Here you will find details of our committee.
Get in touch with the local committee e: southwest@ciht.org.uk
Principal Transportation Planning Officer in the Local Authority context of Devon County Council. CIHT South West Regional Committee Chair. Chartered Transport Planning Professional (CTPP). MSc Transport Engineering and Planning from UWE. First-class Mathematics graduate of the University of Exeter, holding a Mathematics PGCE from the University of Oxford.
Ann-Cathrin joined Arup as a graduate in 2021 and has since specialised in active travel design and appraisal and developed an interest in pedestrian modelling and data analytics. She has been involved with the CIHT since 2022 and co-chaired the Emerging Professionals Group in 2024/25.
Chelsea joined Devon County Council as a Graduate Transport Planner in 2020 and has since worked on road and active travel schemes, covering strategy and policy as well as scheme development and delivery. She has been involved with the Emerging Professionals Group since 2024
Coming soon
Yara Al Hamdan is a Transport Planner with ATKINS. She has four years of experience in various transport disciplines, including pedestrian modelling, traffic impact studies, parking studies, active travel plans and spatial analysis. She is currently a member of the CIHT National Council, as well as CIHT’s Learned Society & Technical Strategy Board (LSTSB).
David is a Chartered Engineer (CEng) who will continue as chair into a second term. David first joined CIHT in 2005 and was elected to the South West committee in 2014, subsequently holding a number of officer roles.
An Associate Director at Ove Arup and Partners Ltd in Bristol, David manages a team undertaking work across Wales, the West of England, the Solent region and Channel Islands.
David graduated from the University of Bath in 2002 and joined Arup in 2005 to work on the design and specification for the Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system at Heathrow Terminal 5 as well as Transport Assessments for wide range of public and private sector schemes including airports, housing developments and distribution centres.
From 2009-2011 David lived and worked in Qatar undertaking transport planning on Msheireb Downtown Doha, a major sustainable urban regeneration project, and Sheraton Park, an underground car park and at-grade amenity park. He has subsequently spent significant periods in the Gulf supporting the delivery of projects, including major new stadia for the FIFA 2022 World Cup.
Since returning to the UK full time David has led a wide range of transport studies including business cases for active travel and railway schemes, planning applications for a wide range of land uses, car park design (basement, MSCP and major surface schemes), transport interchange design and asset release and depot studies for Network Rail.
David is interested in encouraging sustainable transport by making it the mode of choice and he regularly works with clients and design teams to integrate sustainable transport into projects. To support this work David has undertaken pedestrian and bicycle route audits and developed new public transport services in conjunction with operators.
A recognised industry expert in PRT and Automated People Mover (APM) feasibility David has authored a number of outline business case studies and concept designs, and he has authored guidance for the industry body, ATRA.
Away from work David is a passionate cook, loves reading about medieval history and is a huge sports fan – including coaching junior rugby at his local club each Sunday.
Nik is a Chartered Transport Planner (CTPP), Fellow of the CIHT, and a past Chair of the CIHT South West region (2019-2020). He is currently the South West Regional Representative to CIHT Council. He has served as a Director on the Appian Trading Board (one of CIHT’s Strategic Boards) since 2020; in 2024 Nik became Chair of Appian Board and was duly appointed to CIHT’s Board of Trustees.
Nik is an Associate Director at WSP, based in Bristol, covering the South West and South Wales. He joined WSP in 2024 after roles as the Strategic Transport Projects, Manager at Bath & North East Somerset Council (2022-2024) and as an Associate Director at AECOM for over16 years (2006-2022). Nik specialises in transport planning, traffic modelling, and business cases, with experience working on projects across the South West of England, South Wales, and throughout the UK. His clients include National Highways, Transport for Wales, Heathrow Airport, Transport for London, the DfT, and various Local Authorities.
Nik is passionate about strategic transport planning, modelling, economics, and the transportation sector's impact on the climate. He has a personal interest in active travel, rail, and aviation. Since 2019, Nik has volunteered as the Mobility lead on the Devon Net-Zero Task Force and its successor, the Climate Task Force, providing independent advice and helping develop a credible Carbon Plan for Devon. He is also a member of the Steering Group for the Net Zero Exchange project at the University of Plymouth.
