• Community Engagement Consultant
• Hackney Council
• BA (Hons) MSc

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Jessica is a community engagement consultant and urban researcher.

She led the in-depth community engagement for the preparation of a District Design Code for Uttlesford, helping the LDA design team understand local priorities, values, and challenges, as well as the distinctive cultural, architectural and place characteristics of the area. She and her team worked closely with residents and stakeholders of all ages to introduce them to the emerging design code and to encourage them to think ambitiously about what good, appropriate design for Uttlesford might be.

Through work elsewhere in Essex and adjacent London boroughs, Jessica has gained an appreciation of the sort of deep-rooted Essex culture that permeates administrative boundaries. During a year’s placement in Waltham Forest Council’s planning policy team, she engaged on the borough’s Local Plan. More recently she supported Epping Forest District Council’s consultation on its Strategic Design Code for a new settlement at Latton Priory, part of the 16,000-home Harlow and Gilston Garden Town (HGGT) development.

Prior to moving into community engagement, Jessica enjoyed a successful career as a journalist, writer and editor, exploring and celebrating the distinctive characters of towns, cities and neighbourhoods. The desire to champion well-designed places that people want to live in and visit continues through her engagement work. 

She is currently an officer in Hackney Council’s consultation and engagement team.