A chartered town planner, Mark Hand is a Head of Service at Monmouthshire County Council with responsibility for planning, building control, regeneration, highways and flooding. In his seven years at Monmouthshire, Mark has successfully led on delivering sites in the adopted LDP, establishing culture change in the planning service, developing an evidenced-based highway resurfacing programme, introducing 20mph zones as pilots for the legislative change, and re-opening Monmouthshire’s town centres during the covid pandemic to ensure residents and visitors feel safe returning to the high street to support local businesses. This latter project has now transitioned into one seeking long-term regeneration of the County’s towns. Mark is still trying to get his head around SUDs, but is enjoying the Replacement LDP so much he wants to do the Preferred Strategy a third time.
Prior to this, Mark worked at Newport City Council for fourteen years, with roles in DM, enforcement, appeals, and then management including seeing Newport’s LDP through to adoption. During this time, Mark worked on numerous regeneration projects including Friars Walk, Glan Llyn and the Llanwern Eastern Expansion Area, Alcan and MonBank Sidings.
Past chair of the Planning Officers’ Society for Wales and South East Wales Strategic Planning Group, and until recently an elected member of the RTPI’s General Assembly and external examiner at Cardiff University’s planning school, Mark is passionate about improving the planning sector, the environment around us and the outcomes that planning delivers to build a better Wales. Renowned for being outspoken, Mark’s criticism of the Wales Spatial Plan and request for tweaks to TAN1 and TAN15 resulted in something far worse, and he is now seriously considering taking a vow of silence.
