Meet Our Land, Development and Communities Group
At Brookbanks, our Land Development and Communities team is where most projects begin. We take a concept, often just an idea and guide it through planning and initial technical approvals, ensuring it’s viable, sustainable, and ready for development.
A Unified Team
What sets us apart is our integrated approach. Rather than clients having to coordinate multiple consultants, we bring everything together under one roof. This unified structure eliminates disconnects, reduces delays, and ensures that priorities are aligned from day one. It’s a joined-up approach that saves time and adds value.
Consistent Leadership, Ongoing Involvement
Unlike many consultants, we don’t just deliver a report and move on. The directors you meet at the outset remain involved throughout the project. We don’t disappear or delegate everything to junior staff. When you need answers, you get them from someone who knows your project inside and out.
Solving Challenges, Adding Value
Every site presents its own challenges—be it flood risk, access infrastructure, or sustainability requirements. Our role is to make development possible by finding practical, bespoke solutions. We understand that delays cost money, so we focus on delivering clear, direct advice that helps clients make informed decisions without unnecessary complexity.
Real Results: Court Lodge, Ashford
A prime example of our approach is the Court Lodge project in Ashford. The local council proposed the Southeast Ashford Bypass as a requirement for the scheme. However, through detailed highway trip analysis and environmental engineering, we demonstrated that the bypass was not only unnecessary but potentially harmful to local wildlife.
This rigorous, evidence-based approach saved our client over £15 million in infrastructure costs.
Moving Projects Forward
This is what we do at Brookbanks. We take complex sites, find solutions, add value, and move projects forward.
That’s the Brookbanks difference.
Meet the team...
Principal Consultant - Hydrology
Alejandro Marcotegui
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Associate Utilities Director
Danny Lloyd-Jones
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Senior Hydrologist
Katherine Peers
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Group Director for Land, Development and Communities
Lee Witts
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Director of Utilities
Mat Capper
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Director of Transportation and Highways / Head of Eastern Office
Melanie A'Lee
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BREEAM Assessment & Advisory
Ground Conditions and Contamination
We can assist with your concerns regarding ground condition, be they contamination or geotechnical.
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Highways and Transportation
At Brookbanks we provide transportation and highways services to assist clients in the delivery of their development proposals.
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Hydrology
We aid in the optimisation of water, pollution reduction, and promote environmental sustainability to benefit communities across the UK.
Moreover, we pos...
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Land, Development and Communities Group
Our Land, Development and Communities Group (LDC) has built an enviable reputation across our industry as leading providers of a variety of services with t...
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Nutrient Neutrality Assessments and Mitigation Strategies
The issue of Nutrient Neutrality has been holding up development for over four years now. Whilst legislation, guidance and discussion around the topic is o...
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Utilities
The management of a development’s interaction with existing utility infrastructure and coordination of new utility infrastructure is critical to its succes...
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More News
Podcast #18: Design of Transfer slabs and efficient structures
June 2, 2026
As development sites become more constrained and expectations around multi-use building designs continue to rise, structural engineering choices are playing an increasingly important role in successful delivery. In our latest podcast, “Design of Transfer slabs and efficient structures,” Ben is joined by Chris Vivian and Devi Varatharajan to explore current industry trends in concrete design. The discussion focuses on how transfer slabs impact construction efficiency, carbon footprints, and why early-stage engagement is critical to optimizing building design.
Delivering Education Infrastructure: Direct Delivery or Section 106 Contributions?
May 22, 2026
Education facilities play a vital role in shaping successful residential communities. Alongside providing essential school places for growing populations, they help create well-connected neighbourhoods, support long-term community wellbeing and contribute positively to placemaking outcomes. For developers bringing forward significant housing schemes, deciding how education infrastructure obligations should be delivered is rarely straightforward. In most cases, this involves either directly delivering a new education facility as part of the development, or making a financial contribution through a Section 106 Agreement to support provision elsewhere. Each approach carries implications for cost, programme, planning strategy and the long-term success of the development.
Podcast Episode #17: Moving Places, Managing Noise
May 20, 2026
As development sites become more constrained and expectations around placemaking continue to rise, the interaction between transport planning and acoustics is playing an increasingly important role in successful design. In our latest podcast, “Moving Places, Managing Noise,” Ben Wakling is joined by Melanie A’Lee and Tom Quaife-Jones to explore how these two disciplines come together in practice. The discussion focuses on how early coordination between transport and noise specialists can improve scheme viability, reduce planning risk and ultimately create better places to live.