and after graduation. James also holds a Bachelor of Science. This is James’ first year on the Division Committee.

Greg Tupicoff - Immediate Past President

Greg Tupicoff works for Lend Lease as Project Director on the Woodlands and Stoneleigh Reserve projects in SEQ. Greg is a former Planning Institute committee member for the Northern Territory Division where he was Treasurer for a short stint before returning to Queensland to work for Ipswich City Council and then Delfin/Lend Lease. Greg has performed roles as a planning consultant, development assessment planner and strategic planner and over the past 5 years a less specific planning role, and more of a development role as a project director (project manager).

Greg is married, and is a father of two beautiful girls, who luckily both take after their mother. Greg is a passionate supporter of all types of sport, but particularly cycling and rugby. Planning interests are varied, but primarily include a desire to seek out and improve regulation opportunities, conflicts of statute, master planning and social planning outcomes.

Basil Veal - Urban Design Chapter Chair/UDAL

Drew Westbrook - Sunshine Coast Branch Convenor

Gary White - Board Director

EXECUTIVE OFFICER: Kaye Duggan

(full time)

kaye.duggan@qldplanning.org.au

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER: Melanie Adam

(full time)

melanie.adam@qldplanning.org.au

EVENTS OFFICER: Dion Adam

(part time)

dion.adam@qldplanning.org.au

Policy & Research: Julie-Anne Dawson

policy@qldplanning.org.au

Julie-Anne Dawson has been a planner for thireteen years and has worked in the private sector as well as the State and local government in Queensland. In these positions she has specialised in urban renewal processes, strategic planning, policy development and development assessment. Since becoming a mother in 2002, Julie-Anne juggles part-time planning work with being mother to three young boys, aged 6, 3 and 10 months. In any spare time (!), she is a passionate cyclist and swimmer.

MEDIA: Geoff Mullins

qld@planning.org.au