Expertise
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Ben Coleman
BA (Hons) MSc Town Planning
PJA
Ben is an Urban Planner working for PJA with over twelve years’ experience of urban planning and street design. Prior to joining PJA, Ben has worked at consultancy, local authority and third-sector organisations. Ben’s technical experience ranges from initial site analysis and concept design, through to public engagement and detailed design. He has wide ranging experience of developing schemes in both local authority and consultant environments in the UK, and has also worked on international urban planning projects.
Phil Collins
SMLI, MCIEEM, AMA, MRSB
Phil Collins Associates/ Phil Collins Design
Phil Collins is Director of Phil Collins Associates. He has over 30 years’ experience as an influential and innovative leader of heritage, and environmental organisations in the public, private and third sectors and in advising a range of public, 3rd and private sector clients. He has multidisciplinary expertise in the<br /> landscape, the historic environment, ecology, climate change adaptation and mitigation, sustainable design and development and extensive experience of<br /> research and project development.
Matthew Coombe
MA, PG Dip, BSc (Hons)
Plymouth City Council
Matthew Coombe is an Urban Design Group Recognised Practitioner. His twenty-five years' experience in the public, private and voluntary sectors, including as a BFL assessor and CABE Enabler, have given him a rounded perspective on regeneration and development. Matthew creates and advises on design guidance, policy, proposals from city-wide strategies and masterplans, site development briefs, and detailed public realm schemes. He acts as urban design input on major projects through the development management process.
Alan Corner
MICE, B.Eng, C.Eng
Corner Water Consulting
Alan is a chartered civil engineer with over 40 years’ infrastructure, flood risk, hydrology plus foul & surface water drainage experience in the UK, middle and far east. Working for a UK Water Authority plus international multi-disciplinary consultancies where he has been a technical lead in drainage and flood risk design, delivering solutions for hundreds of residential, commercial and industrial development sites in all flood zones. Also experienced in drainage and flood protection for highways, nuclear facilities, ports and airports. He was Global SuDS Knowledge Leader at Halcrow plus assisted in drafting the National SuDS Standards and The SuDS Manual 2015. More recently undertaking lots of Nutrient Neutral designs – particularly around mitigating or absorbing phosphates from new housing. Alan has been a design review panel member in the Midlands and the Southwest for over 8 years.
Michael Cowdy
FLI MAUD Ba (Hons)
Michael Cowdy is a masterplanner, landscape architect and urban designer with over 20 years of international experience. He specialises in regenerative, nature-led design that weaves together ecology, heritage and community. Known for his strategic clarity and contextual insight, Michael leads interdisciplinary teams from concept to delivery—creating places that restore landscapes, strengthen social connection, and promote long-term resilience and wellbeing.
Len Croney
MBA, DMS, Final Dip PRA, Dip Hort, Cert, ARB
Based in Cornwall, much of Len’s work has been around assisting public bodies to improve the quality of design proposals from developers. This has included writing developer contribution policies and minimum standards of open space and community provision. He worked extensively with Local Authorities through CABE on open space strategies. He has been engaged by individual Local Authorities, Sport England, Play England and Natural England to write policies on standards of Provision, e.g. "Nature Nearby"
Ben Croot
BSc (Hons), MSc, CMLI
CSA Environmental
Ben is a Chartered Landscape Architect with over 17 years’ professional experience. He has worked on a range of development projects, including nationally significant infrastructure projects. He has co-authored technical guidance for the Landscape Institute and regularly acts as an expert witness. Ben believes strongly in design as both a process and an outcome and the importance of understanding place and the wider context to shape a clear and compelling narrative that underpins projects to deliver memorable and cherished places.
Frances Crow
BA(Hons), DipArch(UCL), RIBA, ARB
Crow Architecture
Frances Crow is a chartered architect and Director of Crow Architecture. The practice specialises in retrofit, conservation and regenerative development in a rural context. Her experience in practice, teaching, research and engaged-arts projects, combines to define her approach to development. She champions projects that consider demolition as a last resort, use a ‘fabric first’ approach, privilege bio-based materials and use principles of the circular economy to reduce the embodied and in use carbon.
Ella Dangerfield
BSc (Hons), ACIEEM
Burton Reid Associates
Ella is a Professional Ecologist with a BSc (Hons) in Environmental Science with Professional Training and an Associate member of the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM). She has been working for Burton Reid Associates, an ecological consultancy based in South Devon for 5 years. Ella focuses on her interest in botany and has developed her skills in habitat assessment, which forms the basis of Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) calculations and design. She has worked on numerous BNG projects in the Devon area. Other recent projects include collating the ecological evidence base for the Dartington Neighbourhood Plan and collaborative work with Plymouth City Council to develop a Nature Recovery Network supporting the wider Devon Local Nature Recovery Strategy. Ella has a passion for communicating to partners and clients about the importance of nature and BNG.
