6. Ian Collinson, MRTPI - Strategic Director for Place
Ian joined the Council in April 2022. As Strategic Director for Place, he is responsible for overseeing the council’s Culture, Leisure, Planning, City Centre, Community Safety and Net Zero functions and strategies, including Liveable Exeter and the new local plan for the city, the Exeter Plan.
Ian is a geographer and urbanist and has a BSc (Hons) in Geography and an MPhil in Planning. He is a Chartered Town Planner with 34 years’ experience, working with local authorities all over the country, specialising in the delivery of large-scale new communities and transformational urban regeneration projects.
Ian previously spent nine years at Homes England, driving housing growth across the south-west. He has held senior management roles at Bristol City Council, the West of England Partnership and the Planning Advisory Service.
Ian enjoys working collaboratively with partners, helping to create sustainable healthy, inclusive and prosperous communities and places for the future.
Outside of work, Ian was previously Vice-Chair of the Governing Body of a secondary school in Bristol, attended by his two sons. He is a fanatical Middlesbrough supporter, keen allotmenteer and has played league cricket in Bristol where he now lives and his home village in Yorkshire.