Trustees

Our Trustees are drawn from our wide ranging membership and represent all sectors of environmental law. They are known as Council. We have 20 elected trustees at present. Council is responsible for ensuring UKELA achieves its strategic and charitable aims. Because UKELA is also a limited company, our trustees are also directors. The Executive Committee is responsible for the day to day running of the charity, working with the Executive Director. Our constitution sets our the rules on selection and responsibilities of Council. Read more on our What we do page.

If you would like to contact any of our trustees, please get in touch.

Executive Committee

Ned Westaway, Chair: Ned is a barrister practising at Francis Taylor Building; he is ranked as a leading junior by Chambers and Partners for environmental law, planning law and agricultural and rural affairs; he is on Attorney General’s panel of counsel and has an LLM (environmental laws) from UCL.

 

Nick Whitaker, Honorary Treasurer: Nick qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 1977.  He was a partner in BDO LLP (and before that PKF (UK) LLP) until he retired in March 2015 providing audit, forensic and corporate finance services. This included work in the charity, not for profit sectors as well as for corporates and Government departments and bodies.

 

Simone Davidson, Vice Chair: Simone is a solicitor and Head of Environment at LexisPSL. Prior to joining Lexis Nexis she trained and worked at Clyde & Co, where she advised on a broad range of environmental legal issues ranging from regulatory and compliance to transactional risk management and support.

 

Philip Hunter, Vice Chair: Phil is a Partner and head of environmental law at leading Scottish law firm Brodies LLP. He advises on a broad range of environmental matters including management of environmental risks and liabilities.

 

Warren Percival, Vice Chair: Warren is a Director at RSK Group and has over sixteen years’ experience in environmental consultancy. Warren previously managed RSK's Northern EHS business, and is now the Group Director responsible for due diligence, ESG and expert witness services to the legal and financial sectors.

 

Nina Pindham, Vice Chair: Nina Pindham is a specialist planning and environmental law Barrister at No5 Barristers Chambers. She advises a wide range of clients on including Defra, Local Authorities, Water Companies and Private clients, and is ranked as a leading junior in the directories for Planning and Environmental Law.

Other Council Members

 James Adler: James is CEO of Ashdown Forest, Sussex one of the largest nature reserves and access areas in south east England. He is also national land management advisor to The Wildlife Trusts where he guides trusts on interactions with Defra on over 98,000 hectares of nature reserves whilst helping shape responses to legislation. Previously he worked for over 15 years protecting Surrey’s environment.

Lucy Bruce Jones: Lucy is a senior specialist environmental lawyer with a background in environmental engineering, providing environmental advice on corporate and property transactions, renewable energy projects, PFI projects and regulatory compliance issues. Lucy is UKELA's Company Secretary.

Odette Chalaby:  Odette is a pupil at No5 specialising in environmental and planning law. She has previously been a student director for the Environmental Law Foundation, and she supported Plan B Earth’s Heathrow case. Prior to legal training, Odette was a policy journalist at Apolitical.

Estelle Dehon QC: Estelle is a barrister at Cornerstone Barristers. She is a leading junior in environment and planning law, with particular expertise in climate change. She was named one of The Planner's Women of Influence in 2018 and 2019.

 Peter Harvey: Peter is Senior Editor at Practical Law Environment (Thomson Reuters) and formerly a solicitor in private practice. Previously a co-convenor of UKELA’s Waste Working Party, he has an LLM in Environmental Law from De Montfort University.

Jane Haviland: Jane is a solicitor in the Planning and Environmental Team at Birketts, Ipswich. She focuses on Environmental Regulation and Compliance, including environmental permitting and has an increasing portfolio in waste management issues.  As an environmental specialist Jane has sector specific technical knowledge enabling her to rapidly interpret and respond to client issues.

Christian Jowett: Christian is a barrister at 30 Park Place, Cardiff and at 36 Commercial, London. His environmental law practice focuses on waste law and its interaction with other areas of law. He is a member of the Attorney General’s Regional Panel of Junior Counsel to the Crown (Wales).

Emma Lui: Emma is a Policy Advisor at the Office for Nuclear Regulation. She is also an Advisory Board member to Public Interest Environmental Law (PIEL) UK and a volunteer contributor to the Environmental Law Foundation public blog. Emma is a non-practising barrister and has an LLM with Distinction in Environmental and Public Law.

Brendan Martyn: Brendan is an Associate Director at Cleaver Fulton Rankin Solicitors, a leading commercial law practice in Belfast. Brendan specialises in planning and environmental law with particular interest in energy, minerals, strategic infrastructure and regeneration.

Helen Mitcheson: Helen is a solicitor at Trowers & Hamlins and is Deputy Director of Cet Law (an international not-for-profit furthering law and policy to protect marine mammals).  Previously, she was a marine mammal scientist and environmental consultant in the UK, USA and Canada. She is particularly interested in the interaction between science and law.

Juliet Munn: Juliet is a planning and environmental lawyer at Town Legal LLP. Juliet has advised on all aspects of planning and environmental law both in the UK but also in New South Wales where she was based for two years. Juliet has been involved in a number of high profile environmental cases and has been an active member of UKELA since 2011.

Ben Stansfield: Ben is an environmental lawyer with Gowling WLG. Ben has a broad environmental practice, advising clients on compliance with complex chemical and product laws, remediation of contaminated land and water; and permitting and consenting of infrastructure and industrial processes. Ben has particular expertise in waste matters and corporate disclosure and reporting issues.

Richard Turney: Richard is a barrister at Landmark Chambers specialising in environmental, planning and public law. He appears in court and inquiries and advises on environmental issues, particularly on development planning and major infrastructure and nature conservation matters. He acts for developers, central and local government, individuals and NGOs. He is a member of the Attorney General's 'A' Panel of Counsel and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. 

Jamie Whittle: Jamie  is a partner at R & R Urquhart based in Forres in the North of Scotland where he advises clients on all aspects of environmental law and rural land law. He is part time lecturer in environmental and renewable energy law at the University of Edinburgh School of Law. He holds an MSc with distinction in human ecology.

Alison York: Alison is a solicitor and Head of Legal in the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. She has over 20 years’ experience practising in environmental law and regulation in the public sector in Scotland. Recent work includes involvement in the development and implementation of SEPA’s new enforcement tools and in the development of the new Integrated Authorisation Framework.