Members profiles

Jeremy Dawkins has qualifications in urban planning, science and higher education. He was appointed to chair the Western Australian Planning Commission from January 2004.

Jeremy was Director of Planning and Development at the City of Fremantle, deputy member of the Western Australian Planning Appeal Tribunal, deputy chair of the review of the corridor plan and a Commissioner of the Australian Heritage Commission. In Sydney (1989-2002) he founded the postgraduate planning program at the University of Technology and was chair of the Total Environment Centre, founding chair of the Australian and New Zealand Association of Planning Schools, and independent expert member of the Central Sydney Planning Committee. As Sydney Harbour Manager, he developed the structures and strategies now used for managing the Sydney Harbour region. In 2003, at the University of Canberra's Centre for Developing Cities, he and his colleagues developed a new model for development assessment, currently being considered by a number of state and territory planning agencies as the basis for streamlining planning approval processes.

Mr Mike Hulme
property development and planning representative
(term of appointment: January 2007 to December 2008)

Mike Hulme purchased and subdivided his first property at the age of 21 and after completing a short course in northern NSW on Sustainable Human Settlement Design and Development in 1996 he got really serious about what could be achieved within the industry. He has been in partnership with the Perron Group since 1998, undertaking such projects as the South Beach Village and Old Broome Estate which won the UDIAs 2005 Judges Award.

Mike was appointed to chair the Broome Planning Steering Committee by the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure in 2004. He is passionate about the environment and our place within it and believes that it is now more urgent then ever that we work together to develop and retrofit our built environment so that we can live as sustainably as possible in our very fragile landscape.

Dr Carey Curtis
professions / community representative
(term of appointment: January 2007 to December 2007)

Carey Curtis is a senior lecturer with the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at Curtin University of Technology. Carey teaches and researches in the field of sustainable transport, including land use and transport integration, travel demand management, transport planning and urban design.

Carey was first appointed to the Western Australian Planning Commission in 2003 and is one of two members having experience in one of a number of criteria and generally identified as 'community representatives'.

Cr Corinne MacRae
local government (metropolitan) representative
(term of appointment: October 2004 to December 2006)

Corinne MacRae represents metropolitan local government on the Western Australian Planning Commission and is a councillor of the Town of Cambridge. She has been a councillor with the City of Perth (1992-93) and served on the Cambridge Advisory Committee (1994-95) prior to the creation of the council in 1995. Corinne was first appointed to the WAPC in 2002.

During her four years at the Town of Cambridge, Corinne has been representative on the Western Suburbs District Planning Committee chairing that committee for two years and serving as a member of the Metropolitan Region Planning Committee.

Veronica Fleay is the Regional Minister's nominee on the WAPC and is Deputy Shire President of the Shire of Exmouth. She has been a councillor since 2003 and serves on the Ningaloo Sustainable Development Committee and is Deputy Chair of the Gascoyne Development Commission Board.

Veronica runs her own small business in Exmouth, is the Exmouth Shire representative on the Exmouth Townscape Advisory Committee and an active member of other local committees.

Ms Dorte Ekelund
urban and regional planning professional
(term of appointment: January 2007 to December 2008)

Dorte holds a Bachelor of Urban and Regional Planning (Class 1 Honours) from the University of New England, NSW and a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Canberra. Dorte has over 25 years of urban and regional planning experience, having commenced her career as a trainee in local government planning in 1982, then working with a number of local government authorities in both strategic and statutory planning roles, and joining the ACT Government in 1992, where she gained further experience in both strategic and statutory roles, alongside management responsibilities.

She is an active member of the Planning Institute of Australia and until moving to Western Australia was the ACT Board member on the Institute Board of directors.

Dr David Wood
coastal planning
(term of appointment: January 2007 to December 2008)

Dr David Wood is Dean of Research and Graduate Studies and was, until June 2004, Head of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at Curtin University of Technology. His current teaching responsibilities involve supervision of doctoral students in urban and regional planning. David's primary research interests are in coastal tourism, planning and development, and community participation.

David is appointed to the Western Australian Planning Commission as a person having experience in coastal planning and management.

Mr Keiran McNamara
Director General
Department of Environment and Conservation
(term of appointment: ex officio)

Keiran McNamara is the Director General of the WA Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) established in July 2006. He was previously the CEO of the WA Department of Conservation and Land Management (CALM), since July 2001. The department is responsible for environmental protection, the management of terrestrial and marine conservation reserves and the conservation of biodiversity in Western Australia.

Mr McNamara has an honours degree in natural resources from the University of New England. He was employed in the Commonwealth Government’s nature conservation agency from 1978 to mid 1985, and has since been with CALM and DEC.

Mr McNamara has served on a wide range of state, national and international committees and boards concerned with conservation, including the national Biological Diversity Advisory Committee and membership of the World Conservation Union’s Commission on Protected Areas and Species Survival Commission, and standing committees of CEOs serving national ministerial councils. He became a member of the WAPC on 1 July 2006.