As the title suggests, MRC Planning Research and Consultancy is the web-based home of Mark R Chesterfield, a passionate land use planning scholar, researcher and consultant.
Last year (2011), Mark was among the first cohort of students to be awarded the Bachelor of Urban, Rural and Environmental Planning (BUREP) degree from La Trobe University (Bendigo, Australia). He was also co-recipient of the inaugural Parsons Brinckerhoff Prize ‘for the outstanding student over the four years of the course based on academic merit and overall achievements’. Mark remains humble in all his scholarly achievements to date, and acknowledges that without the full support of family, friends, fellow students and mentors he would not have been able to complete the course, much less excelled within it.
Currently (early 2012), Mark is (still) busily trying to finish writing his Masters’ thesis. At the same time he is working on a number of research projects, and all the while he continues to think about, read, practice and teach progressive planning theory.
Around the middle of 2012, Mark plans (funny that) to submit an application for consideration as a PhD candidate, the topic of which is yet to be fully scoped. For more information about this exciting future phase in Mark’s scholarly career, please watch this space.
Throughout 2012 and into 2013, Mark will generally be available for all land use planning inquiries. In keeping with his personal ethos, the first 1-hour (desk-top) consultation in response to these inquiries will be provided absolutely free. Subsequent consultative hours are subject to a fee, the amount of which is entirely dependant on the inquirer’s ability to pay (for example: homeless people $0 per hour, unwaged persons/community organisations $35, waged persons $70, companies and corporations $140). In making an initial inquiry, people/organisations with a genuine desire/need to plan a more sustainable built environment will automatically go to the top of the ‘inbox’.
