Who are Barker Parry?
About Us
Now in its fourth decade, Barker Parry continues the founding ethos of providing a wide range of professional advice to clients in a frank and clear manner.
Our consultancy was established in 1992 by Gae Parry and Steven Barker, having previously worked together at another planning consultancy. They are both now fully retired from consultancy work and the day to day activities of the business, but retain an interest in the firm and Steven remains as a Director.
Our planning consultants, led by Liz Fitzgerald, are registered with the RTPI and share a huge range of experience between them, having worked for various Local Planning Authorities and other consultancies.
Our experienced team is an important part of our success.
Liz Fitzgerald
Managing Director
BA (Hons) Dip TP MRTPI
Liz joined the practice in 2017. She has had many years’ experience of Local Government, with her last role as a Development Manager. This was followed by two subsequent years in private practice before joining Barker Parry. Her extensive insight into the processes and practices of Local Planning Authorities is highly valuable, enabling her to ensure that her clients are guided through the planning system in an appropriate and ethical manner.
Liz has an extremely wide-ranging knowledge of planning law and procedure. She deals with a variety of planning matters and has expertise in managing the planning process for a broad spectrum of large developments, both residential and commercial. She is an experienced professional witness at Hearings, Public Inquiries, Development Plan Examinations and Judicial Review processes.
Kenya Sharland
Associate
MPlan (Hons) MRTPI
Kenya joined Barker Parry in September 2020 with a background in private practice. She began her career in Central London, during which she was elected as a Chartered Town Planner. This was followed by a stint at a large property consultancy in Buckinghamshire before joining the Practice. This experience has enabled Kenya to develop a broad knowledge of various sectors including major residential, leisure, retail and other commercial development.
Kenya has particular experience navigating complex, small-scale development schemes including rural development, urban redevelopment schemes, householder appeals and enforcement cases. She is a proactive coordinator and competent in guiding development proposals from the pre-application stage through to delivery. She has been involved with the promotion of sites via the Development Plan process and numerous planning appeals.
Lauren Whiteley
Associate
BA (Hons) MA MRTPI
Lauren joined Barker Parry in December 2025 and has been a Chartered Town Planner since 2020. She started her career in a Central London planning consultancy, working on a wide range of development projects in different sectors and localities, including gaining planning consent for large multi-phase mixed use developments, managing appeals for infill residential and hotel schemes, and advising on permitted development rights for residential properties.
This was followed by over three years working for a logistics real estate developer and operator, providing in-house planning expertise. This role involved working on a range of commercial developments including gaining planning consent for urban logistics and major data centre schemes and the promotion of greenfield development opportunities.
Lauren’s experience covers the whole planning process including appraising new site acquisitions and site promotion, submitting planning applications and appeals, and dealing with post-consent matters.
Lia Groves
Assistant Planner
Lia joined our team in February 2024 as a Technical Planning Support after completing her Geography degree. She supported our consultants through drafting and monitoring planning applications and assisting with everyday tasks.
Lia took a sabbatical to travel in June 2025 and returned to Barker Parry in June 2026. She now joins us as an Assistant Planner, where she will work with our planning consultants across a range of projects to develop her career in the planning industry.
Helen Monk
Business Manager
Helen joined us in 2022. With a diverse career that includes client services and project management, Helen ensures the smooth running of our business. Her role includes finance, marketing and operations.
Mel Skull
Administrator
Mel started her career in London working in the Travel Industry. She has gone on to develop her career in a number of customer-focused roles and since June 2023 has become the friendly voice at the end of the Barker Parry telephone!
Pipper
In 2020, Pipper took on the self-imposed role of ‘Head of Security’ with her “all bark and no bite” approach to strangers. She is also the consistent winner of office tug of war!
A potted history of Barker Parry
Our History
Barker Parry begins
John Major surprisingly won the General Election and Barker Parry began business in Roslyn House, Hitchin occupying a top floor garret in a building of serviced offices. We worked with a large single computer, a fax and a photocopier. The steep climb was not good for the clients and there was no parking.
Move to Roslyn House
We moved to the ground floor of Roslyn House. Access was better, but we soon ran out of space.
We moved again!
After three years of parking tickets, we relocated to larger self-contained offices in Bancroft (like Roslyn House, Listed) and have been there ever since.
Tony Blair era begins...
Tony Blair was elected and promised that things could only get better. For us they were, at five years old we introduced a sharper logo and produced a more informative brochure which could now feature completed and ongoing projects. Having taken on extra admin staff, we also recruited an additional planner to cope with the increasing and varied work.
A new Millennium dawns on Barker Parry
As the new Millennium dawned, we annexed an additional room to accommodate a growing technical library, allow room for computers for all (having embraced the internet in 1999) and have a dedicated conference room.
Queen's Golden Jubilee
Barker Parry celebrates 15 years
Celebrating our 20th year and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee
Barker Parry celebrates 25 years with a new logo!
It was party time again and most of the Barker Parry family past, present and future assembled to celebrate 25 years of the business. Having survived a generation, we began to look to and plan for the future and decided to plan for steady growth. To mark this shift, the website was completely overhauled and we designed a new logo.
Another major milestone - 30 years in business!
Barker Parry enters 4th decade!
As the business enters its fourth decade we look forward to working with clients old and new.