Members

Rebecca Thomas

Presiding Member

Rebecca has over 20 years’ experience in South Australia’s planning industry and has worked in senior leadership roles in both local government and the private industry. Her expertise spans the areas of planning assessment, development strategy, property advice, stakeholder liaison and negotiation, policy creation, organisational governance and community engagement.

She has a Bachelor of Planning with Honours, is a Corporate Member of the Planning Institute of Australia and a Level 2 Accredited Professional under the state Accredited Professionals Scheme.

Her initial career within local government provided the opportunity to be involved in all facets of council including strategic planning, property projects, planning policy, development assessment and compliance, tourism, economic development and community development. In the private sector Rebecca has worked on a diverse range of complex projects, including masterplans, property due diligence, rezoning strategies and a wide range of development proposals.

Rebecca has considerable Board experience in Chair, Member and Executive Officer roles and has comprehensive knowledge of relevant legislative and statutory procedures, further informed by her engagement with the current planning reform agenda.

Rebecca Rutschack

Deputy Presiding Member

Rebecca has extensive experience in development assessment. This spans several councils throughout greater metropolitan Adelaide and the UK, covering highly urbanised, peri-urban and rural localities. She has worked as a planning consultant and has been a member of the City of Mitcham Council Assessment Panel.

This background means that she has a diverse planning skillset that she applies to an equally diverse range of development types. In her previous role as the Assessment Manager at the City of Adelaide she was responsible for the assessment of some of the largest development projects in the Adelaide CBD.

An accredited Professional Level 1 and 2 under the SA Accredited Professional Scheme, Rebecca has an Honours degree in Planning and is a member of the Planning Institute of Australia. Rebecca currently works in local government.

David Altmann

Ordinary Member

David Altmann is a planning practitioner, specialising in local government affairs, strategic and community planning, development assessment, economic development, training and education, and governance – with over 30 years' experience in the private and public sectors.

David is a former CEO, Executive Officer and Director for a range of councils, Assessment Panels and an Economic Development Board across South Australia – he has substantial experience with South Australia's planning system as an active practising practitioner, as an Assessment Manager, as Presiding Member of the Mid Murray Assessment Panel, and Presiding Member of the Murray Bridge Assessment Panel.

Being proud of his regional background, David lives and runs his business in regional South Australia.

David is a Level 1 and 2 accredited planner under the SA Accredited Professional Scheme, holds undergraduate and post-graduate qualifications in town planning, is a Registered Planner and is a Fellow of the Planning Institute of Australia.

Donato (Don) Donaldson

Ordinary Member

Don has extensive experience in strategic planning, planning policy and development assessment, scanning over 40 years. His career has primarily been in senior positions in local government, including 10 years at the City of Adelaide with responsibility for development, heritage and Park Lands policy, and development assessment functions of the council.

Don also spent 4 years helping to commercialise an invention by his son of integrating solar cells directly into composite materials.

An accredited Professional Level 1 and 2, Don is a fellow of the Planning Institute of Australia. He has previously filled Presiding Member and Independent Member positions on several metropolitan and outer-metropolitan council assessment panels.

John Eckert

Ordinary Member

John studied architecture in Western Australia and South Australia, graduating with Bachelors in Architecture in 1984. The first 15 years of his career was spent in Adelaide architectural practices and the last 20 years as in-house Design Director for three of Australia largest national builder/developers.

John has urban designed residential projects and residences in all the major Australian cities, containing tens of thousands individual residences.

Paul Leadbeter

Ordinary Member

Paul Leadbeter is a lawyer with over 35 years’ experience in private legal practice, local government and academia in the areas of land use planning law, environmental law and local government law. He has been responsible for providing advice to a range of clients including local government, private developers, government agencies, community and resident action groups.

In his academic role at The University of Adelaide he taught land use planning law in both undergraduate and post graduate courses to law, architectural, planning and civil engineering students and has published refereed articles in the planning law area as well as serving on the editorial panels for two journals in the area.

