Major Planning Firm comes to the Hunter

JBA Planning, the largest specialist town planning firm in New South Wales, has decided to open a new office in the Hunter.  

“The Hunter region has a strong diverse economy and its forecasted growth is impressive.  We are very confident in the future of this region. JBA Planning wouldn’t have committed to opening an office here otherwise”, said Terry Wetherall, Director of JBA Planning’s Coastal and Regional Projects team who has been responsible for getting the new office up and running along with fellow Director Gordon Kirkby.

 “We’re not going into the Hunter region lightly or meekly”, said Terry Wetherall, who is also one of the Directors of the NSW Business Chamber.  “We’ve appointed two fantastic senior people to head up our office there.  Newcastle local Scot Brown, an Associate of the firm, has been appointed the manager of the Hunter Office. Scot is returning to Newcastle to live after clocking up over 20 years experience in Queensland and NSW, including project experience in this region.  Shannon Sullivan, a well known local planner with over 15 years experience, will be Scot’s 2IC.  Shannon has worked in consultancies in the Hunter for the past five years and before that worked for four Lower Hunter Councils.”

Whilst the office in Newcastle is new, JBA Planning is not new to the region. Some of the better known projects that JBA has worked on are the redevelopment of the Royal Newcastle Hospital Site, the Huntlee New Town, Branxton, the Knauf Insulation Plant proposed for the Steel River Site, and the Magenta Shores resort complex at North Entrance.  Most recently JBA was commissioned by the Property Council of Australia to undertake an Independent Review of the Lower Hunter Regional Strategy.  That project is being finalised now and has identified a number of important issues for planning in the region.

The Hunter office will provide on the ground services to the local market, whether to support local developers or land owners in seeking development approvals, or to assist local councils in their future strategic planning. 

The firm was established in 1992 and has steadily grown to a staff of 50 people.  Many of the planners working at JBA have other specialist qualifications in related fields.  “At JBA we pride ourselves on being genuinely expert in the field of town planning and related matters, and hence our skill set goes well beyond town planning and in particular includes urban design and environmental planning law.” said CEO Ian Robertson. “This means that the guys in our Newcastle office will have access to some of the most experienced and highly qualified planners in the State.  Local knowledge plus some serious specialist expertise is a great combination, and that’s a real asset to our clients.”

An official party to launch the new office and introduce all of the senior JBA staff will be held next week at The Sebel Newcastle Beach, a venue close to JBA Planning’s heart as one of its local projects. 

“We look forward to being an important member of the Newcastle business community and helping realise the huge potential of this region for our clients” said the Hunter manager Scot Brown, “and I’d encourage anyone wanting to know more about us and how we can help them to give me or Shannon a call or visit our website”. 

Contacts for further information
Terry Wetherall – Director Coastal & Regional Projects team, JBA Planning
Telephone: (02) 4225 7680 Mobile: 0417 241 827
Ian Robertson – CEO JBA Planning
Telephone: (02) 9956 6962 Mobile: 0425 232 856  
Scot Brown – Associate & Manager Hunter Office, JBA Planning
Telephone: (02) 4927 0980 Mobile: 0414 191 544