The Coventry-based team has welcomed two new recruits, increasing its team to seven members of staff, who are supported by planning and land teams across Bellway’s housebuilding divisions.
Rebecca Palmer has joined as Senior Strategic Planning Manager, with Sarah Jones taking on the role of Strategic Land and Planning Manager.
Rebecca has two decades of experience in planning across a range of sectors, including over six years leading strategic land and regeneration projects for St Modwen Developments and St Modwen Homes. She will be working on an existing portfolio of sites at various stages in the planning process with the capacity to deliver around 5,000 homes. She said:
“Bellway is one of the largest housebuilders in the country and has a real respect for Strategic Land which is refreshing. It’s a specialist area so it’s really beneficial to have a dedicated team which can keep Bellway’s pipeline of strategic sites moving while allowing the immediate site teams to focus on delivery.
“I’m looking forward to seeing the portfolio move forwards with a number of planning applications being submitted over the next few months. I’m also looking forward to seeing the Strategic Land team grow and continue to be recognised for the important contribution that it makes.”
Sarah joins the Bellway’s Strategic Land team after two-and-a-half years in a divisional planning role with Barratt Developments, having previously worked for international property consultancy JLL. She will be focusing on delivering planning on existing sites and continuing to expand the portfolio by identifying new opportunities for development. She said:
“I was attracted to Bellway Strategic Land by their excellent reputation within the industry and the exciting land opportunities that they have as a business. It’s a step forward in my career and I’m looking forward to working on such interesting projects that will create new sustainable communities across the region.”
A keen advocate for women pursuing careers in planning, property and construction, Sarah added:
“It’s great to be part of a diverse team which is growing. This role offers significant variety and it’s good to see the industry improve in terms of inclusion for women and other groups.”
Bellway Strategic Land’s Central team is currently overseeing plans for more than 110 sites with potential to deliver over 20,000 homes across the region. This includes seven sites with the capacity for around 2,000 homes which were acquired in the last year during a major delivery drive through land and promotion.
Fergus Thomas, Bellway Strategic Land Director for the Central Region, said:
“These two appointments represent a significant expansion of our team which will increase our capacity to bring forward a greater number of sites for development across the region.
“Rebecca and Sarah bring a combined wealth of experience, expertise and energy which will enable us to accelerate the delivery of new sites in the more immediate term as well as achieving our longer-term ambitions for growth.”
For more information about Bellway Strategic Land, see here.