Paul has previously served as the Presiding member of a metropolitan council Development Assessment Panel and as the chairperson of the boards of a number of not-for-profit bodies including the Environmental Defenders office and the Environment Institute of Australia (SA Branch), and Deputy-President of the Conservation Council of SA.

He is presently a member and Deputy Chair of the SA Law Society’s Planning, Development and Local Government Committee, the SA representative on the Law Council of Australia’s Planning and Environment Committee and a Councillor for The National Trust of South Australia.

Jenny Newman

Ordinary Member

Jenny is currently recognised as an Accredited Professional (Planning level 2) and is a full-time practising Architect BA(Hons) DipArch (Dist) with extensive experience in urban design and development, building and planning both at State and Local Government level.

With over 25 years’ experience in architecture and planning in Australia and the UK, including 15 years on planning panels in South Australia she currently works as a Senior Associate at an award-winning Adelaide based architecture practice.  Over her career she has worked on a number of large complex projects in Australia, the Pacific and Europe across a broad range of sectors including commercial, residential, heritage, defence, aged care and education.

Jenny has extensive Board experience including being a member on the former Inner Metropolitan Development Assessment Commission, Presiding Member (and Ordinary Member) for the City of Holdfast Bay’s Council Assessment Panel and on the City of Campbelltown Council’s Strategic Planning and Development Policy Committee.  She also served on the City of Marion and City of Campbelltown’s Development Assessment Panels and is currently a long-term active member of the Norwood Payneham and St Peter’s Council Assessment Panel.  In 2020 she took up a position on the State Planning Commission’s Heritage Sub-Committee.

In addition, due to her experience in urban contextual design and planning, and after teaching as a visiting studio tutor at the Architecture Department of the University of South Australia, she was invited in 2016 by the City of Prospect Council to provide independent design review advice for developments in the council area and since that time has provided detailed design reports for more than 200 new build and redevelopment projects.

Mark Adcock

Occasional Member

Mark has over 40 years’ experience in the planning industry both in South Australia and interstate. His expertise encompasses working in the private sector, local and state government across a broad range of planning disciplines including a range of complex multi-disciplinary projects, environmental and social impact assessments and master planning for new and re-developing areas.

In addition to holding a number of senior management positions for the delivery of high-quality planning services and outcomes, Mark also has a sound knowledge of the legislative and statutory processes and experience in court and appeal proceedings.

A keen contributor to the profession, Mark is a Fellow Member of the Planning Institute of Australia and past Vice-President. He has served on the Planning Education Foundation, the Local Government Planners Association, the Native Vegetation Council and a guest lecturer at the University of South Australia.

Mark is currently the Presiding Member of Council Assessment Panels at the City of Tea Tree Gully and the District Council of Mount Barker, and a member of the Council Assessment Panel for the City of Adelaide.

James (Jamie) Botten

Occasional Member

Jamie, up until his recent retirement, practiced for over 44 years as a lawyer specializing in town planning and environmental law.

In 1982, he founded Jamie Botten & Associates (now named Botten Levinson), South Australia’s first “boutique” town planning and environmental law firm.

In 1997 he obtained a Graduate Diploma in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of South Australia. The Diploma has complemented his Bachelor of Laws (obtained in 1977) and his extensive legal experience and skills, and enhanced his knowledge of urban and regional planning theory and policy.

Jamie has held many related professional association memberships and appointments, including that of President of the National Environmental Law Association (SA Division)

James Hayter

Occasional Member

James Hayter established Oxigen in Adelaide in 1996 having practiced prior to that in the ACT, the US and UK. Oxigen is one of Australia’s most awarded landscape architecture and urban design practices with a particular expertise in the redevelopment of inner-city brownfield’s sites. Oxigen’s practice extends through to the development of strategic policy, master planning and detailed design and implementation. James is a Registered Architect and Registered Landscape Architect, and also Professor in the School of Architecture and Civil Engineering at the University of Adelaide.