Borough appoints new head of planning and development

The Royal Borough is pleased to announce that Simon Hurrell has been appointed as the council's head of planning and development and takes up his post immediately.

A planner and economist, Simon has been acting in the role since October 2011 and was confirmed following a full selection process.

Simon has worked in strategic planning, economic development and tourism, property management and strategic procurement. He has worked in the north west and south west of the country as well as in London, and his career has spanned both the private and public sectors. He managed the procurement of Somerset County Council's shared service outsourcing scheme and more recently was programme director for Ealing's Building Schools for the Future project.

Cllr Christine Bateson, cabinet member for planning and partnerships, said: "We are very pleased to welcome Simon as a permanent member of staff. He brings a breadth of experience from both the private and public sectors which is already benefitting the borough as we take forward work on the new local plan and develop exciting regeneration plans for Maidenhead."

Simon said he was delighted by his appointment and looked forward to continued working with his highly-professional teams.

He added: "Planning issues affect all of us every day of our lives and we are working hard to make our services even more accessible to everyone.

"These are exciting times for the Royal Borough. We have new opportunities to improve the quality of life and environment for everyone and, through the new local plan consultation which is due to start soon, we hope to engage people from across the community so everyone has the opportunity to be involved."

Simon lives in west London with his wife Louise. His interests are singing, walking, historic buildings and gardens.

He succeeds Tim Slaney who moved to South Downs National Park at the end of October.

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