- Chartered Town Planner Martin Lee has joined our Planning consultancy as an Associate Planner
- Martin brings nearly four decades of nationwide planning experience in public and private sector roles with a focus on residential, commercial, retail, agriculture and renewables
- Previous clients include:
- Local authorities (incl. Swindon Borough Council; Plymouth City Council; Devon County Council)
- Housing developers and associations (incl. Bovis Homes; Sovereign Housing Association)
- Landowners and community groups (incl. Westminster Land; Neighbourhood Forums)
- Corporate clients (incl. Amazon; Breitling)
- Specific interests include Local & Neighbourhood Planning, policy, regeneration, development management and compliance/enforcement
- Martin will use his national and regional experience to continue providing an exceptional service to our clients in the SW markets
We are pleased to welcome Martin Lee, who has joined our existing Planning consultancy as an Associate Planner.
With extensive experience spanning both the public and private sectors, Martin brings to the practice a strong track record of consistent delivery on major projects in challenging environments and contexts.
His previous private sector experience includes providing in-house consultancy services to employers and their clients. He has also worked on contracts for a range of local authorities including Swindon Borough Council (Senior Planner, Masterplanning & Design), North Devon Council (Interim Senior Planning Officer, Dev Mgmt), South Somerset Council (Principal Specialist, Dev Mgmt) and Devon County Council (Planning Consultant). He has also been engaged as Independent Examiner on a range of Neighbourhood Plans for clients including Plymouth City Council, Wokingham Council, South Hams District Council and West Devon Borough Council and the associated Neighbourhood Forums.
Projects Martin has worked on include:
- Residential: major residential urban extension – 616 homes, Wichelstowe, Swindon
- Commercial: large scale commercial rescue and completion – 220 unit serviced student accommodation, St. Mark’s, Nottingham
- Infrastructure: 50MWh wind farm (Hinkley, Somerset); 37GWh solar power generation across 35 acres (Marsh Green, East Devon); 70GWh solar power generation + 46MW battery storage (Bonvilston, Vale of Glamorgan)
A Chartered Town Planner and member of both the Royal Town Planning Institute (MRTPI) and the Town & Country Planning Association (MTCPA), Martin’s previous roles have included ‘Consultancy Director’, ‘Director of Planning’, and ‘Planning Compliance Manager’. His experience also includes a range of independent scrutiny roles such as his ongoing work as an Approved Independent Examiner for Neighbourhood Plans, and past work as a Non-Salaried Inspector for the Planning Inspectorate. Other past voluntary roles include Joint Hon Sec for the RTPI’s SW Branch Executive and Finance Governor for Minehead Middle School.
Martin joins us most recently from Ethical Power, where he provided a comprehensive service across England, Wales and Scotland to ensure compliance with permissions granted for infrastructure scale developments. In his new role, he will help lead Nash Partnership’s Planning consultancy while working closely with the leaders of our other services.
Our award-winning Planning team works on projects across the South West and beyond, delivering advice to private and public sector clients including local authorities, land and property owners, commercial organisations and individual homeowners.
The team is involved in all stages of planning applications and also handles negotiations with LPAs, preparation of representations to local plans, site appraisals and appeals, with significant experience in heritage, rural and sensitive projects.
Commenting on the recruitment, Daniel Lugsden (Partner, Nash Partnership) said: “With a range of successful regional projects under his belt and a solid understanding of the pressures facing local authorities, Martin is a great fit for us as a practice.
“Our role is to give advice which is grounded in knowledge, instinct, and awareness of political and economic context. Martin has many years of practice behind him which – importantly – come from both the private and public sides of the table. Combined with his experience of work on sensitive sites, he really will add to the team here and the projects that typify our work.”
Commenting on his new role, Martin said: “The ability to work on an impressive range of high-quality projects, from intimate to large scale, for terrific clients who appreciate the depth of experience and knowledge brought to bear by the whole team, excites me with the prospects of more new and exciting developments for Nash Partnership.”
He continued: “Mixing good humour with a fervent commitment to securing the very best of outcomes makes for a friendly, collaborative and dedicated environment of expert professionals all working together at Nash Partnership.”
Earlier this year, Nash Partnership was named ‘Consultancy of the Year’ at both the SW Residential Property Awards (April) and the Bath Property Awards (November). We were also named ‘Architectural Practice of the Year’ at the SW Property Awards (October). Judges praised our “impressive array and scale of projects” and our agility in managing challenging work, also noting our strong focus on building an inclusive and social culture.