Hunter & Central Coast Regional Planning Panel

Chair

Alison McCabe

Alison has over 35 years of experience in statutory and strategic planning for State and Local Government sectors and in private practice. She has worked at Cessnock, Rockdale, Woollahra and North Sydney Council, and at the then Department of Urban Affairs and Planning. Prior to establishing SJB Planning NSW in 2005 in conjunction with Stuart McDonald, Alison held the position of Director, Environmental and Community Management with Leichhardt Council.

Alison has been appointed the Chair of the Ryde Local Planning Panel, Alternate Chair of the Inner West, North Sydney and The Hills Local Planning Panels and expert member of the Camden, Canterbury-Bankstown, Fairfield, Hornsby, Parramatta, Randwick and Waverley Local Planning Panels. Alison was also a State appointed member of the Southern Regional Planning Panel for 10 years.

Alison holds a Bachelor of Urban and Regional Planning from the University of New England, a Graduate Diploma in Environmental Law from Sydney University and has lectured on planning-related matters at Sydney’s University of Technology and the University of New South Wales.

State Members

Roberta Ryan

Professor Roberta Ryan is an expert in public policy and administration, urban governance, comparative planning systems, development delivery and community engagement. Her leadership positions in academia, and the private and non-government sectors have covered all aspects of the planning system including community and strategic land use planning, development assessment and statutory appeal processes, and major project delivery.

Roberta is nationally recognised for her expertise in mediating and facilitating shared outcomes that meet both government and stakeholder objectives in the delivery of land use planning solutions in contested environments. She is widely acknowledged for her thought leadership in engaging and bringing together diverse views in sensitive stakeholder environments.

With this expertise, Roberta has been a trusted advisor to federal, state and local governments and major public and private enterprises on their development and delivery of strategy, policy, major initiatives and reform. This includes her current ministerial appointments as the Community Commissioner for the Western Sydney Aerotropolis and Orchard Hills.

Roberta has previously been a member of the Sydney Eastern and Sydney Central planning panels.   
 

Stephen Leathley

Stephen Leathley is a town planner with over 35 years’ experience having worked in senior management roles in local government and the private sector including as founder and Planning Director of Insite Planning Services. A degree qualified and registered town planner, Stephen also holds a Master of Business Administration. He is a Fellow of the Planning Institute of Australia and was the founding Chair of the Planning Institute’s Local Government Planning chapter at the national and divisional levels. Stephen also served as the editor of the Planning Institute’s journal New Planner and served on the NSW Divisional Committee of PIA.

Stephen has led a number of significant strategic projects including NSW’s first Koala Management Plan at Port Stephens, a specialist planning team providing a planning framework for the urban areas of the Blue Mountains as part of its listing as a World Heritage area, and award-winning projects including the Hawkesbury Wildlife Corridor Plan, Vineyards Signage Project and the Muswellbrook LEP Review.
Stephen has significant experience in environmental assessment in the resource, tourism and commercial sectors and was responsible for Masterplanning numerous urban release areas across NSW. He is currently a panel member for the Blue Mountains and Central Coast LPPs, alternate chair at Hawkesbury and Wingecarribee LPPs, and is a representative for Wingecarribee and Central Coast Councils on their RPPs.