Land and Natural Resources

David Sandbrook FRICS

Partner - Head of Minerals & Waste Management, Carter Jonas LLP

David Sandbrook is a chartered surveyor and chartered planner with over 35 years’ professional experience gained within commercial property and the specialist mineral, waste management and renewable energy sectors. David is a Group Partner at Carter Jonas, where he is national Head of Minerals & Waste Management. He advises mineral & waste operators, landowners, infrastructure providers, energy companies and financial institutions on estate management, valuation and planning matters, with particular specialism in compulsory purchase and severed mineral interests. David is a RICS Registered Valuer and Accredited Expert Witness. He is an immediate past member of RICS Governing Council and a member of the Policy Advisory Group of the Mineral Products Association. David lives in Derbyshire, where he is a Trustee and operational Member of Derby Mountain Rescue Team. He is also a Director of the Katherine Martin Charitable Trust, supporting NSPCC, Barnardo’s and RSPCA.

Faraz Baber FRICS

Operations Director – City Planning & Development, RPS Group PLC

Faraz is currently the Operations Director for City Planning and Strategic Communications at the global consultancy firm RPS Group. He is charged with helping to support the growth of the company's market leading interdisciplinary planning and environmental practice and assist clients to successfully deliver on their development opportunities which includes providing them strategic advice on planning matters and market intelligence to navigate complex projects. His day to day responsibilities includes financial performance management; overview and sign off for contracts/procurement & risk review/management; people management, staff performance/ capability reviews & oversight of talent acquisition across the Team. Faraz’s previous role was working as an equity director at the planning and design consultancy Terence O’Rourke which has offices in London, Birmingham and Bournemouth. He led on planning policy, stakeholder engagement, business development as well managing large scale resi-mixed used schemes for the company. Prior to joining Terence O'Rourke, Faraz served as Executive Director for Policy at Business LDN for over five years. He led on all activity relating to property, planning and development and was directly responsible for managing the real estate accounts and related commercial activity. Previously, Faraz was Policy Director at London Councils where he managed a large multi-disciplinary team. His work experience also includes senior policy and public affairs roles at Surrey County Council, British Property Federation (BPF) and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). A highly experienced and multi-skilled professional with extensive knowledge within the property sector, Faraz has successfully delivered on a number of high profile policy led campaigns and large scale planning projects. He is a dual qualified chartered surveyor (FRICS) and chartered town planner (MRTPI). He was a member of the Department of Communities and Local Government Planning Sounding Board which provided industry advice to Government. Faraz was a Board member of the RICS P&D Professional Group and also served as Chairman on the RICS Planning Policy Panel. He currently serves as a member of the BPF Planning Policy Committee and is an advisory member of APPG on Housing Delivery. Faraz was appointed on a five year term as a Visiting Professor at the Bartlett School of Planning, UCL in 2014. He also served as the Vice-Chair of the Governing Body and Chair of the Estate's Committee at John Hampden Grammar School in High Wycombe.

Mohamed Bilal Virgi MRICS

Land Manager, Telis Energy UK Limited

As a chartered surveyor, I specialise in offering a variety of property services for the development of renewable energy projects. My journey began overseas, where I spent my childhood between the USA and the UAE. I then relocated to Montreal, Canada, to pursue my undergraduate studies in Geography: Urban Studies at McGill University. Upon graduating in 2020, I moved to the UK to join Carter Jonas’s Energy and Infrastructure team as a graduate surveyor. Here, I completed a structured APC training program to become a chartered surveyor. During my tenure at Carter Jonas, my primary responsibilities included land assembly, site acquisition, and agency services for renewable energy projects. I worked with a diverse clientele, including local authorities, charities, private landlords, and large corporations. Some of my notable accomplishments include assembling over 4,500 acres of land across 30 connection points for prospective solar and battery storage projects, negotiating the acquisition and disposal of land for over 1.5GW of renewable energy projects, and providing consultancy services for potential Electric Vehicles charging developments. In addition, I valued over £20m of energy assets and freehold interests, which included anaerobic digestion plants, biomass facilities, wind farms, and solar farms. Concurrently, I completed an MSc in Real Estate at the University College of Estate Management. After successfully passing my APC and earning chartered surveyor status, I took on a new role as a Land Manager with Telis Energy UK in September 2023. In this role, I support all land-related aspects of the firm’s 10GW pipeline of renewable energy projects. This includes site origination, desktop and onsite land suitability assessment, and the negotiation of land rights for project sites and cable routes. As a chartered surveyor, I am committed to advocating for improved practices to ensure our profession evolves to meet public needs. I aim to use my position on the Land and Natural Resources Professional Group Panel to share my knowledge and contribute to the development of RICS standards and policy concerning renewable energy and the UK’s road to net zero. Moreover, I aspire to inspire and support the next generation of chartered surveyors, particularly those from my cultural and ethnic background.

Kevan Carrick FRICS

Chairman, JK Property Consultants LLP

Advises on acquisition, disposal, development, construction of joint ventures, land/development options, valuations, dispute resolution, commercial lease renewal and rent reviews, and housing development land values. A mixed and varied experience, contributing to consultation on government and regional policies impacting on the use and development of land and property.