Nik graduated from the University of Exeter in 2006 with a BSc in Geography, specialising in climate change, palaeoclimates, and sustainability. He achieved the Transport Planning Professional (TPP) accreditation in 2018 and holds the Chartered title (CTPP). Nik is also a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) and a Chartered Geographer (CGeog), a Chartered Fellow of the CILT, and a Member of the Transport Planning Society.
He has been a full member of the CIHT since 2009, and has been on the South West committed since 2015 serving in various officer roles including Honorary Secretary (2016, 2017), Vice Chair, (2018), Chair (2019), and Events Coordinator (2020, 2021). He is currently the Regional Representative to Council (2023-2025).
Dave is a transport planner with over ten years experience in both the public and private sector. Dave delivered the Highways Development Management and Transport Planning functions at Gloucestershire County Council before relocating to Somerset and joining Stantec focussing on Active Travel, Sustainable Transport Strategies and Business Case development. Dave has been part of the CIHT Committee since 2023 and Comms Officer since 2024.
Hannah is the Transport Strategy Manager at Devon County Council and a Chartered Civil Engineer. The day job involves overseeing Devon's range of multi-modal schemes across the county and securing the funding required to do so. Hannah's got a particular interest around adopting people first approaches, both in scheme design and leadership. She has been on the regional committee for a number of years and is a former Chair.
Bio TBC
Lydia is a Senior Transport Planner at Pegasus Group with experience on a range of projects including solar, employment, residential and retail developments. She has previously served on the CIHT South West EPG Committee as the Social Secretary.
Lauren is a Transportation Planning Officer at Devon County Council, joining the team in 2021 as a graduate. She works on a range of highways, active travel and multi-modal schemes across the county, and has supported the publication of the new Local Transport Plan. She has completed an MSc in Transportation Planning and Engineering with the University of Southampton and became co-chair of the CIHT South West EPG in May 2024. She was awarded CIHT Emerging Professional of the Year in 2025.
James is a Senior Transport Planner with Jacobs with 5 years' experience in the industry. He was awarded CIHT South West Emerging Professional of the Year in 2023.
Dunstan is a Chartered Transport Planning Professional based in Bristol, and leads Atkins’ transport planning practice for the South West & Wales region. Dunstan specialises in transport strategy, business case & appraisal, and economics.
Alex is a Principal Consultant based in AECOM’s Bristol transport planning team. He has been actively involved with CIHT activities in the region since 2019, including the Bristol Emerging Professionals Group and the regional committee
Will is a Senior Consultant with AECOM based in the Bristol Streets Team. He specializes in Traffic Regulation Orders and Road Safety Improvement Schemes and is currently working on the West of England Future Transport Zones Project, specifically working on the ongoing e-scooter trial. He joined the CIHT in 2019 and the CIHT South West committee in 2023.
He has had copious exposure to public engagement and consultation exercises which has instilled excellent communication and organizational skills. He has worked with numerous local authorities across England and Wales in the last 5 years, which has given him a real understanding of their functionality and how Private and Public sectors can work together to achieve real change. He is passionate about training and development and is looking forward to developing and supporting a quality programme of CPD webinars and events for CIHT South West. He is also aiming to re-establish the South West Conference as of Spring 2024.
Thad is an Associate with Ramboll, based in our Exeter office, with over 20 years of transport planning experience in academia, local government and consultancy, mainly in development planning, land-use and transport integration, and multi-modal access strategy such as for major hospitals, airports, public transport interchange, high-speed rail, mixed use urban regeneration/extensions, research & development campuses, and active travel schemes.
As a keen cyclist, Thad is a passionate advocate for active travel having previously supported the London Cycle Campaign committee and served on the committee for Cycle Action Auckland. Born in Truro, Thad has studied, lived, and worked across the UK, Europe and New Zealand, before returning to the south west and settling in Exmouth with his family and 2 moggies.
Bio TBC
Jon is a Senior Associate with Stantec responsible for the design, implementation and project management of a range of multidisciplinary schemes. He has over 20 years of experience in delivering highway, transport and land development projects for a range of public and private sector clients. Jon oversees Stantec's South West Transport Planning Team across their Exeter, Taunton and Bristol offices. He is supporting the Events Coordinator.
