Associate Director at Pure Town Planning and Chartered Town Planner
Chris is a chartered town planner who has extensive experience working within local government, the civil service and the private sector.
He uses his mix of public and private sector experience to give clients the upper hand in the planning process, where he prefers to negotiate and work with local planning authorities to achieve mutually agreeable schemes.
Chris was born and educated in Bristol where he attained a First-Class BA (Hons) degree in Town and Country Planning and a Masters in Planning with Urban Design at the University of the West of England (UWE). Upon graduating from UWE in 2012, Chris moved to Dorset and began working as a Planning Officer at Dorset Council. Whilst working for local government, Chris gained a thorough understanding of the planning system and its various quirks and complexities.
In 2014, Chris joined Pure Town Planning as a Planning Consultant and he worked on a variety of planning applications and appeals over a five-year period with the company achieving a high success rate for his clients.
In 2019, Chris was appointed by the Secretary of State to be a Planning Inspector, a position which he held for two years before re-joining Pure Town Planning in 2021 as an Associate Director. During his time at the Planning Inspectorate, Chris determined over 300 planning appeals, including many cases in London, which included written representation appeals and hearings. Consequently, he has an in-depth knowledge of the appeal system, and he draws on his considerable experience when submitting appeals for clients to give them the best chance of success.
Due to the various positions held by Chris, he has experience working on all types of planning applications and planning appeals from small scale planning, commercial and advertisement applications to complex listed building consents and major residential developments. Chris has an extensive knowledge of the General Permitted Development Order (GPDO) and the wide range of prior approval applications that can be submitted.
Chris also volunteers with the RTPI. He has previously been the Chair of the RTPI Dorset Young Planners Steering Group and is now the Group’s Treasurer. He also sits on the RTPI South West Regional Activities Committee who are responsible for the organisation and delivery a range of activities including the region’s CPD event programme, inputting into consultations and policy updates, contributing to research and Judging the RTPI South West Awards for Planning Excellence. Chris also mentors licentiate members who are working towards their chartered membership.
Chris splits his time between working from home in Weymouth and our Bournemouth office. When he isn’t busy helping clients secure planning permission, he enjoys nothing more than playing a round of golf. He’s currently a member at Came Down Golf Club near Dorchester.
Chris Miell | 01202 585524 | 07485 056283 | chris@puretownplanning.co.uk
