South Coast: Barton Willmore boosts team with two appointments

Planning and design consultancy Barton Willmore has strengthened its South Coast team with two key senior appointments.

Rachel Murrell and Jane Piper join Barton Willmore’s Southampton-based planning team, each bringing significant planning experience in both the public and private sectors.

Murrell is a chartered town planner with 15 years’ experience and joins Barton Willmore from the London Borough of Brent, where she managed the development management team.

Her office of 40 planners and administration staff dealt with more than 5,000 applications a year and Murrell also brings considerable expertise in delivering complex brownfield regeneration projects, including the regeneration of Wembley.  

Piper joins the consultancy from Intelligent Land, where she was director of planning, and was previously a director at Terence O’Rourke. With 20 years’ experience, Piper specialises in project managing large, complex mixed-use and residential developments and has a passion for delivering high-quality housing.

Robin Shepherd, a partner at Barton Willmore who leads the South Coast team, based at the White Building, said: “We are delighted to welcome Rachel and Jane to further strengthen our growing consultancy team.

“Both bring a vast amount of specialist skills and will be supporting our expanding portfolio of mixed-use, residential and commercial projects across Hampshire, Dorset and Sussex. Since we opened our Southampton office, we have been overwhelmed by the welcome we have received by the business and development communities, who have supported our ideas and what we aim to be a more creative approach to place making.”

Barton Willmore is the UK’s leading independent planning and design consultancy, whose team has advised on major schemes including Westquay Watermark Shopping Centre, Gunwharf Quays and Poole waterfront.