Grace Dixon MRICS

Acquisitions Lead (Land and Property), High Speed Two (HS2) Ltd.

Grace Dixon MRICS is a Compulsory Purchase and Infrastructure specialist. Grace studied at the Royal Agricultural College before qualifying as a surveyor and Registered Valuer in 2017. Over the last 9 years, she has worked in both private and public sector roles acting for acquiring authorities and affected parties alike. She also has extensive experience in utilities, having acted for gas and electricity distribution and transmission networks throughout her time in private practice. Grace currently works as an Acquisition Lead for High Speed Two Ltd, where she oversees a program of acquisition and settlement of compensation. Grace is passionate about helping to ensure that we have a profession fit to deliver the needs of the huge amounts of infrastructure required in the UK over the next 25 years.

Davina Fillingham MRICS

Partner, Dee Atkinson & Harrison

Mark Hurrell MRICS

Associate, Carter Jonas

Initially specialising in utilities and infrastructure, Mark acted for large utility companies and worked on some of the largest utility projects in the country, gaining experience of statutory process and technical knowledge along the way. Mark has also worked on Development Consent Order projects and Compulsory Purchase Order schemes acting for both acquiring authorities and claimants. Mark gained initial experience in telecoms working in business rates and rateable values for telecoms sites throughout the country. He has been further involved in telecoms since the introduction of the Code in 2017 acting for both operators and landowners alike. Mark was heavily involved in fibre broadband rollout across Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, and the Westcountry during the Covid-19 pandemic supporting alt-net providers during high demand for connectivity. Mark provides strategic telecoms advice to clients on lease renewals, new sites and, owing to his CPO/DCO experience, development matters including DCO schemes and the special regime for the removal/relocation of telecoms apparatus under Part 10 of the Code. Mark has also assisted and supported the conception of telecoms strategy guidance for a number of London boroughs and represents them on telecoms matters across their estates portfolio. He also provides advice for other local authority clients throughout the UK on telecoms matters across their portfolios.

David Inman, FRICS CEnv PCQI PIEMA TechIOA

Chartered Environmental Surveyor, DIEM Ltd

Having been involved locally with RICS with Matrics and Lancashire Local Association and now Regional Board, I’m keen for members to support each other and if we do so, we all benefit. I’m passionate about developing our skills across the profession and would definitely say that the more you participate with our profession, the more you get out of it.

Poppy Martin MRICS

Associate Director – Rural, Savills (UK) Ltd.

Poppy is a chartered surveyor in the south west, working across the south of England and south Wales; specialising in rural estate management. Poppy studied at the Royal Agricultural College before qualifying as a surveyor with Savills. She has a broad range of experience in estate management related work including property management, leasing and letting, landlord and tenant, sales of land and property and providing strategic advice to clients. Poppy is a former winner of the RICS Young Surveyor Award - Land (Urban & Rural) Category, former committee member of Bristol Matrics and judge of the RICS Surveyor of the Year Awards. She looks forward to her involvement with the Land and Natural Resources PGP and is particularly interested in developing the Next Generation and looking at how we can implement technology into our roles.

Duncan Moss FRICS

Geospatial-Intelligence and Land Administration Consultant, Ordnance Survey

Duncan has almost 40 years of experience working in the geospatial industry for Ordnance Survey. He has worked across a number of UK and internationally based roles during that time. My currently role is focused in supporting the UK public sector to get increased value from OS data and services. He has been a Chartered Land Surveyor since 2002 and have a strong track record of serving RICS and our profession across; standards development, the APC process, representation at the European level, as well as serving on various RICS professional panels and groups. He is delighted to be part of the newly established Land & Resources Professional Group Panel and look forward to working together collaboratively to driving forward our agenda.

Mike Pearson MRICS

Portfolio Manager, Yorkshire Water

Mike has worked in several land and resources roles across the North of England and is now helping develop and deliver Yorkshire Water's Land Strategy as one of the largest private landowners in England. Mike has been active with both the Pro-Yorkshire Awards and the regional Board and he will be supporting work on sustainability and engagement.

Julia Stolle FRICS

Land Surveyor, Boundary Expert and Director, Stolle Surveys Limited

Theo Till MRICS

Land Manager, Wheeldon Brothers Ltd.

Theo is a Chartered Planning and Development Surveyor and specialises as a Land Manager at Wheeldon Brothers Ltd where he is responsible for identifying, valuing and negotiating the purchase of development land with or without planning permission across the Midlands. He also manages the promotion of land interests through the planning system in the UK. He is an RICS APC Counsellor and has a passion to support those joining the profession. In May 2022 Theo accepted an invitation to become a Visiting Fellow at Nottingham Trent University in the School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment. He also enjoys returning to NTU as a guest lecturer on land acquisition, negotiation and appraisal. Theo was proud to serve as the RICS Matrics UK Chairman from November 2021 - April 2023 closely working with the RICS Executive and leading on areas including governance, finance, strategy and operations in the UK and overseeing the work over nearly 30 local groups.

Kate Young MRICS

Associate Director of Minerals Surveying, Wardell Armstrong LLP