Steering Committee

Helen Fadipe is the Founder and Chair of BAME Planners Network, promoting diversity and inclusion in the planning profession. She is the Director of  FPP Associates Ltd (Firstplus Planning), a multi-disciplinary planning consultancy firm providing interim management, strategic planning and development planning services. Helen has over 30 years’ experience working in the public and private sectors, both in the UK and abroad. 

Helen is a Strategic Planner, specialising in placemaking, inclusivity and infrastructure planning, development management and strategic policy development in housing, health and employment uses. She has led mega schemes such as Oak Wharf, a canal redevelopment site in Hackney, and a Model City Plan for over 4 million people in Lagos Nigeria, and more recently leading on a range of Garden Town developments and urban extensions for mixed-use schemes comprising housing, schools and major infrastructure of more than 6,000 dwellings on behalf of Buckinghamshire Council.

Helen is a member of RTPI General Assembly, RTPI Membership and Ethics Committee and was part of the International Strategy working group. She is also an Advisory Board Member for Women in Planning and President of ICOGA Europe (an alumni association). She has won several awards and was a judge in the RTPI Awards for Planning Excellence in 2020 and 2021.

Formerly, Head of Planning and Transportation and member of the Corporate Management Team at Watford Council, Ransford Stewart now runs Stewart Management & Planning Solutions, a town planning and management consultancy.  

In a career of more than 35 years, he has worked with 17 Councils, 3 Quangos, a National Park and 2 of the Big Four accounting and management consultancies. Adaptable and innovative, with extensive knowledge of local government processes and procedures, especially in relation to the built environment, he has a keen interest in the EDI dimensions of service delivery for staff and users.

He is a Member of the Royal Town Planning Institute, the Chartered Management Institute, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.  He was awarded an MBE for Planning in the Queen’s 2022 New Year’s Honours List.

Sara Dilmamode is a director at Plan In. Plan In provides research services focused on spatial area development plans. Sara leads Plan In’s team of specialist urban and rural planning researchers to generate insights and resources to create a shared vision for development across multiple organisations speed up plan preparation, enable sound development sites allocations and deliver more sustainable planning outcomes.

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Prior to joining the Plan In team, Sara directed award-winning niche planning consultancy CITIESMODE where she worked with Local Authorities to develop urban development strategies In this role, Sara led on development of best practice advice on planning for the UK Government and the Planning Advisory Service. Before working in private practice, Sara worked for almost a decade in Local Planning Authorities, primarily in London, UK.

Sara holds qualifications in planning from the London School of Economics (LSE) and London South Bank University in the UK.

Gavin Chinniah has worked in Local Government over the last 18 years, where he previously worked for four London Boroughs which included Lambeth, Hounslow, Waltham Forest and Sutton.  His current role is heading up the planning service at Surrey Heath, delivering on the key strategic objectives for the borough. His previous role was managing the Development Management service and leading on growth in the borough.  He has significant experience in dealing with strategic/ major projects and has worked on schemes which include the Shell Centre development Waterloo and was the main lead for the Blackhorse Road Regeneration Area.

Abraham Laker is an experienced Chartered Town Planner with a demonstrated history of working in the architecture & planning industry. Skilled in Sustainable Development, Urban Planning, Feasibility Studies, Mixed-use, and Sustainable Design. Strong community and social services professional with a MA Urban and Regional Planning focused in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Westminster.

Judith Onuh is an Associate Planner at WSP and has over 8 years of experience working in both the public and private sectors. Her first planning role was with the Planning Inspectorate as a graduate. Since then Judith has gone on to work in the housing sector and planning consultancy. Judith has a wide range of experience on schemes ranging from  Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects to Residential Developments. Judith is an elected RTPI General Assembly member and is passionate about encouraging diversity within the Built Environment.

Pan is a passionate, adaptable and solution-oriented chartered strategic spatial planner with keen interests in sustainability, affordability and community engagement. He currently works as a Principal Planning Officer at the London Borough of Enfield,  facilitating the planning of strategic developments in the borough. He has a wide range of experience in development management, community infrastructure levy and local plan preparation in both the public and private sectors. He has also accumulated three-year experience in collaborative community planning in Hong Kong. 

He is also an active volunteer in the Planning Aid for London,  a member of the Liaison Board of the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at the University of Sheffield and has supported a number of community planning groups.

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Olafiyin Taiwo is a chartered Town Planner dedicated to creating better places and delivering high-quality outcomes. She has extensive experience working across public, private, and civil society sectors at local, regional and international levels. Her work focuses on taking an inclusive and integrated approach to urban development for the creation of sustainable cities and human settlements that are safe, healthy, and resilient.

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She is the Chair of the Commonwealth Association of Planners Young Planners Network and a Steering Committee member of the Commonwealth Youth for Sustainable Urbanisation. She is the Co-chair of the UN-Habitat Planners for Climate Action (Education and Capacity Building) and a member of the RTPI General Assembly and International Committee.

She is the co-founder of Life brooks International, a charity dedicated to bringing hope and transforming the lives of children and young people in urban communities.

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Olafiyin holds an M.Sc. in Urban Regeneration and Development from the University of Manchester, LLM in International Law and International Relations from the University of Kent in the United Kingdom and B.A (Hons) Russian from the University of Ibadan. She is currently a doctoral researcher at the University College London.

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She has won several awards. She was awarded the RTPI Special Presidential Award 2020/2021 for her contribution to promoting diversity and inclusion in the Planning profession. She was also recently recognised as The Planner Woman of Influence 2021 and 2022.

Hong is a policy planner who has over ten years’ public sector planning experience, which covers a wide range of areas including plan making, infrastructure needs assessment, the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) and strategic planning.

She has participated in some exciting planning projects with several London boroughs experiencing exponential growth. Through the valuable experience, she has gained an insight of the social, economic and environmental challenges and opportunities facing London.  All of her projects have presented complex issues and required effective communication with both internal and external stakeholders, as well as excellent coordination of multidisciplinary teams. Hong is passionate about planning and keen to develop appropriate and suitable solutions to spatial and strategic planning.

Outside work, Hong enjoys food, nature and travelling with families and friends.