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Stuart has more than 25 years of experience in delivering planning projects spanning strategy, governance, policy, urban design, regulation and major project facilitation. He has held a variety of senior roles in all spheres of Government and in the consulting sector.

Stuart has been a Principal of Connor Holmes since 2008. Prior to joining the private sector, Stuart spent nearly eight years with the City of Adelaide, initially as city planner and rising to the position of Chief Executive Officer. He previously held senior positions in State planning agencies in South Australia and New South Wales.

Des Commerford
º£½ÇÉçÇø SA – Executive Officer

Des Commerford is currently the Executive Officer for the SA Division of the º£½ÇÉçÇø. He recently retired from an extensive career in Local Government of more than 30 years.

Des is a former President and Vice President of the Division and is a Life Fellow of the º£½ÇÉçÇø.

Cate Atkinson
CEO
Wakefield Regional Council

Cate was appointed as CEO to the Wakefield Regional Council in June 2012. She has a long association with local government, having worked most recently at the Local Government Association as General Manager, Intergovernmental Relations in 2011 and prior to this as General Manager with the City of Playford. In these roles, she has built strong working partnerships with State and Commonwealth Government departments across a wide range of local government issues, and has been involved in strategic planning for nearly 30 years. She has significant experience in both the private sector and local government in strategy and policy, development services, environmental assessment, and community consultation and advocacy.

Cate is Immediate Past President of Local Government Managers Australia (SA Division), an organization delivering training and development programs for local government leaders and aspiring leaders. She is keenly interested in building the capacity of all employees within the Local Government sector, and working with tertiary institutions to build the expertise of students across the State.

Gavin Leydon
Partner, Norman Waterhouse Lawyers
Gavin leads the Norman Waterhouse Planning and Environment team and is a specialist in property development, urban and regional planning, environmental and administrative law. He has focused on advising and representing private industry and the firm’s significant local government client base over the last 23 years.

Gavin provides strategic advice on development proposals, land use policy and environmental authorisations and regularly appears as an advocate before planning authorities and the Environment, Resources and Development Court.

Gavin is also a member of the SA Heritage Council; Presiding Member of the State Government Local Heritage Committee and Honorary Fellow of the º£½ÇÉçÇø.

Dr Donna Ferretti
Director, Planning, Policy & Strategy – Department of Transport, Planning and Infrastructure

Donna is an urban and regional planner with extensive experience in the fields of strategic planning, social planning, development assessment, policy planning and community/stakeholder engagement. Donna began her planning career in local government in NZ, before emigrating to Australia in 1986 and beginning an academic career teaching in the urban and regional planning programs at the University of South Australia for 18 years. She spent five years working as a planning consultant between 2005 and 2010 before joining the South Australian Government in 2011 in her current role as Director of Planning Strategy and Policy.

A Fellow of the º£½ÇÉçÇø, Donna has served on Development Assessment Panels, the SA Development Assessment Commission and the Premier’s Arts for Public Places Committee. She is committed to developing and championing the planning profession in South Australia – a commitment which is underpinned by ethics of sustainability and social inclusion.

Dr Iris Iwanicki
President, º£½ÇÉçÇø, SA Division

Dr Iris Iwanicki has a background in planning, environmental law, heritage conservation policy, history and local government management. Her main interests in planning as the State President of º£½ÇÉçÇø (SA) are in mentoring, advocacy and ethics